Sometimes it really is all about who you know. Every single video game I purchased at the CGCC (Classic Game Collectors Canada) Summer Swap this past June was from my friend who regularly sells at these events. We worked out our deal ahead of time and later when Nintendo Joe and I arrived at the swap I handed over my money to Flavio and collected my loot.
Flavio is my source for hard to get Sega Master System games. And although some of the games are not cheap I trust his judgement on fair value. First up are a handful of Sega Master System games. Starting with Dragon the Bruce Lee Story complete for $65 CAD.
Below is the PAL/Euro version of Captain Silver which cost me $25 CAD. I don’t actively seek out variants but when they come my way for a good price and are significantly different I do enjoy picking them up.
The PAL Captain Silver has very unique cover art and it also has six levels compared to the US version with four levels.
Below is my US Captain Silver which I’ve had for many years now. I don’t recall what it cost me.
I know, I know… a sports game. And for $40?! It’s not a common title and these days it’s not often that I come across a Master System game that I don’t have. So here it is, World Cup USA 94 for the Sega Master System. Recent sold listings on ebay show it has sold for between $22-$60 CAD. Prices lower than what I paid were from auction vs. ‘Buy it Now’.
Bram Stoker’s Dracula I already had but I was able to get a manual for $20 to complete it. It feels great completing a game.
I was also missing the manual for this cartridge version of TransBot and Flavio was happy to give me one for free. When it comes to poaching game manuals from him he’ll just charge me the difference of what he’ll have to reduce the games price by after having its manual removed. In the case of inexpensive games he’s been very generous and will often just give them to me.
What he also does for free is allow me to upgrade any of my games if he has one that’s in better condition than my own. I had Alien Storm but the back of the manual had a massive sticker on it and the spine of the cover art also had a sticker on it. Both of these stickers appeared to be from factory and put on because of regional requirements but I still didn’t like them. Now, thanks for Flavio my new Alien Storm is minty new and the upgrade cost was nothing. I’ll also often swap cases with missing hanging tabs for cases with tabs still intact. If you’re a maniacal collector you’ll understand the value in this!
The following two NES games also came from Flavio. $15 for Double Dragon loose. It’s a classic that I felt I should have.
And $5 for Hogan’s Alley, also loose. I felt like having more light gun games in my NES Collection.
The following 6 inserts cost me me $5 total. It was very common for most Sega Master System and Sega Genesis games to come packed with pamphlets/posters/advertisements/catalogs when they were new and I like adding these to any of my games that don’t already have them. It makes the game feel more substantial.
This next addition is a small gift from Flavio. It’s not something I would have spent a lot of money on but that doesn’t change the fact that it’s really very fun to have. My Sega Genesis Phantasy Star III is now super ultra complete! In addition to having Phantasy Star III with the cart, case, manual, map and hint book I now also have the pamphlet that advertises the hint book which was sold separately (unlike the hint book for Phantasy Star II).
This pamphlet is not required to consider your Phantasy Star III complete but it really does rate high on the ‘cool factor’.
All in, it was a good haul thanks to my buddy Flavio!
Wow! This was amazing. I just did not have enough money for the GTA GameX event. It was a small retro video game venue but it was bursting at the seams.
I went knowing that my buddy Flavio was selling at this event and he had put aside a few Sega Master System games for me. I was guaranteed to come home with some cool stuff; which is a good feeling. What I didn’t expect was a barrage of video games that I would have loved to buy. At several vendor tables I found a lot more Sega Genesis and Sega Master System games than I’m use to seeing at these events. But the money just wasn’t there and I had to make some choices.
One of the first games I discovered was X-Men for the Sega Genesis and I thought for sure that I must already have this common and affordable game. The cover art looked so familiar. I took a moment to checked my inventory on my cell phone and I only had X-men 2 so I was really pleased to snap up this complete X-men for $20 CAD (~15 USD). When I got it home I was able to verify that my inventory was correct (this time) and I did not have X-Men. It’s now a very nice addition to the collection.
I usually have Sega on the brain but I’m also watching out for cool NES and SNES games as well. In particular Japanese Role Paying Games (JRPG’s) and a handful of other Nintendo games that I’d love to play. As it turned out at the very first table I walked up to I found Axelay. I love shooters (who doesn’t) and this game shows off some some really nice looking effects. For a long time now I wanted to try it out first hand but in my local area it felt like it had become an expensive game. Everyone who didn’t have it for sale said it was worth $30 and everyone who actually had it wanted to sell it for $50. Even though I had passed on it about a year ago for $30 it felt like this was no longer the going rate. So I made an offer on Axelay and another very exciting SNES game from the same seller.
With my first sampling of Axelay I was not let down. The graphics are excellent and the gameplay is fast. What I noticed right away is that the mode 7 scrolling effect is a little bit hard to deal with at first. I’m thinking it’s either something I’ll get use to or hate forever.
The other game I purchased with Axelay was Lufia and it’s a solid SNES JRPG and I was really surprised to find it for under $100 CAD.
Both Axelay and Lufia combined cost me $105 CAD (~79 UDS) and it was a pretty exciting purchase. At first I did feel a little trigger happy buying these games before I saw more from the rest of the conversion floor. But later, as I browsed around I noticed that anyone who had Lufia was trying to sell it loose for about $100 CAD. I felt like I had done well. Nintendo Joe who was with me also felt the same. I do like getting his option on NES and SNES prices. He pays close attention to the going rates. Although, about one or two years ago he did pass up on a NES Snow Brothers for $150 CAD (~$113 USD).
The rest of my purchases came from Flavio who is even more diehard about collecting Sega Master System games than I am. I’m still not interested in ebay so he’s really my best source for SMS games and he really goes a long way to help me out.
But first, my only NES purchase for the day. Ring King is a game I use to really enjoying playing at a buddy’s house way back in the day. It’s no Punch Out but it’s still a fun boxing game. And at $10 it was an easy purchase.
Next up are the Sega Master System games that Flavio put aside for me.
Deep Duck Trouble cost me $70 CAD (~$53 USD). It’s a Euro release and not a common game to come across.
And for $45 (~$34 USD) I got Asterix and the Secret Mission. Another Euro game that is hard to come by in Canada.
Crash Dummies for $25 (~$19 USD).
Tecmo World Cup ’93 for $25 (~$19 USD).
GP Rider for $20 (~$15 USD).
And finally the awesome Bubble Bobble for $70 CAD (~$53 USD). At first we both over looked that the manual is not complete. It’s just two pages and the rest is missing. Flavio is going to get me a replacement as soon as another ones comes his way.
Update: Good to his word (as always) my replacement Bubble Bobble manual has arrived.
I already had Strider II but it was missing the manual which I picked up for $20 (~$15 USD).
Of all my Sega Master System and Sega Genesis games I have eight games from each collection that are missing manuals. So I really do love any chance I can get to pick one up. I don’t think I’ll ever have a complete library of all games for any particular console but I love the idea of everything I have being complete. Right now I have 252 Japanese Sega Mega Drive games and all of those are complete. And my much smaller collection of 39 Sega Mark III games are also complete. No big deal.
When I got Strider II home I had a closer look at it and I noticed that the staples in the manual were so rusted that they almost completely disintegrated on touch. Unfortunately the rust had damaged the paper in the surrounding area. So with very little effort I removed what was remaining of the staples and got ready to replace them.
On some pages there was a fine black/brown dust which I wiped away easily. It’s really only the dark brown stains near the staple holes that shows.
I was pretty sure that I would not be able to do a good job replacing the staples with a stapler so I did it by hand. I lined up one page at a time and carefully inserted the staples; this took some time and patients. It was easier than I thought to push down the arms of the staples. They bent in the correct position and laid down nicely.
This little project worked out very well except for the cover page. The paper on the front page was so damaged by the rust that there wasn’t enough paper left for the new staples to hold onto and the cover is just resting on top and is not actually held in place. But since this repair job Flavio had already acquired another Strider II and he was happy to give me a manual that is in better condition.
The same rusting was also happening on my manual for Asterix and the Secret Mission. I did the same staple swap for it and since the rusting was so much less severe I’m still happy with the over all condition.
So all in it was an expensive day but I do enjoy the new additions and as trivial as staples might sounds I also enjoyed these little restorations and preserving these games as best I can.
While browsing my local classifieds (Kijiji) I found someone selling a nice looking boxed Sega Master System. It was listed as complete and from the images included it really did look reasonable. After exchanging a few emails we worked out a deal and for $105 CAD I got a boxed Sega Master System and two complete sports games for the Sega CD. For simplicity, lets say this boxed Master System cost me $100 even. I’m typically not too interested in chasing variants but for the Sega Master System Model 1 I’m only aware of three significantly different versions that were released in Canada. So for a fair price it was fun getting one step closer to having all three.
I didn’t have a chance to take a close look at the packing or the console itself until I got home. When I did, I discovered several things that really hurt the over all appearance. The outer paper layer of the box was pealing off the cardboard in several places and the bottom of the box had two large rips where at some point the box could no longer support the weight of it’s contents. There was also a small price tag right smack in the front and center of the box. At $9.99 someone (once upon a time) got a much better deal than I did!
And although technically complete with the power base unit itself, joystick, 3rd party audio/video cable and 3rd party power cable it still felt less than whole.
The good news about the paper pealing away from the cardboard was that is was still pretty well intact. There were no folds, wrinkles or rips. So I grabbed a glue stick and went to work. I even had an idea for the tears on the bottom of the box. I knew they couldn’t be glued and stand a chance of holding as they were so I cut out some cardboard and glued the new piece to the area surrounding the tears. All things considered I think it turned out very well.
Despite seeming thin for cardboard the piece I used to mend the tears at the bottom of the box was too thick. In hind-sight I should have used something similar to the thickness of the sheet of cardboard that slips into a comic book bag. I ended up tearing the top layer off the added piece of cardboard and then flattening the exposed cardboard ridges to make it thinner. It’s not pretty but it’s entirely out of sight and holding the bottom together well.
The condition of this box before any of the work I did was still pretty good considering the age. But this felt like a big win. After about 30-45 minutes of work I feel like it’s now looking really good. Surprisingly removing the price tag from the front of the box was really hard. I used a hair dryer on the sticker until the surface was good and hot but it still did not want to let go. I spent a long while pulling up the edges about one milometer at a time until it was fully removed.
Alright! Time to play some Sega Master System with my new Sega Master System Power Base! It is after all ‘The Best Video Game System”. Says so right there on the box.
I powered it up without any game inserted to see if it had the Snail Maze game built in or Hang-on and Safari Hunt. Turns out this unit is a bit older and has the Snail Maze game built in. Back in the day when the Master System was new the Snail Maze game was an Easter egg and was not advertised. This was pre-Internet and there weren’t a lot of ways to find out about stuff like this. When a friend told me to power on my Master System and hold ‘Up+Button 1+Button 2’ during the SEGA logo splash screen at boot up to find a hidden game I did not believe it. Yet there it was. It was a real ‘Wow!’ moment. Sega was really smart to keep it secret. It’s a really simplistic game and doesn’t merit a purchase on it’s own but the surprise of it made it feel like a really significant bonus. I did not stop playing the Snail Maze game until I had beaten it. It is a fun game and you will need a lot of attempts before you’ll be able to clear all 12 stages. It felt awesome when I finally beat it. It was fun and free and it was another big win for the little Sega Dude!
Flash forward to 2017 and the Sega Dude is attacking the Snail Maze again! That’s right, it’s still fun and challenging. It had been a very long time since my last play through and I was navigating more on instinct than memory. The tiny Snail sprite was the embodiment of pure fury under my control! Then at the final moment of round 11 with only one more maze to go… my new Sega Master System Power Base died… With a pop and a crackle my TV went dark and fury fell to anguish.
I tried powering it back on a few times and nothing happened. In my inexperience with electronics I headed over to SMSpower.org for some help.
The first thing that was suggested to me was to replace the capacitors. If you’re into the Retro Video Game scene you’ve likely heard of the term ‘cap kit’. Which refers to buying the required set of capacitors to replace the old ones from a particular Printed Circuit Board (in this case the PCB for a Sega Master System).
So I purchased a Sega Master System cap kit from Console5 for $2.95 USD. After replacing all 16 capacitors my Master System would still not turn on. With more help form the SMSPower forums I then replaced the voltage regulator (also purchased from Console5).
In the first picture below I’ve circled all 16 capacitors in red and on the far left circled in purple is the voltage regulator. The first picture is actually the finished project with all the new components that I installed. I still feel new to soldiering so I was more focused on the work than documenting it.
The second image above is a typically capacitor. The long leg being positive and the short leg being negative. When placing a capacitor into a PCB it’s very important to get the polarity right. The holes on the PCB where the capacitor is to be place will indicate which is which with a + and – symbol. I’ve circled these details in the third image. The only other consideration is to be sure that the capacitor you’re installing is appropriate for replacing the old one. The benefit of purchasing a cap kit is that someone else has done this part for you. The remaining images above show caps being installed and then soldered into place. Once the soldering is done I cut off the excess legs and I was done. In order to get access to one particular capacitor I had to remove (de-solder) the power switch and then re-install it once the new cap was in place. If you look close at the blue plastic on the power switch you can see where I accidentally melted part of it. Fortunately it’s just cosmetic damage and the switch is fine.
In the end it turned out that it was the voltage regulator that had died. Once it was replaced my SMS would turn on again. I didn’t have to replace all of the capacitors but I am glad I did. When comparing this SMS with my other one I can see a distinct difference between the two. My newly repaired SMS shows a brighter and sharper image compared to the other SMS with it’s old capacitors.
By chance I was recording my gameplay when my SMS died. Not only was I able to capture the distorted video quality but also the actual moment when my poor console died.
**Viewer discretion advised. The following might not be suitable for all audiences.**
What the video doesn’t show very well is how much better the the visual quality is after the repair. Somewhere during recording via composite and re-encoding and playback on non-CRT displays the fine details are lost. But the distortions were captured well in the first recording.
With this Master System working again I went through my box of miscellaneous things and I found a few items to make it more complete. Now it has the Power Base, Hang On & Safari Hunt, RF AV Cable (hidden under the game), two control pads and a Light Phaser. I just need an original power cable***, a manual for Hang On & Safari Hunt* and a manual for the Master System** itself. Eventually those things will come along and I’ll pick them up when I can.
*Update: I was able get a free Sega Master System manual from my buddy Flavio. All of Flavio, Nintendo Joe and myself were playing some outstanding Genesis games like Vapor Trail, Golden Axe II, Forgotten Worlds and Eliminate Down while munching on pizza when I noticed a SMS manual sitting right next to us. We checked Flavio’s two boxed Master System’s and they were already complete with manual so this spare became mine. Thanks Flavio!
**Update 2017-11-6: I now have a manual for Hang On & Safari Hunt.
***Update 2018-01-29: I managed to find an original SMS Power Cable from my local classifieds (Kijiji).
The other boxed Sega Master System below I purchased in the early 2000’s at a hockshop. I’ve forgotten what it cost me. It is complete and also in very good shape. It even has the two thumb sticks that screw into the center of the joystick D-Pad. The idea was to make the joystick feel more arcade like. They don’t work well at all and aren’t worth using but I love that I have them for this set.
I’m already planning on replacing the capacitors on my other Master System Power Base just because of the difference in visual quality that I can see first hand between the two of them.
After this experience I’m no longer worried about these old consoles dying. With a bit of work and low cost we can bring them back to life and make them function like new again.
I recently received another order from CustomGameCases.com for 25 aftermarket Sega Genesis game cases. If you’ve been keeping track I’ve done a bunch of posts about these cases and I’m pretty sure it’s because I really do like them.
These cases are almost identical to the original hard plastic clam-shell cases that Sega use to make for Sega Genesis games. Click here for my more detailed impression of these cases.
Of 25 cases 19 arrived in condition that I was happy with.
Several cases had hanging tabs that were so loose that with a few wiggles they would fall right off. This was a bit upsetting because I was planning on using these new cases to replace authentic Sega Genesis cases that are themselves in OK condition except for the fact that they are missing their hanging tabs. It’s not easy to see in the picture below but the hanging tabs on these new cases are so loose that most flop back and forth as you handle them.
All of the cases came packaged very well and I believe they were not damaged in transit. I suspect that this relatively new product has just not fully matured yet.
I emailed customgamecases.com and explained that I would like them to ship me good quality replacements. And they did not hesitate. I have already received perfect cases to replace the ones pictured above. Customer service has been excellent. Thank you guys!
I took games from my collection that had cases with missing hanging tabs and various nicks and scratches and put the cover art, manual and cartridge for each into new CostumGameCases and now they really do look like new.
Is anyone wondering why Gargoyles is in a hard plastic clam-shell case? Anyone? Yes, the original case for Gargoyles only comes in Sega’s cardboard box style.
The previous owner wanted all of his Sega Genesis games in clam-shell cases so he cut up the cardboard box and made it fit as in insert into the more common plastic cases. I wouldn’t do this myself but I also wouldn’t pass up a good game at a good price because this had been done.
Below is a closer look at a few of the games in their new cases.
Of course I would prefer authentic Sega Genesis cases but it’s very hard to find them whole and in great condition and not already housing another game. On rare occasion I’ll upgrade games in my collection and have the chance to put better cases into the collection while removing lesser ones. But since that’s not a reliable option CustomGameCases.com has got my back.
So, as it turns out I believe that I must look like a fanatical gamer… or a sucker, or maybe a fanatical gamer/sucker. See that nice looking Sega Arcade Power Stick pictured below? I found it at a flea market for $50 CAD loose, and try as I did, I was unable to successfully negotiate for it.
To me, it’s not worth $50 even though I often see it priced at $60. I thought this was my chance to finesse my way into a good deal and I offered $40. The counter offer was $45… $5 off? Is that the best my sultry smile could do?
I felt like there was no room left to work with. So I walked away never to return. That’s right, never to return again. …but you see it pictured below. What happened? I’m getting to that.
I was with my wife and a few close friends who I was happy to share my failed negotiating story with. As we were leaving the flea market my wife said “Hold on. I’ll be right back”. And she disappeared into the crowd. I thought she was dashing off to buy yet another purse. I didn’t say that, I only thought that… cause if I said that she would bring up the whole video game collecting thing. We have an understanding.
She returned in about 3 minutes and to my surprise she was carrying my new Sega Genesis Arcade Power Stick. She handed it over to me and said “Here you go, it cost $35.”. My mouth flapped a bit and I think I said something like “How?”.
The wife gave me a break down of her tactics.
It was almost closing time for the Flea Market so she asked the seller if he really thinks he’ll be able to sell it before then and if he really wanted it taking up space. She then offered $35 and said that is all the money she had. I didn’t witness it but I get the impression that she maintained a barrage of reasons as to why he should let it go until he agreed to her price. So in the end he handed over the joystick and she paid him with a $50 bill. Ha! That takes guts.
I didn’t even realize that the wife saw this joystick when I took my shot at buying it. She’s very observant and very thoughtful! Thank you my wonderful Wife!
Almost a year ago I took notice of the game Beyond Oasis for the Sega Genesis at a local retro game store called Game Swap. This Complete Beyond Oasis was priced at $100 CAD. Unfortunately the original cardboard case had been cut up so that the cover would fit in one of Sega’s hard plastic clamshell cases. I was actually just after the manual to complete my own Beyond Oasis. Understandably the owner of the store did not want to break up the set which would make what was left harder to sell.
Speaking of cutting up original cardboard Sega Genesis cases to make them fit into the more popular plastic clamshell cases… don’t do it! Unlike in the 90’s there is no longer a need for this. If you feel compelled to convert a cardboard case into a plastic clamshell case print a custom cover and leave the cardboard box intact.
Where can you get these ready to print covers from? Right here:
I considered buying the whole game for the manual and then reselling the game and case but I was guessing it would take a long time to resell and the manual would end up costing me a lot of money. I was ready to give up on it when the owner told me of a new store policy that he now offers.
Visit GameSwap on your birthday and you’ll get 25% off your purchase that day. That is a very generous offer. And everyone in range of Game Swap should take note (store addresses at the bottom of this post).
So, very slowly the months ticked by until the better part of a year had passed and it was my birthday. I went back to see if Beyond Oasis was still there. Now with 25% off buying the game to harvest the manual and reselling the cart and case became much more feasible.
Regardless if Beyond Oasis was still there or not I brought some games to trade with. I was making the trip and I wanted to come home with something.
I actually brought a lot of stuff with me. What you see below is pretty much the last of my miscellaneous games that I’ve been sitting on. Two complete game gear games, two loose game gear games, a loose Gunstar Heroes, a loose NES Rush ‘n Attack, two complete Genesis/MD games, one complete Sega Mark III game (Double Target), one complete Doom for the original xbox, case and manual for Sonic Spinball and a loose Sega Master system Altered Beast manual.
I also brought the last of my Neo Geo Pocket collection. Eight complete games and the NGPC communication link; used to make the NGPC wireless for two player gaming.
Before we got down to wheeling and dealing I asked about Beyond Oasis and it was still there. Things where looking good. But what I didn’t realize is that you’re not allowed to combine the birthday discount with store credit. I was hoping I wouldn’t have to spend any actual cash.
We had a good time talking about these games and the owner enjoyed seeing so many obscure items that don’t often come his way. I got a kick out of how much he liked my complete Double Target for the Sega Mark III. I also really like it too. And when we were able to find the North American version called Quartet (for the Sega Master System) in his own inventory he was amazed at the difference in the cover art. The Japanese version is so much better! See them side by side here. *Despite being a little stiff Quartet is a good game.
Then the basic math (which felt complex) began. We started to discuss what I would be willing to take in store credit for all the different games that I brought with me. Between us we had a good idea of value for most items and others were a bit trickier to assess. I wish I could remember all the fine details but for the most part these games were valued at roughly $5, $10, and $20 each.
Once everything was finalized I wanted to revisit the possibility of using my new found credit in conjunction with the 25% birthday discount. I did not even have to engage the puppy eye look and my wish was granted. I think the cool factor of some of the games I bought in helped a lot.
And after about 45 minutes of hardcore nerding out Beyond Oasis was mine! I took out the manual, handed the case and cart back and said “how much would you give for this?”. I had found a loop hole for breaking up complete games (sort of)! I said I would take $20 in credit for the game which was now missing the manual but instead I was given $60 credit. He’s really very generous. So the $100 game minus 25%, minus $60 credit leaves me with the manual for $15.
Below is my now complete Beyond Oasis for the Sega Genesis.
Something that will not surprise any Sega Genesis and Mega Drive fans is that the cover art for Beyond Oasis is much nicer for the Japanese version.
Despite GameSwap having a large stack of complete Japanese Mega Drive games the only other game I picked up this trip was Mortal Kombat 1 for the Genesis for $25. I saw it and thought to myself “Yes! That’s the one I need!” I got it home only to find that I had Mortal Kombat 1 and was missing Mortal Kombat 3… However, I did discover that I didn’t have the manual for Mortal Kombat 1 but I do now and that helps take the sting out of buying a double.
And thus, the miscellaneous pile of video games starts anew.
So by the end of my visit to GameSwap I came away with Mortal Kombat, a Beyond Oasis manual and $130 CAD in store credit.
Nintendo Joe gave me the loose Gun Star Heroes that I traded in so some of this store credit will go to him.
If you’re in the neighborhood check out GameSwap for some retro goodness!
Retro Megabit 