New AMIGA 1200 Cases - The rebirth of a fantastic new Amiga case Kickstarter!

When I was growing up one of the computers that I strongly remember other than my Amstrad CPC 464 was the 90's Amiga, from the A500 to the A1200 both of them such incredible computers that it pretty much made me the gamer I am today. You would probably have already realized that by now with all the Amiga emulator and game articles that appeared on IRN. So to kick off a rather impressive news announcement from Philippe Lang, from the failed Kickstarter 'New A1200 Computer Housing Project'. It is back on Kickstarter with a new name 'New AMIGA 1200 Cases' and let me tell you, unlike before this has every chance of being a success.

As we said before from our previous article, which hasn't changed. Many of you have probably been keeping a keen eye on previous crowd funding campaigns for the C64 that related to both new case molds and new key caps. They were both a huge success and it enabled people to give those 80's systems a new boost of life, with multiple colours such as black, blue, red and even transparent.

A lovely C64 example

However there is a reason why so many of those campaigns were popular and it's not just because they are of a different colour, but many of the original old cases that we own from the 80's/90's, even the same with the Amiga are starting to go very yellow. Even my Amiga 1200 is going this way and it's starting with the keys! The reason? The ABS used for these old machines were rendered flame-retardant with chemical treatments. These chemicals are the ones which cause this unsightly yellowing and until now the only fix was the owner trying a hand at painting or using special chemicals 'Retro brighting' to bring it back to white glory.

But now this is when it gets really special! The C64 has had it's turn, they've had the cases and the keycaps, now it's a return for Philippe Lang's Amiga case Kickstarter. Which isn't just a bog standard case respray, but brand new coloured molds made as super resistive and Anti-UV plastic molded housings, which is set to take all the stress away from painting your system and or cutting it up.

That's right with a pledge of €79 or more you could own 1 Complete A1200 New Housing Set in all the colours you could ever dream of, with 12 so far. But if you want something really special, an Amiga to really make the retro community go "WOW". Then other more expensive pledges are available with extra features for example signatures and badges that are not in the standard pledge. Such as the Lukhash Amiga, the Red Sector Amiga, The Scoopex Limited Edition, the Bronze Edition, the Silver Amiga, The Gold Amiga or many others.

And that's the finished designs out the way, what about the molds themselves. Well for one thing Phil isn't some new guy who's just purchased an A1200 either, hoping that it would stay white for the next few years, but someone who has had an Amiga going way back to his childhood. As according to Phil each mold part is 3D modelized with Solidworks, this is also why they are more expensive, because unlike the C64, these are not original molds but new ones. These molds also have integrated enhancements that when finished will be turned into a prototype and if successful ready for production.

You read that right, enhancements! This isn't just going to be a new coloured case but each one will have a new CF Slot over the PCMCIA (Kipper2k External CF Compatible), a new expansion trapdoor for better air cooling, a new HxC display slot with side slots for buttons, brand new USB slots, Till Harbaum's MiST FPGA Board support, Model A and B & Pi2B Raspberry board support and much more. Below is an example of the HxC LCD Display Mount, which also goes into detail about pre-cut lines, which was a concern for viewers of the previous Kickstarter.

But it comes down to this, what has changed in this new Kickstarter that wasn't originally in the first launch that failed with much to go. Well for one thing apart from the above additions and also a lower €20 backer pledge (parts kit) and sponsors of the campaign such as Scoopex. Phil has now announced after a lot of feedback in regards to the campaign being too short (30days), was held during the summer vacation and the overall case design. That two major improvements are here! Phil now has the official Amiga manufacture license. Which means when you get an Amiga, it may look improved but it will actually say 'AMIGA'.

Furthermore, Phil is also working on new key caps to replace your yellowed keys, so if you have an Amiga 500, Amiga 600 or Amiga 1200, you can look forward to multiple coloured keys including transparent. Other key related updates include, new internal Amiga 1200 keyboard replacements are in the pipe as well as external keyboards.

So if you want further information such as extra backer pledges, case details, enhancements and much more, head on over to the Kickstarter page and this time lets smash that €125,000 Kickstarter barrier because I'll be damned if we don't get a fancy looking Amiga case!

Links : Kickstarter Page & Website