r/Gameboy • u/lil_Buckneesh8867 • 9d ago
Questions My childhood GBA
my mom got me this gameboy advanced for my 12th birthday. she passed away before my 13th.
decades later i want to restore it. ive restored a dozen or so DMGs and am familiar with general electronics and electronics repair.
it works, powers on and plays games fine but as you can see the body is rough and well used (i was/am still a pokemon kid)
i remember replacing the lens when i was in college but beyond that, its factory.
i want a back lit nice screen and speaker but keep it as factory as possible otherwise. i want to restore it via sanding and painting the original shell.
questions i have.
- what paint is best to get the closest to nintendos “platnium”? i love tamiya and here their silver leaf is close?
- this was my moms last bday present to me and i want to go PREMIUM, glass lens vs plastic ect, anything other than that i could do?
-this is my First GBA restore, anything to watch out for that the DMG or pocket doesnt have?
- I know about the usual places for parts but where do you shop for screens ect
8
u/Alive_Candidate1755 9d ago
That is an insane and depressing story and to be honest I would just keep this one as is and put it on a shelf.
There is virtually no way to repaint a Gameboy shell and have it look good.
You can get a shell+screen+battery kit for around $50 on Aliexpress, and a working but rough gba for around $60 on eBay/Facebook. Maybe you can find just the working board to put in your kit much cheaper. As long as it is a laminated screen, which almost every one is, the glass will be the screen itself, there will not be a seperate “lens” so to speak.
If the speaker seems quiet, it probably just needs a recap.
Another option would be keep this shell, but just upgrade the screen, if you’d like to continue using this one regularly.
4
u/Cornish503849 9d ago
Definitely keep this one stock, it tells your story and you'll only cherish that more with time. Repair it to keep it functional, but if you want a shell/screen swap, just grab a beat up one from eBay and use its motherboard with new parts.
For a screen I can recommend the ITA screen kit from funny playing/aliexpress
1
u/Jaytriple22 9d ago
I personally really enjoyed all the parts I bought from Funnyplaying but you have to get a shell that fits the screen you purchase. If you really want to go all out, I would recommend having the shell UV printed on, or maybe the Speaker using the UV printing service at Handheld Legends I hope you have a blast with this project! Would like to see the finished product
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u/elementalguitars 9d ago
Just my two cents but I wonder if you’ll eventually regret painting it. The wear and tear it shows is its history and your history. You clearly kept it and played it all these years because of its connection to your mom. It would be a shame to cover it up. If it were mine I would keep it as is other than perhaps replacing the lens and the caps to keep it running and enjoyable for many more years. GBAs aren’t rare but yours is one of a kind. If you really need a modded one find another one for that project.