It happened yesterday, around 1:00pm Pacific time.
We were getting ready to leave for a family get together when I hear a loud crash. It sounded like a Lego creation hitting the floor and shattering apart. This happens regularly.
My 14 year old son, on queue starts freaking out.
But unlike all the other times he's saying something much different this time...
Dad! I'm sorry! I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry.
I turn around and look at the floor.
I do not see Lego's
I see my crystal blue Game Boy advance SP model 101 I bought from theflea a few years ago (the best one I have) in pieces on the floor.
The family get together is for my sons birthday. I'll be damned if I'm going to let it ruin the day.
I look at my son and say "it was clearly an accident. We'll deal with it later."
I pick up the pieces and put them on the table.
Folks, in this thread I'll be chronicling my attempt to turn this tragedy into an upgrade.
Here is what I have to work with:
The case is not salvageable but everything else is.
A quick search on eBay for broken GBA SP's brought up many overpriced broken units ($40 or more!).
A search on Etsy brought up replacement shells for $30. No good.
Surprisingly Amazon brings up some very affordable options. Under $20.
I've ordered a nice looking Zelda replacement clamshell:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B01LNJMXC4/ref=mp_s_a_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1493590971&sr=8-2&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=gameboy+advance+sp+shell&dpPl=1&dpID=41yNst42rhL&ref=plSrchIt should arrive this week. When it does I'll follow up with pictures. Before and after, comment on ease of installation, build quality, and overall impressions.
Update May 2ndKit arrived yesterday (2 days later not bad!). It appeared to be shipped directly from Amazon and they send it in an envelope with zero padding. Fortunately it survived the trip unscarred.
What it contains:
A tri-wing screw driver.
All casing parts except the hinges.
I have pictures I will share later.
Build Quality:
I read a handful of reviews on Amazon gushing about this being an OEM quality replacement. Let me start by saying those reviews/comments are dead wrong.
The plastic is observably textured differently, thinner, and cheaper feeling than the original plastic. Period.
That said, it does not look bad. In most lighting and angles it looks pretty good. Look at it up close though. Or hold it for a second and the difference is obvious.
Have a sturdy tri wing screw driver handy. The one included in the kit must be made of tin foil because the bit breaks immediately. Reviewers complaints about it are right on. It's worthless.
The board, speaker and screen all fit as they should.
Getting the hinges out of the old SP is a major pain. I tried to force them out with a screwdriver as shown on all the YouTube videos. I was nervous I would damage them doing that and I was right.
After damaging one of them I resorted to cutting the plastic shell apart to get the hinges out. Cut my finger in the process. It was not fun. Took longer to get the hinges extracted from the old SP than it did to reassemble the new one.
Once assembled it works pretty well. The DPAD sits closer to the case body that the original but it did not seem to negatively affect gameplay. I played through and beat Kirby's Dreamland in about 20 minutes without a problem. The buttons are plenty responsive and work as they should.
The Nintendo logo for the top of the shell looks legit.
Because the plastic is so thin there is some light bleeding through the plastic where the power and battery are.
Overall, I would say it was worth the $18 to bring my SP 101 back from the dead. I would not recommend replacing a perfectly functional SP with this case though.
Comments, suggestions, and condolences from the peanut gallery are welcome.
