TurboDuo Prices on the rise?

[MrSparkle]

Over the last year or so it seems to me like turboduo prices have skyrocketed. I remember seeing them selling with hookups a couple common games and a controller or two for 200-300 on average on ebay last year. Now it seems like the average going rate is 400-500. Anyone have any ideas about this? Is the limited supply of duos out there just drying up. Have i simply observed prices incorrectly.

[Bratwurst]

Is the limited supply of duos out there just drying up.

I bet a lot of them are starting to experience mechanical failures.

[Joe West]

so that means, if you have one, you should sell it before the prices go back down..........

[fpbrush]

Over the last year or so it seems to me like turboduo prices have skyrocketed. I remember seeing them selling with hookups a couple common games and a controller or two for 200-300 on average on ebay last year. Now it seems like the average going rate is 400-500. Anyone have any ideas about this? Is the limited supply of duos out there just drying up. Have i simply observed prices incorrectly.

I've noticed this too. Every now and then I get in the "man...I'd really like a Turbo Duo" mode, and check prices. And they are ALOT higher this time around. No idea about the cause, though the hypothesis about breakdowns seems to be a good one.

[RadiantSvgun]

Stuff is just becoming scarce. TZD kept the prices reasonable as long as they could. Now that they are gone, its just haywire.

[MrSparkle]

I'm feeling more and more pressured to get one before they cost twice as much in a year. Though maybe it would be smart to try to ride this price bump out. I'd feel pretty dumb if the chance at owning one slipped away. I REALLY should have bought my friends 2 years ago when he offered it to me with all his games and stuff for $150! Oh well hindsight is 20/20 or what have you.

[InsaneDavid]

Yes they are, you all should have moved on my lot when you had the chance... oh wait, Joe West did.

[Press_Start]

With the expense of a Turbo Duo raising, I decided to get a PCE Duo-R with 14 games off Ebay for $200 shipped. It plays both US and Japan CD games, but can't read American HuCards. :(

Glad I already have the Turbo-Grafx 16. ;)

[eugenek]

I would guess that capacitor failure is starting to exert its wrath.

You wouldn't believe how common it is...

[PeteJames]

There's a few auctions running on ebay that currently range from $50 - $600.

http://video-games.shop.ebay.com/items/Systems__turbo-duo_W0QQ_nkwZturboQ20duoQQQ5ftrksidZp3286Q2ec0Q2em 282QQQ5fcatrefZ1QQ_flnZ1QQ_sacatZ139971?_trksid=p3 286.c0.m282

and none on Chasethechuckwagon.com

[MrSparkle]

Yes they are, you all should have moved on my lot when you had the chance... oh wait, Joe West did.

haha i was seriously considering it. Came bundled with too many expensive looking japanese games that i wasn't really seeking. Figured id leave it for someone who would appreciate the whole kit and kaboodle. I may take the PC-Engine Duo route myself and just use a hucard converter, then again all the existing hucards i have are actually japanese anyway so i wouldnt need it until i picked up a few american games. One interesting thing i saw on ebay today was a coregraphix with the pc-engine cd add on. Pretty rare to see any of the standalone cd add-ons so that was pretty tempting. Though as i understand it the add ons tend to have mechanical laser failures much more often than the duos. Decisions Decisions.

[megasdkirby]

I'll wait...maybe it's just the fever of the moment.

Perhaps it will lower in a few months and prices may drop.

Then again...

[MrSparkle]

*Hopes that yobo makes a knockoff turbo duo (or maybe it should be a turbo quatro since they like doubling down on the number of systems built into one shell) ;) *

[atreyu187]

/me Hugs my Region modded DUO-RX and smiles!!! @_@

[cyberfluxor]

I picked up my Duo a few months ago for $5 ($3 unit + controller, $1 A/V cable, $1 AC cable) and checked online as to the going rate, as I don't research it quite often. There were a few at that time going for $100-150 with a few games. Do they shoot up at the last minute or something? I wouldn't sell mine as it's too cool a system to handle, though I wouldn't spend $400 for a replacement in the future if it came down to that.

[MrSparkle]

$5!??! they did jump pretty fast i'd say in the last 9 months conservatively a $100 price jump. But damn you got one hell of a deal man! Thats the thing $400 is alot of blow on a console. Most i've ever paid for a console infact would have to be $100 for my neo geo cdz.

[RadiantSvgun]

I picked up mine from Kazuo for about $50 broken. Getting it fixed and region modded brought the cost to about $300 total. Finding a box for it was an extra $50. American Duo's command a higher price tag lately for some reason. They aren't impossible to fix once they break, but finding a unit itself is the problem.

[cyberfluxor]

$5!??! they did jump pretty fast i'd say in the last 9 months conservatively a $100 price jump. But damn you got one hell of a deal man! Thats the thing $400 is alot of blow on a console. Most i've ever paid for a console infact would have to be $100 for my neo geo cdz.

I would suggest the extra digging in your local area. NEC stuff just doesn't appear around here and there that Duo, at a thrift store. I'd seen a few before at various game stores to be expected. Once there was one marked around $50 for a TG-16 w/multi-tap and 5 controllers with no games, which I tipped off the MAG Fest guy to pick up since he was looking for one. If you hold out you may find one for several bucks, maybe a bit more or less but otherwise you're going to dump a lot of funds into one if you're not patient.

I live in a navy area with many comming and going, which means depending on deployments and relocations there could be some good finds. Lately games have been back in a rut either from others hunting my grounds or a dry season. Each area has a niche to work off of, peak times, and so maybe discover whether it be yard sales, flea markets, classifieds, or whatever. I'm generally best with certain pawn shops and numerous thrift stores, while staying clear from any flea markets as they rarily put out in the past. Never carry cash so any yard/garage sales are outtie for others, plus I'm not up and out early enough for that.

[MrSparkle]

I'll be honest I've never so much as seen even a turbografx in my town, much less a duo. In fact it wasn't until maybe 2000 when i even learned of its existence. I had seen emulators and ROMs for it, along with emulators and ROMs for dozens of other things i didn't care to emulate. Then of course one day you say to yourself. "Just what the hell is a pc-engine that sounds like the dumbest name for a console I've ever heard in my life." All of a sudden your up to your neck in unheard of consoles (http://ultimateconsoledatabase.com/ anyone lol). But who knows maybe i will get lucky and find one laying around somewhere. Or maybe i'll just snap and spring for an especially nice pricey ebay bundle hehe.

[Damaramu]

The ever soaring prices on Duo stuff has squashed any notions I had for rebuilding my old collection from the early 90's.

I've switched to emulation for the hu-card games and I've been buying the cd based games off Ebay. So far, so good. I can get my Duo fix without blowing too much cash.

[murdoc rose]

I've been meaning to pick one up for a few years now and just never found a good lot at the right time. Thinking I'm going to hold off on the system as it seems the price has been on the rise for a while. Lots of other stuff out there mess with.

[TwinChargers]

Man, I thought you guys were talking about the RetroDuo's there for a second. I was thinking "Why in the world are they paying so much for an NES/SNES clone?"

Living out here in the sticks, I've never even played a TurboDuo or known anyone to own one. They must be some type of amazing if they are selling for PS3 money though.

[MrSparkle]

they are quite amazing. Technically an 8bit system they sport graphics more on the level of most 16 bit systems. Many of the games are just great they have theyre own unique quality kind of like super nintendo games tended to exhibit. Plus most of the games were platform exclusives, the cd games sport some nice audio and ever nicer hand drawn animation in some cases. The few holy grail type games to the american collector include the highly sought after Akumajō Dracula X Chi no Rondo, which is looked at to be the stepping stone link that led to the brilliant symphony of the night. In the us this game can easily new $100 or more (though i understand its pretty common in japan). Built in turbo switches on the controllers lend themselves well to the SCHMUP heavy game library (which includes some of the best shooters ever and definitely the premier 8bit shooter platform).