The quickest way of telling when buying online is to look at the speaker holes. Have a look at 5:38, the fake shells always have terrible and wrong sized holes.

That "sticker" is just the protective film that often comes on some products to protect from scratches during shipping and whatnot. My original SP had this on the Nintendo logo, as I'm sure most if not all did when brand new and I'm guessing some people just never took it off because they didn't know it was there to begin with.

The Retro Future is a real life hero, saving us all 300$

About the sticker on the Nintendo logo: I am pretty sure that my SPs (silver with decal & blue) both had a sticker on the Nintendo logo and i freaked out when the sticker peeled off on the first one after a while because I thought that the logo is broken.

As someone who does gaming repairs and sells on ebay I hate this kind of scam in particular, scams are bad in any stretch but these make me worry they're going to crack down on people who use aftermarket shells to repair damaged consoles and just try to sell them for fair market value of the console and not trying to scam people into thinking it's actually a special edition.

Now I gotta check my real (totally not fake) Gameboy, hope it's not fake (prob will be fake)

Fun fact about Donkey Kong Limited Edition handhelds. There's never been any at retail. This GBA PS was a Japanese exclusive sweepstakes, and there was a DK Nintendo DS that Nintendo used as gifts for important industry people and celebrities as a marketing stunt (its even more rare than the SP). And to get even more technical, there's never been a DK themed home console either. Just console bundles.

I prefer buying an old one, but only because I love modding them. Got myself a classic GBA recently for that. Those Limited edition ones certainly look nice and I'd like to have some as well for my collection, but sometimes they are either really expensive or most likely a fake. Thanks for telling and showing how to spot a fake!

I‘m not thinking of buying a Game Boy but I still need to watch this video.

I had the protective sticker on my DS phat for like 4 years after I bought it and used it almost daily, so it still having that protective sticker isn't unheard of.

I guess it's nice that the fake Pika GBA is actual Nintendo PCB and Li-ion because you can use it to do your own, better mod. That's hardly a consolation for paying 300 smackers for it, though. The DK GBA is sick af. Good job.

The "sticker" on the DK Gameboy might be some sort of peeling clear coat.

This is fantastic and I really appreciate it. More people need to know about these scams. They’re getting too good these days!

I mean... It's technically not fake. But, if you're paying 300 dollars, it should be modded and enhanced or something, not just a shell swap.

I wonder how translucent the plastic is fake vs real. The real one looks much more solid and a flashlight wouldn't be as visible through it.

I think we need to clarify, these are not necessarily "Fake" Gameboys but they are reshelled. They are usually official screens, mother boards and other parts put into a new shell. They are "Fake" special edition Gameboys because most use regular 001's to swap them but I don't think we can call them "Fake" Gameboys as they are original authentic Nintendo parts inside and not a knock off.

Finally Elliot, you're starting to get away from clickbait, we're so proud of you! You just reearned a sub!

I love the flex at the end. “This gameboy’s sick, It’s the donkey Kong sp” 😂

I re-shelled and sold one of those Pikachu ones in the past. But I DID explicitly say it's an aftermarket AliExpress shell (because I know the original is worth a lot of money). I also didn't ask a really high price for it either. I fix and sell stuff all the time, but I'd like to be honest about it.

I Work for a firm which sells retro consoles and the Thing about those Gameboys is that the cases are the cheapest cases one can get, working with them is a real pain because there arent molded right and most of time the hinges dont do that snaping sound

the easiest solution to have one is just buy one from the official store (if they still sell them.)

Merry Christmas to you, Elliot! I hope it's absolutely fantastic

Please can I just have the 'this gameboy is sick... its the donkey kong sp' on loop, a youtube short please!!

Merry Christmas Elliot! For me it’s good that they only really try to scam you if it’s an expensive gameboy, (I have no money so I never have to worry about having to buy a fake rare gameboy)

I remember either the SP I had when I was younger or a genuine one I bought in 2020 had the sticker over the Nintendo logo. I think a lot of people just missed taking it off.

Did anyone else notice at 1:48, when Elliot mentioned there's "no way to tell if something is real or if something is fake", that the fake 'GAME BOY' text is all kinds of wonky?

I've had a couple of original SP's and they still had the protector on the Nintendo logo. They are really good quality!

The guts of mine are real, but the shell isn't because my cat knocked it off my bookcase and broke the original graphite shell and I had to buy a new one.

The dk Nintendo logo has one of those protective films on it to keep it from getting scratched. It looks like the original owner didn't peel it off.

When I reshell a console, I list it as such and price it appropriately.

I think the GBASP I had back in the day had a bit of plastic over the Nintendo logo like that.

Merry Christmas! Elliot

Really love your channel because you cover older systems that just kick all kinds of ass.

Happy Christmas Elliot!!! Thank you for your videos!

Every Nintendo handheld I purchased as a kid has a clear sticker on the Nintendo logo. They just didn't want it getting scratched.

Elliot, as you probably already found out, that clear sticker is factory. All GB SP's had that protective clear sticker on the Nintendo badge. Looks legit to me...

Youre so cool mate, thanks for this vid, just about to buy my second sp to be able to trade between my pokemon games, will defo take your warnings to heart! Happy Christmas🎉

Oops, I purchased a gameboy without watching this video and there were literally 0 consequences. Who'd a thought

If your buying any Nintendo handheld console special edition, ask the seller to send a picture of the console with a flashlight behind it. The knockoff ones always have a slight transparency that real ones don’t.

Well, it’s a good thing I bought a custom reshell SP using OEM parts from a reputable seller instead of going for a fake random reshell of an SP using after market parts trying to claim it’s an original

Thanks for making this video, I'll keep all this in mind while I hunt for a Groudon GBA.

The protective sticker on the Nintendo logo is very real. My NES edition GBA SP had the same thing.

"GameBoys feel good." If that isn't a slogan for your channel it should be. I agree so much they do.

Yup that’s definitely a sticker on the Nintendo logo can’t be the standard plastic they put to protect it.

When my SP was new, it had a clear protective sticker over the Nintendo logo. Bought my AGS-001 in April 2002.

Another good hint is the font of the serial number on the back of the unit.. The font on the real ones is called OCRB and the numbers 3, 6, 7 and 9 look very different from the one ls in th4 fake ones.

One of the easiest way to tell a fake shell is checking the speaker holes. The 4 center hole are always a tiny bit bigger than the others

Brand new, the SP and DS had a clear sticker over the Nintendo logo. I left mine on my SP when I was in middle school because I didn't want the logo to be scratched.

Still have my Pikachu GBA SP from the 2000's I got online before there ever was "fakes" I'd say... and it was *definitely* expensive back then (... it was around that sticker date saying 2005, it still has the sticker on it but I put a clear piece of tape on it so the sticker stopped getting peeled little by little and... it was irritating to play with the sticker's piece falling off too) Sucks a little that the "face" has been a little scratched up due to "being in a pocket" when much younger, but at the same time I do even still have the original "almost cube" box to go with it lol (wish there was a restoration service for paint jobs as otherwise it's one of my favorite SPs... although the backlight sucks in comparison to the custom GBA I got some years back lmao) Also no idea if it's just the camera or not but seeing the zoom in on the fake at 1:20, my Pikachu SP when shined with light like that, even if it's scratched, the paint job looks "flat" in comparison to the "rigid" look the fake one has in the video. Even taking a second look, yeah no mine doesn't have that rigid paint look like the one in the video does. (which felt like a red flag to me as well when seeing the video)

I remember my DS and my SP both had little stickers on the Nintendo logo and both were bought new from GameStop.

@5:35 the speaker holes aren't straight on the Pikachu one, but straight on the DK one

I always remember having to peel the sticker off the Nintendo logo on new SP's.

I mean it says fake boy right there in the thumbnail, that's on you bro

Hey Elliot I have bought two gba sp one, graphite, and one pearl pink. The pink one is in excellent condition but has scratches on the buttons and top shell, the graphite one needs a new screen and scratches on top shell as well . Got a new video ideas for you fixing a viewers gba.

Fake gameboys don't exist. Fake gameboy shells however do.

I do remember my original SP having the protective sticker on the Nintendo logo.

I got legit gane bots for years but decided to reshell them with aftermarket pokemon ones for design to put for display xD

It's not a fake gameboy, it's a real gameboy with an aftermarket shell. And honestly, if you buy a "new" gameboy these days... it's always either going to have a new shell or a cleaned one. I recently bought an modded GBC (with IPS + backlight + new shell) of course it's not the same quality as the original shell. But it allows me to play GameBoy games on original hardware again. (also that GBC was 180 euro, but it was professionally cleaned and has a new screen + shell, and ofcourse the company that sells those is very upfront about that as well. )

Buying any sort of used video game console, controller, cartridge or accessory online is a huge risk because there are so many crappy Chinese reproductions out there, or they've put an authentic motherboard into a reproduction shell. In some situations, the preview images are not great quality or they've just stolen images from somewhere online.

My OG cobalt blue SP had a protective sticker on the Nintendo logo!

What if the shell was replaced as you often did on the channel ? And what if there are no boxes ? Who keeps them around ? Then hardware wise, if the chips are essentially the same then aren't these basically off brand GBA' like how the CDI was manufactured and rebadged by different companies? My take is that these conaoles shouldn't cost as much official or not as they're obviously still in production even if they're of a crappy quality. I mean, it sucks for collectors and I'm not saying you brought this on yourselves, but all you've done is drive the prices high. Thoughts ?

I wasn't thinking of buying a Gameboy, but now I am.

I remember i had a sticker on the Nintendo logo as well on my SP it’s a protective sticker for the logo.

with the pikachu one, before you could tell it was fake cuz the buttons would be red, and yet now they even got the brown buttons, the only way you can tell now from sale pictures is that you can see the insides of it, and that can be avoided if the seller has a certain angle of the gameboy, this is getting ridiculous

Also could be titled "DO Watch This Before Selling Fake Gameboys" 😂 I hope there's no scammers out there taking notes and pre-scratching their junk

best way I know how to tell a gba is real is by looking at the barcode authentic japanese consoles have specific codes authentic american consoles have a specific code and Ive found that the tags on the fake ones are different from the authentic ones. I also never buy reshelled gbas because they look hidious😅

My brand new SP definitely came with a logo protector.

those stickers on the nintendo logo are legit in my mind

You need to make a video showing off every GameBoy you own. I am creating overlays for emulation and I need decent images of all these.

I had an NES edition and it also had that little sticker on the front nintendo logo

I have an SP pikachu edition, it's not in great condition, because the shell has scratches but it's genuine, I bought it years before bootlegs coming up.

Man I am glad I decided to buy a new shell and ips screen for my gba sp and installing it myself instead of risking it and buying a prebuilt

Why are we not talking about the lack of protective rubber bits on the upper screen?

Well I say nuh-uh.

About 6 years ago I bought a Triforce Gold Minish Cap SP, pretty sure its a reshell but only paid 70 for it.

Don’t. Buy. A. Game boy. Until watching. This

That clear sticker is meant to come off

My Advance SP Is so modded the motherboard is the only piece still original 😅

Nice video! Yeah, faking a high-dollar GBA, or any Game Boy, is really slimy. I did buy a GBA SP that had a very messed up shell and reshelled it. I wouldn't call it fake because all of the internals are still OEM, even the 101 screen, but I would sell it as a refurb/reshell. The screen does have some fade in the corners, so maybe I'll replace it with an IPS. Edit: Just saw the part about the screws on the battery covers. So no one's replacing their 20-year-old batteries? That's not a good indicator.

I'm pretty sure two SP's tht I had from back in the day had that protective film,

Dude, you create amazing content. 👏

...both my GBA SP came with the Nintendo logo sticker, in 2003

Some materials can cause plastic to melt. If they stay in contact and the room is warm enough. I have these shelfs that go on tv screens. They have this anti skid rubber bit. It melted into my clock. It just sat on this for over 6 years.

i sold my spongebob gameboy for little than $20 and it was still working. to my surprise it was so expensive on ebay.

1:42 I won't say what that mark looks like...

Alt advice: steal from a museum (but no, not really).

my original cobalt GBA SP had plastic on top of the Nintendo logo on the outside. i feel like Nintendo does this inconsistently because N64 Rumble Paks also have this plastic seal sticker on their N64 logo

So that film on the label came on brand new game boy sp's. Have you never bought a sealed official SP before?

Also who in their sane mind will pay $300 for a gameboy???, maybe $100 but $300 ?? Come on.

"I just found this online and I bought it because I'm a weirdo" is a mood

These fake pikachu SPs are super easy to spot. None of them get colors right. I have a genuine one i bought in 2005 and ive yet to see any that are correct with colors

Another huge reason the analogue pocket is the best brand new gameboy to buy in 2023

My sp back in 2003 had the plastic over the nintendo chrome logo

The video ended up being really confusing because it ended up being...technically real? We saw signs of it being fake, compared to a real one, then opened up "yup, both legitimate, hopefully this helped you not get scammed bye"

I’m going to make a fake shell marked DK Oldies.😂

I also have a GBA SP with a sticker on the Nintendo logo, it's a normal GBA SP so I suppose is totally normal. I think it is a protection for the logo

I do know having seen an original pikachu sp in person they are a lot more brighter and have a glossier finish compared to the reshells very similar to that dk sp...another way to tell is the print quality of pikachu's eyes and red cheeks...you really need to have a photo of an original to compare to see the diffrences in quality but they are there.....

Clear film on the Nintendo badge is normal. I have a blue SP from new and I peeled it off.

Sick t-shirt! My uncle has been a fan of Stussy since the 90's. Great to see a man of taste.

Mine had the sticker on the Nintendo logo until last year when it fell off (mine is just a basic black one)