TurboGrafx LOVE (and all NEC love in general)

[Gex | 120]

On 9/4/2022 at 8:10 PM, elprincipe said:

Also, I'm not sure on the colors. I thought at one point they indicated genre but that's just a guess.

For funzies, here's all the different genres displayed on the Tg-16 tabletop Kiosk. Think they messed up categorizing a couple games and used the wrong colour.

[LifeGame | 760]

This is me

 

[Gex | 120]

Original store promotional Turbografx 16 banner I finally got. Took me since 2017 to contact the owner, let alone purchasing it. Owner scored this from a 90's video game store in CA

Edited September 10, 2022 by Gex

[DoctorEncore | 3,691]

1 hour ago, Gex said:

Original store promotional Turbografx 16 banner I finally got. Took me since 2017 to contact the owner, let alone purchasing it. Owner scored this from a 90's video game store in CA

That is awesome! Nice pickup!

I have a small TG-16 collection, but it's probably my most desired full set. Someday I'll circle around to it and do irreparable damage to my bank account.

[MrWunderful | 2,927]

@Gex super sick

[Vectrex28 | 366]

Filled my HuCard shelf. Those are my finds ever since coming to Japan (minus the ones with sleeves save for Aldynes)

[Vectrex28 | 366]

Here's the stuff I have back in Switzerland. I did take a few with me but only the HuCards...

[Vectrex28 | 366]

Had a few more in the back too. I did get Aoi Blink and Benkei Gaiden after this pic was taken, too. Just missing 38 HuCards for a CIB full set now

[Deadeye | 1,596]

Update from Krikzz on the development of Everdrive Pro

 

[Tanooki | 4,933]

Ok wow that's nice, even if it may be stuck in mono...it's on an hucard.

If those analogue guys get their act together and still do a PCE adapter for the pocket -- I'm all in on that.

[attakid101 | 267]

On 4/9/2021 at 4:42 PM, attakid101 said:

A few years ago I had to make a choice, TurboGrafx or Sega Saturn—couldn’t afford both. I picked the Saturn and am left to wonder, “what if?”

sigh....

This post aged pretty well haha

Some of you may know that I recently lucked into a decent Turbo collection. At first I was thinking of just reselling it but now I think I want to check out more of the library and maybe build on the collection a little. But I kind of feel out of my element.

Turbo collecting is more complicated than I thought! I have questions:

Did all TG16 games come in cardboard boxes?

I see games listed as CIC—are these considered complete?

What’s  up with the jewel cases? Are they the same dimensions as standard CD cases? Do they have back art? What’s up with the spine labels? Are they original? Aftermarket? 

What about the inside of the jewel cases? I know there’s an internal component that holds the HuCards in place. How can I obtain that component? Do I have to  cannibalize other games to get it? 

Suppose I don’t want the cases, how should I store/display my games/manuals?

Which console version should I get?

Game recommendations?

Here’s the thread with my find for reference: 

Thanks, folks!

 

 

 

 

[goldenpp72 | 1,234]

Neat opportunity to post some stuff, I somehow just ran into someone willing to sell me the slipcover for Exile: Wicked Phenomenon which I never even expected to buy honestly, so if that comes in ok the only thing left I'd want is Dynastic Hero before I retire from TG16 collecting. I recently had my Duo repaired, so I've been spending a lot of time messing with this system lately.

 

 

[Tanooki | 4,933]

Ive been out of it a bit, but...

TG games are considered complete by most without the thin cardboard sleeve, not all got it, and if you have a game with it that's a premium to the price.

I thought jewel cases, full on, were just for the CD type games not the HuCards.  Those usually came in what would be a CD like jewel case, but the rear half is a molded piece of plastic with a slot for the hucard to sit inside of, and at least with PCE games the rear was just bland and empty other than a circle sticker with the game name and a little more to it.

The spine labels on those PCE/TG thing were part of a wrap around sticker put in there, then you have the detached wrap around spine covers in Japan that went largely around the CD releases on the fold.

If you're missing the insides of a case that holds the TG card, yeah you'll need to cannibalize something or see if someone is 3D printing them and hope it's not ripoff rate.

With the last time I owned the stuff I went Japanese as the game variety is far better prices weren't as rotten either at that rate (are now.)  MOst my stuff was complete, but I had around a dozen loose games, I put them into a baseball card holder clear box.  I think I had a 100ct box which should hold around 15 or so hucards since they're thicker.

[goldenpp72 | 1,234]

I think it's a bit tough to say, mostly because while initially the cardboard boxes did go over plastic CD cases that also had the name and such, this later changed to including nothing but a clear plastic tray and the Hucard, assuming we're talking about the same thing. Initially I was debating on just doing those before I began years ago, but once I discovered many (like a lot) of the games only have those clear trays inside, it kind of became impossible for that to be acceptable. I actually have 'reproduction' cases for some games that never had them as well, but I've never heard of someone making a reproduction of the clear tray, would definitely be cool to have since I imagine I'm missing a few.

[elprincipe | 142]

On 11/7/2022 at 10:09 PM, attakid101 said:

This post aged pretty well haha

Some of you may know that I recently lucked into a decent Turbo collection. At first I was thinking of just reselling it but now I think I want to check out more of the library and maybe build on the collection a little. But I kind of feel out of my element.

Turbo collecting is more complicated than I thought! I have questions:

Did all TG16 games come in cardboard boxes?

I see games listed as CIC—are these considered complete?

What’s  up with the jewel cases? Are they the same dimensions as standard CD cases? Do they have back art? What’s up with the spine labels? Are they original? Aftermarket? 

What about the inside of the jewel cases? I know there’s an internal component that holds the HuCards in place. How can I obtain that component? Do I have to  cannibalize other games to get it? 

Suppose I don’t want the cases, how should I store/display my games/manuals?

Which console version should I get?

Game recommendations?

1. All the TurboChip games came in cardboard boxes. The early TurboChip games came with a hard plastic case inside the cardboard box, while the later TurboChip games just had a plastic tray to hold the TurboChip instead. All TurboChip games also came with manuals. CD games are a mixed bag - some early ones like Fighting Street did come in a cardboard box with CD case inside, while later ones just had the case and no outer cardboard box.

2. "CIC" - complete in case - is not complete for TurboChip games since you don't have the cardboard box. However, these boxes are difficult to find (not to mention expensive), so many people don't bother collecting them. Think of NES boxes and how many people just collect carts.

3. They are the same dimensions as CD cases, but different since they used a unique mold for holding the TurboChip instead of a disc. There's no back art on the cases (remember, they were sold inside cardboard boxes that had back art of their own for display in a store). The spine labels are original, except for later TurboChip games that included no case and, thus, no spine labels. Some people have produced aftermarket spine labels for those games that did not include a case if you want them.

4. There's a small plastic arm that holds the TurboChip in place along with a plastic sleeve for the chip itself. The exception is Keith Courage, which came in a case with no plastic arm (just like PC Engine games in Japan). If you get a legit U.S. case it should include that little plastic arm unless it's Keith Courage.

5. I've seen people use plastic sleeves that fit into binders to hold the games/manuals or even make ghetto cases out of CD cases. Someone else may have a better idea.

6. The Duo is awesome, although it's incredibly expensive these days. I believe Japanese systems may be cheaper, but the chip games are not compatible without an adapter. The CD games will play in either region's systems.

7. You've got a great collection already!

[AirVillain | 488]

Such a wealth of information here, thanks everyone. Now to some low brow eye candy....

Didn't show these when I got them.... Saw the local store had boxed Bonk's Adventure & Revenge so I asked about them and buddy was willing to charge me the difference between what I just paid for them and what they're posted for with the boxes. Perfect. 

Plus when we looked at the Jewel cases they were in much better condition and the HU Cards were the crispiest I've ever seen. Some people might say "Oh those are super minty!"   Not much coming from my limited source of Hu cards games, like 6, hahaha.... but they are super white and there's barely any markings on the back. So it was a win win, I thought. 

I also got an extra Controller for my Turbo Duo. Apparently the PAL one works just fine...? Confirmed. Which is awesome because my Turbo Duo one is SUPER crispy and shiny, so I felt bad using it. This other one is a bit more beat up so it's a perfect one to play with. 

Kind of a cross post, but I thought people here would appreciate the controller and boxes.... One of my favourite things about the Turbo boxes is their "Authorized Seal of Approval."  

 

[Gex | 120]

46 minutes ago, AirVillain said:

I also got an extra Controller for my Turbo Duo. Apparently the PAL one works just fine...? Confirmed. Which is awesome because my Turbo Duo one is SUPER crispy and shiny, so I felt bad using it. This other one is a bit more beat up so it's a perfect one to play with. 

One of my favourite things about the Turbo boxes is their "Authorized Seal of Approval."  

Minty boxes ! Awesome Pickup, some of the best games on the console right there. Bonks Adventure even has that sticker on the front of it, really cool variant. The PCEngine controller will work on any Duo, just not the original PCE or AmericanTG16 console. Or if you're fancy it'll even work on the LA PAC unit.

[AirVillain | 488]

2 hours ago, Gex said:

Minty boxes ! Awesome Pickup, some of the best games on the console right there. Bonks Adventure even has that sticker on the front of it, really cool variant. The PCEngine controller will work on any Duo, just not the original PCE or AmericanTG16 console. Or if you're fancy it'll even work on the LA PAC unit.

Thanks.... well, the boxes aren't super minty as they've got some wear around the edges, but their colour is good so I was stoked regardless. Unless you were making a joke based on my comment... in which case, haha... yeah... "super minty, bro!". 

I was curious about the "Free Bonk!" sticker.... figured it could go either way, either be kinda rare, or be the sticker they slapped on Bonk because it was the most popular.

Sucks that the OG TG16 controller doesn't work on the Duo (seems like an odd change?) but good that the PCE one does I guess... 

Edited January 8, 2023 by AirVillain

[elprincipe | 142]

On 1/8/2023 at 4:05 PM, AirVillain said:

Thanks.... well, the boxes aren't super minty as they've got some wear around the edges, but their colour is good so I was stoked regardless. Unless you were making a joke based on my comment... in which case, haha... yeah... "super minty, bro!". 

I was curious about the "Free Bonk!" sticker.... figured it could go either way, either be kinda rare, or be the sticker they slapped on Bonk because it was the most popular.

Sucks that the OG TG16 controller doesn't work on the Duo (seems like an odd change?) but good that the PCE one does I guess... 

The "free Bonk" sticker means that the game was included in the box with a new TG-16 when NEC was trying to increase system sales. Those are two of my favorite games, period - huge fan of Bonk's Adventure especially, an out-and-out classic up there with Super Mario World as one of the best 16-bit platform games.

[Gex | 120]

Mail day. This is an original promotional Bonk display used at an early 90’s CES show.

[AirVillain | 488]

NEC did some weird stuff with the branding of the Turbo.

Like... the multi coloured stripes at the top of the games??? That's not helpful. 

Also, why the hell are the names for the boxed games on the BOTTOM of the boxes? 

A CD case inside a cardboard box for a little card thingy?.... ummmm.... okay? 

They're hella cool now, but as a consumer I'm sure it was kind of weird. At the time I was 8-12 and had an NES so I wasn't really out comparing what other systems had to offer. 

Edited April 3, 2023 by AirVillain

[Gex | 120]

On 4/3/2023 at 4:58 PM, AirVillain said:

NEC did some weird stuff with the branding of the Turbo.

Like... the multi coloured stripes at the top of the games??? That's not helpful. 

Also, why the hell are the names for the boxed games on the BOTTOM of the boxes? 

A CD case inside a cardboard box for a little card thingy?.... ummmm.... okay? 

They're hella cool now, but as a consumer I'm sure it was kind of weird. At the time I was 8-12 and had an NES so I wasn't really out comparing what other systems had to offer. 

Trying to be unique/standoff perhaps? It was dumb to put CD's in cardboard boxes, at least they finally caught on with Super CD's and just put them in cellophane.

Get this. For the 1st wave of games released (orange spine labels), all the CDN releases had modified bilingual boxes and contained a 2nd manual full in french. After this wave of releases, they stopped making bilingual boxes and instead slapped a sticker over the UPS which had a new bar code on the sticker. Also keeping inside the french manuals I believe. Then when TTI took the reigns and started selling games, they kept the UPC barcode sticker for CDN releases and threw in a single page insert that had french instructions on it.

Zero consistency, it was like they were always on their toes. Seemed a lot of the time like they were just throwing mud on the wall hoping something stuck.

[AirVillain | 488]

On 4/11/2023 at 1:06 PM, Gex said:

Trying to be unique/standoff perhaps? It was dumb to put CD's in cardboard boxes, at least they finally caught on with Super CD's and just put them in cellophane.

Get this. For the 1st wave of games released (orange spine labels), all the CDN releases had modified bilingual boxes and contained a 2nd manual full in french. After this wave of releases, they stopped making bilingual boxes and instead slapped a sticker over the UPS which had a new bar code on the sticker. Also keeping inside the french manuals I believe. Then when TTI took the reigns and started selling games, they kept the UPC barcode sticker for CDN releases and threw in a single page insert that had french instructions on it.

Zero consistency, it was like they were always on their toes. Seemed a lot of the time like they were just throwing mud on the wall hoping something stuck.

Definitely trying to be unique seems like. 

That's wild... I actually did find a couple French manuals. Wondered what the hell was going on with them. 

But did using the CD cases have anything to do with the fact they intended to sell CD's???

Like "Fuck it, let's just use the same CD cases we're going to put our CD games into."

Definitely just going for it and seeing what stuck. Seems like probably something that didn't help with the bottom line. Changing packaging lines and all that shit cost money. 

Like... in terms of the boxes, WHY would you put DIFFERENT coloured stripes on the boxes? Like... I understand the stripe because it advertised the 16-bit graphics.... but to brand the system properly it needed to be ONE COLOUR. Like NES did with the Black box games, kind of. 

I understand they're different genres, but that's dumb. That's way too complicated. Tell ppl the system is 16 bit and try to hook them with that. 

[tbone3969 | 304]

Analogue Duo will be available for preorder today at 8am PDT in limited quantities. Preorders will ship in 2023.

Preorder your Duo now.

[MisterGoomba | 132]

I ordered a black and white duo.