Beyond the infinite adventures of a big screen escape, there’s nothing I love more than an exciting tech team-up and in this case, a sharp white and blue, retro-futuristic G-SHOCK Collectors set to accompany the release of the highly anticipated The Fantastic Four: First Steps movie!

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First Impressions

This G-SHOCK collab with Marvel sees four new timepieces getting the hero treatment, and having seen the GA-700HDS first-hand, it’s one striking and strong statement! As an initial insight, the Casio GA-700HDS is shock resistant resembling that superhero durability, and honestly my friends this one has all the right bulk (Ben Grimm/The Thing would be impressed), and – importantly – a strong unshakable resilience!

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First Setup Steps

If you’re out braving the elements, then this rugged-structure is designed to go wherever you are, with a few caveats, but this particular model has an angular design that aims to withstand a vast arrays of weather conditions, which includes being shock resistant and a 200m water resistance as well, which is good for uses like swimming, wind surfing, skin diving or even just doing the dishes. However, as with many watches, don’t go stepping into the sauna or an elevated temperature situation with it on, as that’ll end up sweating it out, which you don’t want. But back the more fun side, it’s also got a glow-in-the-dark dial, a countdown timer, a 1/100 second stopwatch and even a daily alarm setting.

In terms of synchronizing the (literal) time to be correct for wherever you live, this device gives you global city-time options – which covers 48 cities, equal to 31 time zones. I set mine up for London, and even adjusted to the current GMT, with just a click of a few buttons. As well as telling you the time, you can choose from a 12/24 format as well, plus it displays the day and date in the main display. As well as practicability, don’t forget to have a play! I recommend changing the city just to witness those smooth hour and minute hands automatically moving to their correct position, plus check out the visual mini towers of seconds counting down on a small LED section within the main watch face.

New to the wristwatch game? Don’t worry, there’s a manual included where you can either scan the QR code or just read the paper guide that comes with it. I’d certainly say have a read through everything, as it offers a host of hints and tips to make it last a long time, which you’ll want to do given its quality. And in terms of longevity, it comes with a lithium battery installed, which should give you 5 years of battery life, even if you’re using the alarm once a day but – of course – anything will run down faster if you use it intensely.

In terms of how it looks, and what you can use, the core body of the device has the main timepiece face in white and blue, and four chunky white buttons around the edge to press when you need them. These give you the option to change what ‘mode’ you want to use, then ‘adjust’ anything you need to, plus the other two are ‘start/stop’ and ‘reset,’ which all link to the stopwatch and countdown timer modes you can choose. Yes, my friends (think Pedro), this is a multi-purpose device for all types of adventurers, both on land and beyond! Also, as it’s designed for various conditions, there’s a fifth central button in blue – and this gives you the ability to ‘light up’ the display for a few seconds when you need it.

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First Class Design

For the packaging it arrives in, they’ve enlisted a 1960s retro-future style card wraparound for the artwork, which holds the G-SHOCK box within. Open that up for all the good stuff. Inside you’ll get your Casio GA-700HDS in a fine fabric bag, and the bonus of an excellent collectable pin badge set. And, if you’ve not seen yet, check out H.E.R.B.I.E. starring in their own bespoke content just below, as they give you an entertaining insight to what the devices can be put through, and I can certainly vouch for this one!

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Born from the Cosmos

Inspired by innovation and the colour schemes of The Fantastic Four’s suits, the Casio GA-700HDS is the muscle behind the G-SHOCK x Marvel Studios The Fantastic Four: First Steps collection – as it embodies The Thing’s raw power and unshakable resilience. Built for high-impact missions – whether you’re braving the elements or just making a statement, this is both practical and a whole lot of joy!

The Casio G-Shock The Fantastic Four: First Steps GA-700HDS-7AER-F4 is available now: https://amzn.to/4o2bTVi

As a range, each timepiece reflects the key characters, so make sure you check out the other models in set, which consists of the GA-110HDS, GA-6900HDS, and GA-2100HDS all engineered for extreme durability and, as promised, here’s H.E.R.B.I.E. taking us through what each individual piece can offer: