Hello again,

I just recently acquired a Virtual Boy. However, when I was inspecting it closer it looks like it could be a store display unit. When I looked further into it the eyeshade has screws to hold it onto the VB, the clips are still intact. I haven’t seen a normal VB with these screws except on this website I noticed some of the the countertop displays have these. I also noticed this extra barcode on the bottom of the unit. As well as this very interesting looking sheet metal plate covering where the stand normally goes. Pictures are attached below but I’m curious if I have a display model or just someone modifying their VB for a certain purpose.

Thanks for everyone being so helpful!
-Cameron

Pictures should be attached!

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   img_20190524_233624738-scaled.jpg
   

You’ve definitely got something funky there, very well could be a countertop display unit.

That definitely shows signs of being a unit used for one of the store display types. Check out this post and below it (especially Post # 14) for some details of other store display units owned by people on this site:

https://www.planetvb.com/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?post_id=33167#forumpost33167

+1 on the store display one, I’ve seen one of these in a magazine back in the days and wondered why it had so many visibly artificially added bolts and plates… I understood a couple weeks later that everything that isn’t bolted in place will be stolen, with my bicycle as the main subject of the experience, and that’s how the image of said store display VB remained etched in my mind afterwards!

Yeah, this is definitely the head unit from a display kiosk.. and with that “extra barcode” I can say for sure it came from a Blockbuster Video, for I’ve seen a lot of BB rental cases and head units with the same stickers on them over the years (first picture). So I’ll say this one most likely came off of a “Platform” display, since I believe it was exclusive only to Blockbuster Video.

The screws and metal plate behind the eyeshade holder were used to secure the holder directly to the head unit preventing theft of the eyeshade. Not all store displays used this security method though, as there exist displays without this security.

The head units mounted to displays in a number of different ways, some used metal brackets that hooked to the Virtual Boy’s existing stand mount that were then securely fastened to the display by two screws, whilst others (such as yours) simply relied on a rear locking plate for both holding the head unit to the display’s arm and locking it in place (second picture). But I’m still not quite sure what the metal plate with the three screws under the stand mount was used for, maybe it was a way for Nintendo to say “F you” to a successful theif of a display’s head unit, by preventing them from being able to attach it to a normal retail VB stand?

On mega-rare occasions, you might even come across a VB head unit with a completely different base plate than those from any normal retail unit, made from a solid metal (third picture). These can be mounted using only two screws.

Attachments:

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Thank you everyone for your input and supplying me with links and pictures of various different possible versions of display model this could be.

I think that it is pretty cool I stumbled upon a blockbuster display model without even realizing it! I assumed that the screws holding on the eye shade was an anti-theft device. However, that bracket really is a mystery. It can be seen in the last picture that I posted it was obviously glued in and the bolted on at some point (I’m assuming that is what all that white gunk is in there).

Interesting though is somewhere along the way someone removed this head unit and used it as a normal console. My eBay purchase came with a standard stand (with broken badge and clip of course…) and a standard controller.

The only other question I have is if this model is more sought after than others. I don’t plan to resell it because I find it an interesting piece of console history, but also I have to fix the ribbon cable issue. So if anyone knows the price or rarity of this piece I would appreciate that insight.

Thanks everyone for being so friendly and welcoming!
-Cameron

Now I just have to be careful not to damage that secondary barcode when opening my system…

I don’t know about it being much more valuable or sought after than a standard VB, being that it’s just the head unit and not the rest of the display. I think it’s one of those things where it wouldn’t increase value a ton, but more of a cool thing for the owner to know about the history of the unit.

speedyink wrote:
I don’t know about it being much more valuable or sought after than a standard VB, being that it’s just the head unit and not the rest of the display. I think it’s one of those things where it wouldn’t increase value a ton, but more of a cool thing for the owner to know about the history of the unit.

Yes, exactly everything you just said.

I guess if someone ever got hold of a store display that was missing its original head unit and knew what to look for when tracking one of these down, then I can understand someone coughing up a little extra money to complete their display. But yeah.. as is, it’s not as valuable as a complete display would be. Still a cool find though.

Hey, since we’re all on the topic of store displays here.. did you guys know that there exist an official VB store display unit that’s actually smaller than the Platform display? It’s even smaller than the small Japanese countertop display.

I can post some pictures here, that is if VB Boy doesn’t mind me doing so.

vuefinder83 wrote:

Yes, exactly everything you just said.

I guess if someone ever got hold of a store display that was missing its original head unit and knew what to look for when tracking one of these down, then I can understand someone coughing up a little extra money to complete their display. But yeah.. as is, it’s not as valuable as a complete display would be. Still a cool find though.

Hey, since we’re all on the topic of store displays here.. did you guys know that there exist an official VB store display unit that’s actually smaller than the Platform display? It’s even smaller than the small Japanese countertop display.

I can post some pictures here, that is if VB Boy doesn’t mind me doing so.

I don’t mind at all! I have honestly loved learning about the different displays that were available and I have already learned so much from this community post whatever you might see relevant to store displays!

Thanks for the insight on value, it is a really interesting piece and who knows maybe a display without a head unit might come up one day for me.

-Cameron

vuefinder83 wrote:
did you guys know that there exist an official VB store display unit that’s actually smaller than the Platform display? It’s even smaller than the small Japanese countertop display.

I can post some pictures here, that is if VB Boy doesn’t mind me doing so.

I am very interested in seeing this other display.

VB Boy wrote:

I don’t mind at all!

Cool, just didn’t want to hijack your thread is all.

Benjamin Stevens wrote:

I am very interested in seeing this other display.

Well.. here it is! 🙂

It’s smaller than the North American Platform display and the Japanese countertop because it’s baseless, and only uses a single dangling panel to introduce and instruct you on how to operate a Virtual Boy. It even includes its own set of security braces and chains to secure the display.

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Very cool, even though it’s super basic. Never known about that one. What else have you been hiding from us? =P

vuefinder83 wrote:
It even includes its own set of security braces and chains to secure the display.

So are those braces supposed to be screwed directly into a table top?

That’s pretty neat!I’m assuming that chain would just thread through the legs where the plastic braces kind of make a “hole” in the stand and then it would be bolted down to something?

Thanks for sharing!

speedyink wrote:
What else have you been hiding from us? =P

XD

Nooo, I would never hide anything from you guys. The whole reason I became a member here was so I can share my entire Virtual Boy experience with people that share the same passion for it as I do. But there’s just so much VB going on in my head on a daily that once in a while I’ll forget to post something that I’ve been meaning to. But you can bet I’ll post it once I remember what it was that I wanted to post 🙂

Benjamin Stevens wrote:

So are those braces supposed to be screwed directly into a table top?

VB Boy wrote:
I’m assuming that chain would just thread through the legs where the plastic braces kind of make a “hole” in the stand and then it would be bolted down to something?

Your guesses are as good as mine, for unfortunately, these pictures are from an ebay listing that I lost out on a few years ago. It vanished before I could load the funds to my PayPal. But at least I had taken these screenshots before they were erased from ebay’s history. I can also provide a screenshot of the seller’s description of the display below.

But ey, you win some and lose some, right?

Right?! 🙁

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I actually have the keychain display card, but I didn’t know that it came with the braces and chain to hold down the system on display.

Benjamin Stevens wrote:
I actually have the keychain display card, but I didn’t know that it came with the braces and chain to hold down the system on display.

Nice! That thing is rare as hell!

I’ve seen it before twice in my early years of VB collecting, but both times were just the display card only. I had no idea it was part of an actual store display until I saw the above pictures from ebay.

[Benjamin Stevens]

I honestly wasn’t even sure if the thing was official. It seriously looks like somebody just took the two inserts from a Platform Display and made a keychain card out of them. With this new light, I guess I will now add this item to my collection page.

…

After pulling out the inserts of my platform display and comparing them more closely with the prints used for the keychain display card, I now notice that a much thicker stock of paper was used when making the two-sided VB display card with keychain. So while it does appear that the display card is two platform display inserts stuck together, each one is on a piece of paper that might be two to three times thicker than the paper used for the platform display inserts. Each platform display insert is rather flimsy, while the keychain card is very sturdy.

• This reply was modified 5 years, 5 months ago by Benjamin Stevens.

Benjamin Stevens wrote:
It seriously looks like somebody just took the two inserts from a Platform Display and made a keychain card out of them.

Can you imagine the confusion consumers had when they read that first step to operate this VB display… “adjust headset height; slide up or down for your eye level”, they must’ve been like WTF?! I wonder if any actually grabbed the head unit and stand then tried raising it up like a tripod? 😀

After pulling out the inserts of my platform display and comparing them more closely with the prints used for the keychain display card, I now notice that a much thicker stock of paper was used when making the two-sided VB display card with keychain. So while it does appear that the display card is two platform display inserts stuck together, each one is on a piece of paper that might be two to three times thicker than the paper used for the platform display inserts. Each platform display insert is rather flimsy, while the keychain card is very sturdy.

I appreciate this info, thanks! 🙂