Spacewarp!

I’m not sure how many of you guys remember this toy/gadget/thing, but I know for sure that Simon and Norman (and maybe my sisters) will. It’s called the Spacewarp and it was (and still is) made by Bandai. It was released in the 1980’s and consisted of a rollercoaster-like track with about 6 ball bearings that continuously rolled on its track (here’s the very short Wikipedia article on it).
Here’s a huge gallery of somewhat low-res images of the Spacewarp. And I’m assuming this is either a big fan-site or the official webpage of the Spacewarp. You can see all the different combinations that people have come up with for the tracks, etc.
I also came across a website that looks like some kind of Spacewarp building competition. But I can’t read a thing since it’s all Japanese. Anyone care to confirm my suspicions?

Here’s a video of the toy in action.

Everything2 has a more detailed explanation of the Spacewarp.

If you’re interested at all, you can find them on eBay, or you can buy the Spacewarp here if you live in Japan, or you can buy it here if you live in the U.S.
Apparently, Slashdot already covered the re-release of this toy back in Dec 2004.

I’m really tempted to get this. I used to play with this thing at my cousins’ place all the time. They had one that was slightly broken, but I still played with it because I thought it was so fun. Hmm, decisions decisions!

This thing would actually make a pretty good distraction at the new apartment. :)