Well, I finally found a Yahoo! Japan auction for an AES + games package that I liked the looks of, so I decided to take the plunge and start my AES collection. Now that I'm about 10-days-shipping-time away from becoming a real NEO fan and not just a little wooden boy, I was wondering when I could expect to be notified of the benefits package to which I am now privy (y'know, the Inner Circle bonuses that make it so easy to drop hundreds or even thousands on a single game without flinching). For the time being, at least, could someone point me in the direction of the AES Owners' Complimentary Hooker Lounge and Pizza Buffet? Huh? What do you mean "what am I talking about?" Oh, come on -- there's no free hookers? Are you serious? No, really, there's got to at least be, like, a coupon good for 10% off lapdances at the topless club of my choice, right? "No?" But... but I just spent.... Fuck.
Anyway, here's the auction that caught my eye:
AES console with box, packing materials, manual (w/plastic bag), cables, pack-in memory card (w/little box), pack-in joystick, 2nd joystick w/box...
...and 9 games (all w/cases, manuals, and plastic bags):
Ryuuko no Ken [AoF], Ryuuko no Ken 2 [AoF2], Fire Suplex [3 Count Bout]
Garou Densetsu [FF], Garou Densetsu SPECIAL [FF SP], The King of Fighters '94
Samurai Spirits [Samurai Shodown], Shin SamSpi [SamSho II], SamSpi Zankurou Musouken [SamSho III]
Closing price on the auction was 29,500 yen ($263.91 -- damn the U.S.$ really sucks right now...). So, before the cost of shipping to my friend in Japan (and then, from him to me) plays into it, I figure I spent 10,000 yen ($89.46) on a console w/2 joysticks and a memory card, making the games about 2166.67 yen ($19.38) each. No rare items in this lot, to be sure, but everything looks to be well cared for and complete -- I think I'll be happy with it (just hoping the owner wasn't a smoker...).
About 12 years ago, the AES came to the attention of a friend of mine, who jokingly suggested we get one. I could barely afford my car payment at the time, let alone a console and game cartridges which -- back in 1991 -- would've cost about a car payment each.
In 1998, I started slowly picking up NEO CD games here and there, figuring that I'd eventually get a used CD-Z so I'd better grab a few limited edition packages while I could (KOF'98 in wooden box, AoF3 boxed edition, etc.). Finally got a CD-Z around 2000 or so, and started actively picking up CD games for it during the last 10 months. Via a couple of decent collections being sold on Yahoo! Japan, I've now got just over half the games in the CD library. Hopefully, I'll be able to complete the collection by next summer.
'Round about this same time, I made a couple of purchases of MVS games (3 loose, and 5 kits). I'd had a JAMMA cab since 1995, and I planned on eventually picking up an MVS motherboard (I'm still planning to...). Hopefully, I'll find a nice deal on a motherboard and a few more kits when I head back to Japan for New Year's vacation at the end of December.
The NEO-GEO Pocket Color was the first NEO "console" I ever owned -- the release of KOF R-2 in early 1999 prompted me to pick one up. My Pocket collection had, until recently, consisted almost entirely of the fighting game titles available for the system (plus CF, CF2, and KOF Battle de Paradise). Managed to score a nearly complete collection of Pocket software (w/boxes & manuals) on Yahoo! Japan at the beginning of the month, so I'm almost done with Pocket shopping (now I just have to find a way to get some free time to actually play the games...). The Pocket seller also had an auction going at the same time for a nearly complete NEO CD collection -- if I could have afforded both auctions, I'd be just about done with CD hunting, too.
Not a bad week for me on Yahoo! Japan. In addition to the AES lot, I also managed to grab a copy of Choujin Gakuen Gowcaizer Hybrid Comic Matrix (a Gowcaizer manga anthology I've been after for the last 8 years) for 1100 yen, a stack of 205 barcode battler cards featuring the cast of Garou Densetsu (released in early 1992, iirc) for 810 yen, and a Virtua Fighter Mini Kid's Gear handheld (w/box, manual, cartridge, strap, and plastic bags) for 1000 yen.
Now it's back to bed for a few more hours, and dreams of the AES Owners' Complimentary Hooker Lounge and Pizza Buffet -- NEO on a big screen, a slice in one hand, and a greasy hooter in the other!
--Chris
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