Diary of a Retro Collector – Week 20

Here’s a weekly round up of what bits I have added to the Randall Media retro museum of all things gaming and technology. Not an actual museum obviously, but our own treasure trove and collection of awesome hardware, software and products, that are worth talking about.

Official Donkey Kong Country 2 & 3 Strategy Guides – eBay Buy it Now

I only wanted to get my hands on DKC3 guide to complete my SNES trilogy, I have the first one and second one is in my big box edition. I took a gamble on this double listing from the US, but the seller not only undersold how good condition they were on the listing, but they also went above and beyond with making sure they turned up pristine. Huge shout to eBay seller Elceepher for their great service here.

PS One Console Box Only – Facebook marketplace

Some of you know the heartache that is of having original hardware unboxed. But buying complete in box stuff can be way more expensive. So it’s always a win when you find some box only listings for a decent price. Saw this on one of the Facebook seller groups and managed to snag this decent condition box for my PSOne console for less than a tenner. Bear in mind that I picked up the console 5 years ago for a fiver, this is now a huge winner and a great addition to my collection. Stephen Smith is not only a great person on social media to follow, but also the organiser of many north-east retro gaming and collector events. Check out his Collectorabilia website for details on his upcoming events.

PS3 Console Box Only – Facebook Marketplace

Another bundle of console boxes only. Beauty of Facebook groups is that sometimes someone just wants rid of extras they built up quickly and you can jump on them quick and grab some particulars, or in this case two at once. For me, that’s a box for the 40GB chunky PS3 and White Nintendo Wii. Neither of them particularly collectibles yet really, but another set of unboxed consoles of mine that can now go proudly on display in the original packaging. I’m unsure what to do with the Switch box, apart from wonder who’s un-lovingly, discarded their boxes for this great piece of hardware. I might just have to eBay those off for someone, like me, with unboxed hardware and a concerning level of OCD.

Super Famicom Style Game Boy Advance SP – Deadpan Robot

Lastly, a little Game Boy modifying. Now, it’s a bit of a cheat as I bought all the bits necessary for this mod months ago. But due to work commitments, it’s been sitting in a box, waiting to be done. Well, last week I finally took the plunge into doing my first SP re-shell and even installed an IPS screen whilst I was there. The finished result is pretty tasty and perfect for my SNES themed portables and the GBA series I did recently. There were some learnings doing the SP versus other consoles, the two biggest challenges come from the hinge design. First, the ribbon cable has to loop as if to follow the hinge from one side to the other. Then, there’s the hinge caps, jeez… I should have read a tutorial before I started. Anyways,below is a quick time-lapse and video I did of this transition. I guess, I’ll have to design a custom box for this little guy now. 

What awesome treasures have you been collecting recently? Any favourites you wanna share? Come join us on social media to talk about retro collecting.