We Opened An Original Nintendo Game Boy From 1989

[@NelsonDellis]

I know it wasn’t a factory sealed one, but this video felt so good in ways I can’t even explain-nostalgia-wise. Thank you.

[@1MikeTakesAHike]

Also because of that relaxed Kirby music 8)

[@jessecannon7500]

factory sealed and garage sale two words that never go together

[@TheCartoonGamer8000]

Looks like that Game Boy wasn’t the only thing that was played with this day.

[@nintendolife]

Well said. 😪 - Zion

[@photon155]

I was holding it together... But when the screen plate fell off I nearly died... Loved the video, but damn....

[@nintendolife]

SAME - Zion

[@skyward6878]

If that tape was 30 years old it would be way more yellow.

[@adamh9271]

You have to give the seller props for keeping a straight face the whole time he was making the sell to you lol

[@sebastianhurst958]

turns out Schrodinger's Game Boy was dead -_-,

[@nintendolife]

Thank you for this - Zion

[@DaneeBound]

there’s a difference between "complete in box" and "factory sealed."

[@ReReCoil]

it's very worn out, so it's value is already screwed

[@FelixS.]

@Will sy CIB has nothing to do with the state the items are in. It only tells everything is there. Which is the case. So as far as This has been labeled as „cib“ it is no scam whatsoever.

[@FelixS.]

@Will sy The manuals are included, they are below the game boy. I also think the game boy itself wasn’t in a baggie (pretty sure). There might be some kind of foil though which is missing. I think this might be a Region thing though, in Germany we have other packaging than the US in general (less plastic mostly).

[@FelixS.]

@Will sy Well I have my original box (complete) here and there is a foil around the system, no baggy. I just checked it. It is from ´89. I understand your point regarding honesty of sellers but to be honest I would only buy items which clearly portray every single item which is supposed to be included on a picture or check it out when buying something face to face. If you are aiming for sealed it is problematic of course (I consider the hype of "sealed" as nonsense to begin with but that is just me) but as far as CIB is concerned to me every buyer is also responsible to check the offers authenticity for himself.

[@FelixS.]

@Will sy Yeah I understood but the term „complete“ is also up to subjective interpretation, there is no fixed definition which says it must include plastic baggies. If I get really nitpicky the only appropiate definition would be given by law which only says a product is not complete if any of the mandatory and touted items of a product are not there (in this case the system, Tetris and arguably its box, cables, manuals etc) which are part of the products function / usability. You will never be able to RDA a product due to the absence of a baggie. I agree with your approach and expectation but in fact the term „complete“ here is of subjective nature, too and many collectors arguably consider a product as „complete“ as long as there are all mandatory items. I also elaborated the packaging models might change in accordance to the Region you live in - as I could confirm due to my original game boy case which is unchanged since '89. I also checked my original snes package and it also has no baggie around the system but the same foil I found within the game boy Box. Ultimately: I agree with you, this specific game boy is probably not complete according to your definition. That being said there is no official definition what is considered to be „complete“ in a collectors sense, the conventional definition of a „complete“ state of the item is fullfilled here. :)

[@Pownchao]

This opening was for the best. At least, we got this great video out of it. I still learned something about the original Gameboy.

[@nintendolife]

No one else needs to be swindled by this Game Boy ever again!

[@cassiusclayali9721]

I want to get one now 🥶🤯😎

[@davon856]

This hurt to watch lol. Feel so bad for him, I'd be furious.

[@hunterbates9539]

Even if it was a “yard sell” find you know that GameBoy didn’t come cheap lol

[@mjt_is_real]

Cant believe that they still had that packaged Edit: we have been bamboozled

[@killingtime4444]

I still have my packaging for my a link between worlds 3ds, though I never plan on reselling. I use it too much

[@mjt_is_real]

Wow did not know i would get that many likes

[@laserchick4977]

I’ve kept the packaging on every handheld I’ve owned

[@FlackNCoke]

Schroedinger’s Game Boy. It’s both brand new and old junk at the same time until you open the box.

[@itsmatt517]

What kind of muppet leaves the AA batteries in the device and then seals it in a box?

[@8-bitsteve500]

You'd be surprised, lots of gamers are just dumb as a bag of bricks.

[@Daniel-yz3zf]

I mean, it looks like it was just forgotten about really. So they probably just didn't think much about it

[@borp6912]

The type of person thats cool with ripping people off

[@LynRodriguez123]

Him: IT IS SO USED AHHH Me: OH THANK GOD IT'S USED AND NOT BRAND NEW AHHHH

[@TimBartja]

*Camera turns off* *Shouts are heard followed by a Gameboy shaped hole forming in Zion's wall*

[@loganbratland4207]

Billy must be pissed after watching this video

[@ZeusDahGoose]

*_-It's too late to go back now-_*

[@kasugaifox8571]

Glad to know that I'm not the only person that keeps the system boxes when I can.

[@thenintendogamer1542]

Im so curious how much you paid

[@stratosphere94]

Same! I wanna know so bad

[@whitej85]

The earphones are worth a bit of money by themselves, let alone the whole package. A quick refurb and you have nice set.

[@GalaxyGamer4973]

"ive been tricked, backstabbed, and quite possibly bamboozled."

[@Poever]

He’s been smeckledorfed!

[@GalaxyGamer4973]

@@Poever *scary music intensifies*

[@johnbakasmoothhotchocolate]

Man, I was only 6 years old back in 1989. When I was old enough to play on it, Tetris, DuckTales, TMNT: Fall of the Foot Clan, Super Mario Land, and even freaking Wheel of Fortune were my straight up "G's."

[@toogeeky4u]

I still play Wheel of Fortune on mine. I love that game. I also have Jeopardy, and Scrabble among other games.

[@johnbakasmoothhotchocolate]

@@toogeeky4u I love it too. I also own Jeopardy and Super Scrabble for my GB as well. I actually have a video of my GB collection that I currently have still, but eventually I'll try to get some others that I'm missing---for a good price, of course, lol. It's nice to meet you.

[@johnbakasmoothhotchocolate]

@@toogeeky4u what consoles do you own? Are you a jeans or shorts girl? And what's your favorite Nintendo character?

[@FulkNerraIII]

@@johnbakasmoothhotchocolate look at you all excited talking to a girl, good for you man.

[@johnbakasmoothhotchocolate]

FulkNerra well talking to someone who I can relate with, anyway. Lol.

[@chipsdonut1]

I'm so sorry Zion I really wish it was what you wanted it to be..

[@nintendolife]

It is what it is! I'll move on haha, appreciate the sentiment though! 🙏 - Zion

[@K-ch4n]

My old GBC games came with the same type of "seal" straight off the store shelf, it used to be a thing back when people just didn't care too much (at least where I grew up, in a small town in Germany). Sadly it left nasty marks when opening the cardboard packagings, especially on the metallic covers of the second gen Pokémon games :(

[@speedways7190]

top 10 anime battles zion VS his urge to not open the box

[@SavanFilms]

I remember seeing refurbished or unopened GameBoys and GameBoy Colors in Japan's electronic stores and game stores in Akihabara, Tokyo back in 2016

[@Poever]

I take it you didn’t invest?

[@TheCoordinate]

i thought it hurt watching you open it, but the hurt of finding out it wasn’t 100% new was worse!!!

[@Dauwis]

I still have my original Game Boy from back in the day. I was working at Kay-Bee Toys and got it when they came out. Still have the box and contents too.

[@re_watanabe]

I still believe that it's the best unboxing of the year.

[@_jb_]

You need to look at the expiration date on the batteries. If it was like a few years ago the guy knew this wasn't sealed

[@controlsixtyfour]

ohh good call!

[@elitemtgman]

as someone who use to work for radioshack, i can assure you those are late 80s early 90s batteries. by the early 2000s RS switched to the brand enercell for store brand.

[@hyliandoctor]

Damn, son, the hype and pain is so real.

[@ruralgamer7193]

I remember my brother and I opening our gameboys Christmas morning. I still have my box and styrofoam insert but it does not look that nice.

[@MoooingDragon]

Original Gameboys sold in 1989 were not sealed or shinkwrapped. It being taped was an instant red flag.

[@controlsixtyfour]

I was gonna say the same thing. Factories (at least from big brands like Nintendo) would never use scotch tape to factory seal

[@backintheday3097]

Other than the games and some of the accessories, I don't recall any of the systems ever being shrink wrapped or taped.

[@chubbyninja1688]

I feel for you, man. I remember looking at that box in the case at KMart as a kid and dreaming about owning this system.

[@ask343]

How many collectors are gonna cry over this video? 🤔

[@chickensfloat7427]

Once all the early nintendo collecters are gone there kids (if they are not beta virgins forever) there kids are not gonna care about any of this old crap. Yes its cool i like this old crap but at the end of the day its not worth anything its outdated. Its only worth somthing cause collectors dont know how to spend money. Ps if you collect, no shade whatever floats your boat. I collect old cars flashlights ect, but i use the stuff. I dont let it sit on a shelf

[@chickensfloat7427]

6 so far look at the dislikes

[@thesavage4552]

So jelly of that boxed collection!

[@nintendolife]

Thank you! Many years in the making - Zion

[@airborneace]

Not gonna lie, I'd love to have that box in pristine condition. That artwork is rad

[@Jetsfan0786]

I feel so bad for you, at least the box is in good condition thats a +

[@matthewh3795]

I think it's a fake reproduction box

[@MakoyUnggoy]

The very first original DMG'S also used normal Phillips screws and not the infamous Tri wing screws. I think the Tri wings were introduced around the time of the Play It Loud series and used in Nintendo's ever since

[@vedi0boy]

Such elegant packaging. Includes all the cables and headphones. It seems like a real high end piece of tech.

[@IkeNLD]

Missing the big fold out poster Games also came with cardboard inserts , not only plastic ones.

[@rawandpeace]

Did you check the expiry date on the batteries that were in it? Will give a good indication when it was last used. (And maybe the extent of the swindle!)

[@RavishingSailor]

This is amazing. Literally took me back to Christmas of 1989 when I was in 7th grade. I’ll never forget that day. Actually got “the amazing Spider-Man” as a gift a few weeks before Christmas. Super Mario land , boJackson football and baseball. Bad n rad, TMNT, dr Mario, castlevania etc.

[@inspiredefined]

What was the expiration date on the batteries? That’ll help you guesstimate when they were put in

[@ShwintyKat]

Time to put a very sternly written letter in that garage sale man's mailbox (video link included)

[@cmd2973]

Why you people freakin out. This wasn’t even wrapped. This was opened at some point then taped back up. I remember when I first got the gameboy at launch and the contrast was set at the highest setting.

[@Nay089]

They didn’t even watch 🙄😂

[@RavishingSailor]

Completely agree. Same here it was also shrink wrapped. The head phones were awesome in comparison to other head phones out there.

[@eggroll20xd6]

While it is disappointing, thank you for sharing your journey and allowing us to experience this with you. Hopefully you will find that grail someday.

[@Cookiedon15]

Ya, never pay high prices for sealed retro video games at yard sales lol

[@nintendolife]

Thank you Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 🙏 - Zion

[@MotorBro78]

7:34 Look at the color of the earphones. Same colors as the standard blue and red Joy-Cons.

[@killingtime4444]

Deep nintendo self reference

[@tveye363]

Lol, well just be glad that you didn't have to ruin a sealed package.

[@keii0n]

Jesus! What a rollercoaster!

[@celebratelife865]

It's not whether or not it's a true factory sealed Game Boy, it's all the friends we made along the way.

[@rocketpg_9532]

Thought you were opening a factory sealed one and the collector in me was about ready to throw hands.

[@alexmichael8615]

It’s insanely easy to fix that line btw just get a soldering iron on lowest heat and gently stroke the end of the ribbon cable close to the screen

[@Schimnesthai]

I was wondering about buying brand new old stock sealed retro systems, i've watched some youtube videos where they open systems like that yet the packages where not always the real deal, the thing is that they didn't care or didn't notice... even the comment section didn't notice. But this video here... genuine, i admire that, this could've happened to me and anyone, probably many of wich would've probably never recorded themselves opening it without knowing so i'm very glad that this video exists, thank you.

[@petercross5398]

Great video, sorry it didn’t work out the way you wanted to. Thank you for sharing this experience with us.

[@Greenfly_original]

Well that was at the same time fun and extremely painful to watch. 😅

[@user-wj9xq7ig2v]

Is this like Schrödinger's cat? Is it in the box it's sealed right?

[@beefhamma]

I'm 42...I was really hoping for you this was legit. Still brought back awesome memories though. I miss my Game Boy!!

[@slothjesus3181]

I have one unopened and still in the plastic that my grandpa kept! I ALWAYS stare at it debating opening it or not!

[@paranoidgenius9164]

You can "reflow" the solder on the dot matrix screen connections, but it can be a pain to get right

[@mmccord4166]

Was the box new to your collection at least?

[@darthkreggles3798]

I accidentally left mine out in the rain once when I was 8. I drained a lot of the water out by shaking it and sucking on any openings I could find. Amazingly, it still worked, but it did have some lines on the screen. It kept working like that for months, and one day I noticed it was a bit foggy on the inside after leaving in the hot car. I decided to try getting the rest of the water out and managed to get it all that time. After that it worked perfect with no lines. Still have it. It still works, lol. They just don't build electronics like that anymore.

[@bearimo2867]

Very good of you to put this up, it's a good warning to people not to part with large amounts of money unless they have some form of proof / authenticity - good on you! Some you win, some you lose, the fun is the chase. It could have been genuinely worse, like a brick packaged up too.

[@SRPC21]

Ahh sorry to hear mate. Great video though 👍 (I admire how you were able to keep your cool, I wouldn’t have been able to control myself!)

[@nintendolife]

It was pretty tough, but that sliver of hope it could have been brand new is what had me holding on the whole time 😂 - Zion

[@InfectiousGroovePodcast]

Bummer it wasn't truly factory sealed BUT the video brought back great memories for me. I remember walking out of Toys R Us with one soon after it was released. My dad drove me to get it and even he was impressed with it even though he didn't care much about video games. I remember thinking the stereo sound was sooooo impressive when put the earphones in haha.

[@sebastianhurst958]

RADIO SHACK!!!!! LOL so kids, there was this store back in the day called "Radio Shack". You may have seen it featured in the Captain Marvel movie. LOLz!!!

[@YourDiamondPickaxe]

im getting a gameboy from ebay on Thursday or later. how can you afford these things

[@manaowls]

Does anybody else feel like that this kinds happens more often these days?

[@Ashe_Forester]

Here is what happened based on all the details given the person who owned this game boy bought a game boy earlier on then it probably got like it would be then the frame fell off some thing then they Bought a new one put the old one in the box then returned it for full price they never opened the headphones or took the cartridge to make it seem all normal

[@ssmelche]

I've still got both of my OG Gameboys from when I was a kid. My first one was used from a pawnshop and an early model manufactured in Japan. The second one was bought new and manufactured in China. It feels like Nintendo used a slightly different lighter weight plastic on the later model, but otherwise they're identical. Regrettably I threw away the boxes to most of my games and systems as a kid. I'm still kicking myself for doing that with my N64 games.

[@Annishark]

i still want a game boy mini like the nes mini

[@steveom9047]

Not sure if I'm starting to get older and forgetful, but I don't recall any of my gameboy games came with a plastic sleeve around the plastic case of the game cart. I even bought a gameboy brand new from toys r'us, and the Tetris pack didn't have it.

[@chickensfloat7427]

Later that night the nintendo life collector cryed himself to sleep

[@mymanmark5726]

You shall not open

[@PNOYPWR]

My sister is kind of a hoarder and found a factory sealed 1989 Game boy DMG-01 in mint condition just last week in her garage. It looks so brand new. It even had a sticker from May company that cease to exist in 1993 to merge with sister company JW Robinsons which form Robinsons-May which defunct in 2006 and acquired by Macy's & Bloomingdale's. That's a lot of history on this 1989 Game boy, Lol

[@polzinaj]

Good sport, Zion. You turned lemons into lemonade by sharing this experience with us, at least :) Hope you find something rare (and complete) in the future, so you can again share it with us!

[@Dauwis]

Curious what you paid for the Game Boy ??

[@PacsterMH]

I'm a Game & Watch collector. And I'm happy to say that I'm safe from buying a factory sealed Game & Watch. Why? Becaude they don't exist anymore.

[@themysterouscuber9433]

Where ya get that?

[@ablebest]

I'm so curious how much you paid?

[@monkeyskatan]

Still gotta a box in pretty good condition. Original manuals. Still could sell them off separately and make some cash back.

[@controlsixtyfour]

your instinct was right, Zion! good choice opening it. I would have also felt terrible (if not worse) if I had traded it to someone and have them be disappointed

[@Slam-]

Unboxing starts at 8:21

[@MUSQUIZanimation]

2:41 me finding my Christmas gifts in the closet.

[@bigblack9819]

It was smart to make this video, now you can expenses the cost of the game boy as a work expense.

[@adam_loooong]

Looks like it may have been shrink wrapped then sealed at home once the kids were done. Great video none the less.

[@jeffcox6539]

Wander how much he paid. I bought a Gameboy CIB a few years ago. Not new but still awesome.

[@derekwalter4238]

I've left batteries in my old Gameboys for years and you reminded me to go take them out. Thanks lol

[@nintendolife]

Happy to help your Game Boys live a healthy life! - Zion

[@playstationgroup3413]

I DON'T REMEMBER PLASTIC EVER BEING IN USE IN GAME BOXES FOR GAMEBOY IN THE 90'S. I HAD NEVER KNEW IT, SEEN IT OR HEARD OF IT AND I LIVED IN THAT TIME.

[@AlexanderSzymanski]

Zion you will always be one of my favorite people ever. That suuuuuuucks man, but I've felt that pain before as well. You'll be stronger for it lol. Great content m'dude.

[@colecadieux9370]

Question: was all original games boys 1989 to 1995 all styrofoam contained cause mine came in a cardboard instead of styrofoam. That barcode sticker i have on my gameboy and a duplicate same sticker on the back of the box. Help!

[@YoYouWildinBro]

someone needs to make a "curb your..." video of this ASAP.

[@jacobw8634]

done ;)

[@markasscop]

value is a funny thing, the only reason you know that it isn't brand new is b/c you opened it, but of course leaving it unopened is the whole point of it having high value, even if what's inside doesn't match

[@thenintendogamer1542]

I am still holding hope for a N64 classic or espically a GBA classic I would pay a ton for that

[@kaynewoolley9104]

This very much gave me vibes of buying a base set pokemon booster box to get home, open it up and find out the whole thing was resealed. As a fellow collector I am sorry.

[@OmegaPrime-xt5rg]

I was in high school when it came out in 89, got it at Electronics Boutique, it was shrink wrapped.

[@victorvila1389]

I've always wanted to do this with a GB pocket, it was my first console in 1996 :)

[@matthewh3795]

You can buy brand new repop gameboy boxes, probably why it never had seal before the tape

[@SweetBean92]

1:05 I literally just fixed that sound issue on my own DMG. Generally speaking all you need to do is give the volume wheel a good thorough cleaning with isopropyl and that clears up most sound issues

[@nintendolife]

Thanks for the tip! 🙏 - Zion