Is it possible that games like Dynastic Hero / Magical Chase / Bonk 3 are so rare because the entire stock was never sold ? They're sitting in a warehouse - some of the very last games produced for a system that most would consider obsolete?
I think most of the copies that were pressed were sold. There weren't all that many pressed of those last handful of games anyway. They all had runs in the 1,500-3,000 range. I know TZD had a few of the big hitters stashed away for a rainy day sale, but it never came to be as a result of the buyout. And it wasn't a great many copies either.
Basically what Redfrog is doing is pricing that stuff so that only a collector (as in, someone who doesn't actually play games) will be able to afford it. A collector will undoubtedly buy it at some point since money isn't as much of an object to them. In the end, it doesn't matter to Redfrog. Redfrog's business stance is very clear-- they are in the business to make the maximum profit possible off this stuff. In the real world, I can understand that. A company exists to make money. What saddens/angers me is that TZD didn't have the patience/heart/whatever to find a buyer who'd keep the Turbo community in mind as "the old" TZD did in the past. Their pricing was always consistent across the board, and they even had fun little sales every now and then that gave players the opportunity to pick up stuff that was normally fairly expensive on the inflated eBay market for cheap. You might be quick to dismiss this as a pipe dream, but if folks like us had stepped forward to buy the remaining inventory we wouldn't be having this problem. I guess in reality, we have only ourselves to blame.
Redfrog is the epitome of your typical jerkoff eBay seller. It's a sad, sad fate to befall the remainder of the TTi stock. And I'm not feeling down about the situation because I didn't "buy all those games when I had the chance" like one of our esteemed members likes to point out every time this comes up. I've got plenty of games-- and most of the "expensive" ones too, out of the way. I'm feeling sad because TZD was a kind of thread that kept the community together long after the system disappeared from the market and people's minds. Newcomers, just getting into the Turbo, had a place to go where they could get reasonably priced new product for their system. Old timers like myself had a place to go when they needed a new AC adapter for their GT or a replacement cable for their pad. I realize it's unrealistic to hope for that support to continue forever; stock eventually runs out. But this is different. There is still stock remaining, but it's being sold on eBay at a premium, much of it out of the budget of the casual gamer. I'm feeling sad because, like another user pointed out, people looking to sell their old gear on eBay are going to use these ridiculous prices as a market value guide and the inflation problem will continue. I find myself wondering about the TZD website-- why keep it around? You can't order anything from it-- it's just a pretty facade and a reminder of what was. As if to make the "f*ck You" to the community hit home just a little harder. Whoever said to just to ignore them, spread the word, and refuse to buy from them had it right. I know I won't be buying from these jokers, ever. What a bunch of douchebuckets.
