Saturday, October 22, 2011

Bringing a New Console From Mandarake Home on the Subway

For a guy who complains a lot about how many retro consoles he has, I sure do buy a lot of them.

Today I bought another one. I was downtown this morning on some business after the completion of which I managed to sneak into Mandarake. I like to visit there once a month or so when I`m in the neighborhood just to see if they have anything new.

Today they didn`t have anything new per se, but they did have a new price on something that had been there for a while. It was something that I had wanted for a long time but had been needing a bit of an extra nudge to actually go through and buy the thing. A 50% reduction in price was, it turns out, enough to do it for me.

The console in question was on display in their glass case. The Mandarake glass case is awesome - nothing but the best in retro video game consoles in all of Fukuoka go in there. I love it when I can actually buy something out of there. The prices are nowhere near as cheap as the junk bins in other stores, but it makes me feel like a big shot to be able to get something out of the glass case.

Unfortunately they don`t allow photography in the store so I couldn`t take any pictures of the case. I did however photograph most of my trip home via the subway system with my new console in tow.

First we entered the underground shopping complex that leads to the station:
On arriving at the station we purchased our ticket at the machine:
Then we got on the train, which was quite crowded. Somebody with a similar looking bag from Mujirushi sat opposite us:
Then we got off after only one stop to transfer trains. We had to wait on the platform for a little while:
The next train wasn`t so crowded so we had quite a bit of room to ourselves:
Finally we arrived at the station near my home and took the escalator up and out of the subway system:So there you have it - my newest console brought home by Subway. Fascinating, I know.

You may wonder what my new console is. I`ll give you a few clues.

1. Its heavy.
2. It isn`t a handheld, it connects to a TV (with an RF switch, not AV cables).
3. It was released in the early 1980s.
4. It was also released in the United States. The American version was much more succesful than the Japanese one.
5. Beat Takeshi appeared in TV commercials for it.

I`ll do another post about it tomorrow.


  1. By early 80s', how early are we talking? Like, does it use cartridges, or is it a plug-and-play? And was it released in Japan first, or was it originally from the U.S. before being exported? If my hunches are correct... is it an Atari 2800?

  2. Since I can't seem to edit my previous post, let me explain my logic here. I realize the Atari 2600 was released in the U.S. in 1977, but it only connected to the TV via an RF switch. And of course, it was VERY popular. The Japanese version, the 2800, was about the same, but smaller and released in... the early 80s'. I haven't been able to find any commercials with Beat in it though (unless I simply didn't recognize him...), so I may be wrong, but we'll see.

  3. Oh, suuuuuuuuuuuuure, leave us hangin', why don't you? :P

    I love the build up, though, and the photo series. I also love thinking about the looks you must have gotten from some of the folks who saw you photographing your new possession :)

    I don't have a guess as to which system you bought, though. The only one I can think of is the Sega Mark-III, but since you just bought a Sega SG-1000 II I doubt that's what it is.

    Regardless, I look forward to the reveal!

  4. I didn't know the Intellivision came out in Japan.

  5. Skyrunner - Close but no cigar. It was released in 1979 in the US and in Japan in 1982.

    Bryan - LOL, yes and thanks for reading it! I did get some strange looks from people in the underground mall next to the subway station.

    blizzardjesus - D`oh, how did you know that? Unless you are the only person I told about this....

  6. I'm a fan of Beat Takeshi and i googled it. Sadly a comercial doesn't seam to be out there.

  7. Check this out:

    According to the title it is Beat Takeshi`s CM for the Bandai Intellivision. Watching it though the guy just doesn`t look like Takeshi. Perhaps that is just because it is 30 years old though!

  8. I think it's an Intellivision :P

    Nice post though sir, amusing photos as always! :) I like seeing everyday stuff from Japan like this

  9. Thanks Simon! Yup, its the Intellivision :)

  10. Love the photoblog for the trip home :) Going to read the full post now with the pics of your latest addition to the retro haul!