In a heartwarming story of nostalgia and surprising discovery, plumber Liam Clousdale is about to half methods with a cherished relic from his teenage years: a Nintendo 64 gaming controller he obtained as a 14th birthday present in 1998. Little did Liam know that this controller, a token of his youth, would grow to be a uncommon particular version, probably certainly one of fewer than 200 in existence worldwide. Liam’s Nintendo 64 Foxdata Silver Leopard personalized controller is producing buzz within the gaming group and is slated to go beneath the hammer at Hansons Auctioneers on October 17, with an estimated worth of £1,000.
Reflecting on the previous, Liam shared, “I obtained the pad as a birthday present from my dad and mom in 1998 after I was 14. At the time, my household lived in Cumbria, and we relied on magazines just like the N64 Magazine for gaming information. The Foxdata N64 was distinctive as a result of it was the one console to function 4 ports for controllers. Each of my buddies had their very own personalized pad to keep away from confusion throughout multiplayer video games.” Liam continued, “The Foxdata ones had been wonderful to me on the time as they had been official pads with customized paint jobs. I used it a good quantity and beloved having the craziest trying pad. Although the N64 has lengthy since been packed away, I’m nonetheless an avid gamer.”
The journey to discovering the controller’s true value started when a good friend talked about {that a} Foxdata pad had offered for a substantial sum. Liam determined to unearth his outdated controller from a field within the loft and was astonished by its potential worth. He reached out to Hansons, a famend public sale home specializing in toys and video video games, and the remaining, as they are saying, is historical past. David Wilson-Turner, head of Hansons’ Toys and Video Games Auction, defined, “Liam’s controller was launched within the late Nineteen Nineties by Foxdata as a part of a variety of 4 totally different designs. This vary has grow to be more and more wanted within the online game market. Although data is restricted, it’s believed that Foxdata produced round 800 of those customized controllers throughout the 4 designs, making Liam’s controller a rarity with probably lower than 200 in existence.”
