Royal Gold Nintendo DS Lite without Triforce - Middle East exclusive?
I came across this gold DS Lite in the local classifieds a couple of years ago and picked it up because I couldn't find a Zelda one. I have since acquired the Zelda DS Lite but on researching into the plain gold one there seems to be little to no info about it. It is not even listed in the Console Variations database. I've found only one thread about it on GameFaqs but the replies were unsure about it's authenticity and one extremely informed individual even declared it as 100% fake. I'm pretty sure that guy had a legit system but it seems to be an extremely late production model because it mentions the DS Lite is incompatible with 3DS game cards. The copyright on the box is 2011 and the 3DS was announced in 2010. Here is a link to the gamefaqs thread: https://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/925329-nintendo-ds/66437244
My unit has a copyright of 2009 on the box and there is no mention of the 3DS. The color is Royal Gold and the box contains both English and Arabic text. There are also 2 manuals inside, one in English and one in Arabic. Interestingly, the Arabic manual opens from the left side with the spine on the right since it is a right-to-left language.
Does anyone else own one of these? I'm 100% sure this is a legit DS Lite that was released only in the Middle Eastern market. It must have been made to satisfy the rich Sheiks who love some bling
Here are more pictures of my unit:
Bigger image: https://imgur.com/ZPXDFxf
Bigger image: https://imgur.com/Bn08zPH
https://imgur.com/IaxuYuN
Bigger image: https://imgur.com/LXJh1q9
Bigger image: https://imgur.com/kn34bYn
Bigger image: https://imgur.com/MtqEHkS
Bigger image: https://imgur.com/7pjY1pk
Bigger image: https://imgur.com/95jxLzn
Manuals:
Bigger image: https://imgur.com/CGxnOy1
Serial number on the manual matches that of the console. Yes there is no bar code but that doesn't make it fake.
Bigger image: https://imgur.com/Efy7gFi
Comparing with the Zelda DS Lite:
Bigger image: https://imgur.com/D9wWOis
Bigger image: https://imgur.com/Nebdlcd
Zelda one is on the right:
Bigger image: https://imgur.com/gRYEgDn
Comments
Consolevariations has quite a few theyre still missing from various pages
I've submitted quite a few pics he hasnt had the time to put up yet
I wonder if any other middle eastern collectors have one.
If that's fake they went all out.
Agreed. Wow. It looks so spot on, wonder if it is real. Don’t think I’ve seen this version before.
http://www.activeboeki.com/ is their website.
Active Boeki didn't distribute the NES in the Middle East, however; that was a different company.
@Dry_Bowser it is funny you post this, because the man that runs Active Boeki was the co-owner of Samurai. He is also an Indian man, who lives in Japan. You can even see on their website they reference Samurai(the NES/Wii distributor)'s parent holding company(I believe), "Samurai International General Trading LLC"
You are doing an amazing job finding all of these undocumented items
I found this at a Goodwill thrift store a couple months ago for $13.51: https://imgur.com/a/3uk2L
The store at 3121 E. Highway 34 Newnan, GA 30265.
I'm semi colorblind, but this looks similar to me. I sold my sealed Zelda DS Lite (original owner, purchased on Black Friday at Circuit City) -- so I no longer have anything to compare.
It came with Cars and Purr Pals, so I don't think the previous owner was a serious gamer.
Funny I should see this thread today. I just saw another DS like this in the "junk" pile at West GA flea market earlier today. That's close to the part of Carrollton where Gamers closed their store. Maybe I'll pick up the "junk" DS tomorrow.
https://imgur.com/a/eZdI9
I don't recall if the Circuit City Black Friday bundle with Spirit Tracks or Phantom Hourglass or whatever had a Triforce gold or just gold system but the system was fully boxed and then bundled inside an outer box. It was sold nationwide for that morning only but if that was similar to the ME/UAE or NWC variant it could explain the distribution.
Some local shops around me would routinely get stuff from a UAE distributor. That's how they'd have new stuff that had been out of print in USA. One of the shops was "Gamers" in Carrollton, GA. They shut down that store though. I think they still operate one in Villa Rica.
I found this at a Goodwill thrift store a couple months ago for $13.51: https://imgur.com/a/3uk2L
The store at 3121 E. Highway 34 Newnan, GA 30265.
I'm semi colorblind, but this looks similar to me. I sold my sealed Zelda DS Lite (original owner, purchased on Black Friday at Circuit City) -- so I no longer have anything to compare.
It came with Cars and Purr Pals, so I don't think the previous owner was a serious gamer.
Funny I should see this thread today. I just saw another DS like this in the "junk" pile at West GA flea market earlier today. That's close to the part of Carrollton where Gamers closed their store. Maybe I'll pick up the "junk" DS tomorrow.
I like the color of this one! I didn't even know it existed!
I found this at a Goodwill thrift store a couple months ago for $13.51: https://imgur.com/a/3uk2L
To me this looks like "Copper".
Here's that junk non-Zelda Triforce one from the flea market yesterday:
https://imgur.com/a/eZdI9...
And this looks like "Metallic Rose". I had one of these but sold it recently. It was a Korean console though. Metallic Rose was available in the US I guess.
Here's that junk non-Zelda Triforce one from the flea market yesterday:
https://imgur.com/a/eZdI9...
I don't recall if the Circuit City Black Friday bundle with Spirit Tracks or Phantom Hourglass or whatever had a Triforce gold or just gold system but the system was fully boxed and then bundled inside an outer box. It was sold nationwide for that morning only but if that was similar to the ME/UAE or NWC variant it could explain the distribution.
That's not gold, that's the rose metallic color.
That's not gold, that's the rose metallic color.
Yup definitely metallic rose. I sold hundreds of these at launch in my GS days. The gold version looks nothing like this.