When I first got my PSX console in October 1997, a 5501 series model version, I knew that the USA version of Working Designs/Taito Raystorm game had just came out a month earlier. I went to my local Funcoland store and inquired about the Raystorm game. They did indeed have it in stock at $39.99 USD (yep, that was the going price for one brand new back in the day). Plunked down some cash and a brand new spanking copy of PSX Raystorm was mine for the taking.
Upon opening the shrinkwrap and leafing carefully through the full-color Raystorm manual, there was a mention of Working Designs' offer for a Raystorm poster. I thought that would be cool to get one. So away I sent the payment for it...a few weeks later went by, and lo behold WD sent me not one but TWO Raystorm posters for the price of one poster that I had paid for.
Now, a Working Designs Raystorm poster isn't your average 24 x 36 sized poster...in fact it's just a tad bit longer and wider in dimensions and so a cut & dried 24 x 36 poster frame won't properly fit the Raystorm poster (unless you want to trim it a bit to fit it down to size). So my other option was to head on down to my local Aaron Brother's Art Mart and inquire as to how much it would cost to "custom-frame" this odd-sized Raystorm poster. I really wasn't sure how much it was going to cost.
I got a call back from Aaron's Art Mart and they said the custom framing was done and that I could come down to pick it up. I was blown away by the professional custom framing that the young gal had done on my Raystorm poster. I was a happy shmupper that day. The real shocker was that I had to pay some serious $$$ for the customing framing of the Raystorm poster -- it was about $175.00-$180.00 USD. Money wasn't an issue here...especially when one pays very good money to get a Raystorm poster "custom-framed".
This true shmup poster story took place in mid-1998.
PC Engine Fan X! ^_~
Working Designs/Taito Raystorm Poster story...
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PC Engine Fan X!
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U K Narayan
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My funny Raystorm poster story...
When Raystorm was released by WD, I was delighted to see it was for rent at the local video chain! I rented it...I must've been the first, because the instruction booklet had not been "de-proof-of-purchased" in a manner of speaking. So, I was stuck with a moral dillemma...should I use the last $6 I had to my name for a 6-pack of beer? Or to send in with the p.o.p. I had just promptly "exactoed" from the manual...
Well, I did the right thing. Got the signed version in the mail about 2 weeks later. My good friend and roommate, Craig McGonnagill, would not have his copy of the game altered...yet, he didn't care about the poster. His eyes were on the prize...He sent the video in, but all he won was a Raystorm mousepad...meh. Not bad really.
So, anyway I raced down to Hobby Lobby to price a custom jobby for the thing and I just sadly u-turned out the door. I mean I liked it, but they would not take me for that kind of dough. So, it sat in the tube for many, many years.
Until about 2001. I got to talking w/ a musician friend named Ray Summy. His day thing was custom woods. He worked w/ any kind of wood...Oak, Cherry, Mahogany, Driftwood, wormwood...he was and still is the man when it comes to carpentry. He scared up a frame for me in about...eh, 3 months.
While all that was going on, I had someone down at the Hobby Lobby get started on matting. Well, she screwed it up...the matting was too wide on the sides and it cut off like half the "R" in Raystorm. Totally unacceptable. So, I politely asked her to re-do it. I didn't go back to pick it up for about another 2 months...when I finally got over there I remember them taking about half an hour to find it, because the girl who had started on it had recently been "let-go". Gee, I wonder why.
Then, when they finally dug it out...they showed me a small dent that she (fired girl) had made in it after setting something on it (totally unnoticeable really).
They handed it over free-of-charge as opposed to $40 or whatever...
I didn't act angry. I got it over to Ray's. He presented to me a positively SICK bro-deal on the job...and to thi$ day I keep my promi5e to him n0t to disclose the fee...
End result is a custom framed Raystorm poster with glass and the frame is I...think....Pecan. I put it up at my old apartment against a dark green painted wall...and, oh yeah, that was the reason I paited the wall that color...to make way for the framed poster eventually. It was a very nice marriage. It looked absolutely stunning.
Now it sits safely at my Dad's house awaiting a new wall...
You can call me a cheap-ass if you want. But, you must understand that around mid-98 I'm doing things like forking out $400 for the Pulstar AES and $100 for Thunder Force V Special Pack...etc...you get the picture...certain priorities have a funny way of altering and/or delaying others, I guess.
-Nate
Well, I did the right thing. Got the signed version in the mail about 2 weeks later. My good friend and roommate, Craig McGonnagill, would not have his copy of the game altered...yet, he didn't care about the poster. His eyes were on the prize...He sent the video in, but all he won was a Raystorm mousepad...meh. Not bad really.
So, anyway I raced down to Hobby Lobby to price a custom jobby for the thing and I just sadly u-turned out the door. I mean I liked it, but they would not take me for that kind of dough. So, it sat in the tube for many, many years.
Until about 2001. I got to talking w/ a musician friend named Ray Summy. His day thing was custom woods. He worked w/ any kind of wood...Oak, Cherry, Mahogany, Driftwood, wormwood...he was and still is the man when it comes to carpentry. He scared up a frame for me in about...eh, 3 months.
While all that was going on, I had someone down at the Hobby Lobby get started on matting. Well, she screwed it up...the matting was too wide on the sides and it cut off like half the "R" in Raystorm. Totally unacceptable. So, I politely asked her to re-do it. I didn't go back to pick it up for about another 2 months...when I finally got over there I remember them taking about half an hour to find it, because the girl who had started on it had recently been "let-go". Gee, I wonder why.
Then, when they finally dug it out...they showed me a small dent that she (fired girl) had made in it after setting something on it (totally unnoticeable really).
They handed it over free-of-charge as opposed to $40 or whatever...
I didn't act angry. I got it over to Ray's. He presented to me a positively SICK bro-deal on the job...and to thi$ day I keep my promi5e to him n0t to disclose the fee...
End result is a custom framed Raystorm poster with glass and the frame is I...think....Pecan. I put it up at my old apartment against a dark green painted wall...and, oh yeah, that was the reason I paited the wall that color...to make way for the framed poster eventually. It was a very nice marriage. It looked absolutely stunning.
Now it sits safely at my Dad's house awaiting a new wall...
You can call me a cheap-ass if you want. But, you must understand that around mid-98 I'm doing things like forking out $400 for the Pulstar AES and $100 for Thunder Force V Special Pack...etc...you get the picture...certain priorities have a funny way of altering and/or delaying others, I guess.
-Nate
Nice story, X. Man, that is some expensive framing alright. 
I'll never forget the first review I read for Raystorm in the Sept '97 Gamefan. The issue also had a cover feature and review on Mischief Makers, I couldn't wait to play both games. It was also the first time I'd heard of Treasure. Ahhh, memories.
I'll never forget the first review I read for Raystorm in the Sept '97 Gamefan. The issue also had a cover feature and review on Mischief Makers, I couldn't wait to play both games. It was also the first time I'd heard of Treasure. Ahhh, memories.
