When did dracula x become a $200+ game?

[Liquid Snake]

Normally it costs about $90 to $120. I thought Tobias boot may lower the price but guess im wrong........

[CrackTiger]

Thursday.

[T2KFreeker]

It's a sellers market, sadly.

[NecroPhile]

Thursday.

Nailed it. 

[tbone3969]

Wow if it's that high now wait till after Xmas.

I'm looking for the spine card for my copy.  I remember missing out on a CIB copy with spine card a few years ago on eBay for $75.  Boy how times have changed.

[NightWolve]

Here, you can join an already in progress discussion on Dracula X reaching $200 thanks to all those generous big-spenders lurking on eBay.

https://www.pcengine-fx.com/forums/index.php?topic=19882.0

[TurboXray]

Wasn't Dracula X in the $200-$300 range about 15 years ago?

[SignOfZeta]

No.

[NecroPhile]

It was about that much if you bought a two-pack. 

[NightWolve]

It was $79.99 in the late 90's, that's how it started out, and that's what I paid for it new +$5 for shipping.

[Bernie]

I will stick with my bootleg. 

[TurboXray]

Well, I remember seeing it go for $200 in the early to early-mid 2000's. Then it dropped back down (not sure when). Maybe $300 is a bit of a stretch, but a complete copy for $200 is what I remembered. Specifically ebay, because I had traded mine with a friend and wanted to buy another copy. It was around that time that people (outside of the PCE scene) were discovering the game and Duo's could still be had for cheap(er).

[SignOfZeta]

Well, as has been stated about ten thousand times on this forum, just because someone payed $300 for something on eBay doesn't mean anyone else ever has or will again.

I'm not a price watcher, but I sorta know what's going on, and IIRC Drac X was, random idiocy aside, a sub $100 game from its inception until the current collectard boom, the last eight years max, probably the last three.

[Liquid Snake]

I will stick with my bootleg. 

Fortunately i have original one i imported in the 90s and bootleg i just got few weeks ago.
I am happy......

[CrackTiger]

I will stick with my bootleg. 

Fortunately i have original one i imported in the 90s and bootleg i just got few weeks ago.
I am happy......

Did you buy the Limited* Edition Belmont Survival Kit™?

[Liquid Snake]

I will stick with my bootleg. 

Fortunately i have original one i imported in the 90s and bootleg i just got few weeks ago.
I am happy......

Did you buy the Limited* Edition Belmont Survival Kit™?

No, im not that crazy

[NightWolve]

Bootleg "survival kit..." ;)

[Groover]

I am so glad I bought mine in January. I only wish I could buy more and did earlier.

[Trenton_net]

I am so glad I bought mine in January. I only wish I could buy more and did earlier.

I obtained my copy of the game before the prices went crazy, but I don't regret buying more. I'd rather see the game in other peoples hands, than hoard copies for speculation and profit. One copy for playing is good enough for me.

[CrackTiger]

I am so glad I bought mine in January. I only wish I could buy more and did earlier.

Why do you wish you bought more copies?

[SignOfZeta]

I am so glad I bought mine in January. I only wish I could buy more and did earlier.

Well...I'm glad you didn't? I guess?

[TurboXray]

Why do you wish you bought more copies?

I've read somewhere, once, where obsessed fans on occasion would layout said items in a form of a circle, and then sit naked in the center.. the visual intake invoking feelings of existential bliss. Disregarding the irony here, it's obvious you can't do this with just one copy of Rondo. That's one expensive circle.

[CGQuarterly]

I am so glad I bought mine in January. I only wish I could buy more and did earlier.

Why do you wish you bought more copies?

OBVIOUSLY so that he could pass them on to fellow Turbo fans, at cost, once the price started to go crazy.  Why else?

[julencin2000]

That bootleg you're talking about, is it clearly dintinguishable from the original?

[Caseh]

I'm kinda new here and no doubt I've missed some of the shite that's been thrown about in regards to the Drac X repro but last week I picked up the Deluxe Edition that was listed as "B Grade" on the PCE Works website and all I can say is for the price it's not a bad purchase.

I paid £40 and it includes the translated disc, i'm guessing there was more fuss over this as it clearly states on the packaging that the translation disc is not to be sold and was packaged outside of the casing when it was delivered so more like it was a free bonus rather than part of the package.

That bootleg you're talking about, is it clearly dintinguishable from the original?

If you have the discs side by side, yes. The case is also obviously very different as well but quality wise, it's a top notch job across the board which could easily pass as an official release to those who know no better.

[julencin2000]

I won't be able to have another copy of the game to have them side by side 

[LostFlunky]

I'm kinda new here and no doubt I've missed some of the shite that's been thrown about in regards to the Drac X repro but last week I picked up the Deluxe Edition that was listed as "B Grade" on the PCE Works website and all I can say is for the price it's not a bad purchase.

I paid £40 and it includes the translated disc, i'm guessing there was more fuss over this as it clearly states on the packaging that the translation disc is not to be sold and was packaged outside of the casing when it was delivered so more like it was a free bonus rather than part of the package.

About £40 too much... but as for the free translation, wow!  What kind of Robin Hood just gives things like that away?!?!

I won't be able to have another copy of the game to have them side by side 

So look at a picture? Supposedly PCEWorks (Tobias) puts his logo on everything he counterfeits.

[julencin2000]

<snippy>

I won't be able to have another copy of the game to have them side by side 

So look at a picture? Supposedly PCEWorks (Tobias) puts his logo on everything he counterfeits.

Yes of course, looking at a picture is a solution; the PCE logo thing is something clearly identifies the counterfeit. If the only counterfeits that exists of the game are the Tobias', then I'm OK, mine's OG.

But are there any oher known fake copies, Tobias aside? Where the differences with the original are less obvious?

[toktogul]

Its artificial. I just bid and won a copy for a member of this forum for about 125$ usd on yahoo auction. There is still a lot of games available in Japan, people are paying a premium on ebay for no reason whatso ever.

[LostFlunky]

<snippy>

I won't be able to have another copy of the game to have them side by side 

So look at a picture? Supposedly PCEWorks (Tobias) puts his logo on everything he counterfeits.

Yes of course, looking at a picture is a solution; the PCE logo thing is something clearly identifies the counterfeit. If the only counterfeits that exists of the game are the Tobias', then I'm OK, mine's OG.

But are there any oher known fake copies, Tobias aside? Where the differences with the original are less obvious?

I don't think there are any besides Tobias copies - there were a lot of originals sold.. unlike say Sapphire...

I will take a scan of the center ring of my Dracula X tonight (in about 12 hours...) and post it here for you to look at.

[Caseh]

About £40 too much... but as for the free translation, wow!  What kind of Robin Hood just gives things like that away?!?!

It's on pressed CDs and overall it is a genuinely well done repro, i'll happily take that as it's likely to last indefinitely if it's looked after. I understand that translations are generally fan based work, free to distribute and applying it to an image is often a DIY job...hence why its free.

I mean to say, if someone wants to be a purist and piss over anyone who doesn't subscribe to paying £500 for Sapphire as an example, I personally can't see any benefit to taking that view.

[LostFlunky]

About £40 too much... but as for the free translation, wow!  What kind of Robin Hood just gives things like that away?!?!

I mean to say, if someone wants to be a purist and piss over anyone who doesn't subscribe to paying £500 for Sapphire as an example, I personally can't see any benefit to taking that view.

That is certainly not me.  You may have taken what I said the wrong way.   When someone is paying about $3/pc to make bootleg pressed CDs with inserts and then selling them at £40, they aren't doing it for the love of the game.

In other words, a bootlegged game at £40 is just as ridiculous as an original Sapphire at $500.

[NecroPhile]

I mean to say, if someone wants to be a purist and piss over anyone who doesn't subscribe to paying £500 for Sapphire as an example, I personally can't see any benefit to taking that view.

There's plenty of reasons to dislike Tobias and piss on those that support him, and it has fuck all to do with being a purist and has everything to do with Tobias being a profiteering liar.

[VenomMacbeth]

I mean to say, if someone wants to be a purist and piss over anyone who doesn't subscribe to paying £500 for Sapphire as an example, I personally can't see any benefit to taking that view.

There's plenty of reasons to dislike Tobias and piss on those that support him, and it has fuck all to do with being a purist and has everything to do with Tobias being a profiteering liar.

Yyyyeah but like...didn't he just basically give us a ton of discs for the cost of shipping?  I know that doesn't necessarily make everything copacetic, but at least he's trying to address the issue in a non-"sorry but not sorry" kind of way...

[Caseh]

I guess I don't know enough about this Tobias chap to really pass judgement either way. As a newcomer to the PCE scene my opinions are bound to be viewed as way off the mark in comparison to some of you guys who have been in the scene a while.

[SignOfZeta]

"Charity not change", very effective in mitigating revolt against assholes. It keeps your mind off how much money they are making fucking people.

[CrackTiger]

I mean to say, if someone wants to be a purist and piss over anyone who doesn't subscribe to paying £500 for Sapphire as an example, I personally can't see any benefit to taking that view.

There's plenty of reasons to dislike Tobias and piss on those that support him, and it has fuck all to do with being a purist and has everything to do with Tobias being a profiteering liar.

Yyyyeah but like...didn't he just basically give us a ton of discs for the cost of shipping?  I know that doesn't necessarily make everything copacetic, but at least he's trying to address the issue in a non-"sorry but not sorry" kind of way...

That doesn't change the fact that Burnt Lasagna is done with PCE projects.

It's also easier to look at all the free stuff if you don't yet realize that you paid $100 - $600 each for games that are actually bootlegs.

[LostFlunky]

<snippy>

I won't be able to have another copy of the game to have them side by side 

So look at a picture? Supposedly PCEWorks (Tobias) puts his logo on everything he counterfeits.

Yes of course, looking at a picture is a solution; the PCE logo thing is something clearly identifies the counterfeit. If the only counterfeits that exists of the game are the Tobias', then I'm OK, mine's OG.

But are there any oher known fake copies, Tobias aside? Where the differences with the original are less obvious?

I don't think there are any besides Tobias copies - there were a lot of originals sold.. unlike say Sapphire...

I will take a scan of the center ring of my Dracula X tonight (in about 12 hours...) and post it here for you to look at. 

And here it is:





There are other variations, (FACT, FABT), but it should look something close to that...

[julencin2000]

<snippy>

I won't be able to have another copy of the game to have them side by side 

So look at a picture? Supposedly PCEWorks (Tobias) puts his logo on everything he counterfeits.

Yes of course, looking at a picture is a solution; the PCE logo thing is something clearly identifies the counterfeit. If the only counterfeits that exists of the game are the Tobias', then I'm OK, mine's OG.

But are there any oher known fake copies, Tobias aside? Where the differences with the original are less obvious?

I don't think there are any besides Tobias copies - there were a lot of originals sold.. unlike say Sapphire...

I will take a scan of the center ring of my Dracula X tonight (in about 12 hours...) and post it here for you to look at. 

And here it is:



<snippy>

There are other variations, (FACT, FABT), but it should look something close to that...

Ohh thank you sir, really nice, as soon as I get home I'll check my copy for my peace of mind.

[NightWolve]

You don't have to worry, it's only with Sapphire did Tobias deliberately try to make a counterfeit that could as closely as possible match an original. Everything else is marked with PCEWorks, and/or has different labeling (or it's a CD-R, like Space Fantasy Zone I think). I guess the somewhat exception is the PCE Rockman pressing of Bonknuts' NES2PCE hackulation port - that might've tricked some people into thinking it was somehow an authentic thing too.

[CrackTiger]

You don't have to worry, it's only with Sapphire did Tobias deliberately try to make a counterfeit that could as closely as possible match an original. Everything else is marked with PCEWorks, and/or has different labeling (or it's a CD-R, like Space Fantasy Zone I think). I guess the somewhat exception is the PCE Rockman pressing of Bonknuts' NES2PCE hackulation port - that might've tricked some people into thinking it was somehow an authentic thing too.

This is only what most people assume. Given the lengths he's gone to in the past and how SFZ and Rockman were sold for hundreds of dollars each in various places as long lost NOS, we have every reason to assume that he has made bootlegs of other titles or the same ones that have the PCEWorks branding. Of all the dirty tricks he's pulled trying remove suspicion of his bootlegs, nothing has been more effective that anouncing sets with his branding, as everyone automatically assumes that any unbranded copies are therefore legit.

Also keep in mind that his latest alias and logo is designed to look like an authentic brand from bitd, similar to the JASRAC badges. He didn't add "repro" warnings or call his latest brand "2010 European Reproductions Company" or add a url or anything.

[SignOfZeta]

There's probably more money to be made not hiding it. Noobs don't actually know is what "legit" actually means anymore anyway.

But I agree. He really *really* screwed some people with $300 CD-R bootlegs of SFZ. I think it was SFZ that was a CD-R. One of them was.

[ClodBusted]

There's plenty of reasons to dislike Tobias and piss on those that support him, and it has fuck all to do with being a purist and has everything to do with Tobias being a profiteering liar.

And that's why I pass on the new bootlegs that are given out cheap here. Otherwise I would have a hard time getting this to match with my ethics.

[julencin2000]

Well, thanks again Lost Monkey, I checked my CD and looks like yours; mine is a FABT BTW.

And thanks NightWolve for your input too.

[Medic_wheat]

So I was at a local retro game store yesterday.


They have a buy two get one free deal.


Saw their one and only offering for PCE.


cried a little.


Laughted in my head as it reminded me of this thread.


Then went home and looked at my PCE games and hugged them.





Sorry for the crudtastic picture. But the price reads $299.99 plus tax.

[CrackTiger]

Are they buying? Because I can provide them with an endless supply of copies and we can both make a steady profit. The same I offer I make every few tears or so to a local store that has been asking $110 for a loose dirty copy of FFV for at least 15 years now.

[Groover]

I wasn't referring to buying more copies but more Turbo CD games. The prices are going up on nearly all the games.