Lego Game Boy is so accurate even the advert is the same

A 1:1 recreation of the original Game Boy is the latest Lego Nintendo set, and it comes with two game cartridges and a hilarious ad.

We hate to make you feel old, but the original Game Boy came out over 36 years ago now. It was outdated tech even when it first arrived but because it was the first viable portable console, with some great games, it went on to sell over 100 million units and remains iconic today, even to people that have probably never even seen one in real life.

The Game Boy is the definitive portable console and now… there’s a Lego version of it. It doesn’t work, of course, but it does look just like the real thing and, unlike a lot of Lego sets, it isn’t that expensive, at £54.99.

It follows in an increasingly long line of Lego recreations of gaming hardware, starting with a brick-built NES and also including an Atari 2600 and a working (thanks to a crank on the side) Pac-Man arcade cabinet.

The Game Boy set is exactly the same size as the original and comes with buildable cartridges of Super Mario Land and The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening, which can be slotted into the back. (Tetris would’ve been a more obvious choice, but that would’ve involved Lego securing an additional licence).

Rather than a single display, the only thing that’s not a Lego brick is three interchangeable bits of plastic to show either the start screen or Zelda or Super Mario Land gameplay.

The set also comes with a brick-built stand for the console itself, and whichever cartridge isn’t slotted into it. It all looks amazingly authentic, not least because the Game Boy was always very chunky and suits being made out of Lego.

In fact, it’s so authentic that Lego has recreated the original US advert for the Game Boy on Instagram, complete with a man in robot suit made out of Lego bricks.

To be honest, we don’t remember if this ad was used in the UK or not. The only ones we remember for the Game Boy involved Rick Mayall, which unsurprisingly Lego has not recreated.

How to pre-order the Lego Game Boy in the UK

The Lego Game Boy is set number 72046 and will go on sale, at Lego stores and the Lego website, on October 1. If you’re worried it’s going to sell out though, it is already up for pre-order online.

Lego and Nintendo have had a close relationship for years now, with a line of Super Mario toys aimed primarily at adults and more expensive sets aimed at adults, that also includes a giant Mario Kart model and an animated one based on Super Mario World.

To what degree Lego has the rights, or the inclination, to make sets based on other franchises has never been clear, but they’ve had an ongoing Animal Crossing line for a few years now and a new one based on Pokémon that’s due next year.

They also have a big adult-orientated set based on The Legend Of Zelda but so far no indication as to whether there’ll be more. But then one of the reasons the two seem to get on so well is that they both love their secrecy. Although they do sometimes tease sets quite a way in advance, as the Game Boy one was first hinted at back in February.

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