A TikToker shared a video of a Target-branded red Game Boy Advance while standing in front of a Target store. The video either brings up memories from other gamers that may have owned one or informs people that the special edition Game Boy Advance once existed.
Nintendo released a variety of colorful and sometimes see-through Game Boy Advance consoles that added personality to the handhelds. The games on that handheld have stood the test of time and have gamers wishing that one day, Nintendo will bring GBA games to Nintendo Switch Online. What some gamers may not have been aware of at the time was that some colors of Game Boy Advance handhelds were offered exclusively from specific stores.
A video posted to TikTok by EdgewoodCollective shows them holding the red Target-branded Game Boy Advance outside a Target store with a chip music-style cover of "My Heart Will Go On" by Celine Dion. The video cycles through showing off the handheld at Target and the box, both of which seem to be in great condition. This user is actually selling this rare, special edition Game Boy Advance right now. There are a few listings on eBay for Target-branded Game Boy Advance systems, all with various levels of wear or missing pieces, but EdgewoodCollective seems to have this one in the best condition possible for an opened product, except for a missing piece of the battery cover.
The Target Game Boy Advance is judged as a fairly rare find by the website Console Variations, at a 65 on the site's rarity grading scale. Made in 2002 for the United States store chain, Console Variations estimates that as many as 50,000 units were made. Target stores had two store-branded colors of Game Boy Advance systems: red, and a purple or "grape" color, as it was called which holds a 68 rarity rating. A store-exclusive GBA was also sold at Toys-R-Us in black that came bundled with a copy of Pokemon Crystal (62 rarity score) or without, and another red Game Boy Advance for defunct Canadian store Zellers with store branding and bundled with Mario Kart: Super Circuit (85 rarity score).
Seeing store brands emblazoned on gaming systems is such an odd sight compared to the current day. At best, console makers or publishers will sell special editions of games or console bundles through certain stores, like NBA 2K23 selling the WNBA Player covers exclusively through GameStop, but having a store's logo painted onto a console is unheard of.
Source: TikTok, Console Variations