Technically Complete

Well, it happened and I am now the proud owner of the entire 32x USA collection. It has been an excellent learning experience along the way and I now consider myself to be quite well informed about the 32x collection and prices.

The big surprise for me was that Spiderman was not the last on the list to be found at the right price, the last piece of the collection was “World Series Baseball starring Deion Sanders”, which was not only a high price (not Spiderman prices, but still a couple of hundred dollars) – but seemed even more scarce than Spiderman Web of Fire. Which is strange, as I would have thought that would make it more valuable based on logic?

And here it is – in kind of order

I managed to capture Spiderman as a cart only, which was disappointing, but I held off making the purchase until I could get the right price – I ended up paying $410 for the cart alone. I am going to be on the lookout for a manual and box, but I am not going to hold my breath on these turning up alone.  

World Series Baseball took a little while longer, most of the sellers want crazy prices for this, but after taking my time with Baywatch, I managed to snag a cartridge only version for $99. I will keep looking as I think I can get a boxed version of this for $200 and then I will sell the cartridge alone.

The final pieces of the jigsaw

As this is now complete I wanted to share with you all the spreadsheet I have been using to track the prices of the USA cartridges. You can find the link here.

The tracking spreadsheet

One thing that has surprised me is that the price has gone up significantly in the short time I have been tracking this (around 9 months from typing this post). In some cases the guide prices have doubled!

Now I have completed this leg of the journey I need to take some time on what I want to tackle next – I am a true believer that these kinds of collections are only going to appreciate in value so I do not see it as a waste of money. From the data I have seen as I have looked at the other regions (EU/JAP/Brazil) prices are significantly higher now so I will need to get a move on.

During the 32x USA collection I have also picked up some opportunistic buys as part of bundles that I have seen as good value and perhaps I will look to the Atari Jaguar next (49 games for the regular unit, 12 for the CD), as I managed to pick up one of these, plus the exorbitantly priced CD unit along the way, and their catalogue does not seem so big. Another option might be the Virtual Boy collection (22 games). Decisions decisions…

Keep playing!

And then there was 1 (..and a bit)

The end is in sight. For the last 6 months I have been deep in the 32x second hand USA scene, I now consider myself to be almost an expert in the price and availability of most of the USA Sega 32x games available on eBay. I have found ways to scour the site with ease and I have done this against the backdrop of still not actually being able to play the device (delivery from China is taking longer than I would like, but it should get here eventually).

Using Baywatch, which I now routinely check each time I get a notification about new listings – I have managed to strike early to get those bargains and also be aware of the new listings that appear on eBays platform. 

My bank balance has taken a hit, but I have justified this as an investment in the preservation of retro for future generations, not a mindless expense that serves only my irrational need to collect. I mean, if I really just wanted to play the games I would emulate them – this is more than that (I tell myself unconvincingly).

As I type this I am down to one more game. Just ONE. MORE.GAME. Those of you that might have been following the blog may recall that there was a particular “holy grail” of the Sega 32x USA scene – “The Amazing Spider-Man: Web of Fire”. Well, through the joys of emulation I can confirm that they have over sold by having “Amazing” in the title, but I appreciate this is kind of his name, so I will let it pass. However if I was to name it I would call it “The below average 90’s platformer”. Maybe the emulator did not do it justice and when it is hooked up to the tower of power and then through a number of 3rd party power adaptors and video converters it will really shine more than it did when I emulated it. Anyway, I digress – Spiderman is mine, I captured it after some fierce negotiations with the previous owner for a fair market price. The sad thing is that it is only the cartridge. All of the listings for the full game are over my budget for the game.

Slightly above RRP

I paid a princely $400 for the cart only and now I am faced with the dilemma of getting the box and instructions, or finding a full game for the price I have in mind. Both are going to be tricky – however for now I have the game and that’s a semi tick in the box.

Amazingly expensive

So perhaps you are thinking it is another tricky USA exclusive that I am missing – well yes, it is – but it is not Blackthorn. I managed to get a near mint version of this for a spicy $193.44, but the competition for all listings had been fierce and I paid about $20 over my guide price, but I think the price for this is going up.

Came with a “free” protector case – bargain!

No, the game I am waiting for is “World Series Baseball Starring Deion Sanders” and it is a bitch to find for a reasonable price. This might be the true grail of the 32x collecting world – well that and Darxide in the EU (which is priced significantly higher than Spiderman). However I am nothing but persistent so I will find this gem and I will prevail in completion of my collection. The last few units that have been sold have been going for $300+ but I am hanging on for a bargain and my target price is $250.

Eeeeek

Once I get this I will share my research document with the world as I think collectors will find the prices that I have monitored quite interesting, but until this game becomes part of my collection I want to minimise the level of competition.

To be continued..

Keep playing!

Console Wars

Having spent a few months immersed in the world of the 32x and finding a number of interesting things out about the console and the specific generation along the way, I have found myself getting deeper and deeper into addiction. 

It started out so innocently, I found a console and a collection that I had a realistic chance of being able to complete and see if I could work my way through the list as and when availability and budget allowed me to. Then it started with the Buyee and access to the captivating retro gaming goodness of Yahoo in Japan. Just a cheeky copy of Shining Force for the Megadrive I said, then a Virtual Boy (well it was almost free).

Then I looked west and to the eBay.com platform which contained other delights that the European consumers had been starved of for so long. A mk2 “Tower of Power” was an opportunity I could not miss, “how was I going to play NTSC cartridges otherwise” I asked myself?

Now we are slipping deeper into the addiction – my most recent delivery from Japan contained a Twin Famicom along with a number of NES and SNES games – justified as things that I could use on photoshoots for Player Clothing.

Almost like a red 32x

Then came the murky world of the Sega consoles and a deep dive into devices I never knew existed. The Nomad was the first, I set up an alert with BayWatch and gauged the pricing and then when a bargain appeared I struck fast and snagged it. 

WonderMega – its seen some action, but it’s a thing of console beauty

It was never going to stop there. I knew it. Then I innocently mused about other consoles that might have been released by Sega and wondering if I might be able to complete the Megadrive/Genesis full set.

Made by Sega, but only in Japan, but arrived via the USA

What is the full set you might wonder – well for the purpose of having a permanent record I have it as this (please do feel free to get in touch if I have missed anything out).

  • Sega Genesis/Megadrive Mk1 [Got]
  • Sega Genesis/Megadrive Mk2 [Got]
  • Sega Genesis/Megadrive Mk3 (3rd Party) [Need]
  • Sega Genesis/Megadrive 32x [Got]
  • Sega CD / Mega CD Mk1 [Got]
  • Sega CD / Mega CD Mk2 [Got]
  • Sega Genesis CDX [Need]
  • Sega Multimega [Need]
  • Sega Megajet [Got]
  • Sega Nomad [Got]
  • Victor Wondermega (3rd Party) [Got]
  • JVC Wondermega 2 (3rd Party) [Need]
  • Sega TeraDrive [Need]

It has to be said there are a couple more on the list if we are going full third party, but these include the Amstrad Mega PC, which might be tricky, and the LaserActive which is a Pioneer device that has a Megadrive module, which might be interesting in the future as it would open up the mysterious world of the PC Engine as well.

Anyway, I have now “officially” started a new collection and I will document my progress as I update the blog.

Keep playing!

We need to talk about boxes…

So far on my SEGA 32x adventure I have been immersing myself daily with the console, games and ways to buy them. It has been interesting to find out exactly which ones are easier to get in each region (36 Great Holes by Golf Magazine) and which ones are like unicorns (Darxide and Spiderman, Web of Fire). One thing that has surprised me is the big differences in the actual packaging that the games were supplied in.

The big soft hard box – confused? Keep reading…

As a retro games fan, with a slight bias towards SEGA personally (I was a Megadrive child) I have always been impressed by the boxes that SEGA used for supplying their games. Nintendo have cardboard boxes (Famicom, NES, Gameboy, Virtual Boy Super Famicom, SNES, Gameboy Colour, N64, Gameboy Advance) and SEGA tended to have plastic boxes. The SEGA boxes could take some beating and generally aged pretty well, apart from the annoyance of the plastic tab that was used to hang the boxes on display. Nintendo boxes however did not age well and got ripped/crushed/worn pretty easily – making them more difficult to obtain in good condition as they got older.

The Sega CD/32x hard big box

So, on to the 32x boxes – and there is a real variety in the types that were available. To begin with there is the USA box designs – if you read the previous post you will see my sealed Corpse Killer box is pretty big and also made of cardboard. This is a really strange move, after years of quality boxes – why did SEGA decide on using a cardboard box for the 32x? If anyone knows the answer to this, I would love to know! Then we have the 32x/SEGA CD USA games. These came in the same format boxes as the SEGA CD games, which basically means they are like a big chunky hard plastic CD case, but much longer and thicker than a CD case. Then you have some other games in the USA which sensibly used the hard cases commonly used by the Genesis games (including the annoying tab), so far I have seen games by Acclaim with this approach.

Classic Megadrive box from Acclaim for the 32x

The Japanese and EU games followed the unfortunate route of the cardboard box for all of their games (from what I have seen so far). The exceptions here are where people have made a “custom” case for the games, where they have taken a usual Genesis/Megadrive case and then added the print from the original box to give the games more robust packaging. 

A selection of soft boxes from different regions

I have decided where ever possible to get an original box, ideally in good condition – but sometimes you do not have so many options, so I will take what I can get within a set guideline. I will also be exploring what options I have for protecting them – the different sizes will need different solutions. 

Anyway, let’s keep collecting.

Keep playing!

Making progress

The collection is now really coming along, albeit a bit sporadically – but I have decided for now to lessen my focus on the Japanese collection and focus more on the USA collection with one eye on any interesting listings over here in Europe. 

As the USA was the biggest region for games for the Sega 32x, I wanted to get this part completed before I focused on the others. I have found eBay to be the best source for all of the games I want, but I am struggling to find anywhere else that has even close to the selection you get on there. I did find a useful website called www.satakore.com which has proven to be helpful in checking all of the different eBay domains for 32x games and removing duplicates – but so far this is more helpful for Europe as it covers a number of different countries in the EU that I would not really check.

At the time of writing this I have got 23 of the 36 games boxed and shipped from the USA using the Ship7 service and I have also picked up some duplicates along the way (where they were included as part of a bundle and the price was good). I also have some games without a box, as in the beginning I was a little bit gung-ho when it came to making purchases – but the clear goal for the project is now to get everything boxed and with instructions.

So far among my purchases, the most expensive I have purchased has been the first game in the collection – Corpse Killer, which is sealed and I paid €100. I definitely over paid for this game, but I was significantly less informed when I bought it and it is sealed which always commands a premium.

After Corpse Killer, the other games I have purchased in rank of price are as follows:

  1. Corpse Killer CD €100.00
  2. WWF Wrestlemania Arcade $85.00
  3. T-Mek $76.75
  4. Star Trek:Starfleet Academy $72.50
  5. Space Harrier $59.99
  6. Zaxxon Motherbase 2000 $59.99
  7. Tempo £58.50
  8. Supreme Warrior CD $55.98
  9. After Burner $55.00
  10. B.C. Racers $54.49
  11. Slam City CD $40.00
  12. WWF Raw $39.57
  13. Mortal Kombat 2 $35.00
  14. Farenheight CD $31.98
  15. NFL Quarterback Club $29.99
  16. Doom $29.39
  17. Virtua Fighter $25.00
  18. Metal Head $24.99
  19. Cosmic Carnage $23.82
  20. Virtua Racing Deluxe $18.00
  21. Star Wars Arcade $17.00
  22. Golf Magazine:36 Great Holes $14.99
  23. Motocross Championship $10.00

So whilst I am impressed with my collection so far, this has been quite easy. I am most happy with WWF Wrestlemania as it is a USA exclusive and I paid significantly less than my $108 target price. 

Serious hairstyles

I set the target price for each game by taking the price the last units sold for on eBay, I do not always take the lowest, but something in the ballpark. 

Sometimes you get a little bonus in the box

This leads me on to the rest of the collection. I mentioned in my previous blog post that there were some rare games and these are mostly the ones I am missing now. Most of the ones I have left are going to set me back over $100 so this is going to take more time and consideration before I can get them. Also, some of the games are just not available, or command some very high prices (SpiderMan Web of Fire is going for over $1500 at the moment). 

For now I will keep tracking and making the purchases that I feel are at the right price and see how quickly I can complete the collection.

Keep playing!

Buyee v Ship7

Having now spent several months researching and building the Sega 32x collection I wanted to take some time to review the different services that are offered by Buyee and Ship7 to help to understand the difference between the two.

My initial thoughts are that they both offer a good service, and have been very responsive to my requests when I have needed some information.

But how do they compare?

Buyee offers a warehousing and shipment service from Japan that covers a number of the popular online shopping services. These include:

  • Yahoo! Auctions (kind of like the eBay of the region)
  • Yahoo! Shopping (like Google shopping, lots of sellers of new products in one place)
  • Mercari (another C2C eBay like marketplace)
  • Rakuten (a large electronics marketplace and store in Japan of mostly new products)
  • Zozotown (Fashion sales website)
  • Amazon Japan (via a plugin)

Ship7 offers a warehousing and shipping service for the USA and also allows for the purchasing of goods in the UK as well. The service is a bit simpler, as there are no portals for websites, you just use their shipping address and then have the goods shipped there. I chose an address in Delaware as there are no taxes that you need to pay there (although I am not sure of the situation when it comes to paying tax for online purchases).

Buyee has a fee structure that takes a cut at several points in the transaction process – which makes it more expensive than Ship7.

Looking at the fee structure for Buyee and you can see the different charges at different points:

  • Flat Rate ¥300 / Per order (approximately €2.50) – this is paid for every order you make regardless.
  • Deliver inspection – there are 4 options here, and in general I pick the lite plan as this can add up. The plans offer a refund if the product is damaged upon delivery.
  • International shipping – this is the big one and expect to pay a handsome fee to get your goods, especially if they are bulky or heavy. You can find a price calculator here. Note that Europe is zone 6, and the USA is zone 5. You can see below the DHL rates which take a big increase when you hit the 4kg mark.

At the time of writing ¥5,000 = €42.25 / $45.94

  • Package consolidation is ¥500 for combining 2 packages, ¥1,000 for 3 or more and to consolidate for a second time it is another ¥1,000. I used this service each time I was preparing for shipment so that I had everything together and think I paid ¥1,000 each time
  • Protective packaging is offered at ¥1,500 if you want them to improve the packaging. I have never used this service and everything arrived ok
  • Photo service is ¥300 per package (for 5 photos) and again, I have never used this service before.
  • Also to note that if the seller does not ship the goods via a tracked service then you will need to pay a domestic shipping charge from Buyee. As far as I am aware, I have not had to pay this but I will need to buy some more things to be sure.
  • Last but not least is storage – they will hold your consignment for 30 days at Buyee before charging you based on the weight (maximum of 90 days). Fees can be found here, but the basic table is below

So all things considered, it is not a cheap service. When you consider that you will probably pay at least $50/€50 more for the most basic of shipping and import duty charges – it makes sense to buy very savvy and make sure that you do not pay more than the price you might be able to find locally. Some of the games I purchased from Japan I might of been better off purchasing locally once all of the fees and taxes have been paid to the relevant people.

Ship7 in contrast is much more straightforward when it comes to fees and service. You simply just ship the goods to the address you are assigned on the account and then wait for the packages to be delivered, before getting a quote for shipping (there are multiple options) and then proceeding with the delivery. The main difference is that you have to state the value of the goods with Ship7 whereas Buyee take the invoice amount from the website you have purchased on. These prices are used by customs officials when they are estimating charges.

Looking at the fee structure in more detail for Ship7 you see the following options:

  • Additional photos – you get 2 with every package which is nice, but if you want more if it $2 each or $5 for 3. I have found the two to be sufficient to understand the goods that have been received, but if these are not clear then I ask them to check the goods manually which they will do for you for no charge (for example if you are expecting 4 items in a delivery and the photo only shows 2).

Here is what the standard service looks like

  • Document scanning, and emailing – $2 for 20 pages. I guess this might be a service others will need but I have had no use.
  • Consolidation is free
  • Repackaging is free but can also be a charge of $5 – I guess it depends on the complexity and the need for extra packaging as I have not had to pay for the service so far.
  • Express processing is $5 per order, this gets you expedited but i have never used it.
  • They offer special request packaging for extra padding or protection for $2 per package (again, I have not needed this).
  • White glove handling for $2 – I guess this is for extra fragile or valuable items, but I have never used them.
  • Insurance for shipments is covered up to $100, but you can purchase more if needed.
  • Storage is free for 60 days with any time after that being charged (up to a maximum of 90 days). I have found this very helpful as when you are buying randomly when products appear then it does not put financial pressure on you to ship the goods sooner.
  • They also offer a “shop for me” service if your card is not accepted and this is $7 or 10% of the fee.

In conclusion, if you are looking to buy goods in the USA I would highly recommend Ship7 – I have found them to offer an excellent level of service when it comes to replying to my emails and the prices and fee structure is clear and reasonable. They offer a number of shipping options and the ability to see your package photos is excellent.

If you are looking for a provider that offers shipping from Japan, Buyee will do this for you. I think with all of their charges they are not the cheapest option, but ultimately everything I have ordered has arrived (sometimes held up a lot by customs as they do not help with the clearance). I have been satisfied with them, but for future purchases I will try another service.

Keep playing!

The collection grows

I wanted to document some of the recent purchases that I have made for the collection. I have been using Ship7 and eBay and I have found that there has been a very good selection available and I am making great progress on the USA selection. The problem I find is that now I have the alerts on when new listings happen, I am getting visibility of more things that I want but do not need. I have configured BayWatch to let me know when all things 32x go live and also more specifically if a particular title I am looking for has appeared.

This is BayWatch, just not how I remember it

Therefore I should be aware of any bargains that appear with a buy it now price tag. With Pandora’s box being opened in Japan I need to be careful that I do not have the double threat of two massive markets filled with retro gaming goodness draining my wallet – but unfortunately this is not always possible.

In my mind I have now changed my focus on just 32x to now being all things related to the Sega Megadrive/Genesis in this era, so with this new mindset I am pleased to announce that I had a good “score” – I managed to snag a younger sister tower of power to go with my European model!

Wanted not needed

I figure that due to the region locking on the 32x affecting some of the games and releases, I should have a console to play all of the wonderful games that I will be buying. This seemed like too good a bargain for me to miss out on. You can see from the price paid that it is not so cheap, but when you break it down it is pretty good. It comes with 2 x 6 button controllers (which sell for about $15 each, and the 32x goes for about $50 unboxed – the console itself is about $25 and the Mega/Sega CD is about $85 so the price combined it about right and saves multiple purchases. It was a bit impulsive but is a swift solution to playing the games from the region.

With regards to the 32x games, I managed to get a number of them secured for a good price (the price in brackets was my guide price):

  • Motocross ($29) / Star Wars Arcade ($24) / NFL Quarterback ($13) – bundled for $29.99
  • Cosmic Carnage ($27) – $23.82
  • Farenheit CD (No guide price) – $34.98
  • T-Mek ($71.55) – $76.75
  • Supreme Warrior ($54) – $55.98
  • Zaxxons Motherbase 2000 ($81) – $59.99
  • Star Trek: Starfleet Academy (No guide price) – $72.50
  • Virtua Fighter ($33.75) – $25
  • WWF Wrestlemania ($108) – $85
  • Doom ($27) – $25

On top of this, I also managed to “secure” a Nomad! For those of you that do not already know, the Nomad was a portable Genesis which was released in 1995 and ran until 1999 and was only released in North America. This was the natural successor to the Game Gear and also allowed you to plug it into a TV. Sadly it does not work with the 32x or the CD (or the power base converter, which was a master system adaptor), but it is still a nice piece to the collection.

Also wanted, did not need.

I got it for a good price with similar units going for over $150 with the battery pack and adaptor.

With all of the goods arriving in the Ship7 warehouse in Delaware, I was quoted a price of $79.63 via DHL to get the goods shipped to Spain and they arrived with minimal fuss (and a bill for duty) in a couple of days – using DHL made the customs process a breeze and it was significantly easier than the shipments from Japan.

My Nomad, working fine apart from the battery pack not holding a charge!

All things appeared together, although were sent in 8 different boxes, but in summary I was very pleased with the big step forward in the USA collection and also with my new Sega consoles.

The lil sister Tower of Power, just missing the official spacer for the 32x

Keep gaming!

It was virtually free!

Pandora’s box has been opened, and now to close it is going to be almost impossible. I had feared that this might be a potential issue when I first embarked on this hobby, however I had hoped I would be able to resist temptation.

It first started around a month ago, everything seemed ok – I was disciplined in my process, carefully checking the Yahoo! auctions website on a semi regular basis for my standard search terms “Sega 32x” and noting what might appear and also seeing if any of my needed games were at a price where I would bite. Each time I felt I would build up a tiny bit more knowledge into the pricing and availability dynamics of my new hobby and strike at the right time and at the right price.

Then it happened.

I was browsing Reddit as I now do often as it is my methadone to social networking needs and one of the various retro related sub’s put a digital seed into my brain that has now grown into a monster. 

And it all started so innocently.

I thought I would just see what they had on offer, I mean – I do not need a Virtual Boy, in fact I have never played one, so I would be foolish to even think about buying one? Wrong. Suddenly I was transported into a rabbit hole that would only end when I have satiated my want, no need – for this magical device that I only had a basic knowledge of and is probably the most impractical console ever made.

For those of you that are not familiar with the Virtual Boy, it was a 3D console made by Nintendo in the 1990’s. It was released in 1995 and was a strange console that looked like a modern day VR headset, only it had to remain on a stand, with a controller attached to it so you could gaze into this mysterious device and immerse yourself in the full 3D experience. Sounds ahead of its time doesn’t it? Well, the only screen colours are red and black and it was not exactly comfortable, or really that 3D, and also there were only 22 games released for it. It sadly did not last the test of time and was scrapped in 1996 as Nintendo focused on the N64. It never made it to Europe and was only released in Japan and the USA. It was Nintendo’s second worst selling console of all time, second only to the 64DD. What is the 64DD? Well I did not know either until writing this post, but it was a N64 magnetic cartridge device which turned the Nintendo 64 into a kind of computer with online functionality as well (I am very intrigued by this and you might see another blog post about this in the future).

Anyway, the more I looked, the more I must have so after some browsing and price checking I snagged this little beauty for 1,170 Yen – around 115 Euros:

Not a 32x or a 32x game

I am also sad to report that it did not stop there. I also managed to get some more games to play for the device:

Also not compatible with the Sega 32x

Eventually I picked up far more than I had planned. I got VTetris, some kind of golf game and I did not stop there!

Having a retro inspired t-shirt company also let me to purchase some other items that I self justified under the guise of being helpful for future shoots. These included a famicom version of Dr Mario in a white cartridge and a game I have no idea what it is about, but the box was just too intriguing for me to not buy it.

WTF is this game, and why did I buy it?

All things considered I felt a little bit disappointed with my lack of self control but that was easily countered by the fact that I had also managed to get some 32x games as well (Doom and Metalhead).

The final basket of goods delivered to Buyee’s warehouse

In my excitement for my new haul, I could not wait to get it shipped over to Spain so I can fawn over my new precious things. There was one thorn in the side to this story, and that was the shipping fee. You see, the Virtual Boy is a bit more chunky and hefty than a cardboard game box with game inside, so the shipping charge was much more than I paid last time.

Questionable value on the Virtual Boy cost saving in Japan

So I had to just suck it up and learn from experience – I commissioned my latest haul to leave the land of the rising sun and make its way to my growing collection. Sadly it did not stop there, following a rather bureaucratic customs process involving a lot of paperwork and extortionate handling fees which took weeks I finally got my delivery! 

Lesson learned on my lack of self control and the cost of goods shipped from Japan being very weight dependent and customs in Spain working very slowly!

Keep playing!

‘Merica f*ck yea

Now I have got my international game ordering down to a tee and have started my collection I have set my sights across the pond to continue my collection with some more titles from the USA. The setup is similar to that of ordering from Japan, apart from the fact it is a bit easier (no language barrier or auto translation) and I am hoping shipping is more reasonable. The downside is that there are not many amazing curiosities to discover on the platform (eBay). I am pleasantly surprised by the selection available however, bearing in mind that the USA has 36 titles available and Japan only 18, this is going to be a big investment to build the full collection.

As we take a deeper look at the portfolio of the 32x in the USA there are a few interesting games and releases. By having 36 titles, the selection stateside of the Sega 32x was the biggest (the second biggest was Europe with 28) and of the 36 there were some exclusives. A fighting game called – Brutal Unleashed: Above the Claw which was a follow up to Brutal: Paws of fury – and featured a couple of new characters and new levels. 

Brutal Unleashed: Above the Claw

Pitfall: The Mayan Adventure, which was a port of the Megadrive/Genesis game that was also released on a number of other platforms. RBI Baseball 95, which was a follow up for (yes you guessed it) RBI baseball 94 on the Genesis. I was not familiar with the game series, but it has been going since 1987 on the NES and at the time of writing is still going strong (RBI Baseball 20 is the latest version for the PS4/Xbox One/Nintendo Switch). Also, R.B.I stands for “Run Batted In” – which I assume means you get a score for running in after a big hit (but I am no baseball expert).

RBI Baseball 95

Spiderman: Web of Fire was another exclusive for the 32x, which was the last ever game released for the 32x and is also the holy grail of the 32x USA collection. This one is going to set me back a fair few dollars (there are some listings for ~$1500 or so). World Series Baseball 95, which was made by Sega sports and also released on the Game Gear and Genesis. Finally, WWF Wrestlemania Arcade which was released for the Megadrive/Genesis (all regions) and also the Sega Saturn.

The Amazing Spiderman: Web of fire 

Having a better understanding of the collection, I started to set up alerts on the eBay application and set myself a target price based on the listings that had completed recently. In addition to this I have also set up an application on my phone called Baywatch, which offers to let me know what new listings have appeared so I can catch them early if they have a good price. Baywatch offers a paid for service as well which claims to offer faster updates, but the free version is ok for me right now.

At the point of writing this, I am making some good progress – I have purchased 9 games (none of the exciting exclusives) and they are being sent to Ship7 who will kindly (for a fee) hold them in their warehouse and consolidate the shipment and then send it to me in Spain. The total amount paid for these 9 was around $295 and some of these are part of bundles – but the good news is that everything so far has been purchased under budget.

Also, I managed to pick up a copy of the USA version of Tempo for £55 (slightly over budget) and I have had that sent to some family who will be my mule and bring it with them when they visit!

Keep playing

Special Delivery!

The first lot of games that I have ordered from Japan have arrived so I wanted to write up my experience with ordering from Yahoo! auctions and using the Buyee service to have them delivered to Spain. 

Firstly the shipping fee was not so bad – around €29, but this does not include import duty that needs to be paid when they arrive in Spain. 

The breakdown of the shipping costs from Buyee

In Spain there is around a 20% tax that you need to pay when you import, so I was fully expecting an additional invoice for the goods when they arrived. To my surprise and delight, this was not something I received from the courier – so I got the goods in good time. 

Naturally I was excited to see if my gamble with After Burner came off or not (given that it was listed with no picture, but advertised as complete. So I opened the package and was delighted to find that the game was fully intact and in excellent condition!

The gamble paid off!

Now to inspect the contents of the box and see what was inside. 

The full contents of the game, the gamble was a success!

I was happy to see that everything was included and the box was in excellent condition. One thing I was interested to see was that the cartridge came in a small cardboard tray. This is very different from the EU/USA versions of the games which comes in a larger coloured insert. All things considered, I was very happy with the results of the first purchase made from Japan. It was not cheap, but the excitement of shopping on a site with as much retro gaming goodness as Yahoo! auctions in Japan is addictive. 

The other game I ordered was Cyber Brawl – also known as Cosmic Carnage in the rest of the world. I knew from the listing originally that this one was a bit worn so I was expecting the worst.

When I unboxed it, it was as expected, the cardboard boxes that the 32x games come in are to be honest – totally crap. It is beyond belief that the Megadrive would go from such amazing boxes for the usual games (the hard plastic cases), and good boxes for the Mega CD (the CD type cases) to such an easily destroyed box for the 32x.

Cyber Brawl has been in the wars

As you can see from the pictures, the box was a bit squashed, but the contents were all ok – however it was missing an instruction manual – which I am a bit annoyed about. I am not sure where I will manage to get one of these in the future!?

The game was unharmed!

One bonus was that the Cyber Brawl did contain an interesting poster advertising the 32x. This I considered a bit strange as why would you need to have the 32x console advertised to you, if you had just brought a game for it?!

MEGA-Soft Information – including an advert for the Sega Saturn, as if the people who had brought the 32x wanted to know they had pretty much wasted their money!

Is this advertising more games or the console itself – answers below

My copy of Shining Force was to be expected, so all things considered, I was happy with my first Japanese import.

Whether the price of the games is cheaper when you consider all of the additional costs is to be decided and I will try and calculate all of the costs when I start to build out the collection further. 

Keep playing!