Private Joker's Master System Collection

Where am I at...?

Sat, 02 Jun 2012 17:25:00 +0000

...and where is it going?!?

After close to two years, I thought it was time to reflect on where I got with my collection and see in which direction it is heading. What better time to do this now that I have collected a full set of European Master System games?! To be quite honest, at one point, it was getting a bit out of control. I decided it was necessary to collect all region variants. However, a few weeks after that decision and getting more and more knowledge on those variations, I realized just how impossible that task is. Not just that but it would’ve take a vast amount of money just on shipping costs let alone the games themselves. Taking into account that I would be paying for games I already own, I just couldn’t justify it to continue. At the end of the entry, I’ll be talking about what will be the future of my collection on short and long term.

But first, read along to see how far I’ve gotten in such a short period of time. Some people take years to get where I am now. I don’t want sound self-involved here; it all depends on your own tactics or whether or not you collect for other systems. I totally focused on the Master System and I got lucky quite a few times. The next couple of paragraphs will be about different items or series I collected and will of course be shown in pictures as well. You can read this in whatever tone you want, but I’m writing it with a certain feeling of pride and in a narrating voice. For some reason, I sound like Morgan Freeman when rereading these paragraphs.

Software

The biggest achievement is obviously completing the European set of games. Not all PAL games* are in my possession because there are some double packs in Australia and the purple releases in Portugal, but every title released besides these in PAL format, are in my collection. As you can see in the picture, I’ve set them up in one shelf (Expedit) but in three rows. Each square holds just under 40 games and the later releases are on the front row. As some of you might know, I’m a bit of a neat freak and having the same style of spines lined up like this is very appealing to me. They are still alphabetically ordered in a way that I can pick out a game quite easily when I want to play it. The first row is A-Z and so are the back two but then separately.

The Classic, Kixx and Card releases are put together on the bottom shelf for esthetic reasons.

Three rows behind each other to save space.

Some mini-quests I’ve been going for inside of the main goal are the previously mentioned Classics and Kixx releases. I’m most proud of my Classics set as I’ve got fond memories of one of the games (Wonder Boy) and also owned another in the series when I was younger. They also appeal to me because of their covers and in comparison to other system’s budget games, they look quite nice. The most fun game in this series to collect was, for me, Robocop vs. The Terminator. I had the privilege to own three copies at one point (and I’ll never cease to mention it) while many collectors are still looking for their first. I was able to help one fellow collector with a copy and sold the other on eBay. It was up for less than an hour I think but probably for a very reasonable price. I have no idea how much one would go for now in a good auction but seeing the latest prices, that might blow every Master System collector’s mind.

All complete and in mint condition.

The Kixx games were actually a bit harder to collect since BIN-men have gone absolutely berserk over them. There is rarely a copy in auction that goes unnoticed but every game in this series aside from the Hulk is up for BIN constantly. It took me a while to get the last game, The Incredible Hulk, at a decent price and in the end I caved for a BIN. It was an ok price for me though and since I bought the regular Hulk for a fiver with a good manual, I was able to put together a mint copy and get back 15 Euro on my Kixx version bringing it down to 15 Euro in total.

All complete and in near mint condition.

Whilst I didn’t actively go for the 3-D-, Light Phaser and card-set, I do own all of them but I didn’t see it as a separate achievement. Those were just part of the main goal but nonetheless, here they all are lined up together.

Still hoping to find Hang On boxed.

Shooting Gallery is still missing the manual, anyone?

Still need to test a few out, especially Missile Defense.

Even though I decided not to collect variations anymore, I will however be keeping my three Ultima IV games all complete with their respective booklets. Blue = English, Yellow = German and Pink = French. These games are not easy to collect complete and for the completists amongst you, there are also some extra folders that came with the game but I don’t consider them part of the complete game myself. In case you didn’t know yet, those booklets don’t fit in the Master System game case which is why you rarely see them pop up. When they do pop up, they are always in mint condition. There is a logic explanation for that though. When someone holds on to these booklets, it means that it is someone who knows the value of them or is just a very organized and clean person.

French / German / English. All complete with map and manual.

There really was only one Holy Grail for me. However, this next release was another very exciting purchase along the way. One of the many thrilling moments in 2012 for me so far. The Lucky Dime Caper Limited Edition Box Set is a cool addition to a Master System collection and I can only advise you to pick one up whenever you get the opportunity. They can fetch a hefty price on eBay at the moment, but I got lucky on a relatively cheap price on the forums. It is only missing the poster and has a few scuffs, but I couldn’t be bothered any less.

Only missing the poster.

The one and only Holy Grail was Les Schtroumpfs Autour Du Monde for me but not the last game I purchased. I took a short cut on the last one, Championship Hockey, but not in the least do I regret taking it. Seeing as a minty and complete copy is reaching epic proportions and knowing that it’s the worst game on the system, I just couldn’t bring myself to pass the opportunity to get it dirt cheap but in rough condition. Here is a collection of some of the rarer games in the Master System collection and the games I paid the most for.

Smurfs is missing the poster.

Within the European releases, there are some alternate covers and releases. Which ones I’m going to actively look for, I don’t really know yet because it could just lead me down the same uncontrollable path of collecting anything that looks slightly different. I already own some alternate covers such as Indiana Jones and the Image Works / Virgin Games releases. I will probably just keep whatever I own already and see what happens. They don’t attract too much attention yet so selling them won’t do me any good. If I happen to come across anything cheap, I’ll probably pick it up but wouldn’t bother otherwise.

The versions of Olympic Gold, Winter Olympics and World Cup USA ’90 with their souvenir booklet are nice tiny side quests, but not too bothered about them at the moment either. Another tiny variation region specific are the language variations in games such as The Lion King and Jungle Book. I do look at them differently from the other language variations for some reason, but I have decided to let them slide. They are not all that easy to find and can attract a fair bit of attention making them even more expensive than necessary.

What about the thrill of discovering a new variation? Well that was initially one of the bigger reasons of going for those country specific retail games, but it just doesn’t weigh up to the other arguments. I did have the honor to find a very rare Italian release and it was exhilarating, but it didn’t really get too much attention and satisfaction as I would’ve liked. I’m sure I’ll get a lot more satisfaction from discovering a game in the PAL library that I haven’t played yet and thoroughly enjoy.

While Master System was my main focus, I did manage to snatch a nice amount of other sweet deals for other systems. I love buying in bulk because of the financial benefit and also for the time you spend with it. It takes a while to get through the lots, cleaning, testing, bragging about it… And for the past two years (almost), that was the most fun part in collecting. I consider gaming and collecting two different aspects so when I say that buying job lots was the most fun part, it doesn’t mean that I didn’t have more fun gaming than collecting. On the contrary, I wish I had taken more time for gaming.

There were two systems, still Sega of course, that caught my attention the past few years. Mega Drive and Game Gear both appealed to me in one way or another. Mega Drive mostly for its fun 4-player action with Micro Machines way ahead of the bunch and Game Gear actually for the time I spend in the small room… I started off with a couple of games and broken consoles and quickly learned how to repair them. I was very satisfied with the quality of some of the ports and soon, my only working GG took its place in the apartment. I have now amassed a nice set of games for these systems and will continue to do so but in a slower rhythm. When job lots appear, I won’t be able to resist, but the price has to be right. With currently over 125 Mega Drive games (all complete), 60 complete and 20-ish cart only Game Gear games, I’ve got a nice display in my living room.

Again three rows to save space.

10 blocks, 6 games per block.

Hardware

To be able to play your games, you need a console or handheld to play them on. While some people feel perfectly fine with owning an unboxed console, most of us collectors prefer to have the original box. We all have to admit that the biggest reason we collect is for the sake of nostalgia and what better way to spike that feeling than the original box of the system you got fresh from the store? I didn’t have that feeling with the Master System myself, but nonetheless, I’ve bought consoles and handhelds new and I know perfectly well what it does to a collector.

On top of having the right console to play the games on, certain games need peripherals and again, it’s nicer to have them boxed as well. As you can see on the overview picture, I’ve got a certain number of boxed consoles and accessories. I’m still missing a few such as the handle controller and the SG commander controller, but those are not necessary to play the games.

Here is a list of the hardware that I own boxed for my Sega collection. From left toright in my display:

- Game Gear

- Game Gear Sonic version

- Game Gear Plus

- TV Tuner

- Car adapter

- Master System I Hang On

- Master System I Plus Hang On / Safari Hunt

- Master System I Alex Kidd

- Master System I Italian

- Master System II Alex Kidd

- Master System II Plus

- 3-D Glasses

- Light Phaser

- Light Phaser Tec Toy

- Light Phaser US

- Sports Pad

- Sports Pad Japanese

- Rapid Fire Control Stick

- Control Stick

- Rapid Fire Unit (sealed)

- Mega Drive Arcade Stick II

- Multi Player Mega Drive

- Power Base Adapter

- Controller

- Multi-Mega Limited Edition

- Mega CD II

- Mega Drive II Sonic 2 version

- Mega Drive I

- Lock On (official Sega product)

So, after having reached my main goal and many side quests conquered, what is still left to do? First of all, it is my intention to just enjoy my collection. This short term plan involves playing games. Getting more knowledge about the games, their origin, background, cross-platform conversions or ports… You name it, I just want to be able to get into discussion and not stand on the sideline saying, "I’ve got that game, but I don’t really know anything about it.” You can expect reviews, game plays and walk throughs along the road so I can spread the love for Master System and as you might have understood for Mega Drive, Game Gear and Mega CD as well. Who knows, in the not-so-short-term, I might expand to other Sega consoles such as the Sega Saturn or the Dreamcast.

In the long run, I’m still looking to expand my collection but I will take it slow. I will continue as slow as it comes just to be able to enjoy gaming more instead of collecting for the sake of it. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed collecting and playing my Master System games but it might have been a little too fast.

A small idea that has been growing in my head is to collect all the games that had an impact on me during my youth. I’ve been able to find some of the classics such as the Super Mario games, Tony Hawk Pro Skater, Gran Turismo, etc. However, from time to time I’m reminded of other games that I totally forgot about. There are three major periods in my childhood that involve retro games. The first period is my NES period at my parent’s friends. We played the three SMB games, Duck Hunt and Hogan’s Alley. My favorite Super Mario Bros. game is the second one. Pure nostalgic value of course as I am aware that the first is the first and the third is the best. I have got all these games back, but I’d like to get them complete eventually.

The second period is the one I spent at my neighbor’s place. He is the person I bought my Master System set from and where I spent most of my days. When we weren’t playing Power Rangers outside, we were on his game consoles. At the moment, I can only remember the N64 games such as Vigilante 8 2nd Offence and Turok but there must have been many others that just don’t come to mind.

The third period was about my own personal purchases when I turned 15. I bought my own Xbox console new as well as my Game Boy Advance SP. I’m still looking for the Xbox bundle I bought because I threw away the box. I still own the games I bought then, but in this period, it’s mostly about getting back the consoles.

And there you have it, this is what I’ve got planned for my collection. I didn’t talk about how and where I want it all displayed because me and my girlfriend don’t have any set plan yet.

I would advise anyone who just started collecting or is thinking about it to just take your time and enjoy it fully. Set yourself some ground rules and stick to your budget. Be realistic and try not to get carried away. Before you know it, it can become an addiction and you don’t want to end up being a hoarder instead of someone who loves the nostalgia of things. Nobody should tell you how to go about your business and whether or not you go for a full set, it is all entirely up to you. Spread the joy with other people, organize evenings where you can all share your interests, educate yourself and educate others and most of all just enjoy what you are doing.

*PAL is actually a German standard for your analogue color TV set and a game can’t really be called PAL, but generally people use this to define the region of a certain game even though it is not the correct term.

German card games

Tue, 20 Mar 2012 10:15:00 +0000

The hunt for region variations has begun with these three German releases. I already owned Transbot, but my copy was missing the manual. Now I've got one copy up for trade and ideally, I'd be looking for other region variants.

Here are the games:

Very good overall condition but no hang tabs to be seen...

Nostalgia Road Ep. 6

Thu, 15 Mar 2012 23:10:00 +0000

This is it. It took me a week longer than normal but that wasn't because I couldn't find the games, I was just too busy. There is a lot of stuff going on for us here. My girlfriend is moving to Sweden in a couple of weeks after nailing a really good job in Stockholm. I'm so proud of her, but a bit mixed feelings about having to live the next year alone. It's all for a good cause I keep saying and that's exactly what it is.

Besides all that, I also have a lot of exciting things going on which you'll probably read about in the next coming days. I feel like expanding the blog towards a more general blog and no longer just Master System. More content, more variety but the core will always be Sega!

- Wonder Boy in Monster World

This one is the last Classic rerelease I owned. Seeing that I now own the full set, it all started with that particular game. I still remember liking the different covers of the Classic releases so it's only fitting that I went for the full set.

Impressive for a kid!

I had a big problem with this game. I could never get further than 30 minutes into the game. It's not that I didn't like it, I just couldn't get past a particular part of one of the first levels. Wonder Boy is standing in front of a locked door at the end of a tunnel. That's what I keep seeing in front of me when I think of this game. Nothing I did helped me get past that point. I opened all the doors, killed all the enemies and nothing I did was good enough.

I should give it another go and see where exactly I got stuck and see what the problem was back then.

Go down right and that's where I got stuck...

- Enduro Racer

Close call!

A game that I have fond memories of, but as the likes of Aztec Adventure, they pop up very randomly. The idea I have of the game is so much more complicated than the game actually is. There is this video (or was it just a picture) I saw recently about how we experienced games back in that time period and how they are viewed today. I just remember Enduro Racer as a game where you could pimp your bike with skill sets and ride courses so complicated with jumps and hurdles.

200km/h in mid-air!

When I then played the game again after all those years, I couldn't believe this was that exact game. It's funny how things evolve and how big the world is when you're just a 4-footer.

- Teddy Boy

Alex Kidd-ish sprite, very cute.

Hmm, Teddy Boy. The game I had to think hardest about. It was the last title I could come up with and for the life of me, I couldn't decide whether it was Penguin Land or Teddy Boy. For some reason, those two kept coming to mind. In the end, there is no doubt in my mind that Teddy Boy was part of the set of games I had. I played both recently just to figure it out and as soon as I started getting frustrated, some memories were triggered and I know there and then that this was the game I had. Seeing there are so many levels in the game and you can just die so randomly, it's not a miracle that my memories are very faint. I probably didn't pick it up regularly.

More Alex Kidd references

I recently played through it hearing how much Batman666 loves the game and it does grow on you more and more. You just need to give it some time to get over the quirkyness and you'll beat level after level in no time.

That’s it! I found all of them. A small quest I had in my head for quite some time now and I’m glad I finally got around to finishing it. You can see, there are some games in there that weren’t the most famous games and the genres are quite differen. It’s not that I had the choice to buy the games I wanted because they were all bought together from a friend, but it doesn’t mean I didn’t like them all. Even Teddy Boy grew on me. Having Transbot as one of my all time favorite games shows how far nostalgia can go.

I hope you enjoyed the read over the weeks and keep checking in from time to time as I had a one of the most interesting purchases yet. A purchase of ups and downs, but in the end, all was good and I'm happy with the result.

Les Schtroumpfs Autour du Monde

Thu, 15 Mar 2012 14:00:00 +0000

What do you mean, "I'm not done reading the previous blog entry!"? Try to keep up, I don't have a lot of time!

Last week, I decided to stay up a while longer. I just felt like doing an eBay round on several regions just to check if nothing interesting was in auction. Some of you might remember the series of Smurfs 2 that were sold from Italy for prices starting at three times 20 Euro up to 129 Euro for the seller's last copy. It was exciting to see it afterwards and even though I wasn't able to pick mine up, it was exhilarating nonetheless. Well, last week wasn't quite the same but it was around the same time at night so why not try my luck?!

Soon, I saw that very recognizable cover for the illusive Smurfs 2. It was standing at a starting price of 99 Euro and came from a seller from the Netherlands. The eBay name rang a bell, but I couldn't quite put a person behind the nickname. I contacted the seller and surprisingly, he was still awake at the same time so got a respons almost instantaniously. I put in an offer of 300 Euro. Why so high immediately? Because I knew that the seller knew the price as well and he would've only been insulted for anything less than that. The picture showed some damage to the cover, but nothing too bad. Other than that, the cover of the manual looked a bit wrinkly, but still good enough to get my hands on it.

At this point, the seller asked some time to think about it and we both go to bed. The day after, I put in another offer of 350 Euro because I was getting more and more excited. I was hoping all the time that the auction wouldn't start popping up on other boards such as the sega8bit forum. That would've seriously slimmed down my chances to get the best offer in. Retrobound, the seller in question, told me that he was going to come with that exact same counter offer. Some hours later, I wired the money over to his PayPal account with some extra to cover shipping and PayPal fees and the game was on its way to Belgium.

Only a couple of days later, I got a BPost notification that there was an International Signed For package waiting for me at the post office. The next day, I picked it up and ran home to open it up. At this point, I started having mixed feelings about it. Is the hunt really over? While it "only" took me 1,5 years to get it in, I still built up enough expectations and excitement to feel that it's been good. I opened up the package and started my inspection round of the game and its content.

On the bottom right side, there is a grey cloud and it looks like it goes up for some reason. I didn't see that before buying it, but it was visible so that was my mistake. It's a piece of the cover missing so not part of the cloud.

The first thing I saw was that the imperfections on the cover looked less bad on the picture than on the game in front of me. I took out the cover from the box to feel the glossy paper and immediately, I saw that someone used the cover to draw the two smurfs over on a piece of paper. Both smurfs had pencil drawings all over their outlines and there was a relief on those lines because of it. Looking at the game from a distance now, you don't notice it but I still know it's there.

Not that clear with all the glare, but if you compare it to a clean cover, you'll see.

Secondly, the cover is a bit yellowed on the back so that means that the game has been put in a moist environment. The manual shows the same problems.

Wait until you take a closer look.

The third imperfection the game had, and I knew about this one, is the wrinkle in the manual cover. I thought I'd be able to iron it in some way, but the cover is cracked so that won't be possible. Lastly, there is the biggest imperfection of all to the manual. The back cover page is missing entirely. This is where my heart sinks and I start swearing (mentally).

Almost surgically removed back cover leaving the last page exposed. At least I hope it's only the cover gone.

Let's just call it a game with a history of being played. It shows that the game did make it into retail and was bought years ago in comparison to all those copies popping up mint and never used.

After the first disappointments about the condition of the game and starting the negotiations with the seller again, I popped in the game to see if the game itself was any good. I'm playing the game with an aftermarket competition pro controller on a Power Base Converter for my Mega Drive I. The game actually plays very well and I prefer it to the first game in the series. Controls are absolutely smooth, hit detection is near flawless and the graphics are very good.

There are quite a few levels and with the password level skip, it's a good game to pick up from time to time. All in all, I'm quite happy with the game itself and the imperfections aside, I'm glad to scratch it off the list and continue the love for my collection.

To show that it's always good to make deals with fellow collectors is the willingness of Retrobound to negotiate about the condition of the game and the possible refund or compensation for the disappointment I had. A big thank you to him for understanding.

One more game to go and it seems to be the hardest one for me to find. Any help would be welcome just as the remaining manuals and covers that need replacing. Take a look at my wanted list and help a fellow out!

Nostalgia Road Ep. 5

Wed, 29 Feb 2012 09:05:00 +0000

We're getting closer to the full set! Three more games today and then one last episode next week to top it off. This week, it was a bit harder to come up with three games but I found some during the week and wrote them down. Why are they hard to remember? Most likely because they didn't leave that much of an impression or because I don't really like the genre. I still have some big title left so threw in one of those today as well.

- Alex Kidd in Miracle World

Omnomnom... rice cookie version.

Of course I had this one when I was younger... It was built in the SMS II and I even played it more often than I entended to play it. Whenever a cart didn't want to play instantly and the blow-in-the-cart method didn't work, Alex Kidd started so we ended up playing that one again. I don't think we ever finished it back then because the rock-paper-scissor always got to us. However, even though there is no system in how to win those Jenken matches, we thought there was a timing where you had to change your hand in order to win. It got us through a couple of matches, but it failed more than it worked.

I'll save you, Egle!

Now that I know the sequence, I can enjoy the game more without having to worry about those random encounters. I've wanted to start something like NBH's SMS quest for a while now, but I'll hold off with that for later. Just don't have the time to get busy with it and I'd like to film it as well.

Either way, Alex Kidd is just thé best game on the system and I'm sure it will win the Sega8bit competition.

- Ayrton Senna’s Super Monaco GP II (Classic)

R.I.P.

One of the Classic rerelease titles I had and just because of the fact that it had an alternate cover, I remember that I had it. I don't remember playing it at all because I'm not into racing games without some sort of interesting angle. There is one game that is part of the list, but I'll mention it next week.

Just...can't...remember...

Not much to say about a title if you don't even remember playing it. I'll give it another go soon and see if it strikes some sort of nostalgic chord somewhere.

- Aztec Adventure

One of the best sprites on the system

This was a difficult one to come up with but thanks to one of my recent RGR's, I remembered that I had this and have played it before. It's a fun game and the difficulty level is quite good.

Even when I play this again, there are nostalgic feelings involved, but they are very faint and come in waves. It's difficult to discribe but I have these moments where I think: "Oh, I remember that!". However, these moments disappear as fast as they come. I guess the kidd, Wonder Boy, Transbot and Speedy Gonzales just took up too much time.

http://www.privatejokersms.com/apps/blog/show/7045424-rgr-seven

Nino and his helpers

There are some interesting mechanics in the game. You can convert ennemies to helpers if the going gets tough and the tough don't get going. There are different types of weapons you can use. With the cool graphics and vibrant colors, this is a game that I will enjoy beating.

Thanks again for reading and come back next Wednesday for the final three games!