So in Iran people take old PlayStation consoles, refurbish them and sell them as new stock. My favorite part of this is that they do so with this incredible custom box.
I kinda love this, and if I was there? I'd buy one in a heartbeat.
To be honest, retro gaming on the PS1 is a bit 50/50 for me. Early 3D gaming before my time can be rough. But I have such a soft spot for how beautiful the console is from a design and hardware standpoint. That boxy gray box is such beauty.
I'd probably play it more than the PS5 I ended up selling!
Aliexpress. I bought from a UK website first time and it was double the price but still shipped from China, making it a bit pointless. This is the aliexpress link I used, I have no connection to the seller and only bought from them once, but it arrived in good condition and I've tested it works as expected. The unit I received was a "v5", or "screen panel v4", I paid £25:
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005007448762232.html
Edit: maybe it's the tariffs? Haha