A Redditor who works for Best Buy’s recycling initative came into work to discover two things: One, that somebody had dropped off a vintage Nintendo Entertainment System Deluxe Set, complete with Zapper and R.O.B. Two, that it was going to be destroyed, and if he took it home he’d be fired due to corporate policy.
Thankfully, what happened next is heartwarming. Sorta.
The Redditor in question, ipoopinthesink, wound up going to rather extreme lengths to keep this thing from getting trashed:
UPDATE: I have packed everything away in its box and have hidden it in the depths of the warehouse. I need at least a day to decide and figure out what to do. There was a nice r.o.b. poster in the box that I’ve kept. Ill post pictures of the poster and hiding spot when I get home.
To give you an idea of just how insane this is, boxed NES Deluxe Sets go for $400, at least, on eBay: R.O.B. is rare and hard to find.
But the story has a happy ending: Best Buy saw the Reddit thread and R.O.B. is on the way to corporate headquarters:
“We are in the process of retrieving the robot and gaming system from the store so that we may put it on display here at our corporate headquarters in Richfield,” Best Buy spokesman Jon Sandler told us. “A bit of nostalgia that our employees and visitors alike, are sure to enjoy!”
Yes, Best Buy decided it belongs in a museum.
Unfortunately, Best Buy also said this:
Best Buy explained that it doesn’t publicly comment on its workers for privacy reasons, but did say that the sequence of events is currently being reviewed to ensure that the company’s policies were followed.
Uh-oh. The dude had better at least be allowed to keep his poster.