Not really relevant, but here’s a few more Blockbuster Rental cases (notice that the N64 one uses what appears to be the same sticker dimensions as the VB case):
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Benjamin Stevens wrote:
Well, I must admit that my friend’s memory hasn’t shown itself to be the greatest in the past (if he ever reads this thread, hopefully he won’t take it personally, since I think he can readily admit that his memory isn’t the best at all times). Thus, there is still a possibility that he didn’t get the case at a Toys R Us that used to be in the Indiana Mall. Nevertheless, that is what he remembers and holds to to this day, so I have to post that as his response. Also, he doesn’t remember any box or cover around the case when he got it; it was just the case. Actually, when he was telling me about how he got the case, he did throw out the possibility that he got it at Blockbuster, before he then concluded that he got it at Toys R Us at the mall. So maybe it was among the other Virtual Boy hard cases at Blockbuster when Blockbuster put out all of their VB items for sale.That Jaguar case is, indeed, very nice.
Well, for a non VB collector it would be difficult to expect someone to remember a single and insignificant purchase made some 17 years ago.
Now mind you, “TravelMaster” was the house brand name for the Southern Case Manufacturing company. As you probably know by now, they manufactured suitcases for sears retail locations, hardcases for classic consoles in the 80s, had their own line of TravelMaster Camera cases and licensed game hardcases for rental shops in the late 80s and 90s, and definitely had licensed cases in the 90s exclusively for Blockbuster locations.
The VB TravelMaster case is an enigma to me. While the early console cases such as NES and Megadrive had a generic TravelMaster logo, Consoles as early as the Sega Genesis had a custom sticker or art to represent the company’s logo on the lid of the case. At first I was really hoping to find out that these “TravelMaster” branded cases were exclusive to a specific small shop, such as radio-shack/LA-Tronics Etc. The problem is that before they supplied the common “Blockbuster cases” they have had a very mixed history of selling both licensed and unlicensed cases to who knows where?
Where, when and why these video game cases show up as TravelMaster branded hasn’t been well documented since most other Game collectors for say Sega Genesis couldn’t care less about a 3rd-party hard case in the big picture of Genesis collecting. I can almost guarantee that if you search “Vintage Hard Case” in the Video Games category on eBay today that you’ll find at least one if not multiple Southern Case rental cases for non-VB consoles. Luckily for us VB collectors, the top foam is unique on the VB travelmaster case (meaning that you can’t buy a Jaguar travelmaster and swap the blockbuster foam into it without collectors noticing that it’s a fake). Each console had it’s own unique custom faom for the large bottom portion of the case as well as the top. The Travel Master Virtual boy cases DO NOT have a cut out portion for a VB instruction sticker seen on the blockbuster cases.
For now we know who made the cases, we know that the TravelMaster VB case came before the Blockbuster VB case (in which the blockbuster case was a reproduction mold of the Travelmaster VB case), and we know from a few tiny accounts that TravelMaster branded console rental cases have been found for non VB consoles at small rental shops.
My educated guess is that if you can find an early to mid 90s rental store merchandising catalog that you’ll find your answer there. Did you friend get it at TRU?
#3: Toys R Us? I strongly doubt it. This is a strange case that falls in line with a sub-category of rental items.
#2 Blockbuster? Highly unlikely, Nintendo put their back into pushing VB at Blockbuster before the VB even launched. BB was well prepared for the VB launch with Nintendo’s dime behind the scenes. (Can’t forget the Let’s see 3-D sweepstakes). The VB labeled cases were funded by the Big N, Southern Case didn’t ship generic rental cases to BB.
#1. People have reported purchasing consoles during the 90s with *strange* TravelMaster Branded hardcases at small rental shops. Since none of the sources mentioned VB, I’ll just have to roll with the belief that these travel master cases without pretty N64, Virtual Boy, Sega or Atari Jaguar logos were sold to these small shops at affordable budget prices.
My guess is your buddy bought his console used from a small local rental shop for pennies on the dollar before or after noticing that local big name stores were selling games brand new on clearance for $3.99 and consoles for $19.99.
I really can’t think of a rarer 3rd party VB accessory than this particular hard case, this case makes the “Promo” Mosaic JPN VB Adapter taps look like child’s play.
From eBay statistics Id say it goes in this order from least rare to most rare:
5. Blockbuster hard case
4. Loose Performance soft case
3. Mosaic promo JPN tap
4. *Boxed* Performance soft case
5. TravelMaster Hard Case
In the above post I did mean to order the rarity as 54321.
For kicks I’ll note ALL the VB accessories from least rare to most (Since I need to post this edit anyway).
If you feel differently, feel free to correct it with reason. I have included boxed vs unboxed for the unique items.
1. loose ac adaptor (not really a VB item?)
2. Loose tap (JPN)
3. Loose eye-shade
4. Loose tap (USA)
5. NIB AC Adaptor Tap (JPN)
6. NIB US AC Adaptor Set (USA)
7. Blockbuster Hard case
8. Stereo Headphones
9. NIB Eye-shade
10. loose Performance adaptor
11. NIB Headphones.
12. Loose Performance soft case
13. Boxed Performance adaptor.
14. NIB AC Adaptor Set (Mexico)
15. Mosaic promo JPN tap
16. *Boxed* Performance soft case
17. TravelMaster Hard Case
It’s not exactly a list of monetary value, but can you die-hard VB collectors agree with the rarity?
If I ran PVB, assuming the same RARITY list, I’d label them as such 1 to 5:
1-. loose ac adaptor (not really a VB item?)
1. Loose tap (JPN)
1. Loose eye-shade
1. Loose tap (USA)
2. NIB AC Adaptor Tap (JPN)
2. NIB US AC Adaptor Set (USA)
2+. Blockbuster Hard case
3-. loose Performance adaptor
3-. loose Stereo Headphones
3. NIB Stereo Headphones
3. NIB Eye-shade
3. Loose Performance soft case
4. Boxed Performance adaptor
5. NIB AC Adaptor Set (Mexico)
5. Mosaic promo JPN tap
5+. NIB Performance soft case
5++. TravelMaster Hard Case
With such a handful of very rare VB accessories, I think the VB accessories need the same 1/10 rarity rating that games themselves get. Rarity does not mean value, but is worth noting.
With 100+ Blockbuster hard cases showing up a year, and maybe 6 boxed performance ACs? 1 Boxed performance soft-case for every 30 soft-cases posted a year?
The realistic attainability of a few of these rare items is simply ridiculous for those that wish to buy them. 3 Virtual Bowling carts show up for every 1 Travel Master case. While desirability may be different, it simply doesn’t change rarity itself.
Well, my package should arrive tomorrow. The fun is… I’m *not* certain that it’s a TravelMaster at all. I saw a picture of an open case, and took a gamble. I have a good eye, and this case will be a TravelMaster unless the below photograph is photoshopped. Luck is a calculated mix of timing and patience.
Success or Failure, I’ll post pics tomorrow.
If she’s a TravelMaster, she’ll be available for sale or trade.
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This reply was modified 12 years, 10 months ago by .
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This reply was modified 12 years, 10 months ago by .
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On a strange note, both the 1st & 2nd TravelMaster case I purchased were bundled with high serial number consoles included. In the first case, I purchased it without the console because I thought why bother with a console that couldn’t possibly be in the serial range that was bundled with a case from a rental shop? The second case came with a serial around 519k (highest serial registered on this site is 629k). The more I learn about this case, the more curious it becomes. For the record, both my cases came from sellers that didn’t know what they had.
Benjamin, what serial is your friend’s console? Maybe these cases really WERE INDEED sold during the downfall? I really expected the included consoles to have a serial far less than 100k when a rental shop would have had incentive to…rent them. I’ll dig through my records and see if I can find the serial number of the console I passed up that was with my first TravelMaster case. All I remember was that it was high, and I denounced it from inclusion with my deal for the case based on the serial. If your friend’s serial is 500k plus, maybe these things were sold at Toys R Us in the end game? I find it very confusing to get not one but two rare “rental?” cases with high serial consoles when no rental shop would have been renting them at that time. Was this case retail afterall?
I mean, whenever I buy a Blockbuster rental case with a bundled console, I always get a blockbuster rental era serial number. If these cases were rentals, you’d think not only would they have low serials, but VERY low serial. Instead, my two have had high serials. Maybe Sothern case was unloading overstock when the VB failed, thus didn’t have case lids left over with the warning sticker and case lid with Nintendo’s VB sticker that they wouldn’t have legally been allowed to sell?
