I paid for this a few years ago and it finally showed up. Muramasa was always pushing out updates when something went wrong. This happened more often than I assume most people would like, but he had to try to correct each issue which cause an additional delay each time. He ended up not pushing out a crap product and I commend him for that.

This is not a paid review, nor was I given the shell. I did this swap a few weeks ago and intended to get this review up the next day, but life got in the way as it often does. Please forgive me if I forget a thing or two, or misspeak.


Here they are in a box. Very exciting.


Here they are outside of the box. Actually exciting. I started with the Player as that's an easier job.


The old crusty OEM shell gave birth to spiders which have long since expired, but one retired and lived the rest of its life in the shell.


They stand tall and proud, unsure of the adventure that awaits.


Back down on the desk, they are exhausted from the excitement.


The screws have ejected. Keeping track of them is a new skill I have but just acquired.


Doing this side by side really did help to do a much faster swap and I recommend doing it this way but I'm not your real dad so you don't always have to do what I say but please come down for dinner when it's done because we don't see each other otherwise.


The screws didn't always come out without force. They've been in there for a while so talking nicely helps.


More screws are always hiding, but they needn't be afraid.


Shield removed.


A quick light brush with a new toothbrush can get rid of any dust.


Same with the bottom shield.


Everything came out easily, but that's not a reflection of the new shells abilities.


Removing the lever and spring is easiest when lifting the pivot point out first. The spring may eject otherwise.


The spring.


The process is revered here. Easy/10.


The bottom shield and board dropped right in with no issues.


I ended up switching to the widest Phillips bit that would fit. The narrow screw tends to strip out the center of the screws when getting them into the new shell. This is because the new shell is not pre-drilled. This may seem like an annoyance, but is actually a good thing. If Nintendo ever switched up the width, spacing, or length of screws even slightly during the entire life of the GameCube then this could cause issues.

When screwing screws into any shell that is not pre-drilled please turn about half a turn into the post, unscrew it back out, turn a full turn back in, and then a half turn back out. Just keep repeating the full turn in, half turn out after this. This is tedious but brings the plastic shavings out and also heats up the plastic so it's more malleable and less prone to breaking. I've personally broken posts on previous projects by not doing this.


I had no issues with any posts not lining up with the holes.


It comes with 2 rubber rounds that are 3M in nature.


Peel and stick. They had better adhesive than I expected.


They did not fit perfectly and I had to work around the edges to get them in.


I peeled the sticker from the old Player and got that swapped as well. I did not do a good job. May the gods have mercy on my soul.


Here is the Player shell completely swapped. The only issue I came across was the 3M rubber.


Omen wanted me to pay attention to him so I pet him for a bit while I prepared myself for this big job. I'm including this to remind everyone to please discharge any static electricity obtained from our guardians or any other source before whispers at electronics with your hands.


Now the main attraction. I made sure all the parts were there. There was either a part missing or it doesn't come with the kit. That was the lid gear I believe. We'll find out later if I'm remembering that correctly.


Get that SD card out if you haven't already.


My supervisors.


With the bottom port covers removed I spotted the legit SD2SP and removed it.


I did have trouble removing one of the Gamebit screws. They are just old and cranky.


Here are the guts. Avert your eyes if you are not used to such things.


This is the true test of the quality of this shell. The tolerance is small here so I was wondering if the would be any issue with the dust cover not fitting. It slid in just fine. The two protruding clips popped into the square holes with no fuss. I shook the shell to see if they were loose, although I don't think anyone would be moving the beloved 'Cube with such force, and it stayed put.


The handle hardware install was straightforward.


No issues to report.


I stared at this for way too long and went into a trance.


Getting everything out at this point and into the new shell was the hardest for me. I can't confidently say this is a design issue because I believe it is a deep-rooted issue within myself.


Picture 1 of the struggle. The black gear part here was not included in the kit. I don't know if it was missing or just not included. I used the old gear so that wasn't an issue.


Second picture of the struggle.


Getting the spring AND the gear to seat at the same time was a nightmare. I am not proud.


It is seated. Praise be to Gunpei Yokoi.


Revel in my achievement. Please.


The spring and latch for the opening of the lid wasn't nearly as bad.


Easy stuff.


If I'm remembering correctly I had an issue with the spring but that was just me forgetting to seat it properly.


The jewel swapping is made to fill one with joy.


Joy.


'tis but a scratch(es).


Checking for proper opening technique.


Another bad sticker swap by yours truly. The left sticker was originally skewed so that's how I put it on the new shell.


The rest was fairly easy.


The controller port panel comes off easy but the ribbon cable requires gentle tugging.


I got the screws in, then removed them before swapping a new controller port panel in.


I went with the internal BlueRetro controller port panel by Greg at Laser Bear. This is not required.


It's just removing various screws at this point.


The memory card access doors come right out but be careful so the spring doesn't fly into your eye or across the room.


Tugging gently and it pops out.


Reverse the process and get the new doors in.


The back panel is removed. The kit comes with both a DOL-001 and DOL-101 rear port so take a look at which one you need. I went with the DOL-001 panel and this GameCube has the digital out port.


This is the original run of the GC Loader that required soldering. I didn't even burn myself.


Removing the wiring connectors is delicate so using a thin slot screwdriver to pop them out works better than yanking on them.


The top shield with the GC Loader still attached comes off.


6 more screws are in the heatsink. These are by far the most seated screws and I started rounding out a few of them. Caution is recommended.


The bottom shield is now exposed.


There are some metal pieces under the shield that also need to be swapped.


This was wedged in and I can't remember why. I'm old. I forget things.


There are also a few metal pieces on the left to bring over to the new shell.


This was dusty so a wipe down is ideal.


Remember to swap ALL the metal pieces as two of them are for the Game Boy Player to screw into.


I had to cut this post off because of the ribbon cable from the GC Loader. Ignore this if you don't have a first run GC Loader.


Bottom shield drop. All the holes and posts lined up.


I did the aforementioned screw technique and didn't break any posts.


So fancy.


I had also gone with a new fan and adapter. This isn't necessary.


Go with what you need.


It fit with no issue.


Clear, clear, and clear.


This wiring mess isn't normal. It's because of the extra stuff I also installed.


Another look at the top of the shell from underneath, before I start getting the screws in. This is highly recommended before putting the top and bottom shells together.


Example of screwing.


This is the plastic dust that is created when screwing. Lovely burnt plastic scent.


Beautiful.


I had issues with the top shell not fully fitting correctly with the new internal BlueRetro controller port panel. I tried it with the old OEM shell and it turned out to be an issue with the BlueRetro, not the shells.


So I ended up cutting a bit out. This is not normal and you will not come across this issue. I notified Greg at Laser Bear and he is now aware of the issue.


This was also causing the shell not to fit properly.


I got the screws back in. Hooray.


The new shell does come with new rubber feet, but are hard to get seated properly. I shoved them in a screwdriver.


Main shell sticker removal.


Somebody at Nintendo autographed it.


Stickers swapped.


It's fully together! But not for long...


The lid switch wouldn't open the lid. I compared the buttons and they were the same but I had to shave the new button just a bit because of the height difference in the new fan shroud that the power button assembly sat on. The issue was not shell related.


The new GameCube shell and Game Boy Player shell seated perfectly with all the hardware swapped.


Here it is in full operation. The new LEDs are from the internal BlueRetro and will not be present unless it is installed.

Every issue I had was cause by my incompetence or a new hardware piece that wasn't the shell, EXCEPT for the 3M rubber feet. Those weren't perfectly cut but that's a minor issue.