HP Lovethrash wrote:
I didn’t see an explanation of the VN9 on the other thread, is that an early version of the serial numbering? Or do we not yet know what’s going on with it?
I’m still not quite sure about the VN9 units, but I know they can’t be early versions of the serial numbering since most VN9 units still have original VN1 serials beneath the VN9 stickers. Actually, I think my VN90000057[5] unit is the only one that I’ve seen that had the original VN1 sticker completely removed before having it replaced with a VN9 sticker.
I did find another one, and as you can see, it’s just another sticker placed over the original.
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Just wanted to bump this with my 2 cents…
Yes the head unit will attach to the stand either way, but it is easier to put the stand on in the wrong direction contrary to what’s instructed in the owners manual. This is why more than half the Virtual Boys on ebay have the stand on in the wrong position.
If you observe the picture provided below, you’ll notice that I highlighted 5 little features that appear under the head unit just above the serial number sticker, and then you’ll notice the highlighted marking across the top of the stand. When we put the head unit on this way, those 5 markings come in contact with the highlighted part of the stand, making it harder to put the head unit on this way. It’s as if those features were put there for resistance, keeping us from putting it on like this even though it says to in the manual.
The 5 markings under the head unit do not exist on the opposite side, making it a lot easier to attach and detach the head unit from the stand when it’s installed the “wrong” way.
Something definitely went wrong somewhere along the lines, especially since not only do early advertisements show the stand on backwards, it’s even embroidered on some VB shirts and can also be seen backwards on the wings of a prototype display kiosk.
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Benjamin Stevens wrote:
Yeah, I have to agree with you there. The base plate itself certainly shows that it was intended for this unit to be put out on some sort of display for demonstration purposes, for a lot of different people to be able to try out the Virtual Boy in a comfortable setting. The presence of the demo tap shows that this unit was very likely in use before or around the time of the beginning of mass production of VB units. I guess the only questions that remain are:
1. Was the display a custom one, made by someone either who had to make up for the fact that Nintendo had no proper demonstration display at the time or else who could not acquire one of Nintendo’s proper displays at the time?
2. Was the display actually made by Nintendo, in which case such a rare display has yet to be found in the wild?
I’ve been putting a lot of thought into this base plate the past couple of days, and I think my most recent findings might actually answer both of your questions! 😉
I decided to remove the head unit from my counter display to maybe get some better ideas for the actual use of the base plate. I was blown away when I removed the head unit and the support bracket wich holds the head unit in place…
The shape of the dust from the support bracket and a normal VB head unit forms the shape of the unique base plate! (see first picture)
So I then placed the unit with the unique base plate over the dust formation, and it lined up perfectly, even the two holes on the base plate match up to the screw holes used to screw the support bracket in place. I was even able to screw the unique head unit right to the display, safely and well screwed by using the displays original screws for the support bracket…
I could only assume this, but it seems to me that the unique base plate was the creation of Design Phase, as a early concept on a way to secure head units to displays perhaps?
