no, I haven't tried it by now. debugging doesn't interest me at all, and I wouldn't want to break them either (since the originals got discontinued, tamas never came back to our shops again (they weren't quite successful here unfortunately), so they are rather rare finds here (since they are all from abroad. mine are all from either shops that sell used toys imported from other countries, or from trips I had to countries where they were available. none of these is a common occasion
).
after reading about shell-swapping a couple of years ago, l played with that thought in my mind, but never actually had the time, nor the brave to try it. that is something I would like to try though, as there are some shells out there that look better but belong to versions I like less. another good reason for shell-swapping would be that I don't like too big antennae (especially V5s) because they are just in the way - they are exactly where I would put my left pointer if I could, and - laugh if you want
this does sound funny - they make holding the tamas, and also playing games less comfortable! I'm sure I could do better in the games without the antenna being there. however (because of reasons mentioned above) I don't think I have the courage to try it unless it gets proven that it is manageable without major possible complications. which isn't the case, it seems
another possible option of doing this would be a rare occasion of finding a shell design I already have (and also for a price I would be willing to offer for such a tama). maybe like that I would be a bit more brave to take one apart.
still I think I'd rather redesign it in this case. redesigning (not only with stickers and stones, but with a full re-paint of the shell) is something I'm seriously planning to try for a long time, I also have some tamas that have really messed-up shells (but luckily their screen is OK and they work fine) and thus would make a good patient for a redesign, but I didn't have the time yet to try this.