The Mysterious Coca-Cola Dreamcast

We've looked at a few special edition Dreamcasts recently, the most notable being the odd F1 World Grand Prix II console that surfaced on eBay and was subsequently bought by a reader of the Junkyard. We've yet to find any concrete information regarding the origins of that particular model, but we're hoping that the Dreamcast community may be able to shed some light on the latest oddity to come to the fore.

Friend of the Junkyard and Japanese game aficionado Allan McCluskey recently contacted me to ask if I knew anything about a Coca-Cola branded Dreamcast he'd managed to acquire from a seller in Japan, and upon its arrival in the UK Allan sent me the following images:
If you search for the Coca-Cola Dreamcast on Google you'll find an entry at Console Variations that gives the following information:
  • Console released in Japan.
  • Off-White Colored console with the Coca-Cola logo on it.
  • Not much info known, rumor has it that it was a contest/promo action when you could save up by collecting point in the Sonic Golf C Mode Cup when Coca Cola was partnered with Sega.
  • From that point-collecting it was also possible to get ringtones/drinks/wallpapers etc. for your phone.
It does appear that Allan's latest acquisition is indeed very rare and the mystery surrounding its origins is something we want to solve. To this end, I have approached the Coca-Cola company archives via Facebook and hope they can help to reveal the story behind this peculiar model.
Do you know anything about this model? Do you own one? let us know in the comments or in our Facebook group. Oh, and don't forget to sign up to our new newsletter!

Update:
A gentleman who shall be referred to only as Michael messaged me with regards to the Coca-Cola Dreamcast, and he appears to have found some rather interesting information:

"Regarding the Coca-Cola Dreamcast -  I had my wife do a quick search on the Japanese Yahoo. She found an auction where one of these Coca-Cola Dreamcasts were being sold (or had been sold). In the description, the seller was uncertain of its complete origin. However, he mentioned it was from a restaurant called Jonathan's. If you ordered a Coke, your name would be added to a draw. The winner received a Dreamcast. The Coca-Cola Dreamcast came at a time when Coca-Cola was a huge trend in Japan. He believed they were unlicensed and not officially released with Coca-Cola's permission.  This may not be 100% accurate on its origin. However, it may point you in the right direction if your current attempts lead to a dead end."

He also furnished me with this link to the Yahoo Japan auction. The plot thickens. It does look too good a logo job to be an unofficial model and we know there are at least three of these systems in the wild due to people who own them coming forward. Thanks to Michael for his (or rather his wife's) detective work.

2 comments:

nemosfate said...

Don't you think if coca cola was going to do one it wouldn't be a bit better than just the small logo?

dingerling said...

One for sale now for 450