Unboxing a 1989 Game Boy: What's Really Inside the Original Box

Opening a complete 1989 Game Boy box is a small time-machine moment. Almost everything inside was designed to be torn open, played with and thrown away, which is exactly why a complete one is so special today.

So what actually came in the box when a Game Boy first landed on a shop shelf?

What's in the Original Game Boy Box

A complete original Game Boy box holds far more than just the handheld. Lift the lid and you find the console seated in a moulded protective tray, an instruction manual, a folded consumer-information and precautions leaflet, and usually a Nintendo catalogue showing off the latest games. In a game bundle such as a Tetris set, there is also the cartridge and its own little manual.

The Paper That Matters Most

It is the paper, more than the plastic, that decides whether a boxed Game Boy is merely nice or genuinely collectible. Manuals, inserts, leaflets and catalogues were the first things to be binned or lost, so a set that still has every scrap is far rarer than the console itself. Crisp, unmarked paperwork can matter as much to a collector as the hardware it came with.

Console Only versus Bundle

Not every box was the same. Some markets sold a console-only set with no pack-in game, while others led with a Tetris bundle aimed squarely at newcomers. Knowing which configuration you are looking at, and whether its contents are complete and correct for that region, is half the fun of collecting boxed examples.

Why a Complete Original Game Boy Box Is Worth It

A complete-in-box Game Boy, with the right manuals, inserts and packaging for its region, commands a real premium over a loose unit, and a factory-sealed example more still. It preserves not just the machine but the whole moment of opening it in 1989. Browse complete examples across the collection.