Diary of a Retro Collector: Week 24

Following on from last week’s huge acquisition of a Panasonic Q GameCube console, I was quick to get started finding the matching accessories to start building the full package together. Plus, I continues my obsession with the Hard Case Game Boy Pockets with a third, but it came in a decent little bundle. Take a look at what’s arrived on my doorstep this week.

Official Panasonic Q Branded GameCube Pad + Emerald (eBay, Auction)

Just as I begin restoring my Panasonic Q gamecube, a listing on eBay came up for two GameCube controllers. Obviously the highlight is the official Panasonic Q pad to match my new console, but almost a cheeky bonus entirely, is also the Japanese only Emerald Blue version too – which I have also had my eye on for some time. I never disclose exactly how much I pay or win auctions for exactly, but what I paid for both was roughly market value on the Q pad, so I got the emerald for free (in a way).

Sadly, you can see that the left stock on the Q controller is discoloured, but far more concerning is that both of the controllers analogue sticks are incredibly loose. I never knew that Gamecube sticks got loose like this. N64 yes, of course. But Gamecube No. In fact, I’d say they are both a write off and I will need to find two donor pads and steal their innards from and restore these more rarer versions. Plus looking at the photos, they definitely need a good clean too.

Game Boy Pocket Blue Hard Case Bundle (eBay, Auction)

So last week, I was talking about the fact that until the other week, I never knew of, or had ever seen these hard case packaged versions of GB Pockets at all. But like the old bus analogy, you wait and wait and many come at once. Well, I have acquired no.3, in Blue.

The actual Pocket is in incredible condition itself. No wear on the back, no serious scratches to the lens and upon adding some triple A battery goodness and a cartridge, it performs perfectly. Once again reminding me just how awesome the pocket is. Look at that screen, it’s brilliant.

Now I guess, I just need to get a clear one and I can walk away from this little obsession.

Replacement Game Boy Cart Cases (eBay, Buy It Now)

There’s one thing I hate more than loose cartridges… fake cartridge cases. Through the years I have seen some terrible fakes and the rough, sand paper like plastic used, makes my skin crawl. With all the random cartridges I have acquired recently from auctions, I needed a boost in spares, so bought a batch of official ones. I think including shipping, about £1-£1.20 is a fair price for these things if buying out right. I mean, if you buy as part of a bundle then you’d probably get for free with games.

Seen as though every game came with one of these cases, it makes me wonder how so many cartridges over the years have become disconnected with these. Maybe people didn’t see the point in them. I can tell you now, even my 6 year old self had developed a level of OCD for such things.

Ok, this might be one of the biggest weeks of this year by far. I saw an opportunity to buy a console I have always wanted but could never really afford – especially when I was a teenager when it came out. Plus, I continue to let my obsession with Game Boy take the better of me and increased the size of my collection of consoles. Here’s this week’s summary of finds.

Game Boy Pockets – EU Hard Shell Case Edition (eBay Auction)

In the UK, we got the carton boxed Game Boy Pocket editions, which were almost identical to the Game Boy Color releases. But over in mainland EU, it came in a hard plastic case, which also works as a brilliant display solution. Both these guys have Spanish barcodes on them, but as far as I know these were available Italy, France, Germany and Scandinavia too.

As you can see, in one week, I managed to find a Yellow and a Red one. Both were won on auction on eBay for good prices. After my obsession with the Play It Loud DMG hard case, I found these to be a curiosity and wanted to add to my collection. As you can probably tell from many of my adventures, I am a huge Game Boy fan and for me, the Pocket was a huge revolution for enjoying my existing cartridge collection. Not only do I still find the form factor the best of the GB family, the screen is bigger and super clear and clean. A Pocket with Links Awakening, Donkey Kong and Mario Land 2, was my go to for many many years.

I’m hoping at some point I will be able to add more to this hard shell range of Pockets. Maybe the Blue and Clear Pockets. Man! How dope is the official see through Game Boy Pocket?! Probably my fave handheld of all time.

Panasonic Q GameCube Console (eBay Buy It Now)

If you have never seen this console before, then you might not appreciate why it’s so valuable. It was only ever released in Japan and is basically in one little box, a Nintendo GameCube and DVD system. Literally inside is two separate pieces of hardware sharing the same disk drive. Panasonic made the optical drives for the Nintendo GameCube and as part of the deal, were allowed to create their own premium version of the console and this is it. They were crazy expensive when released and as not many sold, have increased in value, due to collector nerds like myself.

I picked this one up for a fair price, that is probably a third, or at least half of what it should be… because it has issues. Not only do I have to find the controller, remote and other elements, it does need some internals replaced and repaired too. But, it works, and is otherwise in pretty decent overall condition.

So this purchase is going to be a little project of mine to work on and restore as and when I can get the bits I need. I will be starting a dedicated article feed and video serious on my YouTube channel about the progress of this restoration process. Which you can find here on RandallMedia. https://www.randallmedia.co.uk/retro/panasonic-q-restoration/

Nintendo 64 Clear Blue & White Controller (eBay Buy It Now)

From the same seller as the Panasonic Q, I managed to pick up this loose controller for the legendary Nintendo 64. This is to pair up with my unboxed clear blue N64 console, which is my go to N64 to play on. Although coming to think of it, I am not so certain if my unboxed N64 is the funtastic clear blue, or the Mario pack clear blue and white. This controller is the latter, having the ice blue top and ice white at the bottom. I may have made a booboo here actually. Oh well, they’ll look dope together anyways.

I know I don’t write about the N64 much at the moment, but rest assured it is one of my faves. It’s just I go through phases and focus from platform to platform. Maybe one day I will do an overview video on what my N64 collection looks like in total.

Not exactly a weekly round up this week. But a single topic that actually could spawn an entire video or podcast on its own. Yellowing of retro consoles is a real thing and un-doing it is a big task. So here’s what I’ve been up to this week.

Game Boy DMG “Play it Loud” Clear – eBay Auction

I already have a diverse collection of Game Boys, you probably won’t be surprised to hear, including original DMGs. but strangely none are of the PLAY IT LOUD coloured housing range – or in this case, lack of any colour with the original see-thru transparent shell. But also, with my lockdown situation, I needed a DMG to measure up for an upcoming project and everything is in storage about 120 miles away. So I needed to grab one on the fly.

This bundle I won on auction after a quick search revealed that Game Boy console prices have risen dramatically since I first started collecting a good 6 years ago, for convenience I probably overpaid here against market prices, but I’m not concerned. Back then most retro shops and even eBay had Yellow ones, pockets and Game Boy Advances for £15-£20. Now, you are lucky to get consoles unboxed for below £30 really. Recently I have even started helping a friend get a Game Boy Colour and he faced exactly this challenge. In this listing I won, it also included some bundled games that are a bonus but nothing I don’t already have. Maybe I will keep them as test carts or pass them on.

What I didn’t realise at the time of bidding this particular one, is despite being in excellent condition otherwise, theres quite a bit of yellowing. Not the end of the world at all, but now I have an added task of restoring this guy as much as possible and reversing the yellowing is a process that takes care. There’s a few different processes to reverse this yellowing; you can use a mixture called Retro-Bite, or some Oxy-Action Whitener, or the

My approach with this guy, is the latter. We have just entered the summer season here in the UK and my garden is South facing, so should be able to get a solid 6-8 hours of direct sunlight for a couple of weeks to see the effects. I did this before with a GameCube Wavebird controller for a friend and did an excellent job. See below photo to show a before an after. So I am very hopeful that I will be able to repeat the same success on this Game Boy and return it to it’s former glory.

Ofcourse, then, my OCD now demands that I get hold of the orginal Play It Loud hard plastic case that it came in. If I can get one with the full retail card inserts, Winning!!

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Saw this video from Colin at Does Not Compute on YouTube and it definitely got my excited. I am and always have been a huge GAME BOY fan. I still collect and play and play game boy games and currently working on a big SNES Game Boy Advance series project. I have done the classic Backlight and divert mod too to a few Game Boys now, including one for my own dear oldest brother Guy. The fact that the backlight kits are even a reality is an engineering feat itself in my opinion – bringing new life to older hardware is fun in so many ways. 

As technology advances in all directions, it means certain components like better quality screens become available, at cheaper prices. Say a hi-res screen panel from a BlackBerry phone a few years back that cost hundreds of pounds, is now cheap enough for someone to utilise in updating a 1980s games console. So using modern components and a little engineering, clever souls can put together new advancements and package them up ready for guys like us to recreate. This new mod is bringing an IPS quality screen with improved colour contrasts to the original DMG bad boys and it looks so good.

Comparing the traditional Backlit & divert mod DMG to the new IPS panel

The full kit takes away a lot of the pain points that a lot of people face when doing the traditional backlit kits. In fact, you remove the entire front PCD where the original DMG screen is permanently attached too. Removing the risk of damaging the original screen and creating the vertical lines seen or breaking it completely, as the old screen is quite fragile. Some will argue though that as you are removing half of the original hardware, you may as well just buy a Raspberry Pi kit like the RetroFlag ones. But, I definitely see the value in this for enjoying original Game Boy cartridges without adding to the frown lines on my soon to be middle-aged face. Check out the video below from ‘

Availability is still rolling out I believe so not widely available in the obvious and usual modding stores yet, but I have found it on eBay here in the UK already for £55. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Game-Boy-Backlit-Screen-LCD-IPS-Color-Kit-Speaker-DMG-Original-V2/254556087461?hash=item3b44b9a4a5:g:wQYAAOSwI5FeguKh

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