Nintendo Wii 24k Gold Royal Wii Console

Interview

Fred: Hi Donny, you are one of the founders of consolevariations.com. What a rare occasion to interview one of our own board members

The decision to sell your holy grail. The Golden Wii of the Queen of England surprised us. Afterall, it is likely one of the rarest (if not the rarest) system out there. Would you be willing to share more in depth with us what lead you to this decision?

Donny: Good to be interviewed by you Fred. But of course. The reason why I am selling it is simple: Moving on with life

I've been in one place for my whole life, it's time to get my own place. At times it has been difficult for me to have free time or relax. Lately it's all CV and my daily job. When I come home, I dont get to spend a lot of me time so I would like to take the step and move on.

Fred: I understand. Sounds like big plans. Moving forward is always good. I remember when you obtained the golden Wii all these years ago. It was already clear back then this console is unique in every way. Did you expect it to become an internet sensation back in 2017?

Donny: It was funny when we talked about writing a blog about the "Top 10 things you will never own" and we mentioned this Wii on spot Nr. 1. Then, less than a month later I managed to make the deal with this exact item, which I still find it hilarious.

In 2017 I had doubts if I wanted to make this public or not, but I guess I tried a bit on my personal social media. But when People Make Games contacted me, I knew I wanted to make this public also to "promote" the new Consolevariations site a bit

Fred: Yes, I remember. I didnt want to include things in the list that are impossible to be owned by someone and here we are... Back then, did you ever think you were going to sell it one day?

Donny: My family was never very healthy financially, so money was always needed. I never wanted to sell it; however, I was always curious how much someone could give for it. I wanted to keep it with me just in case Ill open my museum.

I started talking to people about moving forward, and they told me nothing lasts forever. Im the type who is attached to things in a way that I find it hard to let them go. So selling the Wii will also help me move forward in this respect.

The gold Wii on eBay

Fred: That is true. I suppose every collector feels you since most of us know how hard it is to let a beloved item go.

On Gamescom 2019 some top end gaming industry people (who we can unfortunately not make public here) said, that it may be worth 1 Million Dollars. Simply because no one can really put a price tag on it. It is world famous and one of a kind. What led you to the decision to choose 300.000$ as the price tag?

Donny: 1 million is of course the ultimate dream, but I must be a little bit reasonable. A good friend who works at Nintendo told me I should sell it for a price which is so high it would never find a buyer. He even advised me to start with 500.000$.

I want to be reasonable with buying a place for myself, and 300,000$ (250.000) is the price that I came up with. I don't NEED more. Also, this gives more people the opportunity to buy it.

Fred: Makes sense. The price tag of course is still hefty. Did you ever think about placing it on one of the big auction houses?

Donny: I believe the price can be less or could be even more. Auction, maybe I already got loads of questions and comments on this item as we speak. Like I said before, Im pretty attached to my stuff, it's hard to let an item go, especially to an auction house that is not my collecting-cave :)

Also, I did contact one auction site, the unfortunate part was that there was no minimum price. It was all or nothing.

Fred: I think my heart would stop beating just thinking about this console being listed for 1 starting price. Just out of curiosity, did you ever offer the Queen to buy it back? She would surely have the money for it.

Donny: Hahaha No I did not, I don't even know where to start :) hard to explain to them how I got it.

Fred: We should get the internet to flood Buckingham Palace with messages. She buys it for a million and half of the money goes to charity :D

But seriously, since you have listed it with best offer I feel like some high end collectors have the chance to obtain it now. Do you have any last thoughts to share with the community?

Donny: Guess eBay was the wrong decision if this had been a deal :)

I hope the system goes to a good home. Hopefully a museum, or someone who will take care of it as much as I did. The story is what makes this item so unique.

Lastly, if the buyer wishes to stay anonymous as well as the price that he/she is buying it for. I will respect it and everything will be between the buyer and me.

Fred: This is a very nice way to put it. Donny, we wish you all the luck on selling it and much success finding your new place. Thank you.

Donny: Thank you for your time, Fred!

eBay listing of the golden Wii