In celebration of PlayStation’s 20th anniversary, it was announced that 12,300 Original Grey PlayStation 4 systems would be produced to be claimed by fans in various ways. In the US, the PlayStation Blog post announcing the system said that the PlayStation Experience keynote in Las Vegas would have more information on getting one of these extremely rare pieces of PlayStation history. I promptly called out of work, checked to see if I had enough PayPal credit to cover a $499 purchase, and sat in my living room at the ready, with laptop, Wii U Gamepad, and various other devices with internet browsers ready to get to whatever retail website the Gods at Sony had chosen for me to fling my billing information at, within a moments notice. After watching the entire keynote, where the only mention of the system was that it existed, I was bereft of all hope. My stream of the event must have lagged and I missed when they flashed the link I supposed.

I scoured the internet, hoping to find out if anyone had seen what I’d missed. As it turned out, the PlayStation Blog was filling up with comments of other furious fans, fiending for their chance to scalp or treasure this limited edition bundle. Upon seeing a few users saying it’d be ideal to check the official PlayStation Twitter, I found that golden bracelets were given to some attendees at the PlayStation Experience, and that they could come to an area of the convention to purchase them. All those who didn’t receive them, or who weren’t in attendance, were told to stay tuned. For what may have been (or at least seemed like) an hour, I tapped F5 every 30 seconds, waiting for word on how to push myself further into debt become one of the lucky 12,300. Sure enough, the link was nonchalantly posted, and consumers promptly crashed many of the Sony Store’s site features. I was quick enough to get one into my cart, but the site’s checkout was torn to shreds. Nearly 20 minutes after repeatedly attempting to finalize the purchase, my order was processed. I’d made it. Somewhere, Ken Katarugi, Jack Tretton, and Kaz Hirai were doing a jumping  high-five after a rousing game of Riiiiiiiiidge Racer.

This is living.

The system arrived in a large, luxurious black box, inside of a white sleeve, with nothing but the classic red, blue, yellow, green logo, and the words “20th Anniversary”, unlike the PlayStation 4’s original blue gradient suitcase design with things like HDD space printed on the front. The box opens as if you’re never meant to use the system and it’s simply a very expensive, albeit magnificent looking paperweight. The box has plenty of foam padding, and nothing was crammed in. There was adequate space to have the system, controller, stand, and camera (all coated in the original grey paint) displayed without removing anything but protective wrapping. Housed in the top right corner were all the cords and paperwork you’d expect to come with the system, including a voucher for $10 to spend in the PlayStation Store. Though I’m not a fan of the one earbud mic that every PS4 is shipped with, I was pleasantly surprised that even this overlooked accessory matches the 20th Anniversary system.

Beside the packaging and hue of the system’s body, camera, controller, and mic, there are a few other things that set the system apart from any other PS4. The classic colored PlayStation logo replaces the chrome one that sits above the lightbar on PS4s, and it is also found in place of the normally white logos on the DualShock 4’s home button and the tilt cube on the PlayStation Camera. On all parts of the body except for the HDD cover (the glossy quadrant of PS4s), ΔΟ☔☓ are found in an all over pattern, featuring the classic face buttons of PlayStation as well as celebrating the 20th anniversary. These are either raised or engraved, as they can be felt when running your hand over the system. I’ve been caressing mine every time I walk by. The touchpad of the controller has this same pattern, but not as deep or pronounced. Lastly, on the bottom right of the system is small metal square that displays the 20th anniversary logo, and which number out of the 12,300 systems that you have. I’m lucky number 7,081 / 12,300.

The DualShock 4 really bulked up.

The system retailed for $499 for US buyers. It’s gone for numerous other prices in the different countries that Sony offered it in, being raffled in some, and even offered for a very low price at one foreign store if you were one of the first number of people who entered and said the phrase “I crashed my Bandicoot.” With PlayStation 4’s retailing in the US for $400, the camera being $60, stands being $20, consumers only lose $10 considering the PSN voucher and not looking at the tremendous collectible value. A couple of these have gone for $15,000-20,000, but those were outliers it seems, as they average around $1,000 – $2,000 on eBay now.

It is certainly a lovingly crafted system, boxed up like a wonderful piece of PlayStation treasure, and in my eyes, it is (though it doesn’t play PS1 games, I tried.) If the system appeals to you, there’s no better time to purchase one, as the market is flooded with them since they’ve just been shipped out. For a collector, the limited number is surely a draw, but even if it was widely released, the aesthetic features would make it worth a purchase alone for any fan of the system that gave us Metal Gear Solid, Gran Turismo, and Final Fantasy VII. Don’t underestimate the power of PlayStation. Live in your world, play in ours. Play beyond. Greatness awaits. Yeah, all of that good stuff.

#7081 Claimed by Nerd Bacon!