Tuesday, July 22, 2008

#28 "Thirst for Adventure!" DW-9900MD-2T, the Mad Dog Frogman


I realized I could not cover all Frogman models that I wanted if I wrote 4 articles. Therefore I wrote this extra article.
A little stranger in the Frogman line is the 3rd generation Frogman, the DW-9900, introduced in April 1999. First of all the watch case is significant smaller than it's predecessors. The reason for this could be the fact that G-Shock's look a very big on the wrist of Japanese and other East Asian people as they are average smaller and much finer build than West European and US people. Therefore a big Frogman or other G-Shock could look pretty cartoonesque on a Japanese wrist.
There is another difference with it's predecessors. Have the DW-6300 and the DW-8200 the FROGMAN text on the left side of the bezel, on the DW-9900 it is on the right side. Also there was a special overseas model. In stead of the text FROGMAN, there is the text SEAMAN. The model number for the Seaman is DW-9950, but the dimensions and features are exact the same as for the DW-9900. My first DW-9900 model was the DW-9900MD-2T, the Mad Dog Frogman. I won it on an auction 4 years ago, mid July, 2004.

The Mad Dog Collaboration Frogman was released by Casio in July 1999. It's navy blue in color and has yellow lettering on the bezel. The name of the company and their credo: "Quest for knowledge, Thirst for adventure" is written on the watchband.
Mad Dog Expeditions is a very interesting company. They are specialized in extreme dive expeditions on places where you normally not easy would come. Diving at the Bikini Atoll, diving in the arctic. Diving deeper than 50m with special gas mixtures. You name it, they do it. They also accompany expeditions for underwater nature films. Mad Dog Expeditions is founded in 1994. They were named after their late company mascot, the dog Alice. Alice was thrown out of a car in Greenwich Village in 1995 before Christmas. Apparently her former owner did not want to take her on holidays. She was always taken on expeditions. I'm not sure what was the company name before Christmas 1995...
When the Master Blue Frogman was released in November 2007, everybody was enthusiastic about the black buttons.
Actually I thought I had not seen this before. Actually, even when I was taking these photo's, I did not see it. This model has black buttons too.
Something that caught my eyes when I saw this Frog for the first time was the watchband. All other Frogman models have flat watchbands with two rows of holes, the DW-9900 type Frogmans (including the DW-9950 Seaman) have a structured watchband. This gives the watch a more rugged look and makes you forget it's a little smaller than it's brothers.
The Mad Dog logo is also shown in the back engravement. The serial number learns us this watch was produced in May 1999. When I took the watch out of it's box for this photo session, the battery was dead. An excellent occasion to get a rare look inside of this frog. Note the 2 springs and two metal lips. The springs are for the alarm speaker, the lips are probably needed for the EL-backlight or for checking if the back is closed.Although Alice passed away a few years ago, she is still proud present in the EL-Backlight. Mad Dog Expeditions write about her: "She had the spirit of a true explorer and adventurer that kept on going. Alice was the "Brains" behind our operation and well known around town for her stunning good looks and charm.She is missed by all."

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