Freshly added to my collection, is this very interesting Galactic Pinball VidPro insert card. This card has a unusual design compared to the Virtual Boy VidPro cards that we know of (like the Panic Bomber one for example). We all know VidPro cards were used in stores to allow customers to look at the front and back of a games box without actually touching the games box, and thats where this card gets even more interesting.

It has a completely different game play image of Galactic Pinball compared to its retail version. Grab your copy of Galactic Pinball and check it out for yourself! It’s even missing the games model number wich should appear above the barcode.

Could this card possibly be a prototype / preproduction of the Galactic Pinball VidPro card that we know of pictured on this site?

Does finding this card suggest the existence of other VB VidPro cards of this nature, with different in-game images compared to their retail versions?

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Is that a picture from Space Pinball? The score text looks way bigger than the final version, I think (you’d think I’d remember, I played it like 2 days ago..gonna have to check again).

speedyink wrote:
Is that a picture from Space Pinball? The score text looks way bigger than the final version …

It’s definitely not space pinball. I noticed that the puck counter thats supposed to be under the score is missing. And what the heck are all those artifacts under and around the UFO? Stars? Meteors? Did they snap this photo just as the opening title sequence to the UFO stage was happening?

Even looking at this card in person it’s hard to tell.

I also noticed that the tube the puck shoots through is missing on the retail version. Pretty strange.

Very nice find! It’s amazing how scarce the Virtual Boy VidPro cards are. Practically impossible to find any of them these days. Probably because all of them were thrown away and/or burned, unfortunately.

Yeah, VidPro cards were definitely made a good while before the release of the games they show, especially since the legendary Dragon Hopper VidPro card is known to exist. Thus, one might expect more VidPro cards to show screenshots of games, which later got changed for their final versions.

Benjamin Stevens wrote:
Very nice find! It’s amazing how scarce the Virtual Boy VidPro cards are. Practically impossible to find any of them these days…

Thanks! Yeah VB VidPro cards are crazy rare! Probably impossible to collect a full set. Unless someone stumbles upon a new unopened box of them, collecting them one at a time will take many many years…

Benjamin Stevens wrote:
VidPro cards were definitely made a good while before the release of the games they show…

Looking at this card now, I can see that it seems as though it was so early in production, that the overall layout of the front of it, later became the final layout for the back of the VB VidPro cards that we’re familiar with. With the Virtual Boy logo at the top, followed by a picture of a games box, and then the black rectangular text field with white text being changed from a games title, to the slogan “3-D Technology puts you in the game!”

Oh, looking at this Panic Bomber card reminds me…

Ever notice how the back of the PB box, refers to the Dracula boss as Count Dracu-“Doom” but in the actual game his name is Count Dracu-“boom”?

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vuefinder83 wrote:

Ever notice how the back of the PB box, refers to the Dracula boss as Count Dracu-“Doom” but in the actual game his name is Count Dracu-“boom”?

Interesting. So the open question would be: Was it a last minute change of name by the developers, or just a typo on the back of the box? Since the “Doom” name appears on the commercially released box, I guess I’d have to lean towards the typo answer. Even if that’s the case, though, it could still show that the “Doom” name was discussed as a possibility among the developers.

Nice Pictures!

sjp2 wrote:
Nice Pictures!

Agreed

Nanis149 wrote:

sjp2 wrote:
Nice Pictures!

Agreed

Thanks guys! These next ones might suck though 😛

Benjamin Stevens wrote:

Interesting. So the open question would be: Was it a last minute change of name by the developers, or just a typo on the back of the box? Since the “Doom” name appears on the commercially released box, I guess I’d have to lean towards the typo answer. Even if that’s the case, though, it could still show that the “Doom” name was discussed as a possibility among the developers.

I agree. Most likely a typo since it only appears on the box. This was just something that I noticed a long time ago and finally found a chance to bring it up.

Just in case anyone was wondering, the VB VidPro cards measure just under 5 inches wide and just under 7 inches high, so they can fit nice and snug in the actual 5×7″ clear pockets of a Pocket Plak System.
The only picture of these clear pockets that I can find, was from a Pocket Plak System dedicated to the SEGA Genesis. It should still give you a good idea of what they looked like.
(The picture was already blurry to begin with so please excuse the poor quality)

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Some scans of the Galactic PinBall VidPro Card Variant…

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I remember the clear pockets from back in the day. Every local Toys R Us had them. I miss flipping them up to read more about the game.

Lester Knight wrote:
I remember the clear pockets from back in the day. Every local Toys R Us had them. I miss flipping them up to read more about the game.

Yeah I remember them from Toys R Us too. I remember me and my cousin going around and mixing up all the slips that you use to redeem your item at the desk.

Good times! =P

vuefinder83 wrote:

Lester Knight wrote:
I remember the clear pockets from back in the day. Every local Toys R Us had them. I miss flipping them up to read more about the game.

Yeah I remember them from Toys R Us too. I remember me and my cousin going around and mixing up all the slips that you use to redeem your item at the desk.

Good times! =P

But when you lose one, nobody can buy it.

It never occurred to me back then that some day I might be discussing their shelving system all these years later. I wish I had taken some photos of the isles and the displays. I remember they had this glass case that was about half the length of an isle that had all of the consoles and handhelds inside of it. The back side had Sega games across from Nintendo. The far end of the isle had the Turbo Express. It was here that I first tried a VB. I like to think it was Mario Tennis that they had running, but to be honest I can’t recall. I remember thinking it was cool but I didn’t feel it was worth the $150ish asking price. Then when they dumped the system a few months later they had bins full of games for next to nothing, same with Block Buster. I wish I had grabbed them by the dozen. LOL. Hindsight — right?

Lester Knight wrote:
It was here that I first tried a VB. I like to think it was Mario Tennis that they had running, but to be honest I can’t recall.

It very well could’ve been Mario’s Tennis that you played that day. Check out this cart only copy of MT that I own, it has the same warranty sticker on the back of it that one might expect to find on the back side of the Wario Land and Red Alarm store kiosk demo versions.

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Lester Knight wrote:
It never occurred to me back then that some day I might be discussing their shelving system all these years later. I wish I had taken some photos of the isles and the displays. I remember they had this glass case that was about half the length of an isle that had all of the consoles and handhelds inside of it. The back side had Sega games across from Nintendo. The far end of the isle had the Turbo Express. It was here that I first tried a VB. I like to think it was Mario Tennis that they had running, but to be honest I can’t recall. I remember thinking it was cool but I didn’t feel it was worth the $150ish asking price. Then when they dumped the system a few months later they had bins full of games for next to nothing, same with Block Buster. I wish I had grabbed them by the dozen. LOL. Hindsight — right?

My hindsight is no longer 20/20, too many hours on the Virtual Boy have zapped my eyes 😉

Me and my dad used to collect various things- video games, Hot Wheels, Simpsons merch, etc. We always went to stores or restaurants doing promos to ask for the display items that may be thrown out. I specifically remember the smarmy cashiers at my local game stores refusing to give out gaming display items for some reason. Usually I’d wait til the game was old news and ask if I could have the oversized display box or something, but most of them said no. Seems like I was doing them a favor since they wouldn’t have to break it down themselves O_o