Square Button Famicom with Gray Controller Wires

[senseiman]

I picked up a square button Famicom yesterday for 300 yen at my local shop.  Its in great condition and was an incredible bargain, but what really intrigued me was the controller wires.

Every Famicom console I have ever seen has black wires for the controllers, even my other square button Famicom.  But this one I got yesterday has gray ones.  

I realize that wire color isn't really an issue of earth shattering importance, but still I thought it was interesting.  Anybody else have a Famicom with gray controller wires?  Or know why some Famicoms have gray wires while most have black?

I put some pics up on my blog here:

http://famicomblog.blogspot.com/2011/01/mega-bargain-of-day-another-square.html

[manuel]

Damn you and your lucky finds! 

[jpx72]

Awesome find! Aren't those gray cables just sun-deteriorated black ones?

[senseiman]

Manuel - you know I just post this stuff here to drive you crazy! 

jpx72 - good guess, but the gray cables definitely aren't sun-deteriorated black ones.  The color is even all across and they look brand new.  The rest of the unit shows no sign of sun fading either. 

One clue is that the color is the exact same as the color of the little round plastic things that "lock" the controller wires in between the top and bottom half of the console when its put together. 

I wonder if the original - I mean the REALLY early Famicoms all had gray controller wires and for some reason they changed to black wires during the early production run - even before they switched to round buttons for the controllers.

[manuel]

Manuel - you know I just post this stuff here to drive you crazy! 

I knew it! 

[senseiman]

Manuel - you know I just post this stuff here to drive you crazy! 

I knew it! 

Hee-hee!

Actually it really is too bad you missed out on Omocha Souko, I guarantee that you would have a mountain of Famicom stuff now if it had been around back then.

Right now, they have a Turbo Twin Famicom sitting in that same 300 yen junk pile.

I am torn about getting it.

I have two Twin Famicoms already, but I don't have an AC cable for them so they are useless.  The Twin Turbo they have doesn't have an AC cable either (and I can't find one anywhere in Fukuoka).

BUT, if I get it I will have all 3 versions of the Twin Famicom.  Quite the collector's feat.

And 300 yen?  So cheap.

But its useless to me and I'm running out of shelf space to keep all this stuff - oh the confusion!!!

Anyway, if I break down and buy it, be assured that I'll be posting about that here too!   

[manuel]

Are you kidding? You just have to get it for only 300 Yen!

I know the problem about shelf space, though.  Last year when we moved to our new place I realized just how much junk gaming stuff I had piled up.   

[linkzpikachu]

how much USD is 300 yen?

[nintendodork]

The rate constantly changes, but use this website/Google instead of asking next time: http://www.xe.com/ucc/convert.cgi?Amount=300&From=JPY&To=USD&image.x=27&image.y=14&image=Submit

As of this post, 300 JPY is equivalent to about 3.65 USD.

[senseiman]

Sigh...I caved.

Meet my new 300 yen Twin Famicom:

http://famicomblog.blogspot.com/2011/01/mega-bargain-of-day-exorcising-my-twin.html

[manuel]

Yes... give yourself to the dark side... Muahahahaha....

[linkzpikachu]

this whole thread makes me wanna take an ass load of american money to japan and go on an all out famicom/gaming shopping speree

[manuel]

Shipping the stuff back to the US would cost you more than the merchandise itself, though.

[son_ov_hades]

That's why you bring an extra suitcase. 

[Xious]

BUT, if I get it I will have all 3 versions of the Twin Famicom.  Quite the collector's feat.

And 300 yen?  So cheap.

There are four versions of the Twin Famicom:) Which turbo is in the junk-box, red or black? If it's red/orange, buy it and sell it to e for a mark-up. Heck, I'd buy any version for over 300Y.

Additionally you can use a 9VAC power supply in a pinch; 'tisn't as if the 7.6VAC is regulated current.