So…the first four games arrived: Golf, Panic Bomber, Vertical Force, and Virtual League Baseboll 95. Vertical Force and Panic Bomber seems to be new (supposed to be never played). The two others are in ok shape. No worries, as I have other copies on the way (as part of a bundle I won). It’s a weird feeling gently opening a new old game box. I mean, these boxes and games are about 25 years old but still in mint condition!
Golf, PB and VF i got from the same seller through Tradera (Swedish Ebay). My goal was actually to get four Virtual Boy games he was selling but I missed out on Mario´s Tennis as I wasn’t paying attention (haha). In hindsight that is totally fine as the box was not in great shape anyway.
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It was late in the evening on the 21st of July, when I sat down by my computer. I had been eagerly awaiting the auctions to end–or to almost end, I should say. You see, I was planning on using my, in no way original, well used tactic of “sniping” to aquire the four games I had my mind set on (MUHA HA HA!).
As the count down drew closer to around 60 seconds, my heart was beating faster and faster. Were these forgotten old games meant to be the start of my Virtual Boy collection or would the dream continue to be just that–a dream? Time would tell, and it would tell it very soon.
60s: Time to get ready. I hit refresh.
30s: My palms were sweaty.
24s: One last refresh. Knees weak.
15s: My arms were heavy.
10s: …
9s: …
8s: …MOM´S SPAGHETTI…I HIT “Lägg bud”!(bid).
0s: Auction won!
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And that…is the story of how Vertical Force was won, at 23:05 local time. It felt great! Now it was only a matter of repeating the procedure with the other games, which in the end, resulted in three won games and the start of a Virtual Boy collection.
VLB 95 was ordered from Retrogames (UK) as I also wanted their Retrogames Magazine issue #22 which features an article on the VB, which I have yet to read.
I got the Nintendo Power issue 75 from Ebay a while ago. The cards are still attached to the magazine, but it’s missing the glasses and the poster.
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@Minggus: Thank you! 🙂
@Patrik: Thanks! I have a couple of bundles on the way so I will wait until those have arrived until I get more games. I really appreciate the help though!
The latest addition: Red Alarm. Ordered it from Japan via Ebay. Too bad about the tax (wasn´t sure about how much the tax was going to be but now I know), but the price was still ok. It´s a nice feeling unboxing an almost 25 year old game 🙂
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So the VB arrived today! Right away I noticed it was kind of loose in the box which had me worried (as it didn´t come with the cardboard). It was wrapped up pretty good in bubble wrap though.
A disappointing thing, after inspecting the parts closer, which was not mentioned in the auction or visible in the photos, is a hairline crack in the center plastic part. Also, Golf (which was included), had just been thrown in the console-box without any protection whatsoever, which has resulted in a dented game-box. I will of course talk to the seller about these issues.
Other than that I´m very happy with the VB. I started up Red Alarm and damn, it´s a much better experience than what I expected! 😀 It´s really awesome. My neck, which is already not super, will take a beating though so I will have to figure out a solution for that. I saw a tripod mount on Ebay which I might get.
Some questions:
1) Is the IPD dial supposed to be kind of hard to turn? (feels thick, for lack of a better word to describe it).
2) The screens seems perfectly fine. I can´t see any issues. I assume it´s still a good idea to get the “solder fix” or should I wait until they start giving me problems?
3) Do you think the hairline crack on the plastic part will get worse if I use the stand while playing?
Thanks!
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@speedyink: I played the VB for a while today testing out my new games (see below) and didn’t notice any glitching so not sure what’s up with that, but I’ll get the console fixed in due time anyway.
I totally agree about Red Alarm. I had seen footage of the game prior to playing it, and based on that, I thought it was going to be really confusing. It wasn’t, when I actually tried it out for myself.
I received a bundle of games (Red Alarm, Panic Bomber, Vertical Force, Golf, Baseball 95, Mario’s Tennis, Teleroboxer, Galatic Pinball, V-Tetris and Space Squash) the other day which I got for a really good price. I also got Wario Land from the same seller for an ok price.
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It was 1:19 AM local time.
Had I slept at all? I wasn’t sure.
It didn’t matter though, because I was wide awake now. No time for snoozing.
In approximately three minutes my virtual Boy collection would either grow significantly or remain humble.
1:22 AM. The last minute was upon me.
Tick, tock. Tick, tock.
Soon it was all to be over, and I would either go back to sleep with a smile on my face,
or lay wide awake long into the night, pondering what I could have done different.
10 seconds left. SONIC BOOM! I entered my max bid, and lo and behold–another auction won!
Another day, another night,
some more games won in an exciting fight.
Now–time to sleep. Don’t let the bed bugs bite!
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Beside the games, I also got the VB headphones via a Dutch game site. The box is in really good shape, as are the headphones.
