-
Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.
GB/GBC/GBA Collecting Thread
- Thread starter tiggerkiddo
- Start date
D
Deleted member 126221
Unconfirmed Member
Just got a SP-101 in great condition for $50... Maybe a bit expensive, but I've been looking for one for a long time. Wow, the screen is a LOT better than the original SP, it's like night and day.
Haven't played GBA games in a long time, but now I feel like getting some new ones. Too bad the best ones are already pretty expensive...
I'm also considering getting an EZ-Flash IV for my new SP-101, to have all my games with me when I carry the GBA, and maybe play some fan-translation (Mother 3... I think Rhythm Tengoku was translated recently also? Anything else?). I guess Realhotstuff is the only place left carrying those?
Haven't played GBA games in a long time, but now I feel like getting some new ones. Too bad the best ones are already pretty expensive...
I'm also considering getting an EZ-Flash IV for my new SP-101, to have all my games with me when I carry the GBA, and maybe play some fan-translation (Mother 3... I think Rhythm Tengoku was translated recently also? Anything else?). I guess Realhotstuff is the only place left carrying those?
I ordered one for my brother from there and had no issues. It took awhile to arrive but so does all stuff from Hong Kong.
Completely legit, used them for years.
Agent Unknown
Member
Ok, so I got my backlit modded AGB 001 today which I bought from an eBay dealer and unfortunately it has some issues. One warning sign was that it was packed very poorly, just came in a small, simple bubble envelope with no additional padding. Then when I took it out, I was really worried because there appeared to be two huge scratches on the screen. Fortunately they were just on the surface of an adhesive screen protector, after I peeled it off they were gone but there is still a hairline scratch near the top of the screen but fortunately it's not visible when the screen is on.
Now on to the REAL problems. Apparently this guy didn't use kid gloves when doing the mod because there is a bunch of dust specks stuck behind the screen panel and at least 3-4 of them show up in the middle of the screen when playing and are very noticeable to the point they look like dead pixels. You can't tell from the pics below because of the lighting. Now the worst part. The screen backlight seems to have a defect or some kind of damage, as you'll notice in the pics below, the upper right hand corner of the screen has a semi-crescent spot which is grayed out. This becomes noticeable when moving or when you're playing in an area with lighter color palettes. I'm going to get in touch with the dealer first unless folks have any ideas, this lack of care is unacceptable considering I paid about $94 for this and it was advertised as "mint." It's a shame because if it weren't for these two issues I'd be all set as the rest of the screen looks brilliant.
Clear spot in upper right corner of screen, not glare that is on the backlight itself:
Second pic with light on, if you look closely you can see the spot still showing up, like part of the backlight has dimmed or slightly burned out:
Now on to the REAL problems. Apparently this guy didn't use kid gloves when doing the mod because there is a bunch of dust specks stuck behind the screen panel and at least 3-4 of them show up in the middle of the screen when playing and are very noticeable to the point they look like dead pixels. You can't tell from the pics below because of the lighting. Now the worst part. The screen backlight seems to have a defect or some kind of damage, as you'll notice in the pics below, the upper right hand corner of the screen has a semi-crescent spot which is grayed out. This becomes noticeable when moving or when you're playing in an area with lighter color palettes. I'm going to get in touch with the dealer first unless folks have any ideas, this lack of care is unacceptable considering I paid about $94 for this and it was advertised as "mint." It's a shame because if it weren't for these two issues I'd be all set as the rest of the screen looks brilliant.
Clear spot in upper right corner of screen, not glare that is on the backlight itself:
Second pic with light on, if you look closely you can see the spot still showing up, like part of the backlight has dimmed or slightly burned out:
Agent Unknown
Member
Aww man, I am so sorry to hear that
Yeah, me too.
He had really good feedback so I thought I'd be OK. I will wait on posting the dealer's ID until I've tried to thoroughly sort this out with both he and ebay. I'm guessing aside from cleaning the dust specks the backlight itself is faulty and needs to be replaced? Also here is a pic of the gray/dark dust specs showing up really bad, you can see them above the clouds to the left above Mario's head:
Yeah, me too.
It's hard to see from the photos, but I have a sneaking suspicion that corner thing could be the adhesive left on the back of the screen lens... If you can carefully pop it off, you should be able to peel it off. If you can do that you could also get rid of the dust specks yourself with some (not so) sticky tape.
Also it looks like they didn't even use a glass screen lens, it's just plastic. Am I right?
Agent Unknown
Member
Yes, it's plastic, how do you pry these things off? Another concern I have is I compared with my SP 101 and the screen may also be slightly dimmer. X__X
Edit: Eh, I'm just gonna try to return it for a refund. This is a very unprofessional mod all around.
sixteen-bit
Member
Did You Know Gaming's Game Boy episode is out.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QL7IL42MQ1w
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QL7IL42MQ1w
Agent Unknown
Member
Who is the dealer you got it from? Hope it wasn't the same one I dealt with.
With great care... It really depends how they have attached it. I use very little adhesive on mine so I can pop them off later. You might want to see how the eBay/Paypal thing goes before you try to do so, if you're nervous.
I'm about to head out but I'll try to compare my AGS 101 screen with my AGB 101 screen and see how the brightness compares for you, when I return.
Agent Unknown
Member
Yeah, I tried gently prying one of the edges with small butter knife and it didn't feel like it was going to give easy so I'm going to wait and talk to the dealer first.
TheBlueBomber
Member
I got mine from "The_Game_Boys" on Ebay, they have a 98.7% positive reviews on there and they have more than one color option, so i hope it's decent when it shows up haha
Agent Unknown
Member
Ok that's not my dealer, hope yours turns out well.
TheBlueBomber
Member
Me too! ill probably post pics here when i get my, provided there's no issues with it
Yeh best leave it until you are out of options. Hopefully it doesn't come to that.
Comparing brightness levels, I reckon my AGB101 is about in between the two settings of the AGS101, if that makes sense. It's slightly brighter than the lower setting on the AGS, and slightly dimmer than the higher setting.
Agent Unknown
Member
Yeah, that's exactly what the brightness on mine looks like.
I'm afraid that's as bright as it gets then. As far as I know nobody has figured out a point to make it brighter (though it's plenty bright for me).
Agent Unknown
Member
I'm actually fine with this brightness level, it looks really good, honestly. If I could just clean the gunk out from behind the screen and figure out whatever that blotch is in the upper right corner.
If you don't want to pry the lens off, you could always open it up if you have a triwing, you can access it from the other side.
That dim corner is the polarization film on the screen. It looks like it's been accidentally lifted.
How do I know this? Because I made the same boneheaded mistake the installer probably made. I peeled the polarizing layer off. When you get the bare screens, it *looks* like there's screen film on it, so the temptation is to try and pull it off. That's what looks like had happened.
But yea, it's a pretty amateurish effort.
How do I know this? Because I made the same boneheaded mistake the installer probably made. I peeled the polarizing layer off. When you get the bare screens, it *looks* like there's screen film on it, so the temptation is to try and pull it off. That's what looks like had happened.
But yea, it's a pretty amateurish effort.
The_Afroman
Member
What emulator were they using to show the Gameboy games? It looked real nice.
Agent Unknown
Member
So in other words it's not tape, it's not fixable and I should demand a refund. Thanks for the clarification about the polarization film, now I know where to hit him in detail so he can't shrug it off as gunk or minor.
Thanks, but after plc268's post, it looks like it won't be worth it.
Pretty much. You can attempt to push it back on, but it likely won't make a bit of a difference. If you actually pulled the film completely off (like I did), you would wind up with a screen with no image. All you would see is the white backlight. It would be visible again if you wore polarized glasses, though.
Yeh, man that sucks.
That is kinda neat, even though it's a bummer.
Secret GBA playing. Everyone else sees a white screen. I like this.
Yep, it's basically this:
http://www.instructables.com/id/Privacy-monitor-made-from-an-old-LCD-Monitor/
Edit: Also found the picture I took of the screen I messed up
sixteen-bit
Member
I would assume retroarch
Yeah, me too.
It might be worth giving it a shot opening the GBA itself and inspect the screen maybe there is some dust on it, or maybe he even forgot to pull of the screen protector the screen came with after installing. I did this mod myself and the screens came with some transluscent plastic sticked to the sreen to protect it during transport. Might be worth a look from the inside.
Yeah, me too.
]
Using a suction cup on the front of the screen will pull it off pretty easy...some scotch tape will take out the dust. Pretty easy fix. The other problem though? Send it back.
Polioliolio
Member
Howdy guys, I lurk in these collection/appreciation threads on occasion, and decided I'd get started on showing my collection.
Today I pulled out the Gameboy stuff, Over 99% of which I picked up while living in Japan. I only got what was inexpensive as I came across it.
Although Famicom is my main squeeze, I still ended up with a somewhat decent Gameboy game collection if I do say so.
...
Kids, let me tell ya something.. You can replace a collection (tens of times over), but you'll never shake the regret of trading in or selling your games when you were younger.
....
Just say no! Patience is a virtue. Money can be earned.. you don't need to pawn off your things for a quick buck. Oh, if only I had a time machine.
Today I pulled out the Gameboy stuff, Over 99% of which I picked up while living in Japan. I only got what was inexpensive as I came across it.
Although Famicom is my main squeeze, I still ended up with a somewhat decent Gameboy game collection if I do say so.
...
Kids, let me tell ya something.. You can replace a collection (tens of times over), but you'll never shake the regret of trading in or selling your games when you were younger.
....
Just say no! Patience is a virtue. Money can be earned.. you don't need to pawn off your things for a quick buck. Oh, if only I had a time machine.
properpropaganda
Member
man, i know that feeling all to well.
nice collection! are those games on the last pic sealed?
Polioliolio
Member
Thank ya!
Nope. I just quickly plastic wrapped them for storage until I could figure out a better solution.
Howdy guys, I lurk in these collection/appreciation threads on occasion, and decided I'd get started on showing my collection.
Today I pulled out the Gameboy stuff, Over 99% of which I picked up while living in Japan. I only got what was inexpensive as I came across it.
Although Famicom is my main squeeze, I still ended up with a somewhat decent Gameboy game collection if I do say so.
...
Kids, let me tell ya something.. You can replace a collection (tens of times over), but you'll never shake the regret of trading in or selling your games when you were younger.
....
Just say no! Patience is a virtue. Money can be earned.. you don't need to pawn off your things for a quick buck. Oh, if only I had a time machine.
That is a large collection! The middle picture almost looks like what you would see at a game store, just a wealth of content there.
Agent Unknown
Member
Thanks to all who replied regarding my botched SP screen mod. I'll keep folks posted on what happens with the dealer, will try to work this out first.
Thanks but according to plc268's posts above it's caused by lifting part of the polarization film and not protective adhesive film related so I dunno.
Thanks but according to plc268's posts above it's caused by lifting part of the polarization film and not protective adhesive film related so I dunno.
sixteen-bit
Member
Nice collection Polioliolio. Hardware-wise it seems like you're only missing the Game Boy Light and the newer GBA revisions.
Does anyone have a copy of Zok Zok Heroes (GBC)? It was one of the few games to use the IR sensor, but came with a motion controller device to translate sentai-style poses into the game. I'd be super interested in hearing how well that device actually works (considering the IR was pretty junky).
sixteen-bit
Member
Yeah, good deal. Micros seem to have increased in value significantly.
Yeah I noticed that and thought I'd pull the trigger. I've still got my launch Japanese original GBA and my silver SP, but I've wanted a Micro for a while as it's realistically the only model I'm likely to carry around and actually play these days.
Polioliolio
Member
Thank you!
I did stumble across a gameboy light once, and it was only about 1000yen or so. Might have been junk, but I didn't realize what I was looking at, at the time. Now I'm filled with sadness.
Finally managed to get a GBA Micro for a decent price today.
Got a silver Micro in excellent condition, brand new charger, 3 (crappy) games and case for £20.
That's a decent deal, right?
That's a terrific deal!
Finally managed to get a GBA Micro for a decent price today.
Got a silver Micro in excellent condition, brand new charger, 3 (crappy) games and case for £20.
That's a decent deal, right?
That is an excellent pickup.
Polioliolio
Member
Hehe, thanks!
I'm pretty happy with it considering any game here was no more than 315yen or so. Most were just 105yen at hobby shops and junk stores.
I'm envious of you guys who have the more complete collections though.
Might bust out the N64 collection today.
