WIKI TOYPICS UPDATE: TFCON HAUL

Went to TFcon Anaheim, and walked out with a few choice pieces I'd been after at nice prices. And I decided to go ahead and pic them up for to add to @tfwiki.

The "big" one is one I didn't even buy, just took pics of, shown up top: the red-face/silver-weapons variant of the European-market exclusive "Rescue Force" claw-tank from 1992. I had the silver-face/red-weapon version (and I re-took pics of it so adding the variant blended better), and finally getting the chance to have the variants on at least one Rescue Force toy up on the wiki just feels good.

I've decided I want the Throttlebots back, but only if they're cheap. Freeway here was nicely cheap.

Adventure Scorponok, the Japanese release of Robots in Disguise Scorponok, was my first buy at the show, and got him for a whopping $5, which made me quite happy after a frankly terrible drive up. Lord, he's so pretty, a genuine vast improvement over the Hasbro release.

Speaking of Adventure, the last thing I got that day was the EZ Collection "Team Bumblebee VS Megatronus" pack loose. Honestly I only wanted Strongarm because Strongarm, but they were being sold as a whole set and it wasn't a bad price so hey. Once again, much improved decos, but not super-huge diffs for anyone but Strongarm.

The Japanese JUSCO-exclusive Car Robots "Original Super Indy Heat" promotional toy had slipped from my grasp a few times, but finally managed to pick him up for not-expensive. You might know him better, and in a purple/white deco, as Skid-Z from the first Robots in Disguise series.

And finally, I picked up a trio of Japanese Rise of the Beasts promotional toys: Burning Plasma Blaster, Burning Cheetor, and Burning Chainclaw. I also got Burn, an Adventure promo Mini-Con who is also a clear-red robot-to-weapon bot, who I'd been missing for years, but he already has a wiki pic. I didn't plan on getting a whole pile of clear-red weapon bots with "Burn" in/as their names, it just turned out that way.

There were a couple other small pieces, some of which will show up later. But I figured heck, let's get these out now.

Various translucent models of the Bandai WonderSwan.

1. Skeleton Green

2. Skeleton Pink

3. Skeleton Black

4. Sherbet Melon

5. Soda Blue

6. Frozen Mint

7. Jusco Purple

8. Digimon Adventure - Anode Tamer

9. Digimon Special Package

Source: http://videogamekraken.com/wonderswan_console_variations

The 1000 And One Game Boy Color Special Editions

While browsing on curious retrogaming sites yesterday, I've found this very nice list of console special editions named Console Colors. Seems to be active as well, as it sports some Wii U variations, and their Game Boy Color section is quite lenghty! The only thing is, it doesn't have high res pictures, and it has few info of the single editions. So, just like I did for the GBA SPs, I'm going to build a a Guide post here of all the GBC variations, with pictures and additional info; it can be used for future reference or as a checklist for collectors.

A bit of introduction: Game Boy Colors came out in 1998. The first ones that appeared on the market, and therefore are considered standard versions, are Berry (Fuchsia), Grape (Violet), Kiwi (Green, the one I have! <3), Dandelion (Yellow) and Teal (well, teal). There's also an Atomic Purple version, basically a translucent Grape one, which is still considered standard. List should be, more or less, complete as I’ve checked multiple sources: also, since Pokèmon is basically the most important franchise for such a handheld, the plethora of special editions dedicated to such monsters are grouped at the bottom of the list to keep them all together. I'll update if needed, e.g. if I find more pics or versions!

BlastoiseMonster’s Guide List For GBC Special Editions

Varied

- Neotones Ice/Clear. Most probably the first special edition ever, and one among the many transparent GBCs that have been released in Japan only (though its popularity has been enough to make this colour rather common in the western countries as well!). Very wimilar to the Atomic Purple standard version, the Neotomes Ice is made up of trnsparent plastic and the internal board is much more visible! - Clear Black. Semi-transparent technologic gimmicks were among the most prominent design choices of the ‘90s, and Nintendo made no exception, releasing many of these variations in its home country. The black semi-transparent plastic of this special edition GBC doesn’t make the insides very visible as the Clear edition, though! Cleak Black GBCs vere only sold at Japanese “Eiden” stores. - Clear Green. I’d have sold a kidney to have this as a kid... okay well, I’d still be up for such an exchange even now. :V Another semi-transparent edition, but this time with emerald green, my favourite colour! This was sold by japanese “Toys R Us” stores. - Daiei Hawks. Orange is Japan’s national colour, and if you take a look at each console Nintendo has released, you’ll easily spot at least an orange variant among the ones released in such country. This one was sold solely at japanese “Daiei Hawks” stores (which is.... a baseball team franchise?), and had a semi-transparent orange front and an opaque black back. There’s a similar-styled N64 and GBA too! - Ice Blue. This semi-transparent japanese special edition might remind most people of the Glacier GBA, as it shares almost the same hue of sky blue of its plastic. It’s known to get yellowish with age, though! - Midnight Blue. Here’s a second “Toys R Us” exclusive, and still japanese-only. Midnight Blue version showcases a nice, cobalt blue hue for its semi-transparent plastic. - Lawson. This japanese special edition gets most often mixed up with both the Ice Blue and Tsutaya versions, as they all share big similarities. The Lawson edition, however, has the peculiarity of showing semi-transparent sky blue plastic on the front, and semi-transparent white on the back. For this “dual” aspect, it’s mostly known in western countries as the “Aqua Blue & Milky White” GBC. - Tsutaya. Here’s the third sky blue GBC of this list! Still a Japanese exclusive, this one was sold especially in “Tsutaya” stores and was completely encased with semi-transparent, light blue plastic from which its orange-ish/yellow buttons easily stand out. Here’s a comparison photo to see how much this one looks like the Lawson edition! - Mirinda/Yedigun. Finally something that got released outside of Japan: this edition, a semi-transparent orange GBC with the coloured brand logo printed on the front, was available for most european countries and especially in Spain as a contest prize sponsored by the “Mirinda” soft-drink company. The drink was available in Turkey as well, but named “Yedigun” and so their version sports such name on the printed graphics. - ANA Limited Edition. Back to Japan-only editions! Even one of their main flight companies, the “All Nippon Airways” or “ANA” for short, had their own GBC which was distribuited probably as a prize with fidelty points. This special version is encased with a semi-transparent plastic of a rich, vivid blue colour and their logo is printed on the black part of the screen, behind the glass. - Jusco Atomic Purple. This Japanese special edition sold at “Jusco” stores only was tied in its release with the Jusco Clear one. It consists of a seemingly ordinary Atomic Purple GBC with its usual semi-transparent violet case, but the screen border shows two Mario pictures. - Jusco Clear. The “brother” of Jusco Atomic Purple: its case is the same as Neotones Ice, but showcases the two special Mario graphics on the screen. Considering that these kind of decorated screens are easily available on Ebay now as manteinance/repair parts, one could easily turn a simple Atomic Purple or Clear edition into a Jusco one just by changing the screen... - Ozzie! Ozzie! Ozzie! This Australian exclusive version is also called “Green and Gold” and it’s rather colorful! It’s still made with semi-transparent plastic, emerald green on the front and rich yellow on the back. Its buttons are yellow-coloured, and the front showcases a print of the australian flag. Since green and yellow are my absolute favourite colours, I’d probably opt for this one more than the Clear Green edition xD - Sakura Taisen. This very slick, sober special edition is a japanese exclusive sold in bundles along with the game “Sakura Taisen GB”, or “Sakura Wars”, if we wanna translate the title. It’s semi-transparent fuchsia coloured and sports sakura petals graphics drawn on the screen border. To me, it looks especially classy! It also seems that the series followed the Tamagotchi craze by releasing a Pocket Sakura handheld, very similar to the Pocket Pikachu one! - Card Captor Sakura. Don’t confuse this version with the Sakura Taisen one! This japanese edition was bundled along with the Cardcaptor Sakura game and is, instead, opaque white on the front and opaque bubblegum pink on the back; the buttons are pink and the front has a Sakura graphic printed between the D-Pad and the A and B buttons. I’m not a fan of the anime, but I find the design of this edition to be very cute! - Hello Kitty (Ver.1). Well, this may be similar to the Cardcaptor Sakura edition for what it concerns the design, but the subject matter is surely much less enjoyable. This Japanese exclusive has an opaque light pink case with a Hello Kitty graphics (only the head) printed on the front. It was bundled with one of the games of the Kitty series. - Hello Kitty (Ver.2). The Hello Kitty games had a followup, and so did its special edition GBC; this second version is still opaque light pink, but the graphic on the front varies and it showcases the whole character. - Tommy Hilfiger. An american and european exclusive, finally! This one was sold at “Tommy Hilfiger” clothing brand stores and is pretty basic, actually: it looks like a normal opaque Dandelion GBC, but sports the Tommy logo printed on the front. - CoroCoro 10th anniversary. This one’s a real rare gem! It was distribuited as a limited edition giveway prize by the japanese magazine CoroCoro to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the Game Boy (so this model was released in 1999!). It’s made of clear emerald green plastic and has a white logo on the front. Only 200 of these have been distribuited to the public! - Happy Hippo. An european (maybe German only?) exclusive, given as a prize from the Ferrero snack company and most probably to go along with their game: it’s opaque yellow (basically, a Dandelion one, once again) with cartoon hippo graphics and a bamboo square printed around the screen border. I really like the screen decoration, which reminds me of the old Timon and Pumbaa DOS game published by Virgin! Only 111 were made. - Panasonic. Another American exclusive, the special edition relesed by Panasonic has a standard opaque violet colour, but its screen has the old Panasonic logo painted under the glass. Pretty standard. Pokèmon Themed - Pokèmon Clear Blue. Finally we’re at the Pokèmon-themed editions! This one was released in China and Taiwan along with the Pokèmon Clear Green edition: it’s semi-transparent sky blue on the front with an opaque white bottom and the screen border is decorated with Pikachu, Meowth, Jigglypuff and a Pokèball. Colorful and adorable <3 - Pokèmon Clear Green. Second Chinese/Taiwanese Pokèmon edition, it’s basically the same as the previous one but emerald green on the front instead of blue. Here’s a picture of both of them together for comparison! - Pokèmon Center (Kanto Starters). This one was a Japanese exclusive velebrating the third anniversary of Pokèmon Center store chain, and in fact it was sold in such shops! The first version dedicated to Kanto starters is opaque orange on the front (of course, it’s gotta be orange! xP), opaque blue on the back, has very colorful buttons and the screen border is decorated with Pikachu, Bulbasaur, Charmander and Squirtle, all of which are lined with a special golden paint; finally, the Pokèmon Center logo is printedat the bottom of the front. It’s simply gorgeous, and one of the most sought after special editions out there! - Pokèmon Center (Johto Starters). Second special edition released by Pokèmon Center and dedicated to the Johto starters; it’s much more sober than the previous one, sporting an opaque goldish/silverish case on the front and back with the printed Pokèmon Center logo and Pikachu, Chikorita, Cyndaquil and Totodile on the screen. - Pokèmon Yellow. This is one of the first special variations ever, along with the Clear one! It got bundled with Pokèmon Yellow, mainly, and sports an opaque yellow front case, opaque blue on the back, coloured buttons, the Pokèmon logo printed on the front and Pikachu, Jigglypuff and Togepi decorating the screen with a Pokèball. Togepi was most probably already famous because of the anime, but ironically it couldn’t be caught in the game this version came bundled with! Released in America only. - Pikachu And Pichu Yellow. This was instead released in Europe only! It basically has the same case and buttons of Pokèmon Yellow edition, but the screen is decorated with Pikachu and Pichu. It came out a year after the Yellow one. - Pikachu And Pichu Gold. A later variant of the Pikachu and Pichu Yellow, it sports the same screen decorations but uses the golden/silverish case (colour changes depending on light angle!) of the Johto starter edition. No logo printed on the front. - CoroCoro 250th Anniversary. One of the rarest special editions ever, it’s another GBC released by CoroCoro to commemorate their 250th issue. Only 200 of these were made, and obviously given as a prize from the Japanese-only magazine! It’s opaque yellow with a big Pikachu printed on the front along with the CoroCoro logo, and the screen border is decorated with yellow Pikachu silhouettes.

In total, I count 35 Game Boy Color versions here. Wow, I'd love to see them all together! Maybe, maybe I could have them all one day... xP