Videogame Collectors - Just some questions....

Arcade Magician

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Theoretically it would be possible to make a game cartridge replica looks 100% original, right?
A crazy example:
A $2500 game, if I spend 2000 to produce a replica, is $500 profit... not bad at all... do you believe there are undetectable fakes in the wild? What would be a cheap and easy way to detect those replicas?

A painting for example, with chemical analysis its uber easy to detect a fake but is very expensive.
 

Ray

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In the AES's case, most fakes of extremely valuable games like Metal Slug 1 are conversions, made using sacrificed AES boards and MVS game chips. If bootleggers have access to equipment for wave soldering, these could look virtually identical, unlike most fake MVS games which are easily identified. Nowadays, even the insert fakes are hard to detect unless you happen to have a legit copy as well to compare, and even then they could be indistinguishable. With a situation like this, it's no wonder even the rich move on to MVS.

It seems like most sales of games like that are done only if the seller is very reputable and has a history of previous owners, or if it's a widely trusted store like the Neo-Store.

All the other systems don't have it quite this bad. There are some SNES/Genesis fakes out there of overpriced games like Earthbound and Crusader of Centy, but most of those were made to fool your average eBay buyer who won't bother to check the boards. Sapphire on PC Engine CD is one expensive game which got a high quality fake made, and was professionally pressed. However, the colors on the manual are off by quite a bit so it isn't too hard to identify.
 

JoeAwesome

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Having dealt with high value NES, SNES and Genesis games (on top of low value MVS games, now), a fake is only as passable as someone wants to investigate/believe. That sounds like a smart ass statement, but as mentioned above, sometimes you need the genuine and fake articles in front of you to really tell the difference. Some average person might truly believe they have bought the genuine game without researching it well, and no one's the wiser.

That said, I'm almost done dealing with cart games now that bootlegging those is prevalent and flash carts are easily usable. MVS and some AES games may be the last high dollar carts I ever buy from now on.
 

GutsDozer

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There is a shitty game store in my area that is trying to sell a fake Mighty Final Fight for NES. It's so obvious that it's sad. Even the label is clearly fake. I called them out on it and they admitted it was fake and offered to sell it to me for half price at 220.00$ lol. I pretty much broke down laughing hysterically in the store for like 20 mins. Best laugh I've had in a while.
 

JoeAwesome

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There is a shitty game store in my area that is trying to sell a fake Mighty Final Fight for NES. It's so obvious that it's sad. Even the label is clearly fake. I called them out on it and they admitted it was fake and offered to sell it to me for half price at 220.00$ lol. I pretty much broke down laughing hysterically in the store for like 20 mins. Best laugh I've had in a while.

I saw a store in Houston selling fakes, and asked them about it. "I don't know. As long as it works," was the gist of what they responded with. Later they had Hot Slots, Peek-A-Boo Poker and Bubble Bath Babes, all in grey NES carts, asking $300 apiece. Some stores just don't care. I doubt Gamestop has been while taking in rare trade-ins lately.
 

BanishingFlatsAC

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I saw a store in Houston selling fakes, and asked them about it. "I don't know. As long as it works," was the gist of what they responded with. Later they had Hot Slots, Peek-A-Boo Poker and Bubble Bath Babes, all in grey NES carts, asking $300 apiece. Some stores just don't care. I doubt Gamestop has been while taking in rare trade-ins lately.

They just had an article yesterday on Kotaku about a game store selling repro games and how the author felt it was "refreshing". The problem with that is these store owners get greedy. My buddy was making some repro carts for a local shop (ie NHL 15 Genesis) and the guy started selling them to people saying they were legit carts he had licenesed. Needless to say, he shut him down quick.

As far as GameStop goes, the problem with them buying back alot of fakes is that 3/4 of the staff were not alive when these systems were out. They don't know what a real game is supposed to look like or how to hook up some of these machines. Poor training for a quick cash grab.
 

JoeAwesome

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They just had an article yesterday on Kotaku about a game store selling repro games and how the author felt it was "refreshing". The problem with that is these store owners get greedy. My buddy was making some repro carts for a local shop (ie NHL 15 Genesis) and the guy started selling them to people saying they were legit carts he had licenesed. Needless to say, he shut him down quick.

I read the article and thought, "There's a lot of new people getting into this hobby and probably think this is cool!" :rolleyes: As a business, these guys aren't walking a fine line; they're selling illegal products. But to tell customers these are official is really f'd up. Here's a good article the Kotaku article links to explaining "the fine line" that some might find useful.

As far as GameStop goes... Poor training for a quick cash grab.

FTFY for their entire business model, but seriously, they're now becoming part of the problem with bootlegs.
 
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Jarofmayo

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There is a shitty game store in my area that is trying to sell a fake Mighty Final Fight for NES. It's so obvious that it's sad. Even the label is clearly fake. I called them out on it and they admitted it was fake and offered to sell it to me for half price at 220.00$ lol. I pretty much broke down laughing hysterically in the store for like 20 mins. Best laugh I've had in a while.

$220 for just the cart? That on it's own is a hilarious rip off. Ever see any other funny stuff around there?
 

Jon

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$220 for just the cart? That on it's own is a hilarious rip off. Ever see any other funny stuff around there?

Just did a quick check on ebay. People are asking anywhere from $150 to $220 just for the cart. After checking sold listings, some sellers are getting that, and more, too.

Glad I got my complete copy for $60 back in 2008. Honestly, if this was a two player beat 'em up, it'd be one of the best games on the NES. Don't get me wrong, very good game.

Jon
 

Arcade Magician

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Take a vintage 1964 GI Joe for example, how much would cost to make an 100% perfect replica? I bet it will be more expensive than buying a real one. Got it?
I think collecting games cartridges (CD's is suicide) is a very tricky business... because today (with these crazy prices) someone somewhere could make this happen...
Old baseball cards, stamps... paintings... are very difficult to counterfeit. Electronics from the 90's not so much. Am I tripping?
 
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egg_sanwich

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Take a vintage 1964 GI Joe for example, how much would cost to make an 100% perfect replica? I bet it will be more expensive than buying a real one. Got it?
I think collecting games cartridges (CD's is suicide) is a very tricky business... because today (with these crazy prices) someone somewhere could make this happen...
Old baseball cards, stamps... paintings... are very difficult to counterfeit. Electronics from the 90's not so much. Am I tripping?

I think you just answered your own question. To produce 1:1 replica cart shells, pcbs, mask roms, labels, boxes, manuals etc. would require a massive print run to even be feasible. Then comes the trouble of "laundering" the hundreds of copies of the same game, while creating the illusion that they were manufactured in the 90s and not fresh out of the factory. Only something with an insane margin (like Aero Fighters 3) would be feasible, and we all know how that turned out. Almost any fake currently on the market can be identified under enough scrutiny.
 

Arcade Magician

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AES/MVS scene is more restricted... but in general? Atari, Genesis... You know... the "pleb" systems.:keke:
 

GutsDozer

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$220 for just the cart? That on it's own is a hilarious rip off. Ever see any other funny stuff around there?

Yeah actually they had a Rival Schools for PS1 missing the manual and evolution disc for 90.00$:lolz::lolz::lolz::lolz::lolz:
 

ahcmetal

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Just did a quick check on ebay. People are asking anywhere from $150 to $220 just for the cart. After checking sold listings, some sellers are getting that, and more, too.

Glad I got my complete copy for $60 back in 2008. Honestly, if this was a two player beat 'em up, it'd be one of the best games on the NES. Don't get me wrong, very good game.

Jon

The price is pretty crazy on that I've noticed...

Amusing story...I bought boxed copies of Ikari Warriors 1-3 off of a guy on ebay around...2005-06ish I'd guess, I opened up the box and he put a complete copy of Mighty Final Fight in the box as well...I actually had never heard of the game even, I thought hey, that's pretty amusing...a port of kids version of Final Fight on the NES...tossed it up on my shelf where it sat until last year sometime...

I was looking up games values on ebay about a year or two ago because I was downsizing at the time...holy shit when I looked up the price haha...still the best luck I've ever had as it pertains to video games...
 
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