Nintendo History Collection Gashapon: Super Famicom Edition 任天堂ヒストリーコレクションスーパーファミコン編

Another amazing set by Takara Tomy A.R.T.S., also released last year like the Playstation History miniatures I just posted. I realized this several months after their release early last year and managed to hunt the last one from the last seller that had them down on Amazon.co.jp. I guess people actually hold onto these sorts of items/collections, because I've been looking for 2004's "Sega History" for over a year now and have seen a few individual items, but never a complete set, up for bid on Yahoo Japan Auctions. (Unless you count the shady Hong Kong sellers selling a set for $99 on eBay) Ditto this one and the Playstation one as well. The most I could find for this set was a paper card that they stick in the front of the Gashapon machine to advertise what it has inside, and the Playstation set had a few individuals available, but no sets. For being less than a year old and currently available at HLJ, respectively, you'd think that at least one or two sets would be up for sale.

Anyway, this set is definitely amazing if you spent your youth poring over EGM or Diehard Gamefan magazines' import coverage. When the "PS-X" was just a daydream, when everything was still foreign and exotic and something like the Satellaview existed in a far off place you could only dream of traveling to one day. Much like previous sets, this one comes with a nice amount of peripherals as well as cartridges. Both forms of the Super Famicom are represented here, as well as both forms of the Super Gameboy, and those come with cartridges as well! Again, it's astounding how much attention is paid to detail, especially for something that only costs 300yen. Also how it basically covers every bit of first-party hardware the Super Fami had in Japan throughout it's life cycle. This set contains:

• Super Famicom console, 2 controllers, Super Mario World cartridge
• Super Famicom Jr. console, 1 controller, Zelda 3 cartridge
• Satellaview, access cartridge with RAM cart, AV selector and AC adaptor
• Super Scope, Super Scope 6 cart, IR receiver, Mario Paint cart, mouse + mouse pad
• Super Famicom console, 2 controllers, Super Gameboy, Super Mario Land cart
• Super Famicom Jr. console, 1 controller, Super Gameboy 2, Super Donkey Kong GB cart

Apparently the Super Gameboy 2 released in 1998 in Japan, long after everyone over here in the US had gone over to the N64 or Playstation, and would've even heard of the Katana (Dreamcast) at this point. Japan has a long history of supporting consoles long after they've ceased being in the limelight, the NES was supported long after everyone elsewhere had started playing the SNES in 1991.

Again, all of the models here are top-notch, the doors in the cartridge slots really have springs that open them up and hold the carts in place, the peripherals really plug in, every 1/6 accessory is emblazoned faithfully to it's 6/6 full-sized counterpart with logos and such; the game carts even have tiny warning labels on the back!