Diary of a Retro Collector: Week 23

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.

The Tribute 64 by RetroBit is maybe not a recognisable form factor for the classic Nintendo 64 controller that everyone knows. It’s actually taking inspiration from the Japanese only released Mini 64 by Hori.

It offers some improvements over the traditional controller and a massive one to start with, a better analogue stick.

• GameCube style thumbs stick. The GameCube still thumbstick foxes everything wrong with the N64 one. Shorter, wider and didn’t wear out so quickly to create that loose wobble that plagued the originals so much.
• Compact traditional gamepad design – As iconic as the trident design is and had logical reason, it ended up being next to pointless as very few games were D-Pad only. This traditional layout is more fitting for Mario 64 sessions, although the actual compact design may put off others with larger mitts.
• Bigger face buttons – definitely makes the experience less fiddly and natural to play on. Also helps those already mentioned with larger hands.
• Better shoulder buttons – technically the shoulder buttons would normally be L & R, but where do you put that Z trigger button? Well, you have both sets of shoulder buttons at the top (like a DualShock pad). One set is L&R, the other Z&R. Sorted!
• Still compatible with mem cards and rumble pack. Fully compatible with the original memory cards and rumble packs. Albeit, with a working rumble pack in the back, the balance is way off, but it always was on the originals too.

The Tribute 64 is at a very affordable price tag too of only about £20 or $25. If, the build quality lives up to the original Hori, then this is an absolute bargain. Highly recommended grabbing some for Smash Bros or Mario Kart sessions, especially after some beers.

There’s even more colours on the way soon too. Retro Bit who make the Tribute 64, ran an online poll to see what additional colours customers would like to see. Surprisingly, number one was the traditional grey pad. These are set to launch in Spring 2020.

I’m actually really disappointed not to see the Smoke Grey coming myself, but at least I can grab an Ocean Blue one now to match my Funtastic N64 console.

Tribute 64 controllers are available online at Amazon for only £18. Bargain.

Source- http://retro-bit.com/tribute64
Amazon – Retro-Bit Tribute 64 for Nintendo 64 – Ocean Blue https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07N7RYX7L/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_Kl6rEbCRQBMRY