Wow, A&C Games is really expensive. I am opening with that comment despite the fact that I did buy something from this retro video game store that I feel was over priced. Which technically implies that they priced it right… but never you mind such logic. I’m sticking to my guns. A&C Games is really expensive.
I was in their neighborhood and I had time to kill so I went into A&C Games to have a look around. To their credit their inventory of retro video games is huge… but like I said; they’re expensive.
While browsing a shelf of boxed retro consoles and accessories I found a boxed Sega Control Stick for $55 CAD plus tax (no manual). I actually have a boxed Sega Control stick but mine is missing the Styrofoam packaging from inside the box. This one from A&C Games (pictured below) still had it’s Styrofoam.
I’m sure you know where I’m going with this. I spent a total of $62 CAD (~$51 USD) just to get the Styrofoam packaging. Even if I turn around and sell the spare box with the actual Control Stick for a more realistic price of $20 CAD I’ll still have spent $42 on Styrofoam. Plus whatever my original boxed Control Stick cost me all those many years ago.
“You FOOL! Oh why?! Why did you do it?!”
It’s a fair comment. Here’s how I was able to justify it to myself. I’ve been in the hobby for a long time now and from visiting local game shops and retro video game conventions over the years I know that finding something like this with any amount of it’s original packing is hard to come by. I’m also a bit of a sucker when I’ve already got something in my collection that’s not 100%; either not in good enough condition or not complete. I’ll sometimes feel compelled to go that extra mile to make that something whole whereas if I didn’t have it at all I might just be content to forget it entirely.
So, while leaving sound financial judgment far behind check out my now boxed and complete Sega Control Stick with it’s amazing Styrofoam packaging material!
Before I try to sell my double (and slightly crunched) boxed Control Stick I went to the forums on Sega-16.com and posted it for trade. I was hoping to swap this box and joystick for an original Sega Master System Model 1 power supply. Nothing has come of this yet and if after some time no trade materializes I’m sure I’ll sell it for cash. But at the moment I’m more interested in trading.
Now that I’m talking about my Sega Control Stick accessory I might as well show off my other boxed Sega peripherals and consoles.
The Sega Light Phaser. Totally cooler looking than Nintendo NES Zapper!
This boxed Light Phaser I purchased from ebay a very long time ago. I don’t remember what I paid but it wasn’t expensive and it’s in really great condition.
My boxed Sega 3-D Glasses were one of the first things I found when I got into collecting for the Master System. I found it in a Hock Shop for $20 CAD in 1998.
I also have two boxed Sega Master System Consoles to go with these peripherals. The first being an early Master System release:
And this second one being a later release. I still need a manual for the included Hang On & Safari Hunt and a power supply before this second Sega Master System is complete.
There are quite a few accessories for Sega Master System such as the rapid fire unit and sport pad controller; which I have loose. And there a bunch more that I don’t have at all. The accessories pictured above are likely the most common and I don’t expect to find any others boxed and complete.
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.
It had been far too long since my last visit to one of my favorite local retro video games stores. As chance would have it I was recently passing by and I took the opportunity to visit GameSwap.
And man, am I glad I did.
I didn’t score any ultra-rare video games that any collector would drool over. Nothing so dramatic. In fact, the only video game I did buy is not the highlight of the trip. But the miscellaneous stuff I found for great prices kept pilling up until I was thoroughly stoked about my visit to GameSwap.
First up is the game I purchased; Universal Soldier for the Sega Genesis. The uninspired cardboard box and unique cartridge almost make this game unrecognizable as a Sega Genesis game. So much so that I had forgotten and took a picture of it along side some of my Sega Master System games by mistake instead of with my Genesis Collection.
The game is almost the same experience as Turican but it’s not as good. I’ve read that Universal Soldier is a re-branded version of Turican II. But where Turican is good Universal Solider feels unpolished and even unfinished. However, for a really friendly price of $20 CAD it was great to experience this game first-hand for myself.
Now the fun miscellaneous stuff starts. I asked the owner of the store (a great guy that I’ve enjoyed chatting with over the years) if he had any NES or SNES manuals. He thought about it for a moment and answered something to the effect ‘I don’t know. Have a look in these.’ And he brought out three boxes stuffed with stuff. This is a nice example of the personal touch that you just can’t get online. I must have spent about 30-45 minutes carefully digging through everything.
The first misc. thing of interest I found was a poster for Eternal Champions. Normally I wouldn’t go out of my way for something like this but here is was and it was in excellent condition. I don’t need a poster like this to consider my copy of Eternal Champions complete but it’s still a very nice touch. Now my Eternal Champions is MORE complete!
Or is it?…
Eternal Champions Poster
Eternal Champions Poster Back Side
Sega Genesis Eternal Champions
When I got home I went searching for my Eternal Champions eager to make it ‘more’ complete. Only to discover that I didn’t actually have the game for the Sega Genesis. I have it for the Sega Mega Drive. Well, now that I’ve got this really nice poster that fits so nicely in the game case there was only one thing to do. I hopped onto ebay and found myself Eternal Champions. The good news is I was able to buy one for $25 CAD including shipping. Plus the $5 I paid for the poster I’ve got myself an excellent condition Eternal Champions!
The next find, and very similar discovery, was a poster for Jurassic Park. Also for $5 so I thought ‘why not?’.
Jurassic Park Poster
Jurassic Park Poster Back Side
Sega Genesis Jurassic Park
This time I actually had the game for this poster and now my Sega Genesis Jurassic Park ‘more’ complete as well! I did discovered that my Jurassic Park is a little beat up. The case, manual and cartridge have enough nicks and dings to make the over all package feel a bit bruised. I may buy another one if I can find as good a deal as I did with Eternal Champions.
Digging a little further into these boxes I found a good condition Sega Genesis Model 2 manual. I already have a boxed Model 2 Sega Genesis but since I didn’t recall seeing a large black manual I though maybe I didn’t have one at all. So for $5 I put the Genesis manual in my growing pile of miscellaneous and affordable cool stuff.
Sega Genesis Model 2 Manual
Sega Genesis Inside the Manual
Sega Genesis Model 2 Pack in Materials
Boxed Model 2 Sega Genesis
The left image and top right image are of the manual I purchased. The middle right image is all the stuff I already had in my boxed Model 2 Genesis (hardware not pictured). Turns out I did already have the manual. But mine is a fold-out style pamphlet and not an actual book. So now I have two manuals for my Sega Genesis. Yeah, I know… it’s over-kill. By the way, this boxed complete Genesis cost me $15 CAD at a thrift shop… no big deal.
Continuing; every now and again I would find a good condition NES manual but it took a while before I found one I actually needed. And what I found was a nice surprise. P.O.W. Prisoners of War is not a rare game but after selling off many of my NES cartridges this is one I kept. For a NES title the graphics are very good and I couldn’t bring myself to sell it. The manual I found while rummaging cost me $5. I also bought a manual for NES Ninja Gaiden for $5. Unfortunately I discovered that I already have the Ninja Gaiden manual. So that accidental double will go to Nintendo Joe.
Delving deeper still into the depths of these three magical boxes things started to get even more interesting. Have a quick look at the two images below. You might think to yourself ‘what am I looking at?’. But you know. Deep down you know what it is. Just like my gut was trying tell me the second I saw it and even though I have never before seen this manual or even played the game yet… I knew this was the manual for SNES Chrono Trigger.
SNES Chrono Trigger Partial Manual
Inside the Manual
The reason it’s not instantly recognizable is because it’s missing the cover and the first 8 pages (and the last 8 pages). Even in this state I was worried about how much it might cost. The Retro World is crazy over Chrono Trigger. So I put it aside and expected that it would cost more than I would be willing to pay. In fact I didn’t even ask for a price or make an offer. It took the store owner’s crazy savvy salesman’s intuition to make something happen. He looked at me and said ‘Make an offer. Offer me $20’. I paused… $20 is a lot for a portion of a manual. But it’s Chrono Trigger! And $20 isn’t a ton of money. It seemed like a reasonable offer. So I said “I was going to offer $20 but I didn’t think you’d go for it”. And he replied ‘How about $25’.
Son of a Bee! I’ve been set up!
On eBay this manual would cost me at least $60 and I don’t want to pony up that much money so this felt like it was as good a compromise as I would ever get. I ended up paying $25 and I was still having a lot of fun rummaging through the boxes of miscellaneous goodness.
Below is my ‘not really anymore complete than it was before’ copy of Chrono Trigger for the SNES.
Don’t ask me what’s in the table of contents or what the buttons on the joystick do in Chrono Trigger.
I do NOT know! Those details are not in my manual.
And don’t ask me about any details of the 90-day Limited Warranty.
I do NOT know! Those details are not in my manual.
However, I can tell you that the party member Marle has very power Magic. And that her healing powers are essential to your success.
This box diving adventure is not yet over! A Gold Star for anyone who knows what the below books are. Any guesses?
I wasn’t sure myself at first. But I had an idea. First, I did believed they were for the game Ultima IV. But I wasn’t sure if what I found was from the PC version or the Sega Master System version. The PC version I didn’t really want at all… but the Master System version I really wanted. And the fact that they said SEGA on the back cover I decided that for $20 for all four it was worth the risk. I took them home and started searching for the answer.
I’ve found a few images of both the PC version and Sega Master System version and it really does look like I’ve found the English and French versions for the Sega Master System.
These are images I found on the Internet posted by other collectors.
PC version of Ultima IV
PC version of Ultima IV
Ultima IV, English, French and German Versions
SMS Complete English Ultima IV
Below are a few pictures of my now complete Ultima IV for the Sega Master System. To me this really is the highlight of this post. I knew these books existed but I never thought I’d ever find them.
Sega Master System Ultima IV
SMS Ultima IV Map Front
SMS Ultima IV Map Back
Complete SMS Ultima IV, English and French
In Canada it’s common that a product will come with manuals/documentation for both English and French. So maybe that is why I found two sets of books in both languages. I don’t know if every Ultima IV for the Sega Master System was originally sold in Canada with both language book sets or if you just got one set depending on where in Canada you bought them from. Regardless I’m very happy to have both sets!
I’m noticing that as the years roll by and I continue to collect I’m learning that obscure or hard to find collectibles have a way of coming around when you least expect them. Be patient and don’t forget to have fun with the stuff you already have.
If you’re in Toronto GTA be sure to pay a visit to GameSwap.
What do you do if you find 45 of your favorite video game consoles listed for sale on the local classifieds (Kijiji)? Well, you buy them… you buy them all.
Many of the systems you see below do not work for one reason or another. For the ones that do I’m going to clean them up and sell them for a fair price. I want to get them back into the hands of retro gamers. **Yeah, I’m going to pretend that I’m righteous and all that 😛
My other motivation is to have some hardware to work on. I’d love to see if I’m able to repair some or all of the broken consoles.
Those buckets be full!
That’s a lot of Retro.
Both me and these old video game consoles have a long journey ahead of us. I have big plans and I know it will take time.
Will I make any money on this venture? I’m guessing if I do it will not be a lot but at the same time I dove in because the price was right and I don’t think I’m at risk of losing much money either. I paid $180 CAD for everything you see in the bins (I had to give the bins back). So that’s $4 per console! But the lot was sold ‘as is’ and yes many do not work. Before the purchase I estimated that I’d only need about 6 or 8 in working condition to make my original $180 back so it felt like a safe gamble.
Bucket Close-up 01
Bucket Close-up 02
What I was concerned about (which is turning out to be true) is it’s hard to sell loose systems. Most people are going to want a system with a power cable , a video cable and at least one joystick. So I’ve anticipated that this little project will take a long time to complete. But that’s OK and it’s somehow comforting have an army of (mostly) Sega consoles in the basement.
Want to get a better idea of what 45 consoles look like? 🙂 Behold!! Beautiful, isn’t it?
It’s like heaven fell from the stars.
For a loose working system (any Sega Master System, Sega Dreamcast, Sega Genesis or Sega Saturn) I decided to sell each for $30 CAD. Is that a fair price? I think it is except maybe for the Genesis consoles. They are pretty common and I personally believe $20 would be a great price so what does that say about $30? Maybe once I’ve made my money back I’ll considering selling loose Genesis consoles for less… Or Plan B; see below:
This massive heap of consoles actually did come with a bunch of joysticks. But again just like the consoles many do not work. And even if a joystick works I need to be sure it’s working well. However, since some of them are in good order I decided to throw some more money into this venture and buy some third party power and video cables and make a few of these systems whole. Yes, my costs goes up but I think I’ll be able to sell them faster this way. For an additional $160 CAD I managed to buy power and video cables for most of the systems.
I got a good price on the cables at just about $10 for a set (one power cable, one video cable). I valued any good working joystick at $10. So for a complete systems I added in my cost and I’ll sell them for $50 or possibly $60 for those that are in better cosmetic condition or if it comes with a game or something.
I’ve already had these consoles for a few months now and I have made some sales (locally on Kijiji). Slowly but surely it’s happening. So far I’ve sold five consoles and I’ve given away two complete Genesis console to two cousins who I recently found out were into retro gaming. I also gave each of them a flash cart so they’ll have lots to play. Before I bought the flash carts I tried finding cheap loose carts of a few good games and it was so expensive that I just gave up.
Here’s what I’ve sold so far (all in CAD dollars):
Sega Master System – $50 complete and with common game cart.
Sega Master System – $60 complete and with common game cart.
Dreamcast – $30 loose
Dreamcast – $20 loose and broken *It was wanted as a display model.
Genesis – $30 loose
Genesis – free complete *for family
Genesis – free complete *for family
So of my total $340 put in I’ve made back $190 with $150 to go. Not bad, and I think I’ll get there eventually.
This lot also came with a Super Famicom and a PAL Genesis. I think I’ll keep both of those for myself. It also came with two Sega Master System II’s. I was really surprised when I noticed that the SMS II only has a coaxial RF video port; which boasted the worst possible video quality. I like the look of the SMS II so I think I’ll see if I can do an s-video mod on them and make them more desirable.
As it stands I have five consoles left that are working right now. Selling them loose will get the rest of my money back. Selling them complete (which I think I can do) will net me about $100. And if I can fix any of the others, well, that would be just groovy.
Retro Megabit 