A games collector was in for a surprise when he found ‘rare’ PlayStation boxes hidden inside a day centre ceiling in Chandler’s Ford.
John Borg found nine PlayStation One boxes in the ceiling of Thrive Day Services in Speedwell Close.
The 30-year-old was helping install a projector at the centre for adults with a learning disability or additional needs when the boxes were found.
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The nine boxes, two generic cardboard ones and seven with the PlayStation logo printed on them were being kept above ceiling boards.
It is not known how the boxes got there - but John believes the building where the centre is may have been a video rental store before.
It is unclear how much these are worth, but some Sony PlayStation console boxes with consoles in them may be worth as much as £60 each - with unopened ones being sold for as much as £2,000.
Speaking to the Echo, John - who collects retro gaming paraphernalia with his 56-year-old dad Richard - said: “It was extraordinary; these things are quite rare.
“It was a shock I can tell you that. I was not expecting to find something like in that. The fact that I collected the boxes and they were there all along was great."
The Southampton resident said: “My and my dad like collecting these sort of things, we own a lot of these things. It’s something we just enjoy doing together.”
“Usually, the cardboard boxes tear with time and become more and more damaged but these looked like they were brand new.
“I have a few PlayStation One consoles with no boxes so I will use some of the ones found to keep the consoles in, but the rest I might try selling to see if I can make some money.
“I don’t know how much they will cost, I will need to do some research but it might be that I can get them sold on eBay for 20 pounds each.
He added: “It’s a shame they were empty because that would have been the real jackpot as they could be worth a lot more.”
Released by Sony in Japan in 1994 and Europe in 1995 as a competitor to the Sega Saturn and Nintendo 64 consoles, it was the first console to ship 100 million units.
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