Final working code:

my $tid;
my $buf;
my $test = "TEST SYSTEM";
my $tool = "REFERENCE TOOL";
my $db = "DEBUG SYSTEM";
my $arc = "ARCADE SYSTEM";
my $jp = "Japan";
my $usa = "United States";
my $eu = "Europe";
my $kor = "Korea";
my $uk = "United Kingdom";
my $mex = "Mexico";
my $au = "Australia";
my $sa = "South Asia";
my $tw = "Taiwan";
my $rs = "Russia";
my $ch = "China";
my $hk = "Hong Kong";
my $bz = "Brazil";

seek ($flash, 0x2F074, 0);
read ($flash, my $temp, 0x02);

my $dat = unpack('H*', $temp);
my $data = uc$dat;


if ($data eq "8000" || $data eq "0080"){
    $tid = "TEST";
    $buf = $test;
} 
elsif ($data eq "8100" || $data eq "0081"){
    $tid = "TOOL";
    $buf = $tool;
} 
elsif ($data eq "8200" || $data eq "0082"){
    $tid = "DEX";
    $buf = $db;
} 
elsif ($data eq "8300" || $data eq "0083"){
    $tid = "CEX";
    $buf = $jp;
} 
elsif ($data eq "8400" || $data eq "0084"){
    $tid = "CEX";
    $buf = $usa;
} 
elsif ($data eq "8500" || $data eq "0085"){
    $tid = "CEX";
    $buf = $eu;
} 
elsif ($data eq "8600" || $data eq "0086"){
    $tid = "CEX";
    $buf = $kor;
} 
elsif ($data eq "8700" || $data eq "0087"){
    $tid = "CEX";
    $buf = $uk;
} 
elsif ($data eq "8800" || $data eq "0088"){
    $tid = "CEX";
    $buf = $mex;
} 
elsif ($data eq "8900" || $data eq "0089"){
    $tid = "CEX";
    $buf = $au;
} 
elsif ($data eq "8A00" || $data eq "008A"){
    $tid = "CEX";
    $buf = $sa;
} 
elsif ($data eq "8B00" || $data eq "008B"){
    $tid = "CEX";
    $buf = $tw;
} 
elsif ($data eq "8C00" || $data eq "008C"){
    $tid = "CEX";
    $buf = $rs;
} 
elsif ($data eq "8D00" || $data eq "008D"){
    $tid = "CEX";
    $buf = $ch;
} 
elsif ($data eq "8E00" || $data eq "008E"){
    $tid = "CEX";
    $buf = $hk;
} 
elsif ($data eq "8F00" || $data eq "008F"){
    $tid = "CEX";
    $buf = $bz;
} 
elsif ($data eq "A000" || $data eq "00A0"){
    $tid = "ARC";
    $buf = $arc;
} else {
$tid = "UNKNOWN";
$buf = "UNKNOWN";
}
        
$lb3->Append("$tid") ;
$lb4->Append("$buf") ;
[download]

funny thing is, this also wasnt working either ;0
what i believe was messing me up was the capitalization, because it wasnt working until i uppercased the output from unpack 'H*'

anyways this is working flawless :D
thanks for steering me in the right direction because this saved me from having twice as many lines :)
EDIT: now 500 dollars who can do this in a one liner :P