Powercoin’s innovative look at the early years of consumer electronics continues with our favourite subject to date, the handheld games console. The machine that exploded the market, becoming one of the most beloved gadgets in history, was the Nintendo Game Boy. Launched in 1989, this LCD monochrome machine eschewed cutting edge graphics for battery life and great games, and became a literal phenomenon as a result. With a colour version releasing in 1998, it went on to achieve blockbuster sales, hitting almost 120 million units before being discontinued in 2003.

It’s an obvious choice for inclusion in the Techstalgic series, and they’ve done an outstanding job bringing it to life. The look is bang-on, and the inclusion of Tetris on the screen, itself a cultural juggernaut, is inspired. There’s a touch of colour on the buttons, but this series has always had a later variant with a twist, and we reckon a Game Boy Colour version with a colour ‘screen’ would be a logical addition.

The back of the coin features a cartridge and the open battery compartment, with the coin issue details sited on the former. It’s all very neat, and a perfect fit with the coins that have come before, including the Nokia-style phone, the Walkman, and the calculator watch. A great extension of this nostalgic series, it comes boxed with a COA, and has a mintage capped at 499.

P.S. If you miss these devices, there’s a vibrant retro community and some fantastic cheap, modern handheld machines that emulate the old consoles. Try something from Anbernic (I have an RG Cube XX) or Retroid, for example, and relive the early days.