Speedy_NES

I've got two left. If anyone is interested, let me know.

2-month bump.

The item from the first package has been relisted by a different eBay seller, which must be related to the company linked to earlier in this thread (apparently, they change eBay selling account from time to time). For reference, here is the seller, in case anyone has a package rejected by eBay's GSP in the near future: https://www.ebay.com/fdbk/feedback_profile/8ten1944?filter=feedback_page:All

That's awesome -- does this catalog mention their converters or any Famicom/NES items?

Whatever gets the creative juices flowing Re: those first-print Sachens in Italy; the seller shill-bid his own auction-style listings for those games a few weeks ago up to less than 1/3rd of his current BIN prices, so I doubt they'll be going anywhere anytime soon. Sidewinder in the pic may actually be a double; I need to cross-check the cartridge type etc, but it will go into the trade pile if it's not a variant. I'll let you know if it does. I'm still so relieved that this package arrived in good order. Some of the veteran collectors on here may recognize that most, if not all, of the accessories originate from NA Jaredk's old collection, which he had sold around 10 years ago IIRC. P.S. On the whole prohibited items w.r.t. international shipping; it's interesting that a contact cleaner pen was removed for its isopropynol solution, yet there were 7 other cleaning kits in the package with the same solution left untouched.

Small update. The more substantial package thankfully arrived minus one item; lots of back-and-forth with eBay's GSP until they assured that the remaining items would be forwarded to the buyer (me). Here's a picture of what was on the verge of disappearing. All NES. Everything minus the rental case top-right, and the Sachen games were included in this package. I added the other stuff as they arrived on the same day, and I know that @ThePhleo would appreciate the first-print Sachen games. All of these accessories minus two are actually rare(r) variants. The seemingly common QuickShot Joypad is one of the rarest variants. Very happy that these have not been lost forever.

Both of these have already been brought up, but cleaning + comparisons for upgrades = too time-consuming. I would never outsource it, as I've gotten pretty good at removing stickers as well as writing, and am meticulous when it comes to selecting which copy to keep, but both processes consume so much time. And the older we get, the more money and less time we have, which, in my case, equals more purchases and less time to process them into the collection. I'm aware that this problem would be solved by buying less, but it's hard to forego a purchase for an item that you've been hunting for years. It may just be me, but it also seems that more rare items are coming out of the woodwork since NA went under, and, possibly due to lack of easy access to the information from the NA database and forums, many also seem to fall under the radar. Just observations, but there have been lots of great deals the last 6 months.

Here's even a third drawing, from a pre-production box. This one is much more like the comic cover, but still minor differences if you look closely.

This one? Don't recall your thread, but I did pay exactly $40 + shipping for this @Mega Tank I've got a spare unused Pepsi NES display for trade (no pic of it, essentially this one, but then the NES variant: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Super-Mario-Bros-Super-Nintendo-Pepsi-Promo-Sign-Holiday-1991-Christmas-Rare-New/283678474866?hash=item420c8e0272:g:GqEAAOSwGrpd0L1f), but as I'm located in Belgium, it's probably easier to just acquire one domestically.

Did you pay with PayPal? If so, you can ignore the eBay turnaround and file a claim on the PayPal transaction; you have 180 days for this, so plenty of time. Is the strip seal type mentioned above also suspicious on a Game of the Year (non-reflective text, no "Only for Xbox", non-NFR) edition?

I consider it as part of the set, but you are probably asking whether people consider it part of their set. I also consider 32X as part of a Genesis set, etc. IMO, when speaking of game sets, we should be as exhaustive as possible. When collecting, we can compartmentalize subsets all we want to make the collecting more fun (achievable goals) for ourselves, but game lists should be as exhaustive as possible. Some thoughts; 1. People like to pursue goals that they deem are achievable. Two decades ago, most collectors were "full" full set collectors probably because they thought they could achieve this. Every variant counted, but not every variant was known. Unlicensed games were included in the full set, big revisions (possibly the only really known revisions) were included, Aladdin games were included, etc. People were loving the discovery of new games and variants to collect, as they wanted more to add to their collection. Anything that required (emulated) NES hardware to run counted. Now, I imagine most collectors start without the goal of collecting everything, as that is perceived as not achievable (anymore) due to prices, availability, etc. I think that this is a major driver for why people do not pursue unlicensed games as much anymore. This lens may not seem appropriate for the rise in demand for sealed/graded titles, but IMO the goals behind the demand are very different; hobby consumption spending vs. speculative investment spending. 2. Re: the point earlier on Sunday Funday as a post-NES era release; what criteria is best to delineate a game for a particular list? Again, I think we should be as exhaustive as possible, but if delineating by "NES era", what defines the era? I personally like to focus on the drivers of demand for said item / intended audience. Anything produced (not necessarily 'released') after Sunday Funday targets largely a hobbyist audience of collectors and fans (where owning and supporting said item is more important than playing it, but maybe I am biased here), where up until Sunday Funday, games were targeted at customers for play value. When I think NES era, I would include the Aladdin set and Cheetahmen II, even if they officially went unreleased through intended channels, as the final product was produced with the intention of satisfying demand for play value. 3. Adding on point 2; every criterion used to delineate will have unintended exceptions. Should it have a different UPC? Should it have a different title screen, software code, cartridge shape, publisher, etc. At the end of the day, I think we should be as exhaustive as possible and then decide ourselves what segments we want to collect and why. But saying that a game that requires a console to work should not be part of that console's full set does not make sense to me.

I always take them off, unless it's not possible without damaging the plastic.

The main issues (at least for me) are that 1. eBay's GSP charges customs duties for items that fall below the value threshold (which I can't imagine is legal btw) for customs duties. Items that should be exempt from customs charges are not exempted (threshold is legally 22 EUR for the EU, yet eBay's GSP includes the charges for items from ~16-18 EUR -- this is arbitrarily different between listings and may be linked to seller's shipping cost). 2. eBay's GSP shipping price increases with lower purchase price of items. In other words, as the upfront customs fee increases, shipping goes down. When you put in a best offer of, let's say $20, for a $50 item, the listed shipping cost in the best offer window at the time of the offer will be lower than the actual shipping you'll suddenly have to pay when the seller accepts the offer. I haven't been able to find any clarification on this in the GSP fineprint. I'm not a lawyer, but their GSP fee structure (especially since the best offer shipping indications lack any statement about the listed cost being an estimate/dynamic) seems prone for a class action suit at some point. Early on, when the GSP program just started, packages would also almost always be "repackaged" with horrible handling damage/cuts into structural integrity of boxes etc. I'm sure I'm not the only buyer who stopped buying GSP listed items and complained to eBay then, as thankfully that practice seems to have stopped.

I am glad that the Supergun is in good hands! Sorry to hear that you may have some sell some replaceable items soon, but like you said above -- this, too, will pass. Always happy to help out with forwarding if an opportunity arises where you need it in the future.

Small update on the above. First, did some digging and found the following re: what supposedly happens with items that are not forwarded by eBay's GSP: https://www.ecommercebytes.com/C/blog/blog.pl?/pl/2014/2/1392120162.html https://community.ebay.com/t5/Archive-Shipping-Returns/Undeliverable-and-Where-did-the-refund-go-if-I-don-t-have-a/td-p/22474207 Second, seller and I got hold of people at eBay/Pitney Bowes regarding the more substantial order (package #2), but getting mixed answers. One person claims items will be liquidated and are not recoverable, other person claims one item was destroyed and the rest are forwarded to buyer (but I received a full refund, so that seems unlikely). Tracking on package #1 says undeliverable, whereas tracking on package #2 does say shipped to international destination + Belgian national postal service Bpost has received a tracking number / details of package weight etc. So, it may actually be on its way minus one item despite the larger refund. Time will tell. Supposedly, the culprit was the alcohol in the cleaning kit (package #2 also had a cleaning kit as part of the order). It may be a restriction for Belgium only, as I received 4 other orders with cleaning kits shipped with eBay's GSP to Germany in the last month or two, and have received many cleaning kits with eBay's GSP in the past without any issues.

Amazing item, thanks for sharing!

Yeah, my optimism probably got the best of me. I went on a buying spree instead while being stuck in home office lockdown. Same issue as above just happened for a second, much more substantial package, the one package I was hoping this wouldn't happen to as there's items in there that have only surfaced once or twice in the last 15 years. Sincerely hope these items don't disappear forever. Does anyone know of a contact number of an eBay or PayPal rep that works currently? Their default numbers are down / customer support 'closed due to covid'. @ThePhleo I know which two you're talking about -- I'd be happy to be the middle man to get these to you? You can have them shipped to me, and then I'll forward whenever you feel is a good time. I received two packages from Italy this past week with no problems -- both within 1 week from shipment. FWIW, all packages I've shipped from the Netherlands to the US in the past month also arrived within 1-3 weeks according to delivery confirmations, so NL-US shipment seems fine (for now).

I agree with your thoughts -- item in question was a cheap (but unfortunately rare) variant of a third party cleaning kit ($39), bound for Belgium. Hopefully they do indeed return goods of a higher monetary value. Tried to reach eBay and PayPal, but both have closed their customer support due to covid-19. I should clarify that none of the packages from the last 7 weeks have arrived in Belgium. I generally ship things with eBay's GSP to Germany (lower shipping cost/customs fee), but due to border closings and being stuck in Belgium now, the last dozen GSP packages were shipped to either Belgium or the Netherlands. From the packages that were still bound for Germany, half have been delivered so far, the others are all at the same tracking state just before the state from the refunded package above. Same for all GSP packages bound for Belgium and the Netherlands (and all US non-GSP packages bound for Belgium), which don't seem to have left the US. Will post an update if they make if through okay. The issue with Belgian inbound mail may be linked to the decision from the Belgian postal service Bpost to cancel their non-EU outbound service. For instance, Canada Post cancelled their outbound service specifically for Belgium, but not most other destinations in Europe. A random thought; maybe the item in question was considered 'restricted' due to the cleaning solution included in the package? (if there has been an order to restrict export of face masks/cleaning materials). Time will tell -- will post an update re: the other GSP packages inbound.

Update: So, it appears that eBay's Global Shipping Program can reject forwarding of a package and then either destroy or resell the items in question (while giving a full refund to the buyer). This is, of course, a nightmare for rare collectibles where we care more about the item than its market value. Apparently, in my case, it was due to the alcohol in cleaning kits, but it is odd that it happened for two packages within 24 hours, when I have used their GSP service for many cleaning kit orders in the past years without any issues. Here's the message that I received together with a full refund from eBay (not the seller): "We are writing to inform you that your recent purchase through the Global Shipping Program from XXX cannot be completed. The item in question has been deemed restricted. This could be due to import/shipping restrictions or eligibility requirements within the Global Shipping Program. The item will not be shipped to you nor returned to your seller. Don’t worry! Your full refund will be processed back to the original payment method within 72 hours. You may notice two separate refunds; a refund for the item and a refund for the shipping and import costs. No further action is needed." Anyone else receiving similar refunds?

Thanks!

I hadn't seen it before either, so I couldn't resist Does the regular Super Mario Bros 2 sign actually have an M number?

Cool info! Thanks for sharing. I also recently found a sign that turned out to be a repurposed sign (see attached pic). The Have More Fun text is printed over the original Entertainment System text. But unlike in your case, I don't think removing the print is feasible.

Great price for a NES Unidaptor: https://www.ebay.com/itm/274310465130?ul_noapp=true

Monthly bump. Still looking for US books. The full UK set above has sold, but I still have extras of #1-9 + #11-12 available.

Does anyone know more about the origin of this picture? Is it from a SNES-era magazine, or is it more recent / proof of another Nintendo Playstation prototype?