The Holy Grail is a mythical object said to have been the cup that Jesus Christ either drank from or bled into, depending on who you’re listening to. It was supposedly lost some time after his death and has never been found again. It’s been the subject of many works of fiction and has come to symbolise the truly unobtainable. The far-off goal that you never expect to reach.
In game collecting its meaning is a little simpler. It’s that cool, unique item you desperately want for your collection, but it’s either so rare that you never see it for sale, the price tag has too many zeroes, or it lies deep within a fortified labyrith guarded by the fearsome, five-headed Tiamat.
Here are a few of the team’s personal Holy Grails that they long to add to their collection.
Kane
Spice Orange GameCube
From the moment I saw the Spice Orange GameCube and learned it was a Japanese exclusive, I’ve wanted one of my own. I would prefer it with the controller and Game Boy Player to match.
Not only is it that perfect nostalgic colour that reminds me of the early 2000s (you can’t tell me it’s not the same colour as Samus in Metroid Prime or basically half of all Digimon), but the fact that there are accessories coloured to match create a “set” and that sets off my collection wanting brain worm.
Admittedly, it’s not even all that out of reach for me. It’s a bit pricey to grab the few examples on sale in the UK right now, but it’s not impossible to import them using proxy services. To make it even cheaper, I could grab myself a non-working unit and re-shell my own console with the parts. I’d need to mod a Japanese console regardless if I wanted to use it, so there’s not too much of a difference in workload.
Along the same line of thinking, but definitely less legitimate, there are plenty of cheap reproduction shells available online that I could use to reshell not only my console but also a controller and my Game Boy Player.
Pink PS2
People who know me know I hoard PS2 hardware and accessories to a dangerous degree. I have a whole collection of odd, licensed controllers from the SpongeBob Double pack to the simple Simpsons gamepad. When I learned that there was a Pink PS2 that came with two matching controllers and a memory card, I didn’t waste any time adding it to my ‘want’ list.
This one has been an interesting one to try and hunt down over the years. There are plenty of examples of just the pink PS2 console; it was sold in a few different bundles, usually with a single controller. But finding the console with both controllers and a memory card is impossible at my budget. Recently, I’ve resigned myself to building the bundle from single units, and that’s how it’ll have to be. I’m definitely not getting the box, I can tell you that.
I can guarantee that I would play many of the games on our list of the 50 Greatest PS2 games.
PS2 Bravia TV
One of the quirkiest trends that we saw happening between the 90s and 2000s was integrating consoles into TVs. There were examples for the NES, SNES and even the Dreamcast. The particular one I’ve always wanted was the Sony Bravia KDL-22PX300 released in 2010. It’s nothing all that special if I’m honest. It’s a basic Bravia TV with a PS2 Slim built into its base. But the fact that they bothered to do it at all makes it just weird enough to feed my ever-present brainworm.
I will never get this.
If you’ve been looking up the pricing on my other items, then you have a pretty good idea of what I consider out of my budget.
This beast is currently sitting at around £1000 on the lowest end. At the highest, it’s reaching a whopping 8K.
So yeah, I will never get this.
Melltith
Hello Kitty Dreamcast
The Hello Kitty Dreamcast was a Japan-exclusive edition of SEGA’s console. Being released in November 1999, the edition came in two colours: pink or blue. I obviously want the pink one. 💅 The console was released as a set. The box contained a rather complete setup: the console itself, a VMU, a keyboard, the controller, two Hello Kitty games, and the cables.
What makes this console such a want for me is the fact that one: it’s Hello Kitty-themed. Two: it’s giving c**t. Three: It’s. Transparent. Plastic. Anyone who knows me knows that I am an advocate for the return of transparent technology. Hell, I even made Kane re-shell my cherished childhood Game Boy Advance SP so it would have a transparent shell. When I was younger, my TV was a lovely transparent yellow, kind of like the old prison TVs, but yellow. And of course, I had the transparent purple Game Boy Colour, my beloved.
As for now, the console is way too out of reach for me, currently selling for around £600. Maybe if I were to miraculously become rich one day, I could purchase the ethereal entity that is the Hello Kitty Dreamcast… Or if some super-nice, super-rich person wants to be randomly kind, I’d accept that too. 😗
Jakks Pacific Hero Chao Figure
As an owner of the Gold Chao, Neutral Chao, and Dark Chao figures, I’m literally begging at this point, Jakks. Please release the Hero Chao figure for me. Just for me. Please. It doesn’t even need to be in a box. Where is he?
I hope to one day edit this article with a fresh image of a newly purchased Hero Chao figure, with the caption “He has come home”.
Hamtaro: Ham-Ham Heartbreak
I’ve always been a lover of Hamtaro. Ever since I bought some little figures of him at a pound shop when I was around five years old, he has held a piece of my heart just like he holds his beloved sunflower seeds. It wasn’t until I was around 13 years old that I found out the little hamster had a big adventure on the Game Boy Advance.
Released in 2002, Ham-Ham Heartbreak has an absolutely adorable story that brings in the new characters Spat and Harmony. The game is a puzzle adventure. Perfect for a cosy gamer such as myself. I did play it on an emulator way back when, as I didn’t have my own funds or means to purchase the game. Unfortunately, now it’s leaped up to £38 for the cartridge alone. A boxed copy goes for over £100, which is sadly out of my price range for now.
Whilst looking up the game for prices, I did notice that many Hamtaro items are now extortionately priced. Who do I have to contact in order for Hamtaro to make a comeback? Let me know. We’ll start a petition.
Riley
Spyro Crystal Dragon Statue by First 4 Figures
This is probably the zenith of any Spyro collector’s dreams: an exact-scale replica of the crystalised dragons from the original entry. Standing at 56cm tall and weighing nearly 6kg, this thing is no small statue and will take a significant amount of room in any collection. To me, it would be amazing to have this; I’d probably never need another Spyro object again, but alas, it is not meant to be.
Firstly, I lack the room for something of this scale. It is huge and I would need enough space to fully appreciate its majesty. Secondly, this statue comes in at a whopping £400-500 on a good day, and it’s an expense I’m not willing to pay to look at a pretty statue occasionally.
Nintendo Game Boy Player
Arguably the only useful item I have on this list, the Game Boy Player allows any owner of a GameCube to upgrade it and turn it into a fully fledged Game Boy Advance, with the benefit of being able to play it through the TV with a GameCube controller. Back when this was released, such a marvel was pretty impressive. It was done before with the Super Game Boy, but it was still a desirable object.
Obviously, in the modern era, this kind of use is incredibly niche. It’s unnecessary with Nintendo Switch Online and other means allowing you to enjoy GBA games on a larger screen, but there’s something so tempting about it. For the asking price of £150, this is something I’d probably have to find accidentally at a car boot sale rather than intentionally purchase, though. Maybe someday!
Sir Lancelot and Galahad Jazware Figures
Look at these guys, aren’t they cool? Back when The Black Night was the new game in town, Jazwares released a series of Knight figures of the main characters, all armour-clad and with their respective swords. Naturally, these didn’t see the light of day in the UK so are damn near impossible to find. I do hear stories of people finding them in the USA occasionally.
As a collector of Jakks Sonic figures, I love the character variety they have brought, but having these knight figures in my collection would be such a delight, especially the Sir Galahad. Long live Silver the Hedgehog!
Hollyman
Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness
It’s an unfortunate reality that Pokémon games seem to rise in value by extraordinary amounts over time. Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness is an unfortunate example of this. A boxed copy is now worth around £300, so anyone wanting to play the Colosseum sequel on original hardware will need to fork out a fair bit. What makes this sting particularly hard is that I did own this game once upon a time, but it has since been lost in parts unknown.
Along with its predecessor, XD will be added to the GameCube library of Nintendo Switch Online, which is undeniably great, especially if you’ve never played these games before and want to experience them. Unfortunately, this may not be an entirely complete experience as it is all but impossible to make the Game Boy Advance connection work with the Nintendo Switch. The Game Boy Advance compatibility allowed players to transfer Pokémon from the likes of Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald into the GameCube titles and play with them in shiny 3D graphics, which was undeniably cool. Alas, that seems to be a feature that will not be available anymore. For the full X-perience, you’ll need to pay.
Azza
.hack Parts 3 and 4 PS2
While the Japanese copies are easy to find and readily available, the European copies are expensive, costing £200 for the pair. Probably more after this article comes out. To find them with the anime DVDs is an even bigger pain, further driving the price up. The manuals are printed in Japanese style. So they are back to front. After all this, it’s no wonder they are mega expensive. Why is my childhood so expensive…?
Fallout: New Vegas Collector’s Edition
These do pop up every now and again; however, it’s a lot of money for what it is. You get a “platinum chip” playing cards, poker chips, a novel, and a DVD. I do really want one for collecting purposes but goddamn, it’s expensive. CEX has it for £160 at the time of writing. While that’s a decent price in comparison to recent listings, it’s still a big ask. I love New Vegas, but I love my wallet more.
Dividers provided by strangergraphics.
Just a dude that plays games. Ill write stuff on here once in a blue moon
Sean Hollyman is an avid fan of action figures, videogames and sometimes other things too. When he's not labourously trying to earn platinum trophies for games that he otherwise probably wouldn't care about, Sean can often be found taking photos of his Transformers in embarrassing situations.
Favorite Food: Roast Dinner
Least Favorite Food: ANYTHING with mayonnaise in it
Melltith, or Melty, enjoys cosier or slower paced games and likes to take her time with things.
She's a very crafty person who will throw her all into a multitude of new projects and skills.
Video game completionist and 3D platformer connoisseur, Riley is a fan of the whimsical frenzy of bright and colourful characters that blessed us in the late 90's. Their favourite game's are Spyro, Persona 5 and Super Mario Sunshine.