Now here’s a interesting unit!

I found this Virtual Boy on ebay about 5-6 years ago. Check out the bottom of this unit, pretty strange aint it! According to the sellers auction description it was obtained through an estate sale of a longtime Nintendo Employee.

Another thing that was really weird was that included with this unit was a brand-new controller and a brand-new stand, both unused in their original baggies. Its weird because this unit obviously will not attach to a normal VB retail table stand.

It looks like something that the Employee was working on but then stopped in the middle of the project due to the VB being cancelled. Its like the Employee decided to take the unit home but first stopped by the parts department and picked up a brand-new stand and controller.

This auction ended during a bad time for me, so I ended up losing the auction. To me, this is the one that got away.

(Sorry for the poor picture quality)

What do you guys think about this strange VB unit?

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vuefinder83 wrote:
Now here’s a interesting unit!

I found this Virtual Boy on ebay about 5-6 years ago. Check out the bottom of this unit, pretty strange aint it! According to the sellers auction description it was obtained through an estate sale of a longtime Nintendo Employee.

Another thing that was really weird was that included with this unit was a brand-new controller and a brand-new stand, both unused in their original baggies. Its weird because this unit obviously will not attach to a normal VB retail table stand.

It looks like something that the Employee was working on but then stopped in the middle of the project due to the VB being canceled. Its like the Employee decided to take the unit home but first stopped by the parts department and picked up a brand-new stand and controller.

This auction ended during a bad time for me, so I ended up losing the auction. To me, this is the one that got away.

(Sorry for the poor picture quality)

What do you guys think about this strange VB unit?

Pretty cool! Now if only the employee also had DH… :p

(Next time you can’t actually BID on something, just list it with a “snipe service”; I use one that allows 3 free bids per week, but the free function has been known to bid at 16 seconds; only when you bid at 5 seconds or less, does your competition have no time to compete!)…

That is weird looking alright…those silver holes almost look like a threaded spot for something to screw in. With the bottom piece being so flat, I wonder if this unit was attached to some prototype tabletop stand. I’m not familiar with the store display units, did they have this kind of special arrangement on the bottom?

Also, is the part of the foam visor that should go against your forehead missing? It almost looks that way.

HP Lovethrash wrote:
That is weird looking alright…those silver holes almost look like a threaded spot for something to screw in. With the bottom piece being so flat, I wonder if this unit was attached to some prototype tabletop stand. I’m not familiar with the store display units, did they have this kind of special arrangement on the bottom?

Also, is the part of the foam visor that should go against your forehead missing? It almost looks that way.

Im very familiar with the store display units, and I can say with 100 percent certainty that this is not one of them. All store display units have a normal under side with a serial number. And the visor is just a normal one, it just seems like that because of the sellers camera angle.

Here’s the item description from the auction, I figured I’d throw it in. Its very blurry because at the time my cell phone didn’t have a screenshot option, so I had to hold the camera up to the computer monitor. But heres what it says.

” we recently had the pleasure of coming across an estate of a longtime Nintendo employee. We were able to obtained a lot of rare and hard to find Nintendo items.

This is a Virtual Boy system. It comes with the Virtual Boy head unit, controller, stand, eyepiece and visor as well as the Virtual Boy AC adapter tap. It does NOT include the actual AC adapter. The stand is still in the original bag and the cord for the controller is still unraveled. I dont believe this unit has ever been used, but it does have some scuffs from storage over the years. The battery compartment is nice and clean and appears to never have had batteries put in it. ”

To the seller of this unit, this was just an average Virtual Boy. But to a VB collector, its a treasure.

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i don’t think it was anything special. it is hard to tell but to me it looks like a few drill holes for mounting to something. if this was indeed from the home of a nintendo employee, perhaps this person simply mounted it in their cubicle or via a custom stand that allowed for more sturdy testing/debugging/etc. i’ve never seen mention of these holes found in other VB units (testing units, dev units, etc), which makes me think it isn’t anything “official” at all. if anything, it has a neat history (wish we really knew the details). as far as value, its looks like an off-the-shelf VB with some holes in it that shouldn’t be there.

Lester Knight wrote:
i don’t think it was anything special. it is hard to tell but to me it looks like a few drill holes for mounting to something. if this was indeed from the home of a nintendo employee, perhaps this person simply mounted it in their cubicle or via a custom stand that allowed for more sturdy testing/debugging/etc. i’ve never seen mention of these holes found in other VB units (testing units, dev units, etc), which makes me think it isn’t anything “official” at all. if anything, it has a neat history (wish we really knew the details). as far as value, its looks like an off-the-shelf VB with some holes in it that shouldn’t be there.

Idk man, its not just the part that the stand attaches to thats different, its the whole plate that has the 6 screws on it as well. To me it just seems like alot of work to customize that entire part just for a employee to work comfortably. I wish I knew the real story behind this unit, its been on my mind ever since I lost the auction years ago.

Pictured below is a drawing of what those “holes” actually look like.

( I had to draw them because I cant get a clear enough image of them, so please excuse my bad drawing skills )

Anyone ever see anything like that before?

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Here are some of my thoughts, which help to confirm vuefinder83’s determination that the unique base plate was likely something that the Nintendo employee him- or herself was working on:

If one looks at the picture of the Virtual Boy on this thread with the unique base plate for mounting, one will notice that to the left and right of this base plate, to which some sort of stand should attach, there are the two square-shaped indentations which appear on the later Virtual Boys. It’s hard to tell for sure if these sections contain any written information molded onto them, but the early prototypes had absolutely no moldings on these sections whatsoever and were, therefore, completely flat. I do see what appears to be certain moldings on the two sections in the picture, so if I had to guess, I would say that this Virtual Boy does contain the written information molded onto them, as did the later Virtual Boys, which helps to show that this Virtual Boy was made at least further on into the pre-production phase, but it could also be a regular retail unit that got altered.

But in any case, the very first Virtual Boys made during the pre-production phase did not contain these two square-shaped, indented sections. The Pre-Production Model (JPN) shown on this site doesn’t have them, and the Shoshinkai 1994 prototype shown on this site doesn’t have them either, while the later Pre-Production Model 2 (JPN) and Pre-Production Model (USA) do have them without moldings, and all the regular retail units have them with the moldings. At the same time, the two earliest prototype models known, the Pre-Production Model (JPN) and the Shoshinkai 1994 prototype, do indeed have the same base plate, to which the current retail stands attach. From this evidence, I think we can safely determine the origin of the unique base plate pictured on this thread, to which some sort of stand should attach.

Now, if this base plate were an official one made by Nintendo, this would mean that Nintendo would have had the current base plate’s concept decided for the time of the Virtual Boy’s showing at the Shoshinkai Software Exhibition in 1994 and would have also produced several systems with such base plate, before it decided to add the two squared-shaped indentations to the bottom of the Virtual Boy. Then, for a very brief time during the pre-production phase, Nintendo would have changed its concept for the base plate to the one pictured on this thread and would have also decided to add the two square-shaped indentations, after which at least one Virtual Boy system was then also manufactured as such. However, also a very short time later, while still in the pre-production phase, Nintendo would have then reverted back to the original base plate’s concept while still retaining the concept of the two square-shaped indentations and then also produced several pre-production systems accordingly.

To me, all of that seems rather unlikely, so I would have to say that the presence of the two square-shaped indentations on the pictured Virtual Boy with the unique mounting plate, regardless of whether or not the two square sections contain any written information on them, is strong evidence that the unique mounting plate must have simply been the work of the Nintendo employee, who wanted to make his own mount, and so he had his own base plate custom made for such by some means. If it wasn’t for those two sections, I would have been tempted to conclude that there was the possibility for it being the earliest prototype of the Virtual Boy ever discovered. The unique base plate certainly looks like it was made very professionally.

Wow! Very good observations, Ben. Not only very informative but also a really good read.

Thank you very much for that!

Attached is a picture of this unit as a whole for documentation purposes.

Zoom in on this picture and you can clearly see the information in the squares as mentioned.

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Attached is a scan of the only altered base plate among all of my Virtual Boys. It came on the head unit included with my USA Platform Display. In this case, it is evident that somebody just cut out a square piece of metal, which has gotten a bit rusty over the years, and drilled 3 screws into it, attaching it to the standard base plate that came with all retail Virtual Boys. It serves no purpose for the platform display itself, so I can only guess that the store that once had my platform display also had some other custom-made mount that once held this VB unit, and the Virtual Boy got attached to this mount using the 3 screws. This is actually the kind of thing that I’d expect with a custom mount. An entirely different base plate takes things to a whole other level.

Speaking of store display units, has anybody ever seen a complete-in-box platform display or counter version or floor model display? I imagine that they probably came in a shipping box of sorts, which likely had official markings on the outside and compartments and packing material on the inside. Nevertheless, I have never seen such a box or inner materials. Also, am I right that all Virtual Boy systems used with such displays came in the standard retail system boxes, or were these systems specially packaged inside the boxes for the displays, along with the large displays to go with them?

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Benjamin Stevens wrote:
am I right that all Virtual Boy systems used with such displays came in the standard retail system boxes, or were these systems specially packaged inside the boxes for the displays, along with the large displays to go with them?

I truly believe that all Virtual Boys that came with the store displays were once packaged inside the box that the store displays were package in. Why? Because store display VB units have a custom metal plate behind the visor that allows you to screw the visor on so nobody stole them off the display. If you look at the instructions on how to assemble a platform display ( pictured on this site in the store display section ) you’ll notice that it says nothing about screwing the visor in, wich leads me to believe that the head units already came with the displays with the visors already screwed on and all an employee would have to do is lock the head unit in place.

Its thought that all USA white boxed Virtual Boys were for the store displays, simply because the box says ” for interactive display “, but I truly believe these units were for exactly what the box says ” for interactive display ” meaning “display” it out of the box and let people “interact” with it. They did come with everything needed to do so other than a game.

Now, I’ve owned 3 white boxed Virtual Boys ( yeah I know I have a problem ) and one seller could only tell me he got it from a Nintendo employee. The other 2 sellers both mentioned old videogame conventions / tradeshows in the 90S, and one of them even went as far to say that he had the job of going around and securing these units to tables at such tradeshows / conventions.

Another reason why I Feel white boxed VBs and VBs that came on the store displays are different, is because the counter display and the floor model display have a special wire included with them that I never seen packaged with one of my white boxed units, wich out of the 3 I owned 2 were still “New”.

Im currently at work but I’ll try posting a picture of this wire tonite when I get home.

Upon further inspection of this “special wire” I can see that it appears to be another contoller cord.

Picture-1 shows the display with the head unit removed to reveal the controller cord that connects to the head unit.

Picture-2 shows the back of the display, where one can clearly see what appears to be another controller cord within the rail that the head unit slides up and down on. Its plugged into another controller port on the bottom of the rail.

I’ve never seen this wire packed with one of my “New” white box Virtual Boys. Wich is another reason why I think the store displays had their own Virtual Boys specifically for them packed in a store displays shipping box.

I could be wrong, these are just my thoughts.

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That is very interesting indeed. I’ve previously thought, even with the knowledge of what was written on the platform display’s instructions, that maybe Nintendo would have simply had complete-in-box retail systems placed inside the shipping boxes that also included the platform displays, especially since the platform display’s instructions state that it included a Virtual Boy system with “Mario Tennis” (interesting that it was spelled without the apostrophe and “s,” as was the case with the later games in the series). So to me it seemed that it would have been easy for them to have just packed a complete retail system box, which already would have included Mario’s Tennis in addition to the system, inside the shipping box that had a separate compartment for the platform display. Of course, this would mean that the standard retail stand for the Virtual Boy included inside the retail system box might never be used for anything, since it served no purpose with the platform display. Nevertheless, I did not realize that the metal plate behind the visor is something that appears on all store display units. I actually thought that the store that used to have my relevant head unit cleverly added it themselves to prevent theft, since they evidently must have made the alteration to the base plate themselves. Therefore, it does make sense that if Nintendo itself took the extra step to add the metal plates to the head units for the store displays, then they probably also did not originally package those head units inside the retail system boxes along with Mario’s Tennis, in which case the specially made head unit got its own place inside the platform display’s shipping box and, therefore, no retail stands had to be possibly wasted.

As for the white-box systems, I would have to say that the Virtual Boy Serial Number Inventory probably helps to show that the white-box systems had their own separate purposes than just to be for the store displays, since the serial numbers for all of the known white-box systems fall below the first two thousand systems mass-produced, while the serial numbers for the store display units reach up into the thirty thousands. Thus, the white-box systems were probably used solely for much earlier purposes, such as for tradeshows prior to the Virtual Boy’s launch, and there, as you said, they could have stood on their own for interactive display purposes, and that literally, since they came with their own stands that are the same for the retail units. The store display units, on the other hand, would have been used for somewhat later purposes, perhaps right before and certainly shortly after the Virtual Boy’s launch, and if it’s true that Nintendo made their own unique head unit for each store display, without simply using up an already-packaged retail system with the standard stand, then it could very well be that white-box systems were not at all intended to be used with the store displays, since that would have caused their stands included with them to be possibly wasted.

Does the metal plate behind the visor of your platform display look exactly like the one in the attached photo?

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vuefinder83 wrote:
Does the metal plate behind the visor of your platform display look exactly like the one in the attached photo?

Yes, it sure does.

Ok. I just wanted to be sure, because if that metal plate on the bottom of your platform display unit was custom, then there might’ve been a chance the visor plate was custom as well.

Benjamin Stevens wrote:
the platform display’s instructions state that it included a Virtual Boy system with “Mario Tennis”

And thats another reason to believe that the white box Virtual Boys were Not for the store displays, as the white box says ” Virtual Boy W/O Software “.

vuefinder83 wrote:
Ok. I just wanted to be sure, because if that metal plate on the bottom of your platform display unit was custom, then there might’ve been a chance the visor plate was custom as well.

Benjamin Stevens wrote:
the platform display’s instructions state that it included a Virtual Boy system with “Mario Tennis”

And thats another reason to believe that the white box Virtual Boys were Not for the store displays, as the white box says ” Virtual Boy W/O Software “.

What does a white box VB (with box of course) go for these days, might put mine up for sale. Haven’t seen one available in years…

GEZ wrote:

What does a white box VB (with box of course) go for these days, might put mine up for sale. Haven’t seen one available in years…

Its hard to tell how much these systems are worth because they rarely ever surface in auctions. I’ve seen one complete in box with the box beat to hell, sell in a auction for about $700 about 3 years ago.

So I’ll say that they’re worth more than the japan mosaic box demo systems. That should give you a good idea.

If you are selling yours, then I would suggest you place it in a auction and let the collectors fight over it. I imagine there to be alot of collectors just waiting for one of these White Box units to complete their Boxed Virtual Boy collection.

Have you submitted the Serial Number of your White Box Demo unit to the Virtual Boy Serial Number Inventory yet?

So glad I am not a completionist! That would have gotten me bankrupt in case of the VB.

vuefinder83 wrote:

GEZ wrote:

What does a white box VB (with box of course) go for these days, might put mine up for sale. Haven’t seen one available in years…

Its hard to tell how much these systems are worth because they rarely ever surface in auctions. I’ve seen one complete in box with the box beat to hell, sell in a auction for about $700 about 3 years ago.

So I’ll say that they’re worth more than the japan mosaic box demo systems. That should give you a good idea.

If you are selling yours, then I would suggest you place it in a auction and let the collectors fight over it. I imagine there to be alot of collectors just waiting for one of these White Box units to complete their Boxed Virtual Boy collection.

Have you submitted the Serial Number of your White Box Demo unit to the Virtual Boy Serial Number Inventory yet?

Yeah, it’s in there. Auction is probably the way to go when it’s hard to price like this….

What does a white box VB (with box of course) go for these days, might put mine up for sale. Haven’t seen one available in years…

I am pretty sure a white box system came up for under $300 buy it now within the last few months. I almost bought it because I had never seen one before and it seemed like a great deal…it was probably something $250 or less to be honest. Maybe i should have picked it up, but I didn’t really know what the white box was for at that point and couldn’t justify the price tag for it :p