Actually I did live near Chicago when it was released. I was born in Park Ridge and grew up in many different cities near Chicago till I was 12 or so. I was anything but a "cool kid" though. I was called names like "Wolf man" and such, and I'm grateful that I don't care for being shallow. I had no idea the initial P-O-X campaign was targeted at "col" kids though...that really shocks me and makes me almost despise the makers for taking a shallow approach instead of a genuine one.
my first ever online forum experience was also with P-O-X Infectors' official website. I remember it was a black background...maybe some yellow somewhere, I'm not sure anymore. The forum was mostly about how "Plasmo Rules, Cycro drools" etc, but one thing that made me care so much about the forum, is that it was the first place I ever heard music embedded into someone's forum SIGNATURE, which even today is unheard of. It really changed my view of forums, even though many never have them or allow that; with so many people aware of that possibility it could easily be abused and you have conflicting songs or tracks playing from the same ten posts on a forum thread you're viewing. But for some reason that really affected me half my lifetime ago, discovering music on a forum poster's Signature, of all places.
I do agree it's a rare find, I have the Plasmo version myself, which is why I was so surprised the boy in this episode of Jeremiah had a Plasmo version as well, a 1 in 3 chance. I'm not sure how much it's worth, but I'd almost be happy as a lamb to just have all three versions perfectly sealed in original plastic from the shelves. Though..I'd only want that if I had another set for actual gameplay; hmmm.
I just checked eBay, and there is only one entry I could find, barely. the Plasmo version, for $35 with free shipping, ends in 25 days. Geez.
http://cgi.ebay.com/HASBRO-POX-ELECTRONIC-HANDHELD-LCD-TRAVEL-TOY-GAME-BLUE-/380140589443?pt=Video_Games_Games&hash=item5882251183
See 4 other replies