If you read my article on Comic Con exclusives, you know one of the items I wanted was a special Comic-Con edition Gold Mini 10-Doh. Unfortunately, I was not able to go to preview night or on Thursday, so I missed the chance of picking one up. Regardless, when I got to Squid Kids Ink’s booth and saw all the Mini 10-Dohs, I knew I needed one for my new office. So I decided to pick up one of the Gold Mini 10-Dohs. It is advertised as being made “for geeks by geeks”. Is it?
If you grew up in the NES era like I did, seeing these little guys instantly tugs the nostalgia strings. I had the privilege of owning the original golden Zelda cartridge, so I just had to had this guy for my desk. The Mini 10-Dohs are basically replicas of the NES cartridges of old, but with two tiny feet and hands. They are made to scale, so the minis still feel like the real thing. The idea behind the line is that only 20 of each of the cover arts are being made, hence the signature and number on the package and the back of the 10-Doh. The cover art is done in the 8-Bit style of the first line of NES cartridges, like Excitebike, Super Mario Bros, Metroid, etc. It looks fantastic in gold.
The reflection here is on purpose. I wanted to show how eye-catching this little guy is. It has broad appeal. Just having it on my desk caught all my co-workers attention. Whether they were really into gaming and remembered playing Super Mario Bros. on the TVs of old, or they remembered the games they bought for their kids, people recognized the iconic cartridge, and recognized the 10-Doh as an artistic symbol of the old days of gaming, which it is. The 10-Doh is also available in the standard gray color, but let’s be honest. Who didn’t love the golden cartridges more? That’s what I thought.
This shot shows a size comparison with a bottle of water. The Mini 10-Doh stands 3.5″ tall, and is just the right size to go on a desk. I thought of getting the regular sized 10-Doh to put on my desk, but I thought the size would be overpowering to everything else. I was right, I’m glad I stuck to the Mini. You can find the 10-Doh line on Squid Kids Ink’s website. The golden Mini 10-Doh ran me $35. I think it is a bit pricey, even for something I like so much. Bringing it down to $30 would be a good idea in my opinion, it puts it in a much better price range for people to pull the trigger. If you’re looking for a great way to show off your old-school geekiness, give the 10-Doh line a peek. The golden Mini 10-Doh has earned a permanent spot on my new work desk.