hwd45
Well-known member
Okay so... this is maybe going to be one of the most niche topics I'll ever make a thread about, lmao
One of the things I love about Tamagotchis is its deep history of mysteries and obscure knowledge. For those aware of the vast number of shell designs boasted by each of the earlier Connection versions, it should come as no surprise to find out there's mystery surrounding some of the more obscure releases.
Previously, I've discussed the existence of rare Spanish language versions which were released in South America, as well as some extremely late releases (as well as some unique ROM versions) in Greece. Today I'd like to talk about another region that received some unusual releases - Hong Kong.
Specifically the V2. The shells which released in Hong Kong for this version were mostly just reprints of a selection of the Japanese Tamagotchi Plus shells. There were a few exceptions, but for the most part the shells are very, very similar in appearance to shells that had released in Japan for the V1 a year earlier.
Where it gets a bit weird though is that each shell released in Hong Kong with multiple different button colours, as well as different coloured tags.
Don't believe me? Here's a few examples
And they're not all just button swaps either - multiple pictures of these devices still in their packaging prove this.
So I've got absolutely no idea what's going on here. I guess they just rotated the button colour every now and then to continuously give additional variation to the already wide array of designs.
It seems like these shells came in three styles of packaging, too - one basic style, a style with a picture of a Dekatama in the background and a style with stars all over it. Here's a few (low quality) examples of each of the styles:
Why are they so low quality? Because for some reason finding any more information about these shells is *extremely* difficult. I've managed to build a relatively large collection of images of different shells but there's bound to be way more. I mean look at this:
Did you know about this shell? Because I sure didn't!
One of the things I want to find out is what order the shells released in - since there's multiple packaging styles I'm assuming different button combinations were released in different waves. Luckily, Tamagotchis provide a way to figure that out more easily.
If you look at the battery door on your device, you might see a number imprinted into the plastic. Sometimes (particularly with earlier V2s and V1s) the number is on the inside, but later releases had the number on the outside instead. Usually this number will be five digits long but sometimes they're longer - only the last five digits matter though.
Suppose the number is "ABCDE" - then the number seems to represent the date "200E/DC/BA" in the YYYY/MM/DD format (or "201E/DC/BA" for devices made in the last decade). For example, the number 60405 on a V2 represents the 6th of April 2005. Using these dates we can string together a rough timeline of when each shell was made.
So far the only date I've obtained is 60405 for a shiny white w/ characters shell with white buttons and a light blue tag.
Here's a list of shell / button / tag combinations I've found so far:
Design
Button
Tag
Shiny White
Blue
Purple
Pink w/ Logo
Yellow
Purple
Pink w/ Flowers
Peach
Purple
Shiny White
White
Blue
Yellow w/ Cross
Pink
Blue
Shiny Blue
Yellow
Blue
Shiny White
Purple
Yellow
Pink w/ Logo
Blue
Yellow
Pink w/ Flowers
Pink
Yellow
Yellow w/ Cross
Yellow
Pink
Yellow w/ Cross
White
Pink
Shiny Blue
Blue
Pink
Pink w/ Flowers
Blue
Pink
Pink w/ Flowers
Yellow
Pink
Shiny White
Blue
Pink
Pink w/ Logo
Purple
White
Pink w/ Flowers
Purple
White
Pink w/ Flowers
Pink
White?
Shiny Blue
Magenta
White
Yellow w/ Cross
Blue
White
Black "Tamagotchi"
Yellow
?
Black "Tamagotchi"
Pink
White
Purple w/ Stars
Light Blue
Purple
Blue w/ Stars
Light Blue
Dark Blue?
If anyone else has any information on V2 HK shells - especially if you have a manufacture date to contribute - then that'd be really helpful.
Otherwise, I hope you enjoy any further obscure information on the Hong Kong shells that we discover here.
One of the things I love about Tamagotchis is its deep history of mysteries and obscure knowledge. For those aware of the vast number of shell designs boasted by each of the earlier Connection versions, it should come as no surprise to find out there's mystery surrounding some of the more obscure releases.
Previously, I've discussed the existence of rare Spanish language versions which were released in South America, as well as some extremely late releases (as well as some unique ROM versions) in Greece. Today I'd like to talk about another region that received some unusual releases - Hong Kong.
Specifically the V2. The shells which released in Hong Kong for this version were mostly just reprints of a selection of the Japanese Tamagotchi Plus shells. There were a few exceptions, but for the most part the shells are very, very similar in appearance to shells that had released in Japan for the V1 a year earlier.
Where it gets a bit weird though is that each shell released in Hong Kong with multiple different button colours, as well as different coloured tags.
Don't believe me? Here's a few examples
And they're not all just button swaps either - multiple pictures of these devices still in their packaging prove this.
So I've got absolutely no idea what's going on here. I guess they just rotated the button colour every now and then to continuously give additional variation to the already wide array of designs.
It seems like these shells came in three styles of packaging, too - one basic style, a style with a picture of a Dekatama in the background and a style with stars all over it. Here's a few (low quality) examples of each of the styles:
Why are they so low quality? Because for some reason finding any more information about these shells is *extremely* difficult. I've managed to build a relatively large collection of images of different shells but there's bound to be way more. I mean look at this:
Did you know about this shell? Because I sure didn't!
One of the things I want to find out is what order the shells released in - since there's multiple packaging styles I'm assuming different button combinations were released in different waves. Luckily, Tamagotchis provide a way to figure that out more easily.
If you look at the battery door on your device, you might see a number imprinted into the plastic. Sometimes (particularly with earlier V2s and V1s) the number is on the inside, but later releases had the number on the outside instead. Usually this number will be five digits long but sometimes they're longer - only the last five digits matter though.
Suppose the number is "ABCDE" - then the number seems to represent the date "200E/DC/BA" in the YYYY/MM/DD format (or "201E/DC/BA" for devices made in the last decade). For example, the number 60405 on a V2 represents the 6th of April 2005. Using these dates we can string together a rough timeline of when each shell was made.
So far the only date I've obtained is 60405 for a shiny white w/ characters shell with white buttons and a light blue tag.
Here's a list of shell / button / tag combinations I've found so far:
Design
Button
Tag
Shiny White
Blue
Purple
Pink w/ Logo
Yellow
Purple
Pink w/ Flowers
Peach
Purple
Shiny White
White
Blue
Yellow w/ Cross
Pink
Blue
Shiny Blue
Yellow
Blue
Shiny White
Purple
Yellow
Pink w/ Logo
Blue
Yellow
Pink w/ Flowers
Pink
Yellow
Yellow w/ Cross
Yellow
Pink
Yellow w/ Cross
White
Pink
Shiny Blue
Blue
Pink
Pink w/ Flowers
Blue
Pink
Pink w/ Flowers
Yellow
Pink
Shiny White
Blue
Pink
Pink w/ Logo
Purple
White
Pink w/ Flowers
Purple
White
Pink w/ Flowers
Pink
White?
Shiny Blue
Magenta
White
Yellow w/ Cross
Blue
White
Black "Tamagotchi"
Yellow
?
Black "Tamagotchi"
Pink
White
Purple w/ Stars
Light Blue
Purple
Blue w/ Stars
Light Blue
Dark Blue?
If anyone else has any information on V2 HK shells - especially if you have a manufacture date to contribute - then that'd be really helpful.
Otherwise, I hope you enjoy any further obscure information on the Hong Kong shells that we discover here.
