V9990 evaluation board on sale (was: turboR PCB with V9990 VDP spotted)

For many years there were rumors that Panasonic was working on a third, never released MSX turboR computer which was supposedly to become the turboR XT. There were several theories about its specifications, and the reasons why it never was put to market, but one of the most credible theories has always been that Panasonic and Yamaha were trying to implement the V9990 video chip, as used in the Sunrise GFX9000, on the turboR mainboard whilst retaining full MSX2 compatibility.

Now, many years after the production of turboR computer was stopped this forum post appeared on our MSX Forum, revealing an auction on Yahoo! auctions Japan which supports this theory completely. Available for auction is this PCB, which shows a V9990 mounted on a turboR style mainboard.

There are no MSX logos on the board, and instead of the R800 processor you would expect on a turboR prototype, an ordinary Zilog Z80 is installed. Despite these two minor drawbacks, the seller expects it should be possible to make the PCB work, and several MSX collectors around the world will certainly take some efforts to get their hands on one of these. Perhaps we can see this one in working order sometime in the future?

***update - As noted correctly by SD-Snatcher in our comments: this is indeed an 'ordinary' V9990 evaluation board. Still, a nice thing to have for collectors! :)

Relevant link: V9990 evaluation board on Yahoo! auctions