twe wrote:Umi- do you say 'harmlessest' in your Australian dialect, or were you merely using a non-standard form for affect? The standard superlative of that lexeme is 'most harmless', but I'm always interested in any variant dialect forms. Superlatives and comparatives in English often have two (or more) equally acceptable forms in non-standard dialects (such as "more happy" and "happier"). Sorry, just a side effect of being a linguist!
Nice post! I'm something of a linguaphile too. Yes, it was just me trying to be tongue-twistingly cute :P
p.s. Got your game today! Gonna leave you feedback in the forums right away.
It's not like the new batch of collectors will be able to tell the difference. They'll just be buying into the latest craze, like the rest of the sheep.
RE 'supply and demand':
Um, no. I've been into the arcade scene for a long time, and I'd reckon that supply and demand has been pretty much level for quite a long time - as one collector stops, another one starts and so on. Supply of every kind of PCB, even Cave stuff, has been level.
The only difference is that lately, there has been a select group of 'collectors' who come in and have directly influenced the cost of items through their 'buy at any cost' attitude. Said people are often seen hunting down and buying gear at higher than average prices, especially if it includes 'OMG complete artwork set'. In my view, it is this kind of 'collector' that causes the increase in prices for particular types of gear - when one seller succesfully parts with something for this inflated price, all the other sellers get a clue and start upping their prices for everything related, complete kit or not. Which in turn prices out regular consumers who would be willing to purchase these items at a more sane price.
While I can understand the idea of 'owning the total package', and I do admit that Cave stuff is worth owning, there are far more sane ways of getting this stuff. Unfortunately though, this 'buying frenzy' looks like it'll continue unabated, which I'd reckon will continue to have a negative effect on the hobby in general.
And it would be nice if people concentrated more on the playing of a game, rather than the owning of a status symbol. says a lot when there are more threads devoted to 'OMG look at my new kit!' posts than there are strategy topics for said game.
Also, I heard on the grapevine that there might be a shift to Toaplan stuff once the collectors exhaust themselves on Cave stuff. LOL, good luck. Complete Toaplan kits are near-impossible to find. ^_-
Speaking of which, I have a complete Ibara kit for sale. All artwork, B2 size poster, comes with extra PS2 port advert poster and original arcade pre-release flyers. $1800.Even comes with the box. ^_-
Yeah right. Like I'd ever part with my pride and joy.
Icarus wrote:The only difference is that lately, there has been a select group of 'collectors' who come in and have directly influenced the cost of items through their 'buy at any cost' attitude.
Who has really done this other than that zak guy? I haven't noticed anyone else.
Icarus wrote:Also, I heard on the grapevine that there might be a shift to Toaplan stuff once the collectors exhaust themselves on Cave stuff. LOL, good luck. Complete Toaplan kits are near-impossible to find. ^_-
I've seen complete Toaplan kits on both ebay and YAJ. Serious. So, based on what I've seen come up on online auctions for the past few years, I don't see complete Toaplan kits being any harder to find than the pre Progear complete Cave kits.
-ud
undamned wrote:I've seen complete Toaplan kits on both ebay and YAJ. Serious. So, based on what I've seen come up on online auctions for the past few years, I don't see complete Toaplan kits being any harder to find than the pre Progear complete Cave kits.
-ud
Ahh, that's good to know. I better get my Batsugun Special kit in before the price quintruples.
twe wrote:Who has really done this other than that zak guy? I haven't noticed anyone else.
There are shmuppers on forums outside of this one you know. ^_-
At any rate, it's not just the buyers that can be held accountable, it's also the sellers. Take a look at some recent Cave kit sales on eBay and see the price go up rapidly from major bidwars. And how about that guy on here recently who was buying up every kit and bare PCB from YAJ and selling them here and on other auction sites at inflated prices? Way to create a monopoly, even if your original intentions were 'honorable'.
twe wrote:Who has really done this other than that zak guy? I haven't noticed anyone else.
There are shmuppers on forums outside of this one you know. ^_-
Yeah, I know that. But you didn't answer my question. If you can't give actual examples of these buyers, all you have is speculation. Zak is the only guy I've seen to truly fall into the category of 'buy at any cost', as you mentioned. Perhaps there are others, but I doubt it's more than a few (again, purely speculation). That's really not enough to influence an entire market. Besides, zak seems to have gotten everything he was looking for, so I doubt his buying practices are relevant to the current market.
Last edited by EOJ on Mon Jul 10, 2006 6:20 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Icarus: It takes more than a handful of people to drive up a price of something unless the print run is REALLY small (<10). Regardless of whether there are more or less collectors, there are obviously enough willing to pay 3-fold what the items used to run. A small percentage will not do this. A sizeable percentage, will.
As it is now, the operators and distributors in general don't see extra value in the original boxes. They throw them away or use them for other things, etc. And I think it's accurate to say that the majority of hobbyists don't care much about them either.
They throw away most of their flyers too.
RegalSin wrote:New PowerPuff Girls. They all have evil pornstart eyelashes.
Icarus wrote:Off Topic:
Depends on how badly you treat the cow prior to getting the milk. Perhaps it was a statement promoting free range cows? ^_-
It's a joke at collectors, originally Atari ones.
It's a pretty old one -- Sardius (known to be very anti-collector) came across a thread on Atari-Age (known to be filled with the brim with hoarding collectors) that discussed favorite butter brands and you can figure where that went from there.
so long and tanks for all the spacefish unban shw <Megalixir> now that i know garegga is faggot central i can disregard it entirely
<Megalixir> i'm stuck in a hobby with gays
Icarus wrote:While I can understand the idea of 'owning the total package', and I do admit that Cave stuff is worth owning, there are far more sane ways of getting this stuff. Unfortunately though, this 'buying frenzy' looks like it'll continue unabated, which I'd reckon will continue to have a negative effect on the hobby in general.
Hey man, as you guys know, I think owning the complete package is really cool, but I'm not into spending insane prices to own complete kits. My Dai-Ou-Jou is loose, and while I'd like to own all the 'paperwork' (do have the POP ), that's just because it's perhaps my favorite shooter. Would I like to own complete kits for every shooter I buy? That'd be cool, but it's not my priority. The game is the priority, as it should be. In fact, I think I'm gonna go play some Dai-Ou-Jou right now. Later!
Ok. For the collectors out there: the repro boxes will not have the atlus logo anymore. It will just be a generic box with the same dimensions as an original atlus box. I'm not sure how useful that will be to anyone.
OMG my Ibara kit box is fake??! I better go jump off a bridge. (º_o)
Seriously, I do understand the idea of owning a complete item. But there are saner ways of getting things. The high price for a cardboard box reeks of impatience, and the 'I know everything because I'm a collector' mentality reeks of arrogance.
Honestly, I collect stuff as well, and there are times when I've gone a little overboard (like my figurine collection) so I'm in no position to admonish someone for their choice of purchase. But occasionally, you have to take a step back and ask yourself "is it worth it?". Especially when you find your hobby starts to take over your life. I've long since slowed my buying habits, only going for something I really want, and not buying because I can.
), that's just because it's perhaps my favorite shooter. Would I like to own complete kits for every shooter I buy? That'd be cool, but it's not my priority. The game is the priority, as it should be. In fact, I think I'm gonna go play some Dai-Ou-Jou right now. Later!
