Speedy_NES

On 9/16/2023 at 5:57 AM, fcgamer said:

More fun things.

First we have a set of Micro Genius Super Famicom / Sega Mega Drive light guns.

Next up is a Thailand version of Somari for Famicom.

These are awesome!  Is that blue adapter in the boxed gun packaging an adapter for converting the SNES end-connector to a 9-pin Genesis one? 

1 hour ago, LeatherRebel5150 said:

Whatever happened to finding the chair?

I did find it while movers were helping pack for the move to the US. It entered a storage facility with the rest of my collection; planning to, hopefully securely, move the collection overseas sooner than later, after which I will have access again. 

Nice find! There are a number of different Caltron carts like these out there; I have been hunting them down since I started collecting. I don't think I have this one, though. The cool thing about them is that the NTDEC multis (not this particular 190in1) typically have very cool title screens, more unique than most of the generic multis like this (and they come in NTDEC-specific sleeves, sometimes with manual). I also found two Master Fighter variants on Caltron shells (8-bit Street Fighter II ports), which are pretty cool, too. You can see the Caltron Master Fighters on one of my earlier Instagram posts. 

On 8/20/2022 at 12:06 PM, acidjaguar said:

Updated to add:

Captain Planet Hint Book! 

Such a great find by @jonebone! 

Such an awesome find; dare I say one of the best finds of the last decade!!

There's various models here, not exclusive to black/grey. Hartzell only has an unlicensed version, which I believe predates the Dynasound branding. Dynasound branding exists in both unlicensed and licensed form and other variants. Off the top of my head, the licensed aspect affects whether the bottom of the holder has a Nintendo sticker or a Video Game Organizer sticker. Then there are also opaque vs. "new improved" solid black top design changes, but the update only involved an added sticker to the box. There's also an updated version with SNES compatibility, which is a bit harder to find. Hope that helps a bit. 

The unlicensed ones (like yours) are harder to find than the licensed ones from my experience. 

Congrats! 

10 minutes ago, DarkTone said:

Can someone explain the history of why this game is important? Its not an official release, so why is more sought after than other unlicensed NES games? 

Rarity. The only reason so many sealed copies of one of the 6in1 variants are floating around now is because a batch of sealed new old stock was found around 10 years ago. Before that, any 6in1 variant was tough to find. 

2 hours ago, operationivy said:

I cant find mine at the moment, in a box somewhere lol. Reminded me of this, sort of neat. What is it? Who knows. Zack has a sealed one. Probably some weird pirate?

Nice one -- do you have a picture of the cart? Does it contain original software or just a bootleg multicart? 

Maybe someone can tag or pull Frank Cifaldi into this discussion, as I imagine he has some insights on Caltron, too. 

9 hours ago, DefaultGen said:

Am I nuts, was this not posted here yet? I guess some cool people knew about it but I sure didn't. There's a rarest 6-in-1 variant on NES. Everyone's Myriad 6-in-1s are all silver medals. This was bought by @Speedy_NES on Ebay in February from a store in Washington, apparently up on Ebay for a while but we're all dummies who didn't buy it.

Source: https://www.instagram.com/p/CTdLTZhICaA/

Thanks for the tag @DefaultGen Yeah, I would like to post more here, but been struck for time due to a big move. 

6 hours ago, Code Monkey said:

It's a PAL copy. Nothing special.

It's important to not take sellers' assumptions of obscure items at face value. The copy you show is the one I bought. The seller had it listed as "PAL", yet this is what he had to say about it when I asked for more details: "As the other copies of Caltron on Ebay that have this same box all say PAL that's what I assumed was up with this. It's the same exact one that several other sellers have." Yet there were no others on eBay and I track this kind of stuff extensively. As to where the seller got it from: "We are a physical store. Someone brought it in and sold it to us." The seller did say that he thinks whoever brought it in maybe ordered it mail-order from Europe, but that's an assumption he makes. 

The whole PAL vs. NTSC ordeal with Caltron is an interesting discussion, as there are many more variants than most collectors probably know about. There are at least 3 "US" Caltron variants excluding Myriad and this one. Of those, one of the box variants has been found outside the US, too, with 60-pin cart inside rather than 72-pin. That signals that a box that would be presumed to be specific to US distribution made its way outside the US, too. Then there are at least 3 different 72-pin Caltron cart variants found outside the US, too, in addition to the variants found in the US. In other words, Caltron is a bit like Sachen, except for their documented presence in Los Angeles. But I don't think that there is any true PAL vs. NTSC distinction to be made (certainly not in terms of format -- all Caltrons are in NTSC format AFAIK, I have yet to find one in PAL format), but more different batches of products making their way from Taiwan to different regions on demand. Any differences are likely to be indicative of print revision changes rather than regional design changes. 

A few other fun facts / observations re: Caltron:

*The Caltron logo on this box matches the design of the US promo materials found to date. I imagine that puts the flyers from around the same time period as this version as opposed to the more common Caltron 6in1 versions with different logo. 
*There has been at least one other original Caltron game with full label found in the US, which was neither a multicart nor a game released (or at least found) anywhere else in 72-pin format. 
*The 9in1 found to date was presumed to be a prototype, I believe because of the Eproms inside; the 6in1 above has Eproms, too, so it's even possible, given the rarity of Caltron titles, that the 9in1 is not a prototype and was simply missing the labels due to wear. 
*The PCB from the new 6in1 found is N725013, whereas the Bootgod database shows the Caltron PCB with switch to be N725012. The back-label change may simply be due to Caltron bypassing the need for a switch, but someone with more technical knowledge would have to confirm this. There are also two different cart variants with switch; would be interesting to see chip dates and PCB version comparison between those. 
*The PCBs I've checked from the "regular" US release cart have early 1992 (1st/2nd week) chips, whereas the one found here has week 12-15 chips, and a PCB I've seen of the cart with the same artwork as the box here has week 33-38 chips. 

@operationivy that's awesome that you have one of these, too -- I'd love to see your copy, if you can find it. The box is identical to this one? Where did you acquire yours? Does it come with a manual? Did you ever scan the box and upload it? I found the box uploaded online (seems to be a different copy, given lack of damage that mine has), where it's listed as "North American" version, so it's possible the person who scanned it found theirs in North America, too:

https://gamesdb.launchbox-app.com/games/images/1600

Updated old FS post. Looking to trim the trade pile. Links to FS/T list and eBay listings are above. All listings are OBO, and happy to take offers. Adding lots more to the list in the coming weeks.

On 4/3/2021 at 2:13 PM, sp1nz said:

Yeah we can't always trust eBay sold listings to equate to transactions that have gone through to an actual buyer. So many sellers "buy" their own game just to relist it endlessly or bidders make some bs excuse that they didn't mean to bid. How much consideration do you put on market manipulation tactics and illegitimate buyers like these and beyond? Not sure what kind of measures could even prevent counting fake sales retroactively, maybe somehow tracking the sales for "seller has relisted this item" kind of activity but maybe some items would be relisted without that function too.

That's certainly true, but I do believe that we'd see items being relisted if "sold" to manipulate the trackers, and it seems that at least VGPC corrects for this. Some of the listings I was checking included missing values from prior eBay sales of my own at 1.5x prior sales btw. I haven't checked VGPC and GVN much, but when I do for specific titles, I still find them missing data leading to inaccurate, and in the current market undervalued, pricing. Curious to see what kind of product GoCollect will be putting out. I'm not a dealer, so in the end it's more vanity metrics than anything for me, but would be interesting to see how the market is truly developing. Curious to hear what other sources people are using.

On 5/7/2021 at 6:52 PM, fcgamer said:

Met up with Walking Evil tonight, thought I asserted my dominance by slapping him in the face, got home and realised he played a cruel, cruel trick on me. Anyways, let's take a look.

First off is a brand new multicart from Tiger. Tiger is quite well known, as they released some Codemasters games on Famicom format, which are quite collectable in Poland (Stunt Kids can even be seen on the package). I actually already have another one of these (a 64 in 1), so this fits nicely with it. Tiger is just acting here as the publisher / distributor, so without the packages these would be worthless imo.

Then a Micro Genius light gun. I'm actually somewhat disappointed with this one - I already had one of these, but Walking Evil found a set of ten or twelve of these last weekend, all new old stock. I figured I'd upgrade condition. Sadly, I feel he must have sold me one of the shittier looking ones from the cache he found, ugh, oh well that's life.

Then came the nasty trick. Grabbed a boxed Famiclone, possibly made by NTDEC judging from the game on the box. Opened up the box when I got home, found three or four small cockroaches in the thing.

Spent the next twenty minutes taking everything apart, the box included, to get rid of them. I wasn't particularly grossed out, it's a fairly common situation in Taiwan.

Oddly enough there were also seven game carts in the box, which I didn't even know we're included when I agreed to buy the machine. I'm guessing someone sold him the machine, carts, roaches, and all, and being lazy he just passed it on without even opening the box. Walking Evil doesn't generally give free stuff.  Opened all those carts to check for roaches too, luckily there weren't any.

These awesome Jurassic Computer Game controllers were also there, I don't think they're properly matched with the machine but I never saw any before like them and they kick ass, who doesn't like dinosaurs?

Finally the best part, two monochrome Game Boy clones, both boxed and functioning. Game Boy clones from back in the day are incredibly hard to find, and the ones I found previously (maybe four in eleven years) were loose, and also broken. These are really cool.

Very cool stuff, thanks for sharing! So, those GB knockoffs play regular GB games? Not hugely knowledgable about that kind of stuff, but I've seen some of those that play actual GB games go for insane amounts on eBay in the past.

I like the blisterpack Famicom multicart, too. I found some Micro Genius Famicom bootlegs packaged like that years ago, seems that the "renewed" MG brand from Turkey sold games packaged like that. That Famiclone box with Cosmos Cop on the cover is awesome as well.

Do you have a pic of the insides of that Micro Genius gun? Just curious, as you mention it being NOS. Looking to track down all of the variants; some of these came with games inside, nice to track which variants exist. I might also be interested in one if you end up meeting up/making another deal with this seller. Attached is a pic of the insides of the 15-pin one I own. Haven't seen any others with this paper insert. Is yours 7-, 9- or 15-pin?

Nice collection! I might be able to help with the SmartCom game as I have one with the packaging. Seems to be from Big Ben / Datel (at least the French release).

I figure this thread is as good as any to ask a question I have:  does WATA apply IMP for any mismatches between carts and boxes for oval/round seal and/or non-rev 5-screw/rev-a 3-screw? 

I'm curious because I saw the following, and was wondering whether this is policy or a fail not to consider 3-screw for non-rev box a mismatch?

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Top-Gun-For-Nintendo-NES-Rare-First-Print-Wata-9-2-Not-Factory-Sealed-No-Hangtab/254479868299?epid=8317&hash=item3b402ea18b:g:FHgAAOSw3DteG9nn

I realize that the consensus is that even from the factory, not all box/cart/manual combos match up perfectly as intended, but where does WATA draw the line then? Is it when mismatched parts deviate at more than one revision (for instance 3-screw oval cart with 2-code round seal box)? Anybody know?

Nice item, good luck with the sale!

I've been looking at both sites lately to gather data points on pricing from pre-eBay sold listing sales, and noticed that 1. both sites do poor screening of bootleg copies from China (for all titles I checked, there were many in there; think $30 sales for $100+ games; and the recent ones with link to sold listing confirm that they're bootleg copies), and 2. quite a few recent sales, especially on the higher end, were not recorded. I can't extrapolate to the entire NES library, but for the games I checked, the values on both sites were undervalued compared to current eBay sale prices.

As for VGPC vs GVN price differences; I noticed that for sales where the items were relisted, the data was missing in VGPC, but included in GVN. Not sure if these were flukes, or whether VGPC corrects for relisted items and GVN does not... just an observation.

On 3/25/2021 at 2:27 AM, DK said:

I'm going to guess that they just made a corporate decision and cheaped out on the NES controller, even though the Genesis and Snes ones have Tengen branding. Tengen was nearing the end of its life, so cost cutting was probably a priority. 

If I had bought this as a kid I'd be pissed off more about the fact that the cord doesn't come out the side of the controller like the pic. 2X false advertising!

1 hour ago, DK said:

I was TENGEN on NA.

I have never seen a NES controller with the script on it. @Speedy_NES has a CIB one I believe. He might be able to chime in that the one in his box is unmarked like the OP.

Yes, mine and every CIB that I've seen has had the unmarked controller. The note above about the location of the cable is interesting and something I hadn't noticed before on the Tengen box. I'll get to why in a second.

This particular controller must have been a white label product at the time, as it was sold under various different brands, mostly unmarked, but at least one with branding on it (Recoton).

The controller evolved from left-side cable to top-side cable placement, likely because the cable on the left would get in the way when handling the controller (I imagine most people wrap their palm across the sides). See Doc's variants that I've attached here. The image on the packaging would indicate that the left-side version came first.

It is possible that there are multiple Tengen variants, but I haven't seen them.

Hi all,

Can anyone help with pricing on this CIB Super Chase HQ for Game Boy? The cart is the Natsume -1 version, the box/manual/inserts are all from the Taito first release. I couldn't find any sales data on the Taito box/manual parts, hence this post. Any help in pricing is appreciated

On 2/14/2021 at 1:34 PM, Mumphy said:

It would be really cool to see some pictures of that! I've never heard of that accessory. 

This is kind of turning into a N64 controller thread, haha, but all weird and odd controllers (and accessories) are welcome

I went to look for it in the attic, but of the two places where it could be, it wasn't at the easily reachable one. The other place is behind stacks of moving boxes, which I need to sort out in 2-3 months anyway, so I'll see if I can uncover it then and take some pics.

Great thread. Seeing some of these cool N64 controllers makes me miss having loose oddball controllers around to use and experience. Ever since I switched to collecting sealed boxed accessories, the accessory collection has turned more into something historical to look at than fun to experience as I've also gotten rid of all the loose doubles for the sake of space.

That rumble vest reminds me of a N64 massage chair "rumble pak" from my childhood. I think it was from Nuby or Interact. I should still have it in an old moving box in the attic, will have to check. Did a quick Google search, but not seeing any results. It was essentially like those massage chair covers that Brookstone used to sell, but then with N64 compatibility:

https://www.soundauctionservice.com/auction/168/item/brookstone-full-body-massage-chair-cushion-39344/basic

What I find interesting is that 1. seller claims to have made these herself, and 2. "only 5 made." Then why are there nearly two dozen already up on eBay with the same custom PCB? Clearly more than 5 made. All are based in France, too. With this many made, I also take into question the creator's claim that these were made simply to "see if it was possible." Clearly made for profit.

On 1/21/2021 at 10:33 PM, BirdDogGaming said:

Tecmo World Wrestling, oval seal TM.

Just to add to this; I have a new old stock copy of the TM cart that came with an R manual and box. Would be interesting to know if there is a TM box and manual as well.

It's been a while since I removed the cello from a game, but IIRC, original Nintendo shrinkwrap slides off (and back on) easily as it does not seem to be as affected by shrinking (which aftermarket/third party shrinkwrap tends to be).

In other words, removing the cello and storing it separately (possibly over other, non-displayed game boxes) would allow you to display those SNES games without cello while retaining the option to put the cello back on if you were to sell in the future.

4 hours ago, OptOut said:

Sachen BOX you say? Pah!

This is the REAL Sachen hardware all the cool kids are talking about... Introducing the Sachen Q BOY!!!

Awesome!