Hello, I took apart and reassembled one of the new Tamagotchi toys so you don’t have to.

If you guys remember, last time I posted photos of this Tamagotchi, I had pointed out some weird line on the screen. I thought it’d be best for me to take the thing apart and see if I can figure out what was wrong. Maybe a stray hair or something was in it.

Catch photos and descriptions below the break!

Also, if the images are too small, here’s an Imgur version of this post.



The first and most obvious difference between this and the original is the battery compartment. The original Tamagotchi takes two LR44 batteries, which are held in solely with the pressure of the back plate. These new ones take a single CR-2032 battery, which is held in by a lip under the sound chip. This means the battery is held firmly in, even if the back panel is removed. Also, the reset button has changed position and style. The original was a long rubber piece, but the new one is a small rubber piece with a plastic piece that fits on top.

With the back half of the shell off, now we see a major difference in design. The original Tamagotchi units had two wires linking the board and sound chip together, and disconnecting the wires meant no sound. Here, there are two springs instead. The Tamagotchi replica’s sounds are slightly muffled, and I wonder how much of this is attributed to the use of springs instead of wires. Also, in this photo, you can see the reset button on the left.

With the four screws removed, we get the front side of the chip and the interior of the front half of the shell. The buttons haven’t changed at all, but there’s now a print on the back of the screen background: an arrow pointing upward. Also, there’s now a removable plastic frame that holds everything together, which you’ll see more of in the pic below.



Left to right are the screen-holding frame (a new component), the background, and the LCD. The background also has new printing on the front: two red triangles in the top corners, like the arrow, being used to indicate the orientation. And then I held the LCD to the light and see what the problem was.

Turns out there’s a scratch on the LCD. I’m no product manufacturing expert, but that doesn’t seem like a normal thing to happen. The quality of the whole thing - before and while taking it apart - felt fine, so how does something like this happen?

By the way: if you ever do take your Tamagotchi apart, be sure to do the following:

Leave the screws in a spot where they won’t roll away easily.

Keep a tally of what you’ve taken off and where you’ve put it. It’s easy to forget things when reassembling this.

Don’t put the LCD in upside-down. It’s not pretty.

When you reassemble, double check that your screws are as tight as possible.

That’s about it, really. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to ask!

~OM21

