Sega Master System

All things Sega Master System

Pick-Ups – Sega Master System Mortal Kombat

Posted by Sega Dude on March 15, 2019
Posted in: Collection New Additions, Games, SEGA, Sega Master System. Tagged: , , , . 2 Comments

Thanks to Retro Quest, a lovely retro toy and video games store, I’ve manage to score a complete and excellent condition Mortal Kombat II for the Sega Master System.

Priced at $65 CAD (~$49 USD) this local pick-up was a good bit cheaper than PriceCharting.com‘s estimated value of $67 USD (~$90 CAD).

The Store Owner told me that this was his own copy of Mortal Kombat from back in the day. At one point he had been obsessed with all things Mortal Kombat and he held this game near and dear for a very long time.

I like to think it’s gone to a good new home. Thank you Retro Quest for the great deal!

Retro Quest will ship so you USA Retro Fanatics be sure to check them out.

I believe that Mortal Kombat II is the harder of the two Master System versions to find so I was really pleased to add it to the collection for a very fair price. At the time of this post recently sold ebay listing showed a few sales ranging from $45 USD to $60 USD plus shipping.

Below are some lovely glamor shots of both my Mortal Kombat I and II.


I really do feel very lucky to have so many complete Sega Master System Games. Despite how plain many of the earlier game cases are on a whole they look awesome. The Master System is a great console to collect.

Of course these 8-bit versions of Mortal Kombat are not the ideal way to play the franchise but I love having them. Even though it’s been many years since I was into Mortal Kombat I’m now tempted to pick-up a used copy of Mortal Kombat X for the PS4.

With any luck Nintendo Joe will also be keen to re-visit Outworld!

Pick-Ups – SegaScope 3-D

Posted by Sega Dude on June 18, 2018
Posted in: Games, Hardware, SEGA, Sega Master System. Tagged: , , , . Leave a comment

This is my new SegaScope 3-D System. It’s one of three different Sega Master System bundles that I remember seeing in Canada back when the system was new. It was the least common and carried the highest price tag because it includes Sega’s very cool (but under used) 3D Glasses.

There is another variant of this bundle showing a young Dude wearing a yellow sweat shirt and includes Missile Defense 3-D on cartridge compared to this variant with the Dude wearing a red shirt which has Missile Defense built into the console (BIOS v4.4).


The only time I’ve ever seen any SegaSCope 3-D bundle in person (since the 80’s) is on display at retro video game shops. And often on those few encounters the box was roughed up and/or empty.

So I was surprised when I found it locally but not surprised by the high asking price.


Sure, it’s super cool and hard to find but it’s not worth $500 CAD (~$380 USD). It was also a 1.5 hours drive away so I wasn’t incredibly motivated. I sent an offer of $300 CAD but the seller didn’t want to let it go. And that was the end of it for a while.

I actually wanted to offer $200 but if the seller was willing I’m sure it would have sold very quickly at that price. I felt an additional $100 was needed in order to stand any kind of a chance.

After several weeks I made my offer again and the seller wanted to meet me at $400. But for me personally even $300 (~$227 USD) felt like a lot of money so I stuck to my price and eventually he agreed.

The next challenge was dealing with three hours of driving to get it. But when I took a closer look at the sellers location I realized that a very close friend lives in the area. I called him and he was willing to drop everything and head over to meet up and make the exchange. He even spotted me the $300. That’s a sign of an exceptionally good friend. Next time we got together I received my pricey but very cool SegaScope 3-D System bundle.

It’s almost complete. With the exception of the power supply everything appears to be included. Not visible and sitting behind the 3-D Glasses adapter are the coaxial and VHF adapters. All of the hardware is in excellent shape and is in perfect working order.

I don’t know for certain what originally came with the system but there is a manual for each component and for the built in Missile Defense 3-D game. The Styrofoam is not in perfect shape but it’s whole enough and I believe a Styrofoam cover is missing.

The back and the sides of the box have the worst of the damage. There is a cluster of puncher marks on the back near the top and the flaps on the sides are well used and torn in places.

However, it displays very well and it’s really the best condition SegaScope 3-D System that I’ve ever seen in person so I’m pleased that it’s mine.

I will admit that I still feel a little conflicted on how much I spent on this sucker. The other two boxed Sega Master Systems cost me ~$40 CAD (I think; it was decades ago) and $100 CAD for the Hang-On/Safari Hunt version.

Pick-Ups – Sega Power Adapters and Two Nintendo Carts

Posted by Sega Dude on January 30, 2018
Posted in: Collection New Additions, Genesis (North America), Hardware, NES, Nintendo, SEGA, Sega Master System, SNES. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , . 5 Comments

On June 2017 I purchased a nice boxed Sega Master System on my local classifieds (Kijiji.ca) for $100 CAD (~$80 USD). It was almost complete with just two manuals and the console power adapter missing.

It didn’t take long to find the missing manuals but I was concerned that finding an original Master System power adapter could be much harder. But while searching my local online classifieds again more recently I got lucky.

Not crazy lucky, just normal lucky. I found a post that said something like ‘Misc Sega Cables’. I had a closer look and I saw that this seller was offering 1 Sega Genesis Model 1 power adapter, 1 Sega Master System power adapter, 1 3-button joystick and 1 expansion port cover for a Model 1 Sega Genesis. Asking $45 CAD (~$37 USD) for all.

What struck me as pretty amazing is that I had use for every item included. I have a Master System without a power cable and a Genesis which is missing it’s power cable and the expansion port cover. …OK, I don’t really need the joystick but you can never have too many joysticks on hand.

I clicked on the sellers location with the intention of heading over as soon as I could only to discover the seller was in a neighboring province and not at all close to my home city. Looks like my search was too broad!

But this little misc. bundle felt too well matched to my needs to just let go. So I messaged the seller asking if they would take $50 CAD (~$40 USD) and ship to me. They agreed and below is what I received:


Yeah, they look a little banged up but that is normal. I spent some time removing some thick tape residue and dirt and I was left with some pretty nice looking hardware.


The joystick still has some missing details; like some of the white arrows around the Directional-Pad have been rubbed away and there are scratches that don’t show in the photo. I did test the joystick and it works very well and that’s what matters most. I was pulling of Revenge of Shinobi double jumps like a champ! I am curious to try some plastic polish and see if that might be an easy way to really clean up old joysticks and consoles.

Of course I also tested the power adapters and they both work. It was gratifying putting that power cable into the box and making my 2nd Boxed Master System 100% complete!

OK, technically it’s not totally complete. I had a peek in the manual and Sega did not skimp on video connection accessories. Hidden from site under HangOn & Safari Hunt (Pictured below) I do have the very common Coaxial RF Audio/Video cable but originally Sega also included a Composite Audio / Video cable, and two small adapters to help connect your Master System to your TV’s UHF connectors. Composite is not a great video standard to use but it’s beats the RF and UHF so I should find a Composite cable for the box someday. But as is, this boxed Sega Master System has everything required to connect to to a CRT (Tube) TV and play. So of the $50 CAD spent I’m going to say each power brick is worth $20, the joystick $10 and the expansion port cover nothing. Which means I’ve put $120 CAD (~$97 USD) into this boxed Sega Master System. Check out my first post about this boxed SMS here for more details and pictures.


I totally love that this Sega Master System power cable found it’s way home; once again nestled gently in original Styrofoam packaging.

Next up, I went over to my friends house to buy a few games and to continue to chip away at the few remaining NES and SNES games that I would like to have. This buddy of mine regularly buys large lots of games, takes what he wants and sells the rest. And over the years I’ve picked up quite a few games from him.

First up, is Mega Man 6 for NES. Leaving only Mega Man 1 and 5 on my hit list. I have been told that 1 & 5 are typically the most expensive Mega Man games.


The only other game I scooped this time is TMNT Turtles IV Turtles in Time. I love a good brawler and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are always a good time.


Both Mega Man 6 and Turtles in Time cost me a total of $145 CAD (~$118 USD).

Be sure to check out MyNintendoDimension for Nintendo Joe’s pick-ups. As usual he was with me on today’s adventure.

Does anyone out there have any boxed retro video game consoles? At what price do you feel they’re worth while?

Phantasy Star 30th Anniversary Poster by Kalman Andrasofszky

Posted by Sega Dude on December 20, 2017
Posted in: Community, SEGA, Sega Master System. Tagged: , , , , , , . 1 Comment

This is an exciting day! Something that started way back in July 2011 has at long last materialized. At the time, I had no idea that this venture would arrive just in time for Phantasy Star‘s 30th Anniversary, which by the way is today, December 20th. But it has, and in the end, what took just about six years to create was very much worth the wait.

I’m really hoping this will be absolutely jaw dropping for all of you Phantasy Star fans out there. If this has just a fraction of the impact on you that it did on me, then I believe you’re in for a real treat.

It took a while for my brain to register that my very close friend from childhood had become an exceptionally talented artist. Even when I first met Kalman back in Junior High School, he had already set himself apart as exceptional. His bedroom was spilling over with amazing hand drawn characters plucked straight from his imagination. I was totally entranced by the lore of his creations.

So many years later, sometime after he created both my Sega Dude avatar and our mutual friend’s Nintendo Joe avatar, I realised  that I had to really tap into this in a bigger way. So I commissioned Kalman to create a Phantasy Star poster. The idea was really exciting because I knew he loved Phantasy Star as much as I did. We both played Phantasy Star together a lot when it was new and we still cherish the game today. I knew he would be eager to take on this challenge.

Below are a few of the early concepts of the poster. The first on the left was to give me an idea of what Kalman had in mind. Showing the basic placement and pose of each character. And the second showing just a few more details.

By Kalman Andrasofsky
By Kalman Andrasofsky

I really wanted to help share and promote Kalman’s Phantasy Star poster so I reached out to two very well known youtubers who I knew for certain shared our love for Phantasy Star.

I was thrilled when Coury from My Life in Gaming received the poster and genuinely seems to love it as much as I do. He sent me the picture below of his Phantasy Star poster after he had it framed and mounted on his wall.


He went all out and even recorded an unboxing of the poster on Periscope which you can watch right here: Coury, My Life in Gaming Phantasy Star Poster Unboxing


It was really fun to see his reaction to the Poster. Thank you Coury!

I was also hoping to send this poster to the HappyConsoleGamer as well but he doesn’t have a PO box and understandably he wasn’t prepared to give out personal details. If the chance arises I’ll fire one his way.

I’d love to hear thoughts and impressions from anyone who feels like sharing. Everything from what you like, what surprised you and right on through to any constructive criticism you might have.

I am so thrilled to have all new artwork with a fresh interpretation of what is my all time favorite video game.

Thank you Kalman! You made my 2017

Phantasy Star 1987 – 2017 by Kalman Andrasofszky

A high quality 8-color giclee print on 100% cotton fiber velvet fine art paper.

13″ X 19″ Signed and numbered by the artist. Limited to an edition of 30.

Purchase here.

Pick-Ups – Sega Master System World Games

Posted by Sega Dude on October 31, 2017
Posted in: Games, SEGA, Sega Master System. Tagged: , , . 6 Comments

The venue: the Oshawa Game Swap this past Sunday October 29th, 2017.

The entrance queue moments before opening: a massive line up of young adults, teenagers, children and parents.

At the front of the line-up in position number one and number two: two full grown middle aged men… Enter Nintendo Joe and the Sega Dude.

It was a small Game Swap but it was packed with vendors and shoppers. In fact the hard part was trying to get close enough to a table to see the goods. Tons of games to browse through and a thick crowd to contend with. But despite the quantity of very cool games I ended up only bringing one home.

A complete and excellent condition World Games for the Sega Master System for $40 CAD (~$31 USD). The game was priced at $50 and when I offered $40 the seller counter with $45 pretty quickly but when I really only wanted to pay $40 he took a good amount of time to consider it. I would have walked away if he wasn’t OK with $40 but he was and now it’s home and in the collection.

The game itself seems playable enough but it’s not super exciting. What’s more interesting is my list of 53 remaining games to complete my library of every Sega Master System title is down one to a new total of 52 games. Baby steps.

I did find something that was really surprising to see at a local retro video game swap. And man, I really wanted it. I found a complete and excellent condition Pulseman for the Japanese Sega Mega Drive. It’s not pictured here because the seller wanted $400 CAD (~$310 USD) for it. That is significantly cheaper than 6 listings I found on ebay but at the same time there were also no recently sold listings for Pulseman. I’m not surprised that people just aren’t buying. At the start of the show I offered the guy $200 CAD (~$155 USD) for Pulseman and he was not impressed. I thought it was a good chunk of change for one video game. But he was a store and not a collector and he was not having it.

So as I continued to browse around I found that I kept thinking about Pulseman. And I started to think about the most I’ve ever paid for a Sega game. That honor belongs to Gleylancer for the Japanese Mega Drive at $260 CAD (~$200 USD). So, close to when Nintendo Joe and I were about to leave I went back and offered the seller $260 CAD for Pulseman. He said he’d sell it for $300 CAD (~$233 USD) but I just didn’t feel good about spending that much so I passed it up.

Maybe the paths of Pulseman and the Sega Dude will cross again some day. You never know.

Pick-Ups – Guelph Video Game Swap 2017 Plus

Posted by Sega Dude on October 22, 2017
Posted in: Games, Genesis (North America), NES, Nintendo, SEGA, Sega Master System. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , . 4 Comments

A few weeks before this years Guelph Video Game Swap Nintendo Joe and I went to visit one of our favorite retro video games stores; Retro Game Bros. Nintendo Joe has decided to purge many of his old video games and he brought a lot of stuff to trade. Click here for all his ‘Retro Game Bros.’ and ‘Guelph Video Game Swap’ trade details which include some pretty exciting NES scores.

As for myself I brought in just a few games for trade. Three or four common Sony PS Vita games plus Herzog Zwei and Thunder Force II (both complete) for the Sega Genesis. I traded them all for Galahad for the Sega Genesis and Bloody Wolf for the Turbo Grafx-16.


The price tag on Galahad was about $60 CAD (~$48 USD); which is higher but close to recently sold listings on ebay. Bloody Wolf’s $60 price tag was also similar to it’s recently sold listings on ebay. So the prices I paid weren’t great. But undoubtedly those ebay listing would have come with additional ‘Global Shipping Services’ fees driving the ebay cost higher than what I paid. And with Retro Game Bros I was trading in games and not handing over cash which really does feel better when you’ve got stuff to unload. Also, being a brick and mortal shop Nintendo Joe and I got to chat up some equally potent retro dudes; which is a fun bonus. In fact we kept the Retro Game Bros late; well past the regular closing time for the store. I’m sure they wanted nothing more than to go home but Nintendo Joe and I would have none of it. It was a wonderful evening.


The Guelph Video Game Swap was very small but it didn’t matter because we knew Flavio would be there. Who’s Flavio? He’s a friend who regularly buys large lots of games for his own collection and then sells the doubles at game swaps. It’s common for Nintendo Joe and I to have Flavio put games aside for us that we later collect at these swaps.


Both Ecco the Dolphin and Ace of Aces cost me $25 CAD (~20 USD) each. I’m really happy with these prices especially considering the like new condition.

Daffy Duck in Hollywood is harder to come by and it cost me $60 CAD (~$48 USD) while James Bond 007 the Duel cost $25 CAD (~$20 USD).

Again the condition of these games is really good. Part of the reason for this is that Flavio will always let me swap cases, manuals, cover art and carts for better ones. He’s really a driving force in keeping my Master System collection pristine!


Flavio also sold me Adventure Island II (NES) for $25 CAD (~$20 USD). Both James Bond and Adventure Island II I bought from him well before this swap. I just didn’t get to blogging about them until now.

The next two games from the Guelph Game Swap didn’t come from Flavio. For a long time I’ve seen Jurassic Park Rampage Edition list for a lot of money ($50+) and I never understood why. So for a long time I have been passing it up. Then at this game swap I got a nice complete copy for $20 CAD (~16 USD). And after checking sold listings on ebay it feels like $20 is the new going rate for this game. Personally, $20 for a complete good condition Genesis or Master System game is a real sweet spot for me. It’s hard to pass up a game with such a friendly price.


I know Casino Games is not very exciting but when it comes to Sega Master System games; if I don’t have I want it. For $20 (my sweet spot price point!) and in amazing condition I was happy for this addition. I’m pretty sure the seller was also happy to unload it.

This last game was a surprise find at a local store called Game Center from earlier this fall. It wasn’t cheap at $45 (all-in) (~$36 USD) but cheaper than current ebay sold listings. And this also completes my TMNT trilogy on the NES.


Recently Flavio commented that I must be getting close to a full Sega Master System library. Over all these years of collecting I’ve never paid any attention. Now, after working on a list for Flavio of the remaining games that I don’t have I know that I’m 54 Master System games shy of having every title for the system. Although this is not a pure set. My collection is mixed with US and Euro versions. Canada typically received European releases because Canada requires both English and French on product packaging. And it was easy enough to end up with US releases simply because of Canada’s proximity to the USA. This mix doesn’t bother me. I’m just after the games. A bunch of these will be easy to get and others will not. I’m curious how close I will get and how long it will take.

Here’s what’s left on my Sega Master System Wish List:

Adams Family
Andre Agassi Tennis
Arcade Smash Hits
Assault City (Both Versions)
Astro Warrior/Pit Pot
Asterix Great Rescue
Ayrton Senna GP
Bank Panic (card) *I have the cartridge version
Bart vs. the World
Buggy Run
Championship Hockey
Chase HQ
Cheese Catastrophe
Chuck Rock 2
Cosmic Spacehead
Dr Robotnic Mean Bean Machine
F16 (cart) *I have the card version
Fantastic Dizzy
George Foreman KO Boxing
Great Soccer (card) *I have the cartridge version
Home Alone
Impossible Mission
Incredible Hulk
Krusty’s Fun House
Line of Fire
Master Games
Masters of Combat
Micro Machines
Mortal Kombat 2
Ms Pacman
My Hero (cart) *I have the card version
Olympic Gold
Ottifants
PGA Golf Tour
Power Strike 2
Putt Putter
Robocop 3
Sega Chess
Sega World Tournament Golf
Sensible Soccer
Smurf’s, The
Smurf’s Travel the World, The
Sonic Spinball
Speedball 2
Star Wars
Streets of Rage 2
Summer Games
Super Off Road
Super Tennis (cart) *I have the card version
Superman Man of Steel
T2: Arcade Game
T2: Judgement Day
Tecmo World Soccer 93
Ultimate Soccer
Winter Olympics
World Cup Italia 90
World Games
WWF Steel Cage Challenge

I have my work cut out for me! And I’m guessing it will take me a few years to get there.