GBA Mod

One day after giving thanks for all the good things in our lives, many of us find ourselves in line at a big box store, ready to kill whomever stands between us and that $25 TV.

But this year, I did it different. Most of the holiday shopping has been done online, so there was no need for me to don my Dr. Martins and shove a set of brass knuckles in my back pocket.

But I love a good deal.

So I hit some local pawn shops and variety stores.

I bet most of you didn’t think about your neighborhood small businesses having sales, did you? Well, they do.

I scored a perfectly working platinum Gameboy Advance from a little shop in Mt. Orab Ohio, for fifteen bucks!

The shell is a little rough, but otherwise, it’s perfect.

Now, a little over a year ago I got a GBA SP in a mixed lot of video game stuff I picked up at a yard sale. It was really bad, and the front light was blown on the screen. But essentially I got it for free. So I ordered an isp v2 screen kit and clear green shell (including buttons) for under $50 from AliExpress. 

I had never done a full screen and shell swap on anything. But in the condition the GBA SP was in, it didn’t much matter if I messed it all up.

Fortunately I didn’t have any problems, and the finished product was absolutely amazing.

I loved it.

From the beautiful color of the shell, to the amazing visual quality of the screen. Old games, in brilliant colors and with a backlight that had 10 levels of brightness!! Pure heaven!

But like so often happens when one collects these old systems  and games, I needed money for something that rarely comes to market, and I needed it quick. So I sold my modded GBA SP to pick up the next great thing.

When I saw this Gameboy Advance in the display case at Chris’ Collectables for a measly $15, I knew exactly what I was going to do with it.

So the shell and screen kit have been ordered. I’m praying it comes on one of those big DHL planes that are in a near constant circle from Northern Kentucky Intl. to China and back, rather than a cargo ship that’ll be stuck out to sea until Easter. 

Maybe this Christmas, after the kids are done unwrapping their gifts, and my wife is fussing about the mountain of trash at the end of the driveway; I’ll be playing a little Super Circuit on my beautiful new kryptonite green ultra bright GBA and laughing at the 14 year old me, who thought that ol’ GBA was the best thing in the world, all those Christmases ago.