Hi all, Ok, just wondered if someone could please help me value this Nintendo Wii? I got this from quite a reliable source of mine going back a while. I was told it came from THQ and was the rolling around THQ for some time as the Queen didn't accept delivery. Basically, they pulled a publicity stunt to suggest even the Queen and Royal family could play their 'Big Family Games' title. All this being said, I can only take this persons word for it. Some articles online did suggest it may never have actually been delivered as such, so the story certainly adds up. Unfortunately I don't have the gold nun-chuck. The controller has some damages on the back, mainly on the battery cover. I believe it to be gold plate, maybe with some sort of clear finish over the top, I'm not entirely sure. All this being said, it's certainly a really one of a kind fantastic looking bit of kit! Any help in valuation would be greatly appreciated. Many thanks in advance.
Here's some links with some info and pictures. http://www.techradar.com/news/gaming/exclusive-pics-of-the-queen-s-royal-wii-601485 http://kotaku.com/5264383/the-queen-of-englands-gold-plated-wii http://www.techdigest.tv/2009/05/the_royal_wii_.html
If that is infact what it looks to be, that's an incredible find. I'm quite speechless to be honest with you haha, though I'm slightly suspicious at the fact that THQ would just have a gold plated Wii sitting around in one of their offices for so long? Surely they'd have had it encased for show if it is indeed gold plated?
You'd be surprised at the things I've had / have Not forgetting THQ hit the fan, so all their stuff has to go somewhere, right?
I totally understand that, and you're right, it's gotta go somewhere. I'm just surprised it wasn't one of the first things to go and was probably just sitting in the bottom of some cardboard box haha
I have to be honest, don't particulary know how it was situated. Just know what I was told by my source and it's perfectly believable from my point of view. I'm pretty certain it's incredibly unlikely another will ever surface so it's difficult to value, was hoping someone here may have been able to help me with that.
hahahahaha, if this is all true...I mean, it is already amazing to read all this, but if its really true...hahahahahaha...man...what a story :'D !!!
I'm sorry, but if what part is true? I think plenty of the long standing members who know me could verify my side is true, not that I'm going to enter debate about that. However I am confident THQ did build the golden Wii and everything I've been informed of seems correct.
I didnt mean to sound unpolite or said this isnt true ! Sorry if my "hahahaha" messed this discussion up. But can you imagine my 1st thoughts ? ^^ I mean, you own the golden Wii of the Queen...I know its 2017, but this still sounds so...unreal...anyway, what a cool story (behind this item) ! :'D And I still try to imagine how it must feel owning this item now...and post on assembler about it. But heck, that was this place is all about. Thanks for sharing !
That's not a problem, just wasn't sure if you were trying to insinuate something. I appreciate your excitment though I just need to try and get a realistic valuation on it so I can try to move it on, unfortunately I'm juggling some of my collection about abit and I never had a great interested in the Wii.
I think, 1st of all you should check the value of the actual amount of gold "crafted" into this device. Next Id say, if you arent afraid, why not open the device and check for model numbers, serial numbers etc. comparing it to a standard Wii piece by piece. Does it have built in games or a specia DVD with family games ? Which firmware is currently installed ? (dont put in a game, as it will probably update/overwrite the firmware) But I guess you know that I think thats also informations that might play a role in determining a price.
Ok, well I've made the first move to verify this, I've taken it to two jewelers shops in my local town. One of them wasn't any help at all and they had 'no way to verify it's gold' the second shop was more helpful, the guy spent a good half hour looking at it for me with an eye glass and said he couldn't test with acid on plastic, but he could see there was another coating under the gold. This is good news though as we believe you can't gold plate directly onto plastic, which having just googled this seems correct. He also said colour is very difficult to tell on gold plated items because of whatever they use under the gold tends to show through to some extent as the gold is only very thin and can make it brighter or darker in appearence. I believe his thoughts are it's likely to be real, but it's something that he wouldn't know how to test, likewise in terms of quantity he believes there is no way to check that. I've had a google and can't find any other gold Wii's especially anything related to any that aren't actually gold plate, the closest I came was stickers. In further response to the above questions, I wouldn't risk opening it up, but I'm fairly certain it's just a retail Wii with cosmetic modifications. I'm pretty certain there are no built in games and I don't have any discs with it, I believe the Queen's was coming with just a standard retail copy of the game. Regarding firmware, I'll have to verify that shortly.
I really hope it is the THQ one but replacement shells have been around for some time. http://m.westingames.com//Wii-Replacement-Customize-Console-Housing-Shell-Case-Gold-WRWi026_936.html You're local to me ain't you? I know two places that could potentially give you a second opinion for free if you want? Does it have any stickers on it?
It's definitely not one of those shells mate, that's for certain. I've sold it now too to be honest. Basically I'm very confident it's the legit thing, the story adds up completely, plus I acquired this with other THQ stuff, from the right area at the right time so I can't see how it could possibly be anything but that. Look at the detail in the pictures vs the shell, also I don't know if they ever even did controller replacements. Further research has also been carried out which further points towards it being what I believe. Thank you for your input though, it's much appreciated.
Oh I know the picture is crap, I was just showing that there are third party gold cases available. Don't misunderstand, I really hope it is the real thing and it's got a decent home. Did you check the firmware out of curiosity?