TLH said:
If MS1 is worth $3000, why hasn't some collector snapped up the one that has been on ebay from a trustworthy dealer for some time? . TLH -
I can easily answer that question for you.
1) Most collectors (including myself) want to purchase a 100% MINT copy. Once you are going to drop a few thousand dollars you want to go ahead and get a near flawless one similar to the ones forum member Kiselgof or TonK have owned in the past. I'm not saying that Kenny's copy is bad but for a little more money a person would rather have a Mint- or better (if possible). I am referring to the slight wrinkling and water marks on the insert. I do commend him on mentioning it because you cant see any problem in the picture. He could have easily not mentioned it.
2) There are some people on these forums who don't like Kenny for whatever reasons so they wouldn't purchase it just because of their personal dislike for him.
3) Your speculation is correct. With the current holiday season at hand, people are spending so much money for their holiday travels and gift purchases that this is a bad time for anyone selling high priced carts. However, we are approaching income tax season within the next couple of months so Kenny may move this and a few other of his items once people start receiving their refund checks.
4) Metal Slug is one of the most bootlegged home carts there is. There are a lot of people out there who know how to make some damn near identical fakes. You have to remember that not every Neo owner is a member of this site and ( most importantly) not every member of this site owns a neo geo home console. A lot of people are hesitant about making high dollar transactions over the internet because of all the horror stories of people who have ended up with fakes. Not everyone knows to come to this website and ask for help beforehand.
5) Patience is a virtue in this hobby. With the amount of people that use Ebay the odds are that you are going to have a decent amount of
unsavory members. Everyone thinks Ebay is the Bible of price guides for all items. So you have to be prepared that there are people looking for an opportunity to take advantage of you. People want deals but don't want to give deals. Collecting home carts isn't like collecting Pokemon. You don't have to catch them all right away. Here's an example:
I need 3 home carts to complete my US collection. One of those is Euro Double Dragon. For about 2-3 years I have been looking for one. They normally go for about $1000 (give or take a few dollars depending on condition). There was one in the Neo Store not too long ago and it was around $1100. I almost caved in but when I was going to ask Shawn more info about it, the game had been sold. About 2 weeks ago I found a copy for $788 Shipped that was in similar condition to the Neo Store copy.
Had I came across this deal after I bought the cart from the Neo Store, I would have been pissed off at myself. As for Kenny's MS1. That would be an acceptable copy for me ...but maybe not for someone else's collection. I'm not saying you shouldn't look for deals .... I'm just saying that in todays society, people selling Neo stuff know what it's worth and if they wanted to scam you, they know just how to do it ... especially with the ones who know how to make near identical replications.
Phillip