Beware elrgames on eBay

http://myworld.ebay.com/elrgames/

I bought two lots of loose carts from him for a total of 16 games. I've opened and thoroughly cleaned 6 so far (none worked straight out of the box)... 1 is a boot, 2 refuse to work, 2 are finnicky, and the 1 is just fine.

I'm not having fun... I don't want you to not have fun, either

if you need some help head on over, I'm playing around with my real bout 2 kit anyways.. it's giving me some headache.

I just unibios'd all three machines, so I'm playing around with them anyways.

That's a shame about the carts.

i know i said i'd come over, but i had to be in the office so it made more sense to just do the cleaining here... you wouldn't have enjoyed this anyway... i've spent 3 hours on those 6 carts... i'm giving up for the day :P

oh and i smell... didn't shower after my run this am... you don't want none of this

on the bright side, he does have a return policy... and i am getting the ss2 mm i've been looking for out of this one way or another (i'm not spending 8 hours cleaning his carts to return them at my expense and get nothing in return).

At least he has a return policy. If you want some help tomorrow I'll be free around mid-day.

I've gotten a coke soaked MS3 to work, so whatever doesn't work bring on over when you come. Contact cleaner and erasers work wonders.

Let me know and good friggin' luck!

iammike said:

http://myworld.ebay.com/elrgames/

I bought two lots of loose carts from him for a total of 16 games. I've opened and thoroughly cleaned 6 so far (none worked straight out of the box)... 1 is a boot, 2 refuse to work, 2 are finnicky, and the 1 is just fine.

I'm not having fun... I don't want you to not have fun, either

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Let me start by just saying that I don't know Elliot/"elrgames" personally, and thus stand to gain nothing by defending him... but maybe this can help shed some light.

My only interaction with him was an incidental, shot-in-the-dark phone conversation with him last week because I was interested in one of those lots. I'm pretty sure his phone number is right in the description on eBay, or it was in the lot I saw at least. He called me back about 15min after I left him a VM, and we ended up having a pretty good convo...

From what I gathered, he's an operator in SoCal, and (according to him) the first to take receipt of an MVS cab originally in the region (he ordered 2, and promptly returned them both because the unimpressive launch titles gave him a bad opinion of the platform's ability to earn). At peak, he eventually had about 30 cabs in service and earning. He's been reducing stock of lots of his MVS cabs, games, and parts over the past 9 months. Apparently during this effort he rediscovered a large stash of a few hundred more carts that were in storage, and *none* of them worked. He almost ditched them all, but then decided to clean them... and the majority of them started working again. The ones for sale on eBay are ones which passed this minimal testing. When asked about boots possibly being mixed in, he said he didn't know, but wasn't particularly checking given the lot size... and mostly his customers were the ones who would inform him if a cart was legit or boot (leads me to believe he is refunding for them).

While I don't have any reason to believe him any more than any other random person, I didn't feel any reason not to believe him either. The rest of the conversation was him asking about my new MVS 4-slot and giving me tips on all the little things wrong with it--even offered to toss in some piece-parts if I won any of his items. We chatted for nearly a half hour, all told. I certainly didn't get any vibe of intentional deception or anything... the MVS inventory blowout story makes sense to me. His phone number is right in all the listings I've seen for him... give him a ring and talk to him first before any assumptions are made or destroying his name/rep here in a public manner (sheer cleaning/refund inconvenience factor aside).

Just my $0.02... hope that helps.

I was looking at a few of these on eBay and looking at the pictures and descriptions, it just seemed to be lots of "fixer" carts. I almost bid on a lot or two, but other people had already driven up the price to more than what seemed a good deal for a pile of dirty, potentially boot carts.

Obviously I'm new to the hobby, but most of the lots seem to be the extra common games going for more than $10 per title, which seems to not be worth the effort.

astar617 said:

destroying his name/rep here in a public manner (sheer cleaning/refund inconvenience factor aside).

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i'm not trying to destroy his rep at all (i have not labeled him a scammer or told people to absolutely not buy from him), i was merely sharing my experience with his lots. people ought to know that these carts are doodoo before potentially bidding on them. i'm stuck with hours of cleaning and a return shipping charge... that stinks...

these are the first carts i've ever bought that didn't work right out of the box... i'd seriously question his "these ones were cleaned and tested as working" unless he did that years ago [they are pretty filthy].

i have yet to hear back, but i'm sure him and i will work it out; he didn't seem shady in the few messages i sent him before bidding and he's got quite a bit of positive feedback.

I realize now that "destroying his rep" may have been a little overstated... in any event I'm glad that you will probably have some resolution.

Update: Still have not heard from him, but have now gotten 10 carts through my "thorough" cleaning. We stand at 1 boot, 2 not working, and 7 working.

Unimpressive launch titles? Most of the titles that came out shortly after the launch were brilliant for their time. Blues Journey and Fatal Fury to name a couple.

Hewitson said:

Unimpressive launch titles? Most of the titles that came out shortly after the launch were brilliant for their time. Blues Journey and Fatal Fury to name a couple.

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Again, I'm not defending him nor looking to dissect what was a loose paraphrase of our convo... but to just play devil's advocate a bit, that's only his opinion. Based solely on dates in the Master List, he would have had access to these US releases as a recipient of a launch MVS:

Nam 1975
Baseball Stars Professional
Top Players Golf
Magician Lord
Riding Hero
Alpha Mission 2
Ninja Combat
Cyber Lip
The Super Spy
Blues Journey
Ghost Pilot
King of the Monsters
League Bowling
Puzzled
Sengoku


Not bad, but let's face it, not exactly indicative of the greatness to come either... in any event, he certainly would've been entitled to come to any conclusion he wanted on their potential quarter-by-quarter earning power based on his experience as an operator. And he *did* obviously end up buying back into MVS cabs, in a big way.

Incidentally, I ended up winning a lot for 10 carts myself. So we'll see if I encounter the same issues.

astar617 said:

Incidentally, I ended up winning a lot for 10 carts myself. So we'll see if I encounter the same issues.

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You will Just go straight to erasers. I've cleaned 2 today... both worked (one was 3 Count Bout, the filtiest cart I've ever seen... No way these things were cleaned... It had mold on one connector that I had to use my fingernail on). Still haven't heard back from him via e-mail (I know, I know, I should call him, but I hate phones).

iammike said:

You will Just go straight to erasers. I've cleaned 2 today... both worked (one was 3 Count Bout, the filtiest cart I've ever seen... No way these things were cleaned... It had mold on one connector that I had to use my fingernail on). Still haven't heard back from him via e-mail (I know, I know, I should call him, but I hate phones).

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lol... If nobody has written a step-by-step guide on cleaning MVS carts, maybe this is a prime opportunity for you to do so

...or in a week's time, maybe it will be me?

astar617 said:

lol... If nobody has written a step-by-step guide on cleaning MVS carts, maybe this is a prime opportunity for you to do so

...or in a week's time, maybe it will be me?

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there is one on hardmvs.

got everything except for the two top player's golfs to work. odd that the only two dead ones are the same title? and then the puzzle bobble boot... still have yet to hear back from him... no, i haven't called.

I saw all these lots for sale, I just didnt have the money to bid. I hope you all get em' cleaned and working though....I used rubbing alcohol and it worked for me.

another few days have gone by and still no reply from him via e-mail so i decided to give him a call... left a message.

hrmph.

Hate it when that happens.

so we're playing phonetag now. he seems more than happy to work something out.

iammike said:

so we're playing phonetag now. he seems more than happy to work something out.

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Cool. I've been lucky enough to be a decent judge of character in prior life experiences, and he struck me as that type.

What was the ultimate result of your lot? Incidentally, my lot hasn't arrived yet because my payment got returned by USPS while I was out of town. I payed in full via Paypal instead so we'll see next week probably.

...still waiting on my lot, though I was late paying so I can totally forgive him sending via the sloooow boat

astar617 said:

Cool. I've been lucky enough to be a decent judge of character in prior life experiences, and he struck me as that type.

What was the ultimate result of your lot? Incidentally, my lot hasn't arrived yet because my payment got returned by USPS while I was out of town. I payed in full via Paypal instead so we'll see next week probably.

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i was out of town for a week and a half (coincidentally 5 miles from him) so nothing new. i left him another voicemail this morning.

still no call from him.

i just received a lot from yaton... yaton's carts are clean compared to elr's :P

iammike said:

still no call from him.

i just received a lot from yaton... yaton's carts are clean compared to elr's :P

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DAMN!

ELR's must have been dunked in mud...