Topic: The Mysterious GBA Screen Cover

[UncleBob]

So, I'm a sick, sick man.

I order spare parts from Nintendo.  Any time I need something (like, say, 20 DS cases), I browse through their store and see what else they have.  I order stuff I don't need.  I still have an original DS wrist strap in the "Official Nintendo Replacement Part" pouch.

Anywhoo... during one of my spending sprees, I saw they had some kind of screen cover for the GBA.  I wish I had more info on this, but it was soooo long ago (and now, you can't see your order history on Nintendo's website.  Boo!).

Anyway, I got it and it was weird.... nothing I'd ever seen before.  In fact, I actually broke mine (sad face) and tried to order another one (no luck) then tried to find one to buy - anywhere - no luck.  I've ever seen one again... until today.

I set up a local buy/sell/trade page on Facebook (if you like old video game junk, do this - I got a Game Cube in great condition for $10 and an okay copy of Luigi's Mansion and a minty copy of the OoT/MQ GCN disc (along with a disc-less copy of Metroid Prime, which was great as my copy did not have any of the manual stuffing with it) for $30.)

Well, today, I picked up a spiffy black Game Boy Pocket (with Power indicator), a green Game Boy Color, an Indigo Game Boy Advance, 4 games (Tamagotchi, Mario Land 2, Donkey Kong Land 2 and Kirby Tilt n' Tumble) for $50 (also, some crappy case and a worm light.  meh).  Because I needed more Game Boys.

Well, you can guess where this is probably going... the GBA had one of these screen covers on it.  I sent the previous owner a message to see where they got their's... I suppose they could have ordered it from Nintendo, but it seems unlikely.

Here's some pics, as I'm sure you're curious as to what it looks like...





As you can see, it has the GBA logo on it, which makes me think it's an official Nintendo product (combined with the fact that I ordered mine from Nintendo, of course) - but what's odd is that there's no hardware number on it (you know, NES-001 or such).

Anyone have any info on something like this?

[NWR_insanolord]

I had something like that, but it was also a light, and it wasn't from Nintendo.

[Adrock]

That's pretty neat. I've never seen that before. Maybe it's one of those things Nintendo only released in Japen.

Last week, I scored a free official original GBA AC adapter (the one you snapped into the battery bay). I've never seen that before in person before then.

[Mop it up]

I used to have one of those original GBA AC adapters, but it might have gotten lost in the switch of ownership to my sister then back to me. I'll have to look around for it.

[UncleBob]

I had something like that, but it was also a light, and it wasn't from Nintendo.

I have one of those too - it was made by Pelican and has served me well.

That's pretty neat. I've never seen that before. Maybe it's one of those things Nintendo only released in Japen.

Possible - and the fact that I ordered it from their website would go with that - except it wouldn't explain how random other person in my little town managed to get one.  I suppose it's *possible* they, too ordered it from the website, but they didn't really seem to remember where they got it.

Here's some more very interesting (to me, at least) information.

I was searching though my old e-mails (that I never, ever delete) and found...
my confirmation e-mail from where I ordered this!

Two things have came out of this.  First, the item in the e-mail had this description:

49485 Screen Cover Advance (1 @ $4.00 = $4.00)

"Screen Cover Advance" seems pretty specific.  So I Googled it.  Mostly what I found were replacement screen covers for the Game Boy Advance.

But, I did find these:
http://www.shopncsx.com/screencoveradvance-1.aspx
http://www.shopncsx.com/screencoveradvance.aspx

It's hard to tell from the crappy photos provided, but these look to be similar to what I've got (just with Mario and Pokémon on them).  I ordered one, so I'll be curious as to what it is when it arrives (by media mail, so sometime next year).

The second thing is that the e-mail contained the original order number.  Before the switch to Club Nintendo, you used to be able to log into your MyNintendo account and view all of your old orders.  You can't do this anymore. Sad face.

Well, with this order number (and the handy knowledge of my own ZIP code), I was able to go to Nintendo's webstore and punch the info in and, after a long time of thinking, pull my old order up!

I was hoping for a link from the items to the item's page, but no luck.  Also, nothing comes up when putting the part number into search.  'meh.

What is VERY interesting (and now that I see it again, I seem to very vaguely recall this...) the cover's description on the order page is:

49485   COVER, SCREEN AGB WALMART   1   $4.00

Walmart?  Really?  I don't ever recall having these for sale at Walmart...

[UncleBob]

Hm.  http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/media/2406/1

[UncleBob]

http://www.rpgfan.com/features/e32002gallery/swag/11.html

Looks very close, though appears to be missing the GBA logo in the top corner.  Hard to tell if the hinge/mount is the same through the plastic bubble.

There appears to be some with Sonic and Mega Man designs on them out there too...

[UncleBob]

Okay, so the two I ordered arrived - one Mario and one Pokémon - from NCSX.

Aside from the artwork, they're exactly the same as the ones I've got.  They're made by http://www.jupiter.co.jp/ and officially licensed.  Still, it's weird that Nintendo's online webstore was selling these direct...  I really wonder what the story behind them is.

[UncleBob]

So, I shot a random email to Nintendo yesterday... wasn't really expecting a reply, but whadda know?

Thanks for contacting us.  The "Screen Cover Advance" was included as part of two system bundles that were sold exclusively through Walmart in November of 2002.  Nintendo did sell separate replacements through the online store for a period of time.  However, they are no longer being produced and we've run completely out of stock of this item, so that is why it was removed from the online store. 
 I hope this clarifies everything for you.

Hm.  Sorta.
I don't particularly recall any special Wal-Mart exclusive GBA bundles... November though?  Sounds like it might have been something for a day-after-Thanksgiving sale.

Hm.

[UncleBob]

http://forum.teamxbox.com/showthread.php?t=158515
http://www.mycoupons.com/boards/lets-talk-shopping-lts/178599-game-boy-advance.html
http://www.mycoupons.com/boards/lets-talk-shopping-lts/180712-ques-about-walmart-gameboy-advance.html

Hm.

[nickmitch]

The title of this thread should start with "UncleBob and the Case of."

[Ceric]

Could be part of the "Unclebob Adventures" series.

[Mop it up]

I've noticed that Nintendo are usually pretty good at responding to emails, however random they might seem, so I'm not so surprised that they responded.

[UncleBob]

I've noticed that Nintendo are usually pretty good at responding to emails, however random they might seem, so I'm not so surprised that they responded.

I've sent more than a couple that have not received any kind of response.

I sent them one asking about the Devil World trophy that was removed from Brawl while the Birdo trophy was left in...

[NWR_insanolord]

I'm pretty sure Nintendo has a special file on UncleBob.

[UncleBob]

I'm pretty sure Nintendo has a special file on UncleBob.

They told me they passed around a picture of my foot once...

[nickmitch]

I've noticed that Nintendo are usually pretty good at responding to emails, however random they might seem, so I'm not so surprised that they responded.

I've sent more than a couple that have not received any kind of response.

If one in every 500 emails was ignored, they'd still ignore about 200+ of UB's.