How rare is Taiwanese famicom?

[Bulebulukan]

Hi, greetings to all
I'm new in famicom world, and i just got my first famicom it is japanese version
But i saw my friend want to sell his famicom,
I realize that his famicom is slightly different from mine...
So i made a little research and found out that his famicom is Taiwanese version
Is it rare? If he wants to sell it, like how much it'll cost?

Thank you

[L___E___T]

 



Hard to say - is it in the box?  May I suggest he sells it to FCgamer - he collects everything Taiwanese and you won't find a more serious buyer...  You'll get your best offer from him I'm sure!

[MasterDisk]

It's uncommon for sure but like, you need to find the right buyer since most people do not specifically look for that variant.

[Bulebulukan]

Well thankyou for the answer, really appreciate it
I was thinking about replacing my old unit with this version
So is not really worth it right?

[L___E___T]

 



It's worth it if you specifically want the Taiwanese one for some reason, but it's like Masterdisk said, most people don't even notice the difference.  The Hong Kong version is easier to spot.

[P]

The Taiwanese is NTSC though right? I guess it would be identical to a Japanese Famicom in that case, except for labels and such.

[L___E___T]

 



I can't recall - but I think it might be regular JP NTSC as well.  If I could find mine I'd check.  Only difference I found was on the label and some stickers.

[Flying_Phoenix]

Yes, the Taiwanese one is NTSC and should share the same exact internals as the Japanese one. The AC adapter is the same too, but with different labeling.

I'm also interested in buying one, complete or loose, as long as it's not yellowed and the stickers haven't peeled. Let me know if you're letting it go.

[P]

Did Taiwan get a NES as well?

I've recently learned that the Hong Kong Famicom was released late in the Famicom's life because the PAL NES (Asian version) didn't sell in Hong Kong. Importing a Famicom from Japan was very cheap and some sellers modded them to work on PAL TVs, so pretty much everyone bought these instead of the PAL NES. Nintendo eventually gave up with the PAL NES and released their own PAL-converted Famicom in Hong Kong to try to compete with the unofficial imports.

I wonder if the situations was the same in Taiwan as well since there is a Taiwanese Famicom.

[Great Hierophant]

The Taiwan Famicom differs from the Japanese Famicom in one functional respect, the RF Modulator.  If a Taiwanese buyer wanted to use an official Famicom, he would need to receive the signal naturally.  Taiwan uses the same VHF frequencies as US channels 2-4 and 7-13, but the Japanese Famicom uses frequencies that later US TVs assigned to Cable Channels 95-96.  This also means you should be able to use a Taiwan Famicom with US TVs with far less trouble than a Japanese Famicom.

The Taiwan Famicom has a unique RF/Power conversion board :

http://www.famicomworld.com/forum/index.php?topic=8368.msg121618#msg121618

The standard Japanese board has two switches, one for TV/GAME and one for Channel Select.  The Taiwanese board only has one switch.  The back of the Famicom is unlabeled, so it is unknown what the switch does.  It also has a large IC that is absent on Japanese boards. 

The RF Switch is also unique :

http://go2ds.seesaa.net/article/290120876.html

It displays on US channel 13 (Taiwan Channel J) :

http://www.ebay.com/itm/-/271491355890?

If that switch is a channel select switch, then that would suggest that the alternate channel is US 12 (Taiwan Channel I) or Taiwan J1 (US Cable Channel 23)

[Flying_Phoenix]

No official NES in Taiwan sorry!

[P]

I see, thanks!