Russ Lyman just posted a fun video that I wanted to share with all of you: He took a prototype Retro Game Restore Genesis shell and modded it to look “bloody” for Halloween! This is both fun and also encompasses my favorite aspects of console modding – More thoughts below, as well as some notes about the RGR shell he used. If you’d like to order this and other RGR shells, as well as pre-order the upcoming Model 2 shell, check out all the links in this post:
RGR Shells: https://www.retrorgb.com/genesis-2-smoke-clear-shell-pre-order.html
Russ has a reputation for doing some really awesome paint jobs and mods on classic consoles and I love when he mods consoles that are yellowed, cracked, or otherwise “junk”. It’s so cool to see new life breathed into something that would have been garbage otherwise…plus, they look great! Of course, you own the console and if you’d like to mod the plastic on a mint condition one, it’s your choice, but I do get a bit sad seeing perfectly clean plastic modded.
That said, custom replacement consoles are made to do whatever you want with them and it’s so cool to see them used in unique ways. It’s my strong opinion that if you want to mount custom jacks, add a unique paint job or just have a one-of-a-kind console, that you can’t get any better than a transparent case combined with a mod like this!
…and some quick thoughts about the case itself. First, I love that Russ trimmed a tiny bit off the heatsink to make it fit! Retro Game Restore includes a new heatsink that you can use instead, but I love having choices and if you have a cutting tool, that’s a perfect solution as well!
Also, this was a pre-production prototype unit – The power jack standoff/post is included in the ones you purchase. I love Russ’ workaround though! 🙂
LOL and I’m not sure how I feel about suspending water packets over a PCB, or covering vent holes on the bottom…but as Russ said at the end, this is an art project, not a guide on how to mod your daily Genesis!
Hopefully Russ will follow up with some more videos like this one, as I gave him some consoles in really bad shape! I’d love to see a video on strengthening a cracks, yellow console, then painting over it to completely restore it!
