AES: Pulstar - Too good to Be True?

wingzrow

Galford's Armourer
Joined
Jan 20, 2006
Posts
466
http://www.ebay.com/itm/152410892144/

Was about to go to sleep & noticed an AES copy of Pulstar from France just Hit ebay. From what I can tell it looks just like the other one from Brazil that ended recently. Is it legit? The guy has 100% feedback, offers returns, & from what I can see, it looks just like a real one. Did I get lucky, or is this a boot?

Edit: Nowhere in the listing did it say it was a conversion, but I just noticed he has other listings that sold that say they are, so I guess I lose again. Oh well, good thing I can cancel it. God damn these AES boots are getting close to the real thing.

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Gyrian

Hardened Shock Trooper
Joined
Mar 24, 2016
Posts
443
qWyFDgp.jpg


Maybe this bootlegger occasionally sells a diamond in the midst, just to keep people on their toes.
 

bubba966

Cinema Ninja!,
Joined
Sep 24, 2013
Posts
1,542
I know there's some high rollers here, but I don't think most people are collecting AES. It's basically completely out of reach for most people. I'm working on getting one complete MVS set & then I'm going to move onto pocket color. Hopefully prices stay stable until that happens.

Why are you buying AES boots when you've already said this?

From what I've seen of your posts you really should stay away from AES carts. Unless you don't mind getting boots that is. If you want an MVS set then put the $ and effort into that. And unless you have $15-20K to drop on it all at once, don't expect prices to stay stable.

I finished an MVS set almost a year and a half ago. I saw the big $/rare titles go up in price a good amount while I worked on the set (which took me 2 years to do). And I saw the prices go up significantly since I finished the set. Some good advice for you from my experience is this if you really want to do an MVS set. First off, get the bigger $/rarer titles first. I'm talking the stuff that's in the $200+ neighborhood right now. Buy commons (stuff under $50) in lots to save on shipping. Shipping on these big ass carts adds up fast when you're talking 150 titles. The stuff in the $50-$200 range you should pick up when you find a good deal on it.

If I woulda picked up the big ones first I woulda saved at least $1k as prices on the bigger titles went up enough during those two years. For instance if I woulda prioritized SSVS as a first grab I would've gotten it for $250 less than I did. And now it's generally at least $250 more than I picked mine up for.


And if you still REALLY, REALLY need to buy AES carts for whatever reason... Do your homework first. Boots are plenty and not as easy to spot as they once were.
 

wyo

King of Spammers
10 Year Member
Joined
May 22, 2013
Posts
10,111
Why are you buying AES boots when you've already said this?

From what I've seen of your posts you really should stay away from AES carts. Unless you don't mind getting boots that is. If you want an MVS set then put the $ and effort into that. And unless you have $15-20K to drop on it all at once, don't expect prices to stay stable.

I finished an MVS set almost a year and a half ago. I saw the big $/rare titles go up in price a good amount while I worked on the set (which took me 2 years to do). And I saw the prices go up significantly since I finished the set. Some good advice for you from my experience is this if you really want to do an MVS set. First off, get the bigger $/rarer titles first. I'm talking the stuff that's in the $200+ neighborhood right now. Buy commons (stuff under $50) in lots to save on shipping. Shipping on these big ass carts adds up fast when you're talking 150 titles. The stuff in the $50-$200 range you should pick up when you find a good deal on it.

If I woulda picked up the big ones first I woulda saved at least $1k as prices on the bigger titles went up enough during those two years. For instance if I woulda prioritized SSVS as a first grab I would've gotten it for $250 less than I did. And now it's generally at least $250 more than I picked mine up for.

And if you still REALLY, REALLY need to buy AES carts for whatever reason... Do your homework first. Boots are plenty and not as easy to spot as they once were.

Good advice, sadly wasted on a retard.
 

evil wasabi

The Jongmaster
20 Year Member
Joined
Aug 20, 2000
Posts
60,434
Why are you buying AES boots when you've already said this?

From what I've seen of your posts you really should stay away from AES carts. Unless you don't mind getting boots that is. If you want an MVS set then put the $ and effort into that. And unless you have $15-20K to drop on it all at once, don't expect prices to stay stable.

I finished an MVS set almost a year and a half ago. I saw the big $/rare titles go up in price a good amount while I worked on the set (which took me 2 years to do). And I saw the prices go up significantly since I finished the set. Some good advice for you from my experience is this if you really want to do an MVS set. First off, get the bigger $/rarer titles first. I'm talking the stuff that's in the $200+ neighborhood right now. Buy commons (stuff under $50) in lots to save on shipping. Shipping on these big ass carts adds up fast when you're talking 150 titles. The stuff in the $50-$200 range you should pick up when you find a good deal on it.

If I woulda picked up the big ones first I woulda saved at least $1k as prices on the bigger titles went up enough during those two years. For instance if I woulda prioritized SSVS as a first grab I would've gotten it for $250 less than I did. And now it's generally at least $250 more than I picked mine up for.


And if you still REALLY, REALLY need to buy AES carts for whatever reason... Do your homework first. Boots are plenty and not as easy to spot as they once were.

I concur.

Wingzrow, don't blow your hard earned money on home carts unless you know who they come from. People get burned for taking risks here. That cart could be completely unsellable in the future, especially if you buy it, open it up, and ask questions.

Best move is to buy a multicart or the NeoSD. If you want to buy the real rare carts, find out about the collector, verify prominence, and understand that you could still be buying a fake.
 

GohanX

Horrible Goose
20 Year Member
Joined
Sep 28, 2001
Posts
12,490
Also, assume all carts from France and Spain are bootlegs unless you know the seller. Japan isn't safe either.
 

ginoscope

Kuroko's Training Dummy
Joined
Sep 27, 2016
Posts
76
Why are you buying AES boots when you've already said this?

From what I've seen of your posts you really should stay away from AES carts. Unless you don't mind getting boots that is. If you want an MVS set then put the $ and effort into that. And unless you have $15-20K to drop on it all at once, don't expect prices to stay stable.

I finished an MVS set almost a year and a half ago. I saw the big $/rare titles go up in price a good amount while I worked on the set (which took me 2 years to do). And I saw the prices go up significantly since I finished the set. Some good advice for you from my experience is this if you really want to do an MVS set. First off, get the bigger $/rarer titles first. I'm talking the stuff that's in the $200+ neighborhood right now. Buy commons (stuff under $50) in lots to save on shipping. Shipping on these big ass carts adds up fast when you're talking 150 titles. The stuff in the $50-$200 range you should pick up when you find a good deal on it.

If I woulda picked up the big ones first I woulda saved at least $1k as prices on the bigger titles went up enough during those two years. For instance if I woulda prioritized SSVS as a first grab I would've gotten it for $250 less than I did. And now it's generally at least $250 more than I picked mine up for.


And if you still REALLY, REALLY need to buy AES carts for whatever reason... Do your homework first. Boots are plenty and not as easy to spot as they once were.

Really great advice I see so many people who collect for various system get all the commons first and then they have like 50 expensive games and they burn out. I like to pick away at the expensive games and get commons in lots just like you suggested. A good rule for anything in life is if the deal is too good to be true it probably is. I don't buy any rare game unless it's from a reputable buyer.
 

ChuChu Flamingo

We have purposely, trained him wrong, ...as a joke
10 Year Member
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Nov 23, 2010
Posts
2,764
Really sucks AES carts don't open easier, bootleggers would've been stillborn on this as far as cartridges go. Same shit with MD games since opening them requires peeling back the label.

Also please do your research more, buying from France and Spain is like walking into Detroit nowadays, it isn't going to end well unless you're lucky.
 
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bubba966

Cinema Ninja!,
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Sep 24, 2013
Posts
1,542
Really great advice I see so many people who collect for various system get all the commons first and then they have like 50 expensive games and they burn out. I like to pick away at the expensive games and get commons in lots just like you suggested. A good rule for anything in life is if the deal is too good to be true it probably is. I don't buy any rare game unless it's from a reputable buyer.

I mentioned knocking out the big $ titles first due to what I experienced as far as price increases go. I wasn't even considering "burn out". The common MVS stuff (under $50 now) only went up in price 10-20% or so during the 2 years I picked up a full set. The mid-range stuff ($50-$200 now) went up a bit more, in the 25-50%ish range. But the big stuff ($200+ now) went up 100-300+%.

A $25 common cart going up 10-20% over the course of 2 years isn't that bad. Which is why it's better to buy these in bigger lots and not individually as you'll save the most $ by spending less on shipping. But when a game that was $200 increases in price 200% that's a big change. Hence picking it up ASAP to get it as cheap as possible.

And the mid price stuff I mention ($50-$200 now) actually isn't as consistently priced as the low end or high end carts. Something for instance might generally get list for sale at say $200. But if you wait to pick it up when you see it occasionally listed for a nice price you can get it for $150. Or maybe you can get it thrown in a deal and get it for $150 instead of the more normal $200 is might go for. That $25-30 cart is going to pretty much be priced at $25-30 no matter where you go or who lists it for sale. Same goes for the big $ carts, they're not going to vary in listing/selling price too much. But that mid priced stuff will vary much more depending upon who lists it for sale and where.
 

Yamazaki

Belnar Institute Student
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May 12, 2006
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I might be wrong but the new-style shell looks like it's from NCI.
 

egg_sanwich

Windjammers Wonder
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Nothing will teach you faster than dropping $250 on a boot. Glad you were able to get out of it, it's not always that easy.
 

Atro

Who?,
20 Year Member
Joined
Jan 30, 2002
Posts
9,209
Ask the seller to put the cartridge alone on a scale and see how much it weights.

That's not the definitive way to know if it's real or not, but at least you know if it uses mask roms or eproms.
Eproms are much heavier and you will notice compared to mask roms.

It uses 14 roms. You have to know a game that uses the same mask rom count to compare. KOF95 might do it.
 

wingzrow

Galford's Armourer
Joined
Jan 20, 2006
Posts
466
I already cancelled it. If I had just checked the completed listings I wouldn't have even bothered. I gotta stop browsing eBay at 4AM in the morning.
 

RyoGeo

Global Moderator, Voice of Reason, Member #13
Joined
Aug 14, 2000
Posts
2,495
Having been asleep at the wheel for a number of years, and now looking to fill out some carts that I never bothered to get in the good ole days, I am stunned at some of the MVS pricing I am seeing. I remember when you couldn't give away a Magician Lord MVS cart, and now they're SELLING for $100+ regularly? Fuck me.

I thought I had a copy of Cyber-Lip for my MVS too and, when I went to put it in the machine, found I only had the AES cart.

"To the internet!"

WTF!?! Another common as dirt, 1st gen cart, that used to go for $20 is $100+. FFS, my timing is shit.
 

GohanX

Horrible Goose
20 Year Member
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Sep 28, 2001
Posts
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It's a sad time to be collecting Ryo. I got out of MVS a few years back.
 

RyoGeo

Global Moderator, Voice of Reason, Member #13
Joined
Aug 14, 2000
Posts
2,495
And what really sucks is, if you have some inventory to move in order to fund a purchase, if you sell at the stupid price you look like a dick, but you can't really buy at a reasonable price 'cuz ain't nobody sellin'.

Perhaps I should go back to sleep for a number of years and, after people are back to "These graphics suck," start filling out the library when pricing has normalized (wishful thinking).

I should give props to member wyo though, for selling me an MVS Soccer Brawl at a good price, and sending it packaged as if it were made of crystal. Wyo, if you see this, I appreciate it (publicly)!

It's a sad time to be collecting Ryo. I got out of MVS a few years back.
 

GohanX

Horrible Goose
20 Year Member
Joined
Sep 28, 2001
Posts
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You could always do what I do: get a couple of multicarts (or NeoSD) and then laugh at the fullset noobs complaining about prices not realizing they are the problem.
 

RyoGeo

Global Moderator, Voice of Reason, Member #13
Joined
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Posts
2,495
You could always do what I do: get a couple of multicarts (or NeoSD) and then laugh at the fullset noobs complaining about prices not realizing they are the problem.

To be fair, I don't think it's necessarily "full set noobs" that are jacking prices around. Cart prices across the whole (80's - 90's) cart hobby are kinda' stupid right now, from NES, SNES, Genesis, take your pick. Essentially, people that were little kids in the 90's (there's your noob tie in) that have some money now driving the inflation.

Because I am a dork, and have pretty large collections of lots of different things, I have seen this before with die cast toys from the 70's (Micronauts/Microman, Shogun Warriors/Popy Super Robots, etc.); prices spike when that generation comes of age, and then drop (not necessarily tank) once they are spending money on their own kids.

My observations are anecdotal, but I know a Micronauts lot like this
probably would have gone for close to $100, even with incomplete pieces, in the heyday in the early 2000's.

Short version, we're screwed until the 28 year olds start having lots of kids and can't afford stupid plastic shit anymore.:crying:
 
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