Fresh Find: The LMP PowerBase Docking Station

Long before USB-C battery mods, at least one company tried to give the Game Boy a proper home charging dock. This arrival is that ambitious, and ultimately ill-fated, attempt: the PowerBase, a docking station for the Game Boy combined with a rechargeable battery system.

Clever, all-in-one, and a total commercial flop, which is exactly why it is rare.

What It Is

At the heart of the set is a rechargeable pack that fits directly into the battery compartment in place of the usual AA cells. Around it comes a mains adapter and a charging base that either recharges the pack at home or powers the console directly, with an LED to show the charge status and room in the base for up to four cartridges. It was a genuinely clever, all-in-one idea, made by LMP under its Gamester brand, and yet it never caught on, which is why surviving examples are scarce and it is remembered as something of a commercial flop.

The Game Boy's failures are often more interesting to collect than its hits.

Why It Joined the Collection

The Game Boy's failures are often more interesting to collect than its hits, and the PowerBase is a perfect case: a thoughtful accessory that simply did not sell, which is exactly why it is rare today. It also deepens the collection's LMP Gamester cluster, sitting beside the Zip-Bag and the maker's other power products as evidence of one company's determined effort to solve the console's battery problem. Read against the modern USB-C power pack elsewhere in the collection, it shows how old that ambition really is, and how much better it works today.

The LMP PowerBase is documented, with photographs, on its own page in the collection.