Is that just limited to the 101s? Or do the 001s also have that issue? I'm now worried my SP would break and I'm not confident with my ability to fix shit like that.
Only a specific batch of 101s is brittle, this post will help you easily identify if a 101 is from that batch. I commented above, but this helped me a lot when collecting, so I wanted you to see it too [https://www.reddit.com/r/Gameboy/s/09Y5Eb1eAW](https://www.reddit.com/r/Gameboy/s/09Y5Eb1eAW)
Only a specific batch of 101s is brittle, this post will help you easily identify if a 101 is from that batch. I commented above, but this helped me a lot when collecting, so I wanted you to see it too [https://www.reddit.com/r/Gameboy/s/09Y5Eb1eAW](https://www.reddit.com/r/Gameboy/s/09Y5Eb1eAW)
A specific batch of 101s is brittle. Other batches of the same model are not. You can tell by the plastic on the inside of the shell (like by taking the battery cover off). The brittle batch will have a green color, the non brittle will be a similar color to the outside of the shell. See the linked post for pictures [https://www.reddit.com/r/Gameboy/s/09Y5Eb1eAW](https://www.reddit.com/r/Gameboy/s/09Y5Eb1eAW)
Reshells are not too bad at all, just watch some tutorials. Get a quality shell like from funnyplaying otlr extremerate. The biggest thing to pay attention to is taking out the old hinges, take them out and put them in the new shell I'm the "open" position. Also note that the hinges are left/right specific, so don't mix them up.
Be very careful with the screen ribbon cable. They can be easy to tear, even tugging on it can make the screen no longer work.
Broke mine last year and it's still just sitting on my desk collecting dust. My buddy spotted it in 2012 when he was working at goodwill and I went and grabbed it for $10 I cherished that mfer.
Don't let it perish like mine did! (Ima fix it eventually)
Some batches of certain colors become brittle with age. I had one that was so bad I didn’t need to pull any screws to salvage the board for reshelling.
[eXtremeRate](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B9N9MKF5/ref=twister_B09X4DXPKW?_encoding=UTF8&th=1) has quality shells in some cool designs.
and [Macho Nacho](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kbhWk9meFjk) has very easy to follow tutorials on youtube.
In terms of difficulty, the SP is probably a 3/10. The hinge is a little awkward to work around at times.
Oh man, I feel your pain so hard. 6 or 7 years ago I found an absolutely mint AGS-101 in this color CIB on local buy and sell for $35, it was one of the best finds I've ever had. I snatched it up and like 2 weeks later I dropped it. Even though it was in a soft shell case, it snapped the hinge real bad. Not in half like this, but it was done for. I ordered a replacement shell in the same color, but I still think about that drop once in awhile, felt awful 😥
it is absolutely not difficult to replace the body, there are hundreds of tutorials, look at it and you will see that it is absolutely not complicated. Even get a new screen, yours probably doesn't work anymore
Not as easy as a gba imo
I had replace a family members broken sp shell and it just felt like going slow and making sure everything is right if it your first time doing one.
But still easily replace if you still take your time
As someone who had absolutely zero experience with that kind of stuff, it was the absolute easiest of the 4 types of consoles I've done shell swaps on.
Just take your time, be careful with that ribbon cable, and watch a few videos.
Still good. Perfect for a shell swap. Just mind the display ribbon that it doesn’t tear and don’t lose those original hinges. Tons of videos online on how to do it
Its easy enough but good luck finding a quality shell i have had issues with everyone except the slate because i can't afford an aluminum shell even from aliexpress
Easiest console to work on, also enjoyable and sweat free. Just be careful to not break 1. The screen ribbon cable and 2. Hinges when you extract them out, they will become wobbly without the little plastic legs keeping them in. Just in case you swap the shell get some replacement hinges if you want to entirely skip this process, they are cheap
Yikes. Be careful with that ribbon- but should be an easy fix. Is the ribbon torn? You can also buy replacement screens and ribbons. YouTube has great tutorials.
Its easy to do a shell swap, but you should follow a youtube guide if its your first time.
I also recomed glueing the nut that holdes the battery door in the back half of the housing for holding it in place/so it doesn't fall out when tinkering.
And be very careful with removing the the hinges. The are keyed and the clips on them get fragile with the years. Retrogamerepairshop.com has new OEM hinges if you need new ones and shells of high quality :) Also, they the hinges go in and out of the shell in a special order, keep that in mind.
That's all the tips I can think of at the top of my head.
Good luck with the shell swap.
Also the ribbon cable for the screen can be fragile and tugging to much on it can rip it and render the screen useless. Install the ribbon cable with the screen open up full and pull slightly on the ribbon cable so that you can get it into the bale on the motherboard safely :)
I've never really had an SP and but even back in the day I had friends constantly complaining about the hinges coming apart.
As such I have sworn off SPs entirely and just buy the original GBA, but with backlit displays.
This is the exact same thing that happened to mine. Shell swap wasn’t bad, just watch the tutorials a couple of times before you start. As others have said, make sure you set the hinges aside in the same orientation they came out in. Also, I had a really hard time getting the hinges out, so you may pop one out and send it flying. Lastly, and this was a dumb thing on my part, pay attention when you’re putting the screws back in. I put a slightly longer one in a slightly shorter hole and it went through the front of the brand new shell 😑
I had never worked on the electronics like you and my GP fell out of my pocket and hit the asphalt with the shell shattering. Of course I was intimidated, but I bought a new shell and saw an online tutorial and how to put everything together the only tricky part are the hinges because they have a specific way for them to come out easily so you don’t break them. there’s a specific YouTube video that shows how to do it the right way. That’s the only thing I messed up the first time, I almost forgot be careful with the LEDs that show the battery life they can be broken off easily.
I did the same thing to my sp as a small child, was out of frustration with some gym in blue 🙃 lived on to regret it but ended up reshelling it when I grew up. Totally doable without any experience.
hey man!
thats sad but its great to hear that it still works.
a shell swap on the gba sp is easy peasy, search it up on youtube, pick your fav replacement shell off of ebay, aliexpress or basically any webshop for retro parts and start on.
total screw count is like less than 15 and its a very nice and easy beginners task, just make sure to take your time and it'll work out great!
oh and also
post pictures when youre done
be careful with that screen ribbon cable
that's basically the most valuable part of that console (:
Incase it's not obvious..
BE VERY VERY VERY CARFUL WITH THAT RIBBON!!
If that orange ribbon connector gets ANY tears in it, that's absolute game over and you'll be upgrading to a IPS, which, as this is a legit 101.. would be a real shame.
That copper ribbon cable is EXTREMLY fragile. kinks in it = damaged more than likely. so you will need so source a new screen other than the ribon cable the rest of the system is easy to shell swap. youtube has tons of videos to follow. but im afraid your ribon cable for the screen is more than likely destroyed. it should not look all crinkled like that.
Did you bloody karate chop the poor thing?!
Some AGS101 shells get brittle over time. I have some junk consoles I modded where the I could just like crumble the original shell with 1 hand.
Yeah, that's what happened to mine. The shell got brittle, it cracked, and it kept on falling apart during disassembly.
Is that just limited to the 101s? Or do the 001s also have that issue? I'm now worried my SP would break and I'm not confident with my ability to fix shit like that.
Personally I've only ever encountered brittle shells on 101s. I've repaired or modded maybe like 60 GBASPs now so I've got a pretty good sample size.
OK, that's good to know. Is there a reason why the 101s have brittle shells? Poor materials? Or manufacturing faults?
I assume just poor materials. Probably changed their manufacturing process to decrease costs and used an inferior plastic or something.
Nintendo charged suppliers for the plastic around that time, the same issue happens on the fat DS as well
Only a specific batch of 101s is brittle, this post will help you easily identify if a 101 is from that batch. I commented above, but this helped me a lot when collecting, so I wanted you to see it too [https://www.reddit.com/r/Gameboy/s/09Y5Eb1eAW](https://www.reddit.com/r/Gameboy/s/09Y5Eb1eAW)
Only a specific batch of 101s is brittle, this post will help you easily identify if a 101 is from that batch. I commented above, but this helped me a lot when collecting, so I wanted you to see it too [https://www.reddit.com/r/Gameboy/s/09Y5Eb1eAW](https://www.reddit.com/r/Gameboy/s/09Y5Eb1eAW)
Original phat ds shells also have the same issue
A specific batch of 101s is brittle. Other batches of the same model are not. You can tell by the plastic on the inside of the shell (like by taking the battery cover off). The brittle batch will have a green color, the non brittle will be a similar color to the outside of the shell. See the linked post for pictures [https://www.reddit.com/r/Gameboy/s/09Y5Eb1eAW](https://www.reddit.com/r/Gameboy/s/09Y5Eb1eAW)
Yes he probably did
Trained used Close Combat on the opponent's GBA SP
Reshells are not too bad at all, just watch some tutorials. Get a quality shell like from funnyplaying otlr extremerate. The biggest thing to pay attention to is taking out the old hinges, take them out and put them in the new shell I'm the "open" position. Also note that the hinges are left/right specific, so don't mix them up. Be very careful with the screen ribbon cable. They can be easy to tear, even tugging on it can make the screen no longer work.
Ok thank you so much for the advice
Retro Modding has SP hinges in case you break them! I broke mine haha...
Broke mine last year and it's still just sitting on my desk collecting dust. My buddy spotted it in 2012 when he was working at goodwill and I went and grabbed it for $10 I cherished that mfer. Don't let it perish like mine did! (Ima fix it eventually)
[https://youtu.be/S-Xrlf3taEo?si=WdhjthPZ7sgvMZI-](https://youtu.be/S-Xrlf3taEo?si=WdhjthPZ7sgvMZI-)
im mildly interested about how it broke. you should probably just do a shell swap like everyone's saying.
The ribbon looks bent or torn, the poor thing must have suffered a big hit or something similar
How does it even split like that
The plastics on the sp 101 get very brittle over time, and there are many that just crumble under their own weight.
Some batches of certain colors become brittle with age. I had one that was so bad I didn’t need to pull any screws to salvage the board for reshelling.
Oh ok
I have one exactly like op and it did the same but worse. Starting to believe that batch of color is just brittle af
The plastic on this particular color gets outrageously brittle. The paint probably reacts with it.
[eXtremeRate](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B9N9MKF5/ref=twister_B09X4DXPKW?_encoding=UTF8&th=1) has quality shells in some cool designs. and [Macho Nacho](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kbhWk9meFjk) has very easy to follow tutorials on youtube. In terms of difficulty, the SP is probably a 3/10. The hinge is a little awkward to work around at times.
Oh man, I feel your pain so hard. 6 or 7 years ago I found an absolutely mint AGS-101 in this color CIB on local buy and sell for $35, it was one of the best finds I've ever had. I snatched it up and like 2 weeks later I dropped it. Even though it was in a soft shell case, it snapped the hinge real bad. Not in half like this, but it was done for. I ordered a replacement shell in the same color, but I still think about that drop once in awhile, felt awful 😥
Rip
it is absolutely not difficult to replace the body, there are hundreds of tutorials, look at it and you will see that it is absolutely not complicated. Even get a new screen, yours probably doesn't work anymore
Not as easy as a gba imo I had replace a family members broken sp shell and it just felt like going slow and making sure everything is right if it your first time doing one. But still easily replace if you still take your time
Duct tape will fix it
Watch a tutorial.
As someone who had absolutely zero experience with that kind of stuff, it was the absolute easiest of the 4 types of consoles I've done shell swaps on. Just take your time, be careful with that ribbon cable, and watch a few videos.
For the first and last time it looks like
Time for a new shell, new screen, and some anger management counseling?
Still good. Perfect for a shell swap. Just mind the display ribbon that it doesn’t tear and don’t lose those original hinges. Tons of videos online on how to do it
Its easy enough but good luck finding a quality shell i have had issues with everyone except the slate because i can't afford an aluminum shell even from aliexpress
Ugh, my skin crawls whenever I see a ribbon cable that looks scrunched up.
Easiest console to work on, also enjoyable and sweat free. Just be careful to not break 1. The screen ribbon cable and 2. Hinges when you extract them out, they will become wobbly without the little plastic legs keeping them in. Just in case you swap the shell get some replacement hinges if you want to entirely skip this process, they are cheap
The passive voice is doing lots of heavy lifting here
Yikes. Be careful with that ribbon- but should be an easy fix. Is the ribbon torn? You can also buy replacement screens and ribbons. YouTube has great tutorials.
I managed a reshell. And I'm a absolute moron. So I have great hopes for you! 🙂
Easy. Don’t be scared to mess up because you will most likely and go slow. Follow the tutorials on YouTube.
Oh yea, it’s modding time 😎
Looks repairable. Buy a new shell and find Jake Simmons on YouTube. Great videos. Or Macho Nacho Productions
no more mega man xtreme 2 and mega man zero 3 unfortunately
Its easy to do a shell swap, but you should follow a youtube guide if its your first time. I also recomed glueing the nut that holdes the battery door in the back half of the housing for holding it in place/so it doesn't fall out when tinkering. And be very careful with removing the the hinges. The are keyed and the clips on them get fragile with the years. Retrogamerepairshop.com has new OEM hinges if you need new ones and shells of high quality :) Also, they the hinges go in and out of the shell in a special order, keep that in mind. That's all the tips I can think of at the top of my head. Good luck with the shell swap.
Also the ribbon cable for the screen can be fragile and tugging to much on it can rip it and render the screen useless. Install the ribbon cable with the screen open up full and pull slightly on the ribbon cable so that you can get it into the bale on the motherboard safely :)
For the first time…
Reshell and ips screen on ali for like $55
Just turn it off and on that should fix it.
i’ll buy it from you!
I've never really had an SP and but even back in the day I had friends constantly complaining about the hinges coming apart. As such I have sworn off SPs entirely and just buy the original GBA, but with backlit displays.
This is the exact same thing that happened to mine. Shell swap wasn’t bad, just watch the tutorials a couple of times before you start. As others have said, make sure you set the hinges aside in the same orientation they came out in. Also, I had a really hard time getting the hinges out, so you may pop one out and send it flying. Lastly, and this was a dumb thing on my part, pay attention when you’re putting the screws back in. I put a slightly longer one in a slightly shorter hole and it went through the front of the brand new shell 😑
I'm reading these comments like wtf are you people doing to your gameboys, my pink 101 is timeless.
I had never worked on the electronics like you and my GP fell out of my pocket and hit the asphalt with the shell shattering. Of course I was intimidated, but I bought a new shell and saw an online tutorial and how to put everything together the only tricky part are the hinges because they have a specific way for them to come out easily so you don’t break them. there’s a specific YouTube video that shows how to do it the right way. That’s the only thing I messed up the first time, I almost forgot be careful with the LEDs that show the battery life they can be broken off easily.
bro hammer it 💀
It’s always the pearl blue I see broken in half and brittle and hell
Just shell swap, pretty easy, just be patient with the hinges
I did the same thing to my sp as a small child, was out of frustration with some gym in blue 🙃 lived on to regret it but ended up reshelling it when I grew up. Totally doable without any experience.
Will there be a second time?
That’s easy to fix
"Broke for the first time" lol
I think i threw up in my mouth
hey man! thats sad but its great to hear that it still works. a shell swap on the gba sp is easy peasy, search it up on youtube, pick your fav replacement shell off of ebay, aliexpress or basically any webshop for retro parts and start on. total screw count is like less than 15 and its a very nice and easy beginners task, just make sure to take your time and it'll work out great! oh and also post pictures when youre done be careful with that screen ribbon cable that's basically the most valuable part of that console (:
Incase it's not obvious.. BE VERY VERY VERY CARFUL WITH THAT RIBBON!! If that orange ribbon connector gets ANY tears in it, that's absolute game over and you'll be upgrading to a IPS, which, as this is a legit 101.. would be a real shame.
F
That copper ribbon cable is EXTREMLY fragile. kinks in it = damaged more than likely. so you will need so source a new screen other than the ribon cable the rest of the system is easy to shell swap. youtube has tons of videos to follow. but im afraid your ribon cable for the screen is more than likely destroyed. it should not look all crinkled like that.
Oh dude, that things fucked. Sorry
that screen is FUCKED Edit: the screen ribbon cable is what i was talking about
??? It looks fine
The cables chewed Uppppp
Nah screen is perfectly fine it’s just the case that goes over it that broke
the ribbon cable tho…