Where did the stock of new AES Launch game inventory come from in the late 2000's?

[ifkz]

Most of my small AES collection is made up from the new launch games that were available at resellers until just a few years ago. Titles like: Alpha Mission 2, Blue's Journey, Ghost Pilots, Magician Lord, Ninja Combat, Riding Hero, Sengoku, The Super Spy, and the censored NAM-1975. (I am not sure if Crossed Swords was also among them)

What is the real story about the inventory? I have read it was everything from Telegames UK going bankrupt to a dealer from Qatar unloading old stock.

 

[Fakk2]

According to a game seller on ebay known as Steve, (IIRC), who owns "VideoGamesSource", these games were found in a warehouse that SNK owned, that sat there for years and years, and SNK never sold them. So all of them were sold in bulk to the owner of Video Games Source, and VGS sold some of them to Telegames and a few other places, then when Telegames went out of business, they sold their remaining stock BACK to VGS, and VGS sold some of them to Shawn in the early 00's.

VGS has been taking these game carts all over the entire world, selling as many copies as they can in many regions, which is why there were censored (Nam1975), when they got to Germany, and then by the time they made their way back to America, they were censored, beat up, and due to such heavy travels from Warehouse to Warehouse, the soft trays were all busted up, and they have been sitting in warehouses that are not air conditioned, and this is why some games now smell of dampness, and have humidity damage to the inserts.

These games have been for sale , from what the owner tells me, since 1996 when he first acquired them all, and he is just now, finally selling the last few remaining copies. It's amazing to me, that SNK made so many that simply never sold. What a huge ass waste of money and time for them. It's sad really.

This all came from the owner of VGS, as I spoke to him on the phone for about 30 minutes one day when purchasing games from him in bulk as well.

 

[HeavyMachineGoob]

It's amazing to me, that SNK made so many that simply never sold. What a huge ass waste of money and time for them. It's sad really.

I figure what happened is SNK overestimated the sales of the early AES launch and way overprinted them. The retailer purchasing window passed and all the unsold stock eventually landed in videogamesource's hands. The rest is as you said.

Also, the term is New Old Stock or NOS, when referring to old unsold stock that has become available for sale again.

 

[itsofrustratin]

I figure what happened is SNK overestimated the sales of the early AES launch and way overprinted them. The retailer purchasing window passed and all the unsold stock eventually landed in videogamesource's hands. The rest is as you said.

Also, the term is New Old Stock or NOS, when referring to old unsold stock that has become available for sale again.

Yup that sounds about right away, they were entering uncharted territory with the AES and its prices. They ultimately realized the AES was a niche thing and the MVS was going to be their bread and butter. They must have figured its better to have too many then to have back orders when a game is most popular. Im sure it took a decent amount of time manufacturing and shipping a batch of AES games.

 

[Xian Xi]

Obviously the Nam-1975s were in Canada in a storage locker.

 

[ifkz]

Ah, small world. Back then I knew the shop as United Game Source, and I have most of my 32X collection to thank from them during the time the 32-bit systems were current. My Phantasy Star IV came from them too, new. Back then I remember they were selling Virtual Boys in box but refurbished for $50 I think it was.
It must have been some warehouse for the AES stock to last that long. I visited their website yesterday and found they still had some stock left. The stock from that SNK warehouse really got all over the internet and the world. Amazing if you think about it.

 

[Gummy Bear]

Ahh... The 32X. I remember sinking many an hour into Metal Head on that sucker.
That and Chaotix were about the only ones worth playing iirc
Did you get Darxide in your collection? Never played that and I hear it's worth a fortune.

 

[cr8zykuban0]

I figure what happened is SNK overestimated the sales of the early AES launch and way overprinted them. The retailer purchasing window passed and all the unsold stock eventually landed in videogamesource's hands. The rest is as you said.

Also, the term is New Old Stock or NOS, when referring to old unsold stock that has become available for sale again.

After reading this, im pretty happy i bought the 11 aes game bundle that videogamesource was selling around 5 years ago for $250 shipped. Now those games ate going for easily double that amount, sometimes triple