Saturday Morning, Preserved in Plastic

The fantasy is always the same: early Saturday, still in pajamas, a plate of cookies within reach, a warm mug of something, and Super Mario World running on the Super Nintendo while the rest of the house sleeps. The TV has a rounded screen and makes a soft hiss when you turn it on. Nobody needs anything from you yet.

The French company Lekki sells refurbished classic consoles—Super Nintendo, Nintendo 64, Game Boy—cleaned up and repainted in fresh colors, each running around a hundred euros and bundled with a game. They also stock refurbished Nokia 3210s, which is either deeply poignant or deeply ridiculous depending on how you feel about nostalgia as a commercial product. Probably both.

I’m not sure buying back your childhood in working condition actually gives you anything beyond the object itself. But the object is pretty good.