RetroCollect

Upon release of the Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap, a run of European limited edition gold painted Game Boy Advance SP bundles containing the game made their way onto shop shelves. To add to the 2004 arrival of a new Zelda game, Nintendo took a leaf from the Willy Wonka story by placing into a few of these units a winning golden ticket.

These lucky coupons you could have found inside a Zelda Game Boy Advance SP boxes were advertised as a one way ticket to gaming heaven. Upon locating one, recipients were able to claim a much shiner model of the golden Game Boy, one actually made of real gold. Needless to say, Zelda and Nintendo fans worldwide were swept off their feet and had an uncontrollable urge to get their hands on this limited edition bundle pack.

According to various sources such as Wikipedia and Engadget, seven of these stunning 24-carat gold Game Boy Advance SPs were made, six for the competition and one to be given away via GamesTM. Good chance of winning then? Well there could have been, however to this date those gold plated Game Boys are nowhere to be seen. 

Fools gold?

As of speaking there have been no reports of any winners, no claims of ownership, no eBay auctions of the said handheld and nor any reports from official sources such as Nintendo claiming these were ever made. For such a prolific and bold competition prize, the gold plated SP is somewhat a mystery. To this day, many gamers still discuss the prize winning Game Boys with no real knowledge of their existence as if it has become an almost accepted gaming past which was too good to have been won.

Nintendo, we want to know what really happened to these 24-carat Gold Game Boy Advance SPs and whether or not we were all sent on a wild goose chase to purchase your new handheld bundle in 2004.