Benjamin Stevens wrote:
vuefinder83 wrote:
I work for the school department, and about two and a half years ago or so,there was a very old elementary school in the Riverside section of East Providence that was set for demolition. Myself and a few other guys were called to go there and help salvage any old furniture and desks that could be donated to other schools. Well, imagine my excitement when I walked into the old music room of the school and saw 3 TravelMaster case’s stacked on top of each other, yea I almost died…I opened up each case to take a peek inside and they were all filled with random speaker wires and stuff. I then asked my boss if i can keep the case’s, but he said there were still teachers that were supposed to return to the school to gather the rest of their stuff and said it wouldn’t be a good idea (agreed). Anyway, we didn’t finish the job that day so we all had to return to the school the very next day,but this time I brought my Blockbuster rental case with me for comparisons, and they were all the same cases,only the foam in the TravelMasters were completely ripped out of them. I left a note with my cell # taped to the case’s saying that i would buy them but I never received a call.
Wow… that’s incredible. Was there evidence that foam had originally been in the cases and was later ripped out, or could it be that the cases never had foam for the Virtual Boy inserted into them? I’m wondering now if, perhaps, those cases were originally intended to hold other things, and once Southern Case learned that one of the types of cases they had already been making would be a perfect size for the Virtual Boy system, they simply converted one of their existing cases into a Virtual Boy system carrying case.
Found another TravelMaster case in a school. Height wise, this one is just a little bit smaller than a BlockBuster or TravelMaster case. This one has different latches as well.
The ones mentioned in one of my previous post were the exact size of a BlockBuster case. (Wish I can find that damn phone)
Weird how I keep finding these cases in schools though.
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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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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DrWho198 wrote:
It’s hard to be sure looking at these pics. But if you look at the PCB then it seems like there is a blob at the other side. Which would mean there is an IC there. Not SEEING light doesn’t mean there is no light. I just wonder if it wasn’t IR light. What the purpose of this would be is unknown to me. But with an IC and a IR led you could send out a IR signal that can be received by another device.Maybe some kind of stunt in which the badge is the key in making something happen.
Interesting, I never considered the possibility of it being a infrared device. The LED does kind of look like something you’d see on the front of a remote control or something. If it is, then I have no idea what this device could’ve possibly triggered. Maybe that’s why the technician couldn’t see the light. He told me that he thinks that some of the battery acid found its way in the lens of the LED and damaged it.
DrWho198 wrote:
I know this is a long shot… but it’s all based on it being a blob on the other side of the PCB and the led not giving any light. Although leds do die easily in some conditions.
Now, I dont know jack spit when it comes to circuit boards and junk, but I have a GBA promo button that has a pcb with what appears to be a blob between its two batteries, and this button coincidentally flashes a red LED as well. Im pretty sure it doesn’t send out any signals or anything so does the presence of a blob on a pcb always determine a ic is being used?
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vuefinder83 wrote:
…He tested the light and it works…
It seems I misunderstood him when we had that brief conversation ( sorry ). Allow me to explain just what exactly happened here.
As I mentioned in my first post, I opened the back of this item ever so carefully and a wire became disconnected from the board. When I took it to the first guy, I opened it for him and a second wire became disconnected. So by the time I took it to the second guy both wires connecting the power switch to the board were disconnected. As this guy was checking out the power switch all he did was slightly move the wires and they both fell off in his hand. It was at that time I left it with him. A Couple days later I received a call from him. He was saying that during the removal of the batteries one of the battery holders split at the top and had to be repaired, so he repaired it. After connecting new wires and repairing the battery holder, he then flowed some solder over the needed areas of the pcb, put in new batteries, flicked the switch and nothing happened. Using a multimeter he can see that there was power flowing through the board all the way up to where the light connects to the pcb. So he desoldered the lights wire and connected it to an alternative power source with no luck getting it to turn on, so I decided to have him install a red flashing led with a water clear lens, and here’s why…
In 1996, during the Virtual Boy special value promotion, there weren’t many colors of leds available at that time, with red being one of the most popular ones its very likely that this items led was red flashing. But why would it need 8 batteries to achieve such a simple effect? Well, as I mentioned in one of my previous post, I believe that this lighted medallion was once part of a special value store display, and if it was then that would mean that it was most likely designed to stay turned on for weeks, possibly months at a time just quickly flashing a single red light every second or so at the people who passed by it, wich I think would explain the 8 batteries. Its original light certainly didn’t project/display any images as it turned out to be just a 5mm led.
Another reason I went with a quick flashing red led, is because I believe that the artwork of this item ( minus the text ) is representing a red flash followed by the purplish aurora that one would see if flashed once in the face with this thing =P
Hey, maybe some day another one of these will show up, one that is still fully functional with no battery corrosion and we will then know the true actions of this items original light.
