I do enjoy getting emails out of the blue asking if I want to review products. You never quite know what you will receive. When I picked up this particular email, I must admit to having to look Grid Frame Studio up in a search engine to find out exactly what they did – in this instance I found that this relatively young company makes framed wall art out of old tech, specialising in Apple technology but branching out now into retro handheld consoles and gaming controllers. I have mixed opinions on framed tech, especially the gaming kind, part of me loves it and the other part of me wonders if it wouldn’t be better in someone’s hands being played. In all cases I always hope the tech was not in working condition before being dissassembled and put behind glass.
Sure enough and true to their word I received two packages in the post. Yes, two. Which was above and beyond what I had expected to be receiving. The frames came in sturdy boxes and the wrapping on the frame is nothing short of beautiful in itself, consisting of custom Grid Studio wrapping paper, Grid branded ribbon and a special gold-coloured wax seal applied (with some lucky heather) for that extra touch of class!
Beneath the exquisite wrapping I found a Game Boy Color and a Game Boy Pocket, both laid out in exploded format, exposing their innards for all to see – like a framed teardown. Behind the exploded Game Boys there is a backing board, printed with appropriate graphics and labels for the various components giving the whole display a more technical look and feel. I felt that the balance of graphics to components was about right, too much and it would have detracted from the star of the show, but no graphics at all would have made the product appear less professional. Less is definitely more in this instance.
Overall, I felt that the displays were attractive and classy, with a minor gripe being the quality of the frames themselves, whilst not bad quality in any shape or form, they didn’t feel quite as ‘premium’ as I would have expected given the quality of the contents. Prices for the ‘grape’ Game Boy Color and Game Boy Pocket frames I reviewed were £168.64 and £160.17 respectively, including free shipping. A premium product at a not-so-premium price for something hand assembled and shipped halfway across the globe!
In summary
With an ever-expanding range of frames to choose from, I can recommend a Grid Frame Studio framed gadget for anyone who has nostalgic feelings towards the tech of old. These would make ideal presents for that retrogamer/tech enthusiast in your life or as an unusual and unique addition to your own mancave. Prices are extremely fair for such a premium product, especially when you consider the free shipping and I would be happy to display these attractive talking points anywhere in my own home.
My inner purist has just a small, but nagging concern that good working consoles were harmed in the making of these frames, lets hope that is not the case!
Grid Studio website: https://gridstudio.cc
These are really lovely products but I had the same concerns as you did so I asked them directly before they sent me a framed OG Game Boy if these were faulty products and they said “yes”. So, if that’s the case (though I do wonder how faulty “faulty” actually is) then it’s all good!