PCEngineFans.com - The PC Engine and TurboGrafx-16 Community Forum
NEC PC-Engine/SuperGrafx => PC Engine/SuperGrafx Discussion => Topic started by: ProfessorProfessorson on October 05, 2015, 01:37:07 PM
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http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-Akumajo-Dracula-X-Rondo-of-Blood-Deluxe-Edition-PC-Engine-Castlevania-Japan-/121772174395?hash=item1c5a2fec3b&nma=true&si=Jmz3nioPHx9irZLNB81FEhBjOXE%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557
So same seller now listed another copy for $500 BIN.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-Akumajo-Dracula-X-Rondo-of-Blood-Deluxe-Edition-PC-Engine-Castlevania-Japan-/121778924630?hash=item1c5a96ec56
I'm going to assume that Tobias bled out a few of these with both disc included to certain resellers or something, unless this is a proxy seller of his. At any rate, it will prevent me from trading off or raffling that box set he sent me, both of which I considered doing if I ended up picking up a legit copy here soon, for fear of risking whomever getting it being tempted by a quick large cash grab.
Fact is if retards are willing to pay $700 for the small double disc set, I don't want to know what they will pay for the full on box set he sent me. It's really f*cked up when a bootleg goes for the price of 3-5 legit copies of something. Seriously....
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eBay Reported, might as well do so again.
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eBay Reported, might as well do so again.
Wont matter. They wont pull it. About the only way they will is if Konami ask them or some shit, and we all saw how that went when Konami was notified about stuff.
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How did we pull that off last time ? I could swear there was one that Necro or someone brought up and we got it pulled... Is my memory off ? :/
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Fact is if retards are willing to pay $700 for the small double disc set, I don't want to know what they will pay for the full on box set he sent me. It's really f*cked up when a bootleg goes for the price of 3-5 legit copies of something. Seriously....
Some people have more money than brains. If they think bootlegs with some fancy packaging is worth that much then more power to them.
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The disobeyer, easily parted from his money. As much as it sucks I'm done caring about that kind of stuff, if people want to burn money and destroy a hobby they 'think' they're a part of, so be it. I'm just glad I've found a close knit community that actually cares about playing the damn games.
As cheesy as it sounds, the flames of the PCE will always burn @ PCEFX. And maybe DoxPhile. Maybe.
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Hey guys, question here about Tobias' reproductions. I've seen these eBay prices reach ridiculous levels which I don't understand whatsoever, but that's another story. What I'd like to know is the back story with Tobias. Happy Console Gamer swears by PCE Works in terms of the quality of the reproduction, but I've also seen a lot of people dig into this guy. Is there history here I don't know about? Is he not giving credit to those that do translation work, etc? Just curious what the history is here.
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Hey guys, question here about Tobias' reproductions. I've seen these eBay prices reach ridiculous levels which I don't understand whatsoever, but that's another story. What I'd like to know is the back story with Tobias. Happy Console Gamer swears by PCE Works in terms of the quality of the reproduction, but I've also seen a lot of people dig into this guy. Is there history here I don't know about? Is he not giving credit to those that do translation work, etc? Just curious what the history is here.
http://www.superpcenginegrafx.net/sapcomp1.html
At the time Tobias claimed the bootlegs were official, authenticated by Hudson japan and fooling many unsuspecting buyers. That's enough history to 'dig into this guy'.
I'm disappointed with Happy Console Gamer. Didn't knew that he was enthusiastic about these repros.
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The outrage over idiots on e-bay is absurd, e-bay is full of idiots, sellers and buyers alike.
If someone is a true fan of the system they know this is just repro stuff and not worth what they are being sold for, if not well, not my problem, or anyone else for that matter.
Let it go, they will continue to pop up, people will continue to complain and try to get them removed.
At least the other stuff he's put out hasn't seemed to show up...the more fuss it made the bigger deal it is to some people, if anything you are probably gonna drive up the price.
Just felt like spouting my .02 on the matter.
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I'm disappointed with Happy Console Gamer. Didn't knew that he was enthusiastic about these repros.
His endorsement is probably the reason for the demand/high prices. Other YT Channels are pimping Tobias swag, too.
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Hey guys, question here about Tobias' reproductions. I've seen these eBay prices reach ridiculous levels which I don't understand whatsoever, but that's another story. What I'd like to know is the back story with Tobias. Happy Console Gamer swears by PCE Works in terms of the quality of the reproduction, but I've also seen a lot of people dig into this guy. Is there history here I don't know about? Is he not giving credit to those that do translation work, etc? Just curious what the history is here.
Yeah, there's plenty of story with him, I'm trying to coin a term for it/him that'll stick, went with "Sapphire-Gate." I had just written about it a few moments ago in a thread on Tatsujin's PCE Facebook group actually, so I'll repost it.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/obeypce/permalink/1679195508992462/
The issue for many here is WHO this particular bootlegger is and "Sapphire-Gate" - that is how Tobias began his pirating operation by trying to pass off one of his first bootlegs [Sapphire] as original/authentic, to the point where he forged a document purported to be by Hudson Soft in order to bolster his claim that this new batch of his was 100% authentic/real, a last batch that was never released due to slight imperfections (wrong colors,etc), all this lying even though he had pressed these Sapphire CDs himself! He wanted to evade eBay's anti-counterfeit policies for one thing, so that partly explains it.
In short, he pulled a con-job on the public! So, Tobias is a lying fraudster that caused hundreds of dollars in damage to sellers and buyers alike, causing them to believe they were dealing with genuine 100% REAL copies! Since everybody that was defrauded by this man never filed any sort of class action lawsuit, he got away with it... And given how he's come back with all these new repros of his, getting all this publicity by Youtube channels, even with a past criminal injustice that he has never answered for, it's cringe-worthy, especially for his victims, some who resold his bootlegs at a loss by being honest that they were fakes.
To my position, I can't be against repros if they're done properly, in fact, I would like to do some myself one day. But yeah, the issue here is THIS particular bootlegger with his Dracula X latest bootleg, is a lying fraudster of the past that got away with it. He also took my fan translations, pressed them on CDs as well, all without any prior attempt to deal with me and my team so that he could pocket 100% of the net earnings. After calling him on it, he decided to give away the rest for free to escape the sticky situation he put himself in by doing this...
So, you have Sapphire-Gate on his record, along with taking fan works like the MegaMan NES 2 PCE ports, fan translations like Xak III and SO II, etc. all without prior consent/inclusion because he's as greedy as they come in having wanted to pocket 100% of the net earnings.
The dilemma is if you know all of this, and you see people supporting him, blindly at times, it causes some justifiable eye rolling... Like I said, to date, he got away with Sapphire-Gate, nobody organized any serious attempt to prosecute him for fraud, and he came back stronger than ever, but this time he stopped trying to lie about them as not being bootlegs/fakes.
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http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-Akumajo-Dracula-X-Rondo-of-Blood-Deluxe-Edition-PC-Engine-Castlevania-Japan-/121772174395?hash=item1c5a2fec3b&nma=true&si=Jmz3nioPHx9irZLNB81FEhBjOXE%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557
So same seller now listed another copy for $500 BIN.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-Akumajo-Dracula-X-Rondo-of-Blood-Deluxe-Edition-PC-Engine-Castlevania-Japan-/121778924630?hash=item1c5a96ec56
I'm going to assume that Tobias bled out a few of these with both disc included to certain resellers or something, unless this is a proxy seller of his. At any rate, it will prevent me from trading off or raffling that box set he sent me, both of which I considered doing if I ended up picking up a legit copy here soon, for fear of risking whomever getting it being tempted by a quick large cash grab.
Fact is if retards are willing to pay $700 for the small double disc set, I don't want to know what they will pay for the full on box set he sent me. It's really f*cked up when a bootleg goes for the price of 3-5 legit copies of something. Seriously....
A: That situation reeks of shill bidding. Dude bids a copy up to $700, then sells another at $500, which seems like a bargain by comparison.
B: You should make a YT video of yourself dousing that boxed set in gasoline, lighting it on fire, and then (after a few minutes to let it get sufficiently destroyed) peeing on it to put the fire out.
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Sapphire-Gate
I love how attaching "gate" to anything immediately conjures up images of illicit dealings to the extent that the whole problem may not even need more a description than just the name. Thanks, Nixon, for adding such a useful suffix to our collective lexicon.
Does Konami still care about things like this? I remember some years back when a site had roms for every Castlevania game except Dracula X and a note about how they had to take that one down due to a legal notice from Konami. Of course, that was a different company in a different era, but I would Hope that people outright pirating and profiting from their works would still get shut down...
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That ebay auction is nuts. He sells that exact item for 99(eur) on his website. Not sure how that translates into $710 US dollars for it. Hope I didn't just give other re-sellers an idea.
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http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-Akumajo-Dracula-X-Rondo-of-Blood-Deluxe-Edition-PC-Engine-Castlevania-Japan-/121772174395?hash=item1c5a2fec3b&nma=true&si=Jmz3nioPHx9irZLNB81FEhBjOXE%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557
So same seller now listed another copy for $500 BIN.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-Akumajo-Dracula-X-Rondo-of-Blood-Deluxe-Edition-PC-Engine-Castlevania-Japan-/121778924630?hash=item1c5a96ec56
I'm going to assume that Tobias bled out a few of these with both disc included to certain resellers or something, unless this is a proxy seller of his. At any rate, it will prevent me from trading off or raffling that box set he sent me, both of which I considered doing if I ended up picking up a legit copy here soon, for fear of risking whomever getting it being tempted by a quick large cash grab.
Fact is if retards are willing to pay $700 for the small double disc set, I don't want to know what they will pay for the full on box set he sent me. It's really f*cked up when a bootleg goes for the price of 3-5 legit copies of something. Seriously....
A: That situation reeks of shill bidding. Dude bids a copy up to $700, then sells another at $500, which seems like a bargain by comparison.
B: You should make a YT video of yourself dousing that boxed set in gasoline, lighting it on fire, and then (after a few minutes to let it get sufficiently destroyed) peeing on it to put the fire out.
A: Yeah I was thinking one of the bidders was a shill also. But there is also the thing about them including the translated disc. I think that is partly what drove the bids up too.
B: I dont have a legit copy of the game yet. This is basically my copy until I get a legit copy. The way the legit ones have been going for over 200 bucks lately, I have been reluctant to buy one. I could afford it, but I'm not the type to spend $200 on any one game for any system.
Looks like the seller pulled the second listing.
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At the time Tobias claimed the bootlegs were official, authenticated by Hudson japan and fooling many unsuspecting buyers. That's enough history to 'dig into this guy'.
I'm disappointed with Happy Console Gamer. Didn't knew that he was enthusiastic about these repros.
Thanks for the info. I had no idea of this. I can't speak for the HCG, but perhaps he didn't know as well. Personally I thought the PCE Works reproductions were like TimeWalk Games (now defunct) reproductions, in that they produced high quality repros. I had no idea of the backstory, so I appreciate you giving me some background.
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Hgc knows the whole story. He has been told a by a few people now.
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There's nothing wrong with the quality of Tobias's stuff, it's the lies and screwing translators that're the problems.
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B: I dont have a legit copy of the game yet. This is basically my copy until I get a legit copy. The way the legit ones have been going for over 200 bucks lately, I have been reluctant to buy one. I could afford it, but I'm not the type to spend $200 on any one game for any system.
Didn't realize the game doubled in price (http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_nkw=%28pce%2Cengine%2Ctg%2Ctg16%29+dracula+x&_in_kw=1&_ex_kw=&_sacat=0&LH_Sold=1&_udlo=&_udhi=&_samilow=&_samihi=&_sadis=15&_stpos=02719&_sargn=-1%26saslc%3D1&_salic=1&_sop=12&_dmd=1&_ipg=200&LH_Complete=1) in the past month. WTF?
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The story about this guy and repros is quite interesting...
Anyways bootlegs/repros aside, the edition he made for Castlevania is quite impressive.
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There's nothing wrong with the quality of Tobias's stuff, it's the lies and screwing translators that're the problems.
I'll admit to being blindsided by a lot of the quality reproduction makers out there. I'm just as guilty as many out there who don't think of all the people involved in translating the games, patching them, etc. I used to purchase games from TimeWalk all the time because the quality was the best I had ever seen, and I never understood why people used to complain about them. It was only after that I realized it was because they weren't giving credit to the people who actually patched the games, nor were they asking permission to sell their works. I automatically assumed the same was the case here.
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It is is one thing making high quality bootlegs, however, because the community really gave it to him. He barely started acknowledging the translators. Which is quite despicable. He should have talked to the translators, and maybe put some of the funds he received from his packages to the translating community. This way it makes it more rewarding, and that they won't be as furious with him. Although it is a pipe dream because he is definitely in it for the money, and not for the love of the pc engine.
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It is is one thing making high quality bootlegs, however, because the community really gave it to him. He barely started acknowledging the translators. Which is quite despicable. He should have talked to the translators, and maybe put some of the funds he received from his packages to the translating community. This way it makes it more rewarding, and that they won't be as furious with him. Although it is a pipe dream because he is definitely in it for the money, and not for the love of the pc engine.
You should stop by and read PCEFX more often, friend.
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Although it is a pipe dream because he is definitely in it for the money, and not for the love of the pc engine.
PCE Works. For the love of money.
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It is is one thing making high quality bootlegs, however, because the community really gave it to him. He barely started acknowledging the translators. Which is quite despicable. He should have talked to the translators, and maybe put some of the funds he received from his packages to the translating community. This way it makes it more rewarding, and that they won't be as furious with him. Although it is a pipe dream because he is definitely in it for the money, and not for the love of the pc engine.
You should stop by and read PCEFX more often, friend.
I know, I am just too busy and don't really post a whole lot. I do like to pop in and out, but hardly post. I want to try and make it more of a habit. All in all you are right lol
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It is is one thing making high quality bootlegs, however, because the community really gave it to him. He barely started acknowledging the translators. Which is quite despicable. He should have talked to the translators, and maybe put some of the funds he received from his packages to the translating community. This way it makes it more rewarding, and that they won't be as furious with him. Although it is a pipe dream because he is definitely in it for the money, and not for the love of the pc engine.
You should stop by and read PCEFX more often, friend.
I know, I am just too busy and don't really post a whole lot. I do like to pop in and out, but hardly post. I want to try and make it more of a habit. All in all you are right lol
You.
Have.
No.
Idea.
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It is is one thing making high quality bootlegs, however, because the community really gave it to him. He barely started acknowledging the translators. Which is quite despicable. He should have talked to the translators, and maybe put some of the funds he received from his packages to the translating community. This way it makes it more rewarding, and that they won't be as furious with him. Although it is a pipe dream because he is definitely in it for the money, and not for the love of the pc engine.
He didn't acknowledge the actual translation teams at all and instead advertised them as the product of his PCEWorks "team".
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And when called on the carpet for not crediting or sharing profits, he spun some yarn about him barely making any money anyway.
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@blacktiger and @NECROMANCER thanks for clarifying that...and now that makes me even more mad! He truly is the worst of the worst. Now, because of his works do you think it will be harder to get some of the super cd games. Like, kazekiri, sylphia, fausette armour, and things of that nature for those who are trying to get the original cds, and not the tobias ver. Yeah there was a website that mentioned how to find a fake and a real sapphire, but what do you guys think
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@blacktiger and @NECROMANCER thanks for clarifying that...and now that makes me even more mad! He truly is the worst of the worst. Now, because of his works do you think it will be harder to get some of the super cd games. Like, kazekiri, sylphia, fausette armour, and things of that nature for those who are trying to get the original cds, and not the tobias ver. Yeah there was a website that mentioned how to find a fake and a real sapphire, but what do you guys think
Black_tiger is the one who created the guide for spotting bootleg Sapphire. :)
At least Tobias is branding/marketing the new bootlegs as obvious reprints.
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I don't think that the registration cards say PCEWorks on them. I believe that someone on eBay was asking something like $100 for one.
As I've said before, we have every reason to believe that he made large batches of unbranded Sylphia/Renny Blaster/Fausette Amour/Kaze Kiri either before, after or at the same time as the PCEWorks branded copies.
esteban's comment above shows how effective the branded copies we know about would be at passing off unbranded ones. We've also since seen 6 copies of Renny Blaster up at a time on eBay since the PCEWorks copies came to light. Before that, there was only one ir two a year. Unfortunately, a trend among mega sellers also started around the same time: only showing one or two low quality photos of games they are asking $100+ for.
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I don't think that the registration cards say PCEWorks on them. I believe that someone on eBay was asking something like $100 for one.
As I've said before, we have every reason to believe that he made large batches of unbranded Sylphia/Renny Blaster/Fausette Amour/Kaze Kiri either before, after or at the same time as the PCEWorks branded copies.
esteban's comment above shows how effective the branded copies we know about would be at passing off unbranded ones. We've also since seen 6 copies of Renny Blaster up at a time on eBay since the PCEWorks copies came to light. Before that, there was only one ir two a year. Unfortunately, a trend among mega sellers also started around the same time: only showing one or two low quality photos of games they are asking $100+ for.
Thanks for a lot of clarification, and for also making a guide to spot an original and a fake :) Although now you do mention it there have been an increase of renny blaster. Although never been a game that has interested me, however, it did raise question as to why there were more copies floating around. Although another very unfortunate thing that I have also been noticing is that people have been posting Tobias' ver of sylphia, renny blaster, kazekiri n such on yahoo auctions.
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I personally hope this gets worse. More and more idiots separated from their money until the whole thing collapses. So many people pricing things due to eBay... "LOOK HE'S ASKING FOR $700, SO THAT MUST BE THE PRICE!!!!" I can't stand it but at least I know that this is unsustainable.
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I really don't understand this whole Rondo situation. I mean how can so many people be so damn stupid. I've seen so many auctions going up, one after another, where the end bids are simply outrageous. The picture on the auction clearly states PCE Works. Just Google that and presto you can buy a copy for around 100€. Why are people spending any amount of money on this?!?!