Sega Pico Variants

[Double Ugly]

http://www.gamegavel.com/item.cgi?show_item=958029

I think I'm going to put a couple dozen dollars in & see if I win.

[JSoup]

No one bid.
I'm curious as to if he'll honor an exceptionally low price.

[Bojay1997]

No one bid.
I'm curious as to if he'll honor an exceptionally low price.

He has a reserve and makes it clear that he won't sell unless it's met. I'm guessing this is just another publicity stunt on his part. I can't imagine anyone buying 11,000 games without a comprehensive inventory or condition information all in one shot.

[badinsults]

I see this auction as being a shill for Game Gavel. Why would someone who actually wants to sell something this high profile sell it on GameGavel, and not on Ebay? It makes no sense from a business side. The fact that he is giving away issues of Retro Gaming Magazine just screams direct involvement with SoCalMike. He probably set the reserve somewhere in the range of "too high for legit bidders" and "low enough that troll bids will get over that amount", to give it the appearance of "being sold". Lots of lazy news media have bit on such auctions in the past.

[Gameguy]

No one bid.
I'm curious as to if he'll honor an exceptionally low price.
There's one bid on it now, according to the history it was placed at 9:42pm so a few minutes before you posted.

The auction was just listed a few hours ago and has well over a week to go, it's going to get a lot of bids before it ends.

[portnoyd]

<SoCalMike> LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME

<Michael Thomasson> LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME

This is all this is. I will bet $1k that he will not sell his collection no matter what it ends at.

I wonder how much money SoCalMike forked over to Thomasson to be able to do this, or if it was just a personal favor for the possibility of whoring out GameGavel/Retro to the mainstream.

Since SoCalMike will be pushing hard to get this to mainstream media, try not to share it. Don't support this blatant attention whoring.

[Kitsune Sniper]

Uh, who's this guy again?

No, really. Does he have a recognizable online handle like most other collectors (big and small) do?

[Michael Thomasson]

Or it could be that my mother's medical bills are over two grand a day and after Medicare and insurance pay their part it still leaves a $700 a day payment out of pocket. Maybe I want my wife to have nice things for once, want my daughter to go to a better school...

[Satoshi_Matrix]

haha, is gamegavel still a thing?

I used to listen to RetroGamingRoundUp before I realized how much of a dick SoCalMike is.

every podcast would be like this:

<vendor> Here's a copy of Contra Force for NES. It's a very rare game, I'll give you a good deal on it: $50.
<SoCalMike> $50?! No way! I'll give you $5 for it.
<vendor> No, I don't think so. This game is worth around $80.
<SoCalMike> Okay, I'll give $10 for it.
<vendor> Sir, didn't you just hear me? No.
<SoCalMike> Okay, have a good day. (walks away) Man, that guy was overcharging like crazy!



Shit like that made me want to strangle him through my ipod.

[JSoup]

He has a reserve and makes it clear that he won't sell unless it's met.

I misread the auction when I first loaded it up, thought it said that the reserve was $1. Which made the whole thing look like bullshit in my mind.

[bb_hood]

You should just make a list of the games and take offers.

Selling it all together would bring in way less than its worth.

[InsaneDavid]

haha, is gamegavel still a thing?

I used to listen to RetroGamingRoundUp before I realized how much of a dick SoCalMike is.

every podcast would be like this:

<vendor> Here's a copy of Contra Force for NES. It's a very rare game, I'll give you a good deal on it: $50.
<SoCalMike> $50?! No way! I'll give you $5 for it.
<vendor> No, I don't think so. This game is worth around $80.
<SoCalMike> Okay, I'll give $10 for it.
<vendor> Sir, didn't you just hear me? No.
<SoCalMike> Okay, have a good day. (walks away) Man, that guy was overcharging like crazy!



Shit like that made me want to strangle him through my ipod.

And that is EXACTLY how he really is too! I had ONE, just ONE brush with him in the minutes before California Extreme opened one year and that was enough to sour me on anything he may be involved with. I've never come across anyone else with such a false sense of entitlement, to the point where he assumes that you already know that he's self-entitled, even if you don't know who he is.

[badinsults]

Or it could be that my mother's medical bills are over two grand a day and after Medicare and insurance pay their part it still leaves a $700 a day payment out of pocket. Maybe I want my wife to have nice things for once, want my daughter to go to a better school...

You know, I am sorry to hear that, if that is the reasonsing for selling. But even you, after all these years in the collecting hobby, must know that your auction completely inadequate in every way. There is a lack of comprehensive listing of items, and it is posted on a little used independent auction site. And of course, the main problem is that by selling it wholesale, you are requiring that some rich guy is going to happen upon your auction and hand over what is likely to be a huge sum of money. So large that using an internet auction site is probably a bad idea from a legal point of view. If you are serious about selling this, you should be using a professional sellers service. You cannot blame the outside observer that sees this as being nothing more than a publicity stunt.

[Satoshi_Matrix]

And that is EXACTLY how he really is too! I had ONE, just ONE brush with him in the minutes before California Extreme opened one year and that was enough to sour me on anything he may be involved with. I've never come across anyone else with such a false sense of entitlement, to the point where he assumes that you already know that he's self-entitled, even if you don't know who he is.

I'm glad I'm not the only person who has noticed this. You hit the nail on the head when you said he has a false sense of entitlement. Throughout the podcasts, he constantly comes off as a giant prick, haggling sellers who are already offering deals and talking smack about people who got to things before him. He's the king of false entitlement.

It's because of him that I absolutely HATE any _______ goes game hunting videos. I will NOT watch the gamechasers or anyone else in case they are anything like SoCalMike. I have no idea if the gamechasers are like him or not. I've never watched any of their videos and won't because they could be a whole group of SoCalMikes. I think I'm better off not knowing.

[The Adventurer]

It's because of him that I absolutely HATE any _______ goes game hunting videos. I will NOT watch the gamechasers or anyone else in case they are anything like SoCalMike. I have no idea if the gamechasers are like him or not. I've never watched any of their videos and won't because they could be a whole group of SoCalMikes. I think I'm better off not knowing.

Jay likes to low ball hard ("Two Bucks!") but he's self-aware about it and knows how to make (and take) a real deal.

Gamechasers is good stuff. I learn a lot watching them.

[Michael Thomasson]

For those of you that are questioning why I put the auction up on Game Gavel over other auction sites, here is the reasoning:

Christie's wanted 30% and E-Bay about 15% when you take into account the money processing fees required through PayPal. Federal Tax 38% + New York tax 8.75% totals 46.75% - almost half. Now, add that to the auction fees and it leaves me with 24 cents on the dollar. This very well might be the only year in my life that I'll make more than 30k, so I needed to try and make the math work the best it could for my family.

Kennedy at GameGavel has a $150 cap on auctions, and I was willing to take the bet that if someone or some organization was serious about making a bid, that they would take the extra steps to set up a GameGavel account. Even if it were to sell for less than it would on E-Bay, would it be that drastic of a difference? I suppose we'll find out...

[xelement5x]

Well good luck on the sale, in the end even Adol wound up not selling his stuff through ebay and sold directly to the Strong Museum probably avoiding a ton of fees.

I enjoyed the article on you in GameInformer as well, it was neat to see that you stuck to a budget so strictly and were still able to amass such a full collection.

[Kitsune Sniper]

For those of you that are questioning why I put the auction up on Game Gavel over other auction sites, here is the reasoning:

Christie's wanted 30% and E-Bay about 15% when you take into account the money processing fees required through PayPal. Federal Tax 38% + New York tax 8.75% totals 46.75% - almost half. Now, add that to the auction fees and it leaves me with 24 cents on the dollar. This very well might be the only year in my life that I'll make more than 30k, so I needed to try and make the math work the best it could for my family.

Kennedy at GameGavel has a $150 cap on auctions, and I was willing to take the bet that if someone or some organization was serious about making a bid, that they would take the extra steps to set up a GameGavel account. Even if it were to sell for less than it would on E-Bay, would it be that drastic of a difference? I suppose we'll find out...

Legit reasons.

But I think you should avoid selling this through a site (ANY SITE, not just GG) and do it privately instead. You might get even less fees that way.

[JSoup]

This very well might be the only year in my life that I'll make more than 30k, so I needed to try and make the math work the best it could for my family.

You have the world record collection of video games.
You have a family.
You've never made more than 30K in one year.
I feel there are some priority issues here that are only new being addressed.

[portnoyd]

For those of you that are questioning why I put the auction up on Game Gavel over other auction sites, here is the reasoning:

Christie's wanted 30% and E-Bay about 15% when you take into account the money processing fees required through PayPal. Federal Tax 38% + New York tax 8.75% totals 46.75% - almost half. Now, add that to the auction fees and it leaves me with 24 cents on the dollar. This very well might be the only year in my life that I'll make more than 30k, so I needed to try and make the math work the best it could for my family.

Kennedy at GameGavel has a $150 cap on auctions, and I was willing to take the bet that if someone or some organization was serious about making a bid, that they would take the extra steps to set up a GameGavel account. Even if it were to sell for less than it would on E-Bay, would it be that drastic of a difference? I suppose we'll find out...

You're concerned about fees yet you'll leave thousands on the table and alienating just about every buyer by selling in a giant lot? If you truly needed money for your family, you'd cut the rare titles off the top and work down. However, that won't draw attention like a large, already publicly mentioned, bulk lot.

Seriously, it is absolutely transparent that you are not actually selling your collection and this is just a publicity stunt for you and SoCalMike.

[JSoup]

It's also a pretty decent selling strategy as well. Garner attention for the entire collection, then take offers on individual units. Get the money and the attention.

[badinsults]

I think this is also one of those cases where selling as a lot will actually make more money than selling as individual lots. I mean, aside from the complete 3DO, Sega Saturn and Sega CD sets, is there anything remarkable about this lot? Scanning through the list of games, I noted that the NES collection lacks common titles like Super Mario Bros 2 and 3, the Sega Genesis set is missing Sonic 3. There's a lot of filler in this collection. Just going off SNES stuff (233 games), you don't see common, but expensive games like Earthbound, Chrono Trigger, Final Fantasy 2 and 3, Yoshi's Island, etc. This collection is made up of a lot of common, inexpensive games (e.g. sports games, kids games) for a large number of systems, and is heavily weighted with games from consoles that are PS1 to present.

Personally, I still see this as being a publicity stunt. If someone was buying this to resell, I could hardly see it being worth the time.

[The Adventurer]

I think some of you are underestimating the value 'largest collection in the world' brings in terms of value. People will pay large premiums for status symbols. Certainly more then any single rare game is worth. Busting up the collection is foolish, when the collection itself, not the individual games in the collection , is the where the attraction lies.

[JSoup]

Busting up the collection is foolish, when the collection itself, not the individual games in the collection , is the where the attraction lies.

Depends on who you're selling to. Selling to collectors? Any with that kind of money to burn probably already has an established connection and, as badinsults pointed out, lots of common stuffs in there.

[badinsults]

I think some of you are underestimating the value 'largest collection in the world' brings in terms of value. People will pay large premiums for status symbols. Certainly more then any single rare game is worth. Busting up the collection is foolish, when the collection itself, not the individual games in the collection , is the where the attraction lies.

Calling this the worlds largest video game collection is dishonest at best. I'm sure that Joe Santulli and DreamTR, for instance, have thousands more unique games than this guy. Though like I said, this collection would be worth less if it was broken up, because there is a lot of filler. Don't get me wrong, having 11,000 games is highly impressive, and I can only imagine the amount of time and money required to acquire this. But is this collection worth as much as say, a complete, boxed NES collection? I very much doubt it.

[phil_consollection]

Everyone is discussing if this is the biggest collection in the world. I also think it is not. I know of at least one guy personally with around 15.000 individial games. However: this one here was confirmed by the Guiness Book of World Records. Every collector has the chance to call them, have their collection counted and dethrone Michael. However, if nobody does, this remains the biggest Collection in the world as confirmed by the Guiness Book. Thats all, and its good for marketing.

Therefore, critizising the "quality" of the collection is quite useless as this never was part of the Record.

Last but not least: everyone may have his/her opinion on Game Gravel, but reading alligations that Michael only is seeking attention while he actually seems to have a legit, quite sad cause by trying to pay for the medical bills of his family made me sad. Everyone can advice him how he could do it better, but the allegations of "attention seeking" in contrast to the sad reason "life saving" made me feel uncomfortable. It feels disrespectful.

[Jorpho]

Depends on who you're selling to. Selling to collectors? Any with that kind of money to burn probably already has an established connection and, as badinsults pointed out, lots of common stuffs in there.I would think some with that kind of money to burn would probably have been spending his time doing other things than amassing a video game collection. I agree that this doesn't seem too outlandish.

[Bojay1997]

Everyone is discussing if this is the biggest collection in the world. I also think it is not. I know of at least one guy personally with around 15.000 individial games. However: this one here was confirmed by the Guiness Book of World Records. Every collector has the chance to call them, have their collection counted and dethrone Michael. However, if nobody does, this remains the biggest Collection in the world as confirmed by the Guiness Book. Thats all, and its good for marketing.

Therefore, critizising the "quality" of the collection is quite useless as this never was part of the Record.

Last but not least: everyone may have his/her opinion on Game Gravel, but reading alligations that Michael only is seeking attention while he actually seems to have a legit, quite sad cause by trying to pay for the medical bills of his family made me sad. Everyone can advice him how he could do it better, but the allegations of "attention seeking" in contrast to the sad reason "life saving" made me feel uncomfortable. It feels disrespectful.

Actually, as at least one collector with a mega collection noted a few months back, Guiness refused to return his calls and e-mails. They are essentially a marketing company and have little interest in constantly updating this or most of their other records.

[JSoup]

I would think some with that kind of money to burn would probably have been spending his time doing other things than amassing a video game collection. I agree that this doesn't seem too outlandish.

I was referring to collectors having money to burn. It's not unheard of for people to spend a tidy sum on a small pile of games. *points at Nintendo Age*

[NinSEGA]

Uh, who's this guy again?

No, really. Does he have a recognizable online handle like most other collectors (big and small) do?

I don't know, maybe you should bother to read a thread (http://www.digitpress.com/forum/showthread.php?171386-Counterfeit-Sega-CD-games-being-sold-on-eBay-and-distributed-by-some-shady-website) you responded to numerous times?

[Double Ugly]

Actually, as at least one collector with a mega collection noted a few months back, Guiness refused to return his calls and e-mails. They are essentially a marketing company and have little interest in constantly updating this or most of their other records.

How is this relevant? The collection is listed as the Guinness world record holder for the largest video game which is correct, IT IS the Guinness world record holder. No where does it say "this is the largest video game collection in the world". It is not the sellers fault that Guinness doesn't care about someone else taking the record. This should not even be a talking point.

His reasons for selling are his own & should not matter to anyone else. He already stated why he doesn't want to put it on ebay (a very good reason assuming it is accurate) so what's so wrong will selling it on game gavel? A lot of the people that would be interested in buying the collection will at least know what game gavel is. If he put it there to get some exposure for game gavel then big whoop! If game gavel was popular it would be really great for the collecting community no matter how you personally feel about the owner.

If you boycott game gavel (something that would be good for collecting) just because you don't like someone on the other side of the internet then you are a selfish, close-minded individual.

Yes you have every right to have a personal problem with the person selling his collection the way he sees best, but if your reasons are stupid & petty then Please don't share them. If you have a legitimate concern about how this will negatively effect someone then by all means tell us.

[NinSEGA]

You have the world record collection of video games.
You have a family.
You've never made more than 30K in one year.
I feel there are some priority issues here that are only new being addressed.

I highly doubt he's only making 30k a year, especially if he's a professor. Playing the sympathy card is common among these people who have gotten ahead. I think you all need to start realizing that there are people out there taking advantage of you.

[Daria]

Yay! Lets sit around and make personal assumptions about people we don't know but have similar interests as us except also have more games/money/luck/etc than us. [insert angry remark and half-cocked conspiracy theory here].

Sometimes I wonder why threads like these turn out so venomous. Then I remember that DP is currently populated by a bunch of curmudgeons. :roll:

[Bojay1997]

How is this relevant? The collection is listed as the Guinness world record holder for the largest video game which is correct, IT IS the Guinness world record holder. No where does it say "this is the largest video game collection in the world". It is not the sellers fault that Guinness doesn't care about someone else taking the record. This should not even be a talking point.

His reasons for selling are his own & should not matter to anyone else. He already stated why he doesn't want to put it on ebay (a very good reason assuming it is accurate) so what's so wrong will selling it on game gavel? A lot of the people that would be interested in buying the collection will at least know what game gavel is. If he put it there to get some exposure for game gavel then big whoop! If game gavel was popular it would be really great for the collecting community no matter how you personally feel about the owner.

If you boycott game gavel (something that would be good for collecting) just because you don't like someone on the other side of the internet then you are a selfish, close-minded individual.

Yes you have every right to have a personal problem with the person selling his collection the way he sees best, but if your reasons are stupid & petty then Please don't share them. If you have a legitimate concern about how this will negatively effect someone then by all means tell us.

It's relevant because the seller has spent the last year touting this award as somehow credible and relevant. Potential buyers can make up their own mind, but I would be embarrassed to keep touting my collection as the largest in the world when I knew with a great deal of certainty that it's not. You also don't get to decide what is and isn't a "talking point" for people on this forum or anywhere else. It's been brought up to the "record holder" before and his position is that anyone can do the same thing he did, but it's pretty clear that Guiness won't allow that to happen so from my perspective, it makes the record worthless.

As for Game Gavel and it's owner, you can't separate one from the other. The guy spends large amounts of time spamming up message boards touting it as some kind of Ebay alternative when the reality is that it has a tiny amount of traffic and none of the safety or protection of Ebay. Indeed, for a buyer there is zero advantage to buying on Game Gavel versus Ebay and in fact, with Ebay and Paypal programs like Ebay Bucks, it is actually more beneficial for buyers to buy on Ebay. The fact that Ebay regularly sides with buyers in disputes and refunds their money is another benefit Game Gavel doesn't provide. In fact, early on a fraudulent seller from Ebay was banned by Ebay and moved over to Game Gavel and when myself and others brought this to SoCalMike's attention, he basically told us he wouldn't do anything because the guy hadn't done anything fraudulent at Game Gavel yet. The reality is that Game Gavel provides nothing to the collector or gamer community and frankly, sellers are better off selling on Ebay for high end items because of the exposure and selling on forums for more common items as it avoids fees other than perhaps Paypal.

As for your other points, while I agree that it really is none of anyone's business why the owner chooses to sell his collection, there is nothing wrong with people discussing whether or not there are better ways to sell a collection like this. If he doesn't want the scrutiny, he doesn't need to post on public forums or seek media attention. He could have just tried to sell it privately to avoid all the attention.

[Bojay1997]

I highly doubt he's only making 30k a year, especially if he's a professor. Playing the sympathy card is common among these people who have gotten ahead. I think you all need to start realizing that there are people out there taking advantage of you.

Oh, look who's back. The guy that continually makes false claims about things and then disappears when he's asked to support his claims. Still waiting on proof that Battle Frenzy is unlicensed. Since you're spreading more of your lies, there are plenty of professors who make very little money. I know when I taught at a community college, it was a part-time gig and I was lucky if I made $10K from teaching for two semesters of one class each.

[Kitsune Sniper]

I don't know, maybe you should bother to read a thread (http://www.digitpress.com/forum/showthread.php?171386-Counterfeit-Sega-CD-games-being-sold-on-eBay-and-distributed-by-some-shady-website) you responded to numerous times?

... I'd like to know why you're not banned first.

Regarding the validity of the collection: Eh, it's cool that Guinness recognized it, but someone else will eventually pop up with a bigger collection - same as with any other Guinness record, someone gets it, someone else tries to break it. So it's cool that he got recognized for his efforts. There's no need to pour hate on the guy for trying to sell his collection, especially if he's doing it to cover family expenses.

But if he's doing it for publicity reasons.... carry on. ;p

[JSoup]

I know when I taught at a community college, it was a part-time gig and I was lucky if I made $10K from teaching for two semesters of one class each.

Not surprising. "Instructor" and "Professor" carry different legal weights, community colleges tend to go with Instructor for that reason. At least that's what the three closest ones to me do.

[Bojay1997]

Not surprising. "Instructor" and "Professor" carry different legal weights, community colleges tend to go with Instructor for that reason. At least that's what the three closest ones to me do.

Yes, I was an instructor as were most of the part-time staff although I think most people just call anyone that teaches at a college a "professor" even though you're right that it has a very specific definition and it's considered fairly prestigious to be a full professor at a legitimate school.

[Kaboomer]

First of all, it's not spamming when you personally know, are friends with and have the approval of the site owners, all of which apply in my case. And I've always reciprocated and promoted the forums I use as well so its mutually beneficial. As far as promoting auctions to forums, I do that as a service to sellers to drive more people to their auctions (would eBay spend the time to do that?), especially if they are noteworthy auctions that people would want to learn about. And, on top of that I haven't promoted an auction in any forums for quite some time. I really don't need to do it as much anymore since we have continued to grow.

Second, not one person has been scammed on GameGavel. It happened one time, the guy was ejected and I paid back the buyers who were scammed the money they lost as a result of it personally. And I worked with authorities to have the guy thrown in jail, which he was -- he was doing this on a variety of smaller marketplaces. As far as buyer AND seller protection it is obviously taken quite seriously, especially with high profile auctions such as this. All new bidders are called and screened. I highly doubt eBay does this. On top of that we are well connected with gaming media sites and also help promote auctions like this through these channels -- something eBay wouldn't do. This would be just another auction to them and we are grateful that Michael chose to list his collection here on GG. I think Michael can attest to getting lots of support on this. Currently the auction is about to cross 100K (edit: crossed 100K) views and current high bidder is Oculus Rift creator, Palmer Luckey.

To top it all off, GameGavel has a great track record for the listing AND selling of top-shelf items such as the two Atari Air Raids, Atari Red Sea Crossing and the Goodwill discovered Stadium Events.

To anyone else I've personally offended through by swap meet dealings, I am sorry. But, I am no different than anyone else hunting for games at these weekend So Cal swap meets. You forget that these vendors are constantly over charging buyers for games with known characters like Mario, Donkey Kong, Zelda, etc. There have been times where I've not negotiated with the seller and accepted their prices outright. And the scenario above where I asked to drop from $50 to $5 never happened unless it really WAS a $5 item. And none of these sellers are gamers or even remotely connected with the hobby. They are there selling a variety of things and everything they sell, the buyer talks them down. I have done nothing but consistently shuffle thousands of dollars through these people over the years.

Most of the items and deals I find at the swap meet that don't make into my collection are passed on to other gamers either on GameGavel (see http://www.gamegavel.com/item.cgi?show_item=0000951361 ) or are raffled off at various gaming expos for a $1/ticket and the winner picks his/her prize. I have given away Vectrex systems for $1 and tons of other rare and expensive games and items in this fashion. If any of you have seen me at SC3 or even CGE you might have enjoyed one of these raffles as all in attendance do and appreciate.

Anyway, I won't be chiming in anymore as I have more important things to deal with. Carry on.




It's relevant because the seller has spent the last year touting this award as somehow credible and relevant. Potential buyers can make up their own mind, but I would be embarrassed to keep touting my collection as the largest in the world when I knew with a great deal of certainty that it's not. You also don't get to decide what is and isn't a "talking point" for people on this forum or anywhere else. It's been brought up to the "record holder" before and his position is that anyone can do the same thing he did, but it's pretty clear that Guiness won't allow that to happen so from my perspective, it makes the record worthless.

As for Game Gavel and it's owner, you can't separate one from the other. The guy spends large amounts of time spamming up message boards touting it as some kind of Ebay alternative when the reality is that it has a tiny amount of traffic and none of the safety or protection of Ebay. Indeed, for a buyer there is zero advantage to buying on Game Gavel versus Ebay and in fact, with Ebay and Paypal programs like Ebay Bucks, it is actually more beneficial for buyers to buy on Ebay. The fact that Ebay regularly sides with buyers in disputes and refunds their money is another benefit Game Gavel doesn't provide. In fact, early on a fraudulent seller from Ebay was banned by Ebay and moved over to Game Gavel and when myself and others brought this to SoCalMike's attention, he basically told us he wouldn't do anything because the guy hadn't done anything fraudulent at Game Gavel yet. The reality is that Game Gavel provides nothing to the collector or gamer community and frankly, sellers are better off selling on Ebay for high end items because of the exposure and selling on forums for more common items as it avoids fees other than perhaps Paypal.

As for your other points, while I agree that it really is none of anyone's business why the owner chooses to sell his collection, there is nothing wrong with people discussing whether or not there are better ways to sell a collection like this. If he doesn't want the scrutiny, he doesn't need to post on public forums or seek media attention. He could have just tried to sell it privately to avoid all the attention.

[phil_consollection]

Actually, as at least one collector with a mega collection noted a few months back, Guiness refused to return his calls and e-mails. They are essentially a marketing company and have little interest in constantly updating this or most of their other records.

I understand. So he got lucky and HIS calls were returned while others were not. Feel free to blame the Guiness Company for not being professional, but don't blame him because he was lucky and got the certificate.

I don't care much about the discussions surrounding Game Gavel - but approaching the seller on the most personal level (which you did not, but others did), without really knowing anything, is something I don't like. I know, thats what the internet is made for, but even after 20 years, I am still not used to it. Okay, saying his collection is crap and that there are bigger collection - I would not care much. But reading the "attention seeker"-claim and then seeing the "medical bill"-cause (which I have not reason to not believe right now, although someone will say again "he is taking advantage of you") made me really feel uncomfortable just by observing it.

I will never get used to the constant negativity that surrounds situations like this. Its history repeating every time something like this pops up, not only here.

[Doonzmore]

As someone who works with Michael and was aware of his medical situation before he decided to sell his collection, I can completely vouch for his reason for selling. It's unfortunate that it would happen so soon after receiving recognition from Guinness, but "life happens" as they say. Such is the case here.

[TheRedEye]

This forum has gotten kind of toxic.

[Dangerboy]

This forum has gotten kind of toxic.

I guess it's time to blow it all up and start over.

[badinsults]

This forum has gotten kind of toxic.

I'd argue that DP was always toxic, but there was always enough posters that such topics did not remain at the top for days at a time. I mean, remember the Bio Force Ape prank? There was a reason that prank happened, and why it worked so well.

The fact is, the thing that brought together the DP community (compiling a massive database of games) is by and large complete, and few care about doing such a task anymore. Classic gaming is all about the money and Poke-carts (gotta get them all), so it is not hard to grasp why there is such cynicism.

Why do I care. No idea. I never was much of a collector, and I haven't really bought much gaming stuff in years. It just bothers me that this guy is claiming he has the largest video game collection, which is blatantly false.

[NinSEGA]

Still waiting on proof that Battle Frenzy is unlicensed.

The burden of proof is on Mr. Thommason, not me. Simple rule for a "libel" case. And since the only proof he supplied were contracts with Stargate Films (Bug Blasters and Star Strike, which by the way, Stargate doesn't have the right to profit off of hence why they were pulled from Thommason's and his British eBay buddy's sites) and Elite Systems (Complete Onside Soccer and Power Slide), he doesn't have a leg to stand on. Those two contracts have absolutely nothing to do with Battle Frenzy, Marko's Magic Football, The Smurfs or the other titles, all of which he had no right to make copies of. Oh, and sorry to say, but "repros" are counterfeits, no matter what you say.

One other thing to note, the Stargate and Elite games are listed as being officially licensed on their packaging while those terms are completely absent from all of the other titles. I wonder why?

It's quite apparent you guys are all involved in a very elaborate scheme with Mr. Thommason, as seen by Mr. Ugly Rabbit Avatar's willingness to defend everything this hack says because he does reviews for the guy and gets tons of freebies. I'm glad people are willing to point out the other shenanigans going on such as the apparent cross-promotion for this Game Gavel schmuck. Defend these tools all you want, you'll just reaffirm my stance that you are all shills for the guy, or just plain stupid.

[Jorpho]

I'd argue that DP was always toxicSeriously, this board was kind of terrifying when I started out thirteen years ago.


It's quite apparent you guys are all involved in a very elaborate scheme with Mr. Thommason, as seen by Mr. Ugly Rabbit Avatar's willingness to defend everything this hack says because he does reviews for the guy and gets tons of freebies. I'm glad people are willing to point out the other shenanigans going on such as the apparent cross-promotion for this Game Gavel schmuck. Defend these tools all you want, you'll just reaffirm my stance that you are all shills for the guy, or just plain stupid.You can at least keep this in the other thread you already started.

Also, to start claiming that you can see we're "all involved in a very elaborate scheme" is a fine way to dispose of whatever little credibility you may have had left.

[JSoup]

Seriously, this board was kind of terrifying when I started out thirteen years ago.

I would have joined a year earlier were it not for some innate bitchfit topic I saw that convinced me you guys weren't any better than the apes on /b/. Funny thing, most of the people I remember seeing in that topic haven't posted in years. I find this forum generally friendly, we just don't put up with BS. And since the internet runs on BS, it makes us seem pretty hostile.

[NinSEGA]

Seriously, this board was kind of terrifying when I started out thirteen years ago.

You can at least keep this in the other thread you already started.

Also, to start claiming that you can see we're "all involved in a very elaborate scheme" is a fine way to dispose of whatever little credibility you may have had left.

Not if that Game Gavel schmuck (who also owns that retro gaming mag), the guy with the rabbit avatar who has written for that mag, Good Deal Games, and J2 Games/Video Game Trader are in cahoots with each other. It's quite apparent why they'd all want to rub each others' backs.

If you want to support a business that operates legitimately, support Songbird Productions. Carl Forhan actually makes sure that the games he publishes are officially licensed. And the games he has published have been recognized by the IP owners (see: Hyper Force on Visual Impact's list of games produced and the fact that every game is "licensed by...").

Buying a beta copy of an unreleased game from an ex-Sega employee does not qualify as being officially licensed, as was pointed out by a member on Sega-16.

[Bojay1997]

Not if that Game Gavel schmuck (who also owns that retro gaming mag), the guy with the rabbit avatar who has written for that mag, Good Deal Games, and J2 Games/Video Game Trader are in cahoots with each other. It's quite apparent why they'd all want to rub each others' backs.

If you want to support a business that operates legitimately, support Songbird Productions. Carl Forhan actually makes sure that the games he publishes are officially licensed. And the games he has published have been recognized by the IP owners (see: Hyper Force on Visual Impact's list of games produced and the fact that every game is "licensed by...").

Buying a beta copy of an unreleased game from an ex-Sega employee does not qualify as being officially licensed, as was pointed out by a member on Sega-16.

You might be the biggest hypocrite I have ever run into on any gaming forum I have ever been involved with. You have posted on various sites asking for Pippin ISOs and even offered to provide others with copies of them. Those are unlicensed and you are stealing from the copyright holders. That is theft pure and simple. You have no credibility and nobody owes you a personal explanation as to the origin or source of items they are selling. You have no standing as you don't represent the copyright holders. You've been banned from multiple forums and for some unknown reason you have come crawling back here. It's really pretty sickening because nobody here agrees with you or cares about your fraudulent crusade. Please, just go away.

[portnoyd]

Translation:


First of all, it's not spamming when you personally know, are friends with and have the approval of the site owners, all of which apply in my case. And I've always reciprocated and promoted the forums I use as well so its mutually beneficial.

Joe Santulli, who is never on these forums anymore, ever, doesn't care what I do here.


As far as promoting auctions to forums, I do that as a service to sellers to drive more people to their auctions (would eBay spend the time to do that?), especially if they are noteworthy auctions that people would want to learn about. And, on top of that I haven't promoted an auction in any forums for quite some time. I really don't need to do it as much anymore since we have continued to grow.

GameGavel is still thoroughly parked in neutral, but I'll never admit it. However, I can beg and abuse my connections and relationships to get people to post auctions there, even if it's deleterious to their outcome. I don't care because I am desperate. I didn't need to drive anyone to Thomasson's auction - he did that himself easily enough - but I will take credit for advertising it so I look smart.


Second, not one person has been scammed on GameGavel. It happened one time, the guy was ejected and I paid back the buyers who were scammed the money they lost as a result of it personally. And I worked with authorities to have the guy thrown in jail, which he was -- he was doing this on a variety of smaller marketplaces.

I'll state one thing and immediately contradict it. I hope you ignore that obvious contradiction. Concerning the one scammer, I let the other forums do the work for me since it was so widespread.


As far as buyer AND seller protection it is obviously taken quite seriously, especially with high profile auctions such as this. All new bidders are called and screened. I highly doubt eBay does this.

I just started doing this, just for this auction since it is hitting the mainstream media. It would be an epic disaster for my PR if this ended up in the billions.


On top of that we are well connected with gaming media sites and also help promote auctions like this through these channels -- something eBay wouldn't do. This would be just another auction to them and we are grateful that Michael chose to list his collection here on GG. I think Michael can attest to getting lots of support on this. Currently the auction is about to cross 100K (edit: crossed 100K) views and current high bidder is Oculus Rift creator, Palmer Luckey.

Although the auction didn't cross 100k as of 7:10am EST, I will still claim it did. I needed to whore the auction to media sites, because they wouldn't notice it otherwise. If it was on eBay, the auction would have been noticed almost automatically, something I can never promise to anyone. I am grateful to Michael for posting his auction at GG and I am grateful he is taking the kickback I offered to him to do so, since no one would be crazy enough to list something like this here without some persuasion.


To top it all off, GameGavel has a great track record for the listing AND selling of top-shelf items such as the two Atari Air Raids, Atari Red Sea Crossing and the Goodwill discovered Stadium Events.

This is all I have to show for years of running GameGavel. The NintendoAge auction forum has more profile sales. But don't tell anyone that!


To anyone else I've personally offended through by swap meet dealings, I am sorry. But, I am no different than anyone else hunting for games at these weekend So Cal swap meets. You forget that these vendors are constantly over charging buyers for games with known characters like Mario, Donkey Kong, Zelda, etc. There have been times where I've not negotiated with the seller and accepted their prices outright. And the scenario above where I asked to drop from $50 to $5 never happened unless it really WAS a $5 item. And none of these sellers are gamers or even remotely connected with the hobby. They are there selling a variety of things and everything they sell, the buyer talks them down. I have done nothing but consistently shuffle thousands of dollars through these people over the years.

I am an obnoxious twit in person as I am online. I will now try and cover for myself with obvious nonsense that does not relate to my own practices.


Most of the items and deals I find at the swap meet that don't make into my collection are passed on to other gamers either on GameGavel (see http://www.gamegavel.com/item.cgi?show_item=0000951361 ) or are raffled off at various gaming expos for a $1/ticket and the winner picks his/her prize. I have given away Vectrex systems for $1 and tons of other rare and expensive games and items in this fashion. If any of you have seen me at SC3 or even CGE you might have enjoyed one of these raffles as all in attendance do and appreciate.

Look at all the nice stuff I've given away to promote GameGavel! That makes me a good person, even all those raffles are what normal people would call marketing expenditures for GG/Retro, right?


Anyway, I won't be chiming in anymore as I have more important things to deal with. Carry on.

My argument doesn't really address bojay's post, so I will turn tail and not respond here anymore so I don't put my foot in my mouth.

[NinSEGA]

You might be the biggest hypocrite I have ever run into on any gaming forum I have ever been involved with. You have posted on various sites asking for Pippin ISOs and even offered to provide others with copies of them. Those are unlicensed and you are stealing from the copyright holders. That is theft pure and simple. You have no credibility and nobody owes you a personal explanation as to the origin or source of items they are selling. You have no standing as you don't represent the copyright holders. You've been banned from multiple forums and for some unknown reason you have come crawling back here. It's really pretty sickening because nobody here agrees with you or cares about your fraudulent crusade. Please, just go away.

Has money exchanged hands with those Pippin ISOs? Nope.

Oh, and banned from multiple forums? Sega-16 is only one forum, brah.

[Bojay1997]

Has money exchanged hands with those Pippin ISOs? Nope.

Oh, and banned from multiple forums? Sega-16 is only one forum, brah.

Possession and distribution of pirated software is a crime and a breach of copyright. No money has to exchange hands. Who at Bandai or any of the developers or publishers of Pippin software gave you permission to copy or distribute their software which is under copyright?

[Zthun]

Has money exchanged hands with those Pippin ISOs? Nope.

Oh, and banned from multiple forums? Sega-16 is only one forum, brah.

Yeah. I don't think you quite understand how copyright works. When you have a copyright to something, others cannot distribute or own a copy without a valid license. The exchange of money has nothing to do with it.

[Melf]

I highly doubt he's only making 30k a year, especially if he's a professor.

Not all instructors are tenured and raking in big bucks. Ask any adjunct what they make.


Oh, and banned from multiple forums? Sega-16 is only one forum, brah.

And why was that, brah? It was because you went on a crusade against a supposed pirate after you made a thread (http://www.sega-16.com/forum/showthread.php?27445-Wanted-ISO-of-North-American-version-of-Racing-Days-for-Apple-Bandai-Pippin) asking for an ISO. You even used the pirate smiley thread icon.

[Gentlegamer]

Yeah. I don't think you quite understand how copyright works. When you have a copyright to something, others cannot distribute or own a copy without a valid license. The exchange of money has nothing to do with it.

False. The distribution right of the copyright holder in a particular copy is exhausted after the first time it is distributed. This is also known as the First Sale Doctrine. You need no permission or license to own or distribute a copyrighted work after the copyright holder distributed it the first time.

However, this refers to authorized copies of the work, which ISOs (except perhaps for personal use as back ups) are not.

[InsaneDavid]

Port, sometimes I forget how awesome your rare posts here these days are. Then you remind me.

[Zthun]

False. The distribution right of the copyright holder in a particular copy is exhausted after the first time it is distributed. This is also known as the First Sale Doctrine. You need no permission or license to own or distribute a copyrighted work after the copyright holder distributed it the first time.

However, this refers to authorized copies of the work, which ISOs (except perhaps for personal use as back ups) are not.

Ok, I can see how what I said could be misleading. When you distribute a copyrighted work, you need to give the license with it. You cannot make a copy of something, keep your own license, and then distribute a new license without the permission of the original copyright holder. What you're talking about is physical media. When you distribute physical media, you give away the license you own when it transfers hands. For example, I can't play a physical game that I've given away to a friend because I no longer have it. It's illegal, however, if I made a digital copy of that game, and then sell the game to a friend of mine, hence creating an artificial license that is not authorized.

An ISO is a copy of some physical media in which the license is not valid. If it's a backup of physical media that you own, then it's legal, but in this case, he was asking for ISOs to download from the internet.

[Gentlegamer]

Ok, I can see how what I said could be misleading. When you distribute a copyrighted work, you need to give the license with it. You cannot make a copy of something, keep your own license, and then distribute a new license without the permission of the original copyright holder. What you're talking about is physical media. When you distribute physical media, you give away the license you own when it transfers hands. For example, I can't play a physical game that I've given away to a friend because I no longer have it. It's illegal, however, if I made a digital copy of that game, and then sell the game to a friend of mine, hence creating an artificial license that is not authorized.

An ISO is a copy of some physical media in which the license is not valid. If it's a backup of physical media that you own, then it's legal, but in this case, he was asking for ISOs to download from the internet.

Forget the term license. It has nothing to do with copyright law, in the context we are talking about. It implies an overarching level of control by the copyright holder that doesn't exist.

Copyright fundamentally means you cannot create a copy of a work without authorization of the copyright owner (the widely accepted exception is back up copies of software for your own use only).

If the person is question is on a crusade over the copyright of prototypes, and was openly seeking ISOs or trading, he's not worth taking seriously on this matter in any way.

That said, the purpose of intellectual property law is to encourage innovations in the arts and sciences to flow into the public domain. The current copyright term under law is a grotesque perversion of this concept. Copying and distributing software for long depreciated hardware platforms is perfectly ethical, in my opinion, and most of those works should already by in the public domian by the original term (14 years, or 28 years on extension).

[YoshiM]

This forum has gotten kind of toxic.

This. This by a lot. What in the heck happened to this place? I think if he did sell it on eBay this contents of this thread would STILL exist to rip the auction to shreds.

So Thomassen is selling his stuff on GG as it will take less out of his pocket in the end. Big deal. Yeah he could part it out but c'mon-11K of games and such- that's gonna take a LOT of time. Time is valuable and can be in less supply than money. So take the hit in the wallet but have time to take care of other things.

As for SoCalMike and GG- why not use this as advertisement? Heck even on eBay the media finds out about these types of sales. Why can't the underdog take advantage? I'm sure live auctions of old estates will tout about antiques or other special rarities or histories to attract buyers. Why can't GG? For both seller and auction house, it's a win-win.

I've never talked Thomaasen (sorry if I'm slaughtering the name-on my iPhone and Tapatalk sucks) but I did interview SoCalMike and he seemed to be a straight shooter on and off the record. I enjoyed the days of the Chuckwagon and while I haven't used the GameGavel service all that much, it's good to have options beyond eBay.

Last i saw the auction was up to $98K. Not too shabby for not being on eBay.

Shifting gears, is this what DP is turning into? A bunch of crotchety gamers spouting negative garbage from their porches? I know the hey days had their share of nasty but c'mon.

[The Adventurer]

Shifting gears, is this what DP is turning into? A bunch of crotchety gamers spouting negative garbage from their porches?

Trouble is, this sort of behavior is pretty common in any niche online community. Its hard to avoid without a strong proactive hand to discourage it.

[Zthun]

Forget the term license. It has nothing to do with copyright law, in the context we are talking about. It implies an overarching level of control by the copyright holder that doesn't exist.

Copyright fundamentally means you cannot create a copy of a work without authorization of the copyright owner (the widely accepted exception is back up copies of software for your own use only).

If the person is question is on a crusade over the copyright of prototypes, and was openly seeking ISOs or trading, he's not worth taking seriously on this matter in any way.


This was my point. You just said it better than I did.



That said, the purpose of intellectual property law is to encourage innovations in the arts and sciences to flow into the public domain. The current copyright term under law is a grotesque perversion of this concept. Copying and distributing software for long depreciated hardware platforms is perfectly ethical, in my opinion, and most of those works should already by in the public domian by the original term (14 years, or 28 years on extension).

Yes you are correct. 28 years was in 1790 and that lasted until about 1830 when a series of extensions kept popping up; the last one was 1998 which brought it up to....indefinitely (you have Disney to thank for that one - they wanted to keep sucking off Mickey Mouse). As far as opinion goes, I agree with you that there is nothing wrong with copying and distributing software for depreciated hardware. I was just pointing out that just because no money changed hands doesn't mean that copyright laws don't apply.

[badinsults]

The auction is currently troll bid (I assume it was troll bid) to $500,000. The reserve is not met, even though that puts it to $45 per game. What exactly is in this collection that makes such a high reserve justifiable?

Considering the laughably high reserve, I still maintain this auction is 90% seeking attention, and 10% actually seeking a buyer.

[GarrettCRW]

I'd love to know how this isn't a shill for Game Gavel, or that magazine of SoCalMike's. But, honestly, it's nowhere near as skeezy as GameGavel glomming onto the fundraiser for SegaAges' funeral, which would have pissed Kevin off to no end.




Who is the founder? As far as I know it's only been SoCal Mike, I had no idea he bought it from someone else.


Mike is the founder of ChasetheChuckwagon.com

Jaesun is the founder of GameGavel.com. Always has been and always will be. It has been awhile, so I forgot the dude's last name, but SoCalMike is just a dude who bought GameGavel and then started calling himself the founder of GameGavel, which he is not.

I called him on this years ago and then he changed it up on the very next e-mail chain. It looks like he switched it back.

I know it sounds petty, but this was all going down while I was working on something on the side with Jaesun, so I used to keep in contact with him (I have not talked to the dude in years, but we did get a ton of work done on a project).

That would be like Microsoft buying Apple, then Bill Gates calling himself the founder of Apple. No, it does not work that way.

[portnoyd]

Port, sometimes I forget how awesome your rare posts here these days are. Then you remind me.

<3 <3 <3

This auction is 100% bullshit now. $500k and reserve not met? Yeah. Time for the Which Is More Likely Test.

Which is more likely?

Thomasson actually thinks his collection is worth $500,000+ and won't sell it for anything less?

OR

Thomasson posted this auction for attention for himself and SoCalMike's benefit with no intention to sell?

We all know Michael had turned a blind eye to the neverending calls of 'YOU KNOW MANY PEOPLE HAVE MORE GAMES, RIGHT?' so it is possible he is just as delusional in regards to value. However, delusion has a limit when you are a functioning adult with a career. Take a look at this:

http://www.nintendoage.com/forum/messageview.cfm?catid=5&threadid=128589

DreamTR, you know, the guy with upwards of 20,000 games, is only insuring his collection for south of $1 million. Keep in mind, he has EVERY RARE GAME RELEASED IN THE US. PERIOD. And you're trying to tell me that Michael really really believes his collection, which, in numerous places, has been discussed as being filler heavy, is worth even close to what DTR wants to insure his collection for?

Yeah, right. If you believe this is real and an honest attempt to sell this collection, you are out of your goddamn mind.

This is all moot, of course. Thomasson and SoCalMike will never address these claims. Turning a blind eye, akin to how Thomasson did when questioned about other collectors with more games, is their only option to save face. We know them both to be full of shit, but sadly the mainstream media won't dig that deep. Just remember what kind of people they are when dealing with them in the future.

[Double Ugly]

<3 <3 <3

This auction is 100% bullshit now. $500k and reserve not met? Yeah. Time for the Which Is More Likely Test.

Which is more likely?

Thomasson actually thinks his collection is worth $500,000+ and won't sell it for anything less?

OR

Thomasson posted this auction for attention for himself and SoCalMike's benefit with no intention to sell?

We all know Michael had turned a blind eye to the neverending calls of 'YOU KNOW MANY PEOPLE HAVE MORE GAMES, RIGHT?' so it is possible he is just as delusional in regards to value. However, delusion has a limit when you are a functioning adult with a career. Take a look at this:

http://www.nintendoage.com/forum/messageview.cfm?catid=5&threadid=128589

DreamTR, you know, the guy with upwards of 20,000 games, is only insuring his collection for south of $1 million. Keep in mind, he has EVERY RARE GAME RELEASED IN THE US. PERIOD. And you're trying to tell me that Michael really really believes his collection, which, in numerous places, has been discussed as being filler heavy, is worth even close to what DTR wants to insure his collection for?

Yeah, right. If you believe this is real and an honest attempt to sell this collection, you are out of your goddamn mind.

This is all moot, of course. Thomasson and SoCalMike will never address these claims. Turning a blind eye, akin to how Thomasson did when questioned about other collectors with more games, is their only option to save face. We know them both to be full of shit, but sadly the mainstream media won't dig that deep. Just remember what kind of people they are when dealing with them in the future.

You should consider seeking therapy for your obsession with how someone else lives their life (based on your assumptions about said person who you know next to nothing about). If these people were doing something that would hurt someone else then yes, bring attention to it but I don't see why it matters what their motives are.

Why are you so determined to try to make everyone see this the way you see it? Will you be able to die happy when you see these people shunned by the community?

The seller said he had his collection valued at 750k-850k, why do you assume he is lying? It will sell for what its worth.

[GarrettCRW]

This is his collection. (http://www.gooddealgames.com/Worlds%20Largest%20Video%20Game%20Collection.html)

I've glanced over it, and I'm certain that portnoyd, PapaStu, GrandAmChandler, badinsults, and Dangerboy have, as well, and there's a distinct lack of rarities beyond his complete US sets, especially in the realm of big-value RPGs. There are, however, a metric fuckton of sports games and low-value commons.

[badinsults]

You should consider seeking therapy for your obsession with how someone else lives their life (based on your assumptions about said person who you know next to nothing about). If these people were doing something that would hurt someone else then yes, bring attention to it but I don't see why it matters what their motives are.

Why are you so determined to try to make everyone see this the way you see it? Will you be able to die happy when you see these people shunned by the community?

The seller said he had his collection valued at 750k-850k, why do you assume he is lying? It will sell for what its worth.

This forum was founded on the basis of gathering together people who collected library sized collections of video games. Why are you so surprised that people who spend their time doing this are commenting about how overvalued this guy thinks his collection is? The only people who think this collection is worth more than $100,000 are the seller, and people who know absolutely nothing about collecting classic video games.

If the seller were truly looking to sell the collection, he would accept the $90,000 the Occulus Rift guy was offering. Because this collection is not worth more than that.

[portnoyd]

You should consider seeking therapy for your obsession with how someone else lives their life (based on your assumptions about said person who you know next to nothing about). If these people were doing something that would hurt someone else then yes, bring attention to it but I don't see why it matters what their motives are.

That is not the first time someone here has told that to me. Funny. Anywho, wouldn't you want to know the driving force behind someone's actions? Critical thinking is a useful skill, you know. It can help you a great deal and help you make the right decisions. Like, say, not pledging money to someone who mismanaged a gaming auction site so badly, it's been on perpetual life support, so he can make a video game magazine. Or not pledging money to someone who can't even hold a game show annually, so he can build a museum. Or not forking over said game show to said idiot with a failing auction site. Yikes!


Why are you so determined to try to make everyone see this the way you see it?

If you want my motivation, it's simply this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UecRfBJ2LBM


Will you be able to die happy when you see these people shunned by the community?

Well, yes. An ounce of humility for Thomasson and a metric fuckton of go the fuck away for SoCalMike would be awesome. Hell, if you want a reason, I am doing this because that's what SegaAges would have wanted.


The seller said he had his collection valued at 750k-850k, why do you assume he is lying? It will sell for what its worth.

Because I know it's not worth more than $100k! Many people have said it's not worth $100k! There is a ton of filler, missing information (what's complete, what's not) and previous gen front loaded. If you have any familiarity with current prices, you'd know he's full of shit.

It's funny, I was going to end my last post with what I am about to say: Don't give me that 'sell what it's worth' nonsense. The point I was trying to make is it's not going to sell. There is no sell what it's worth because it's not going to sell. It's a fucking show for attention, period.

[Double Ugly]

This forum was founded on the basis of gathering together people who collected library sized collections of video games. Why are you so surprised that people who spend their time doing this are commenting about how overvalued this guy thinks his collection is? The only people who think this collection is worth more than $100,000 are the seller, and people who know absolutely nothing about collecting classic video games.

If the seller were truly looking to sell the collection, he would accept the $90,000 the Occulus Rift guy was offering. Because this collection is not worth more than that.

I am not surprised people think it is overvalued. I do not think it is worth $500k but if the seller had someone take the time to value his collection why should we blame the seller for what that person concluded. If someone estimates the value of 2500 sealed games who can say that estimate is wrong? It is an estimate of something that is incredibly hard to quantify.

I don't have a problem with people stating their opinion. I have a problem with people complaining about something so utterly meaningless as if it is a crime against humanity. People are basically saying: "In my opinion this guy is wrong. What a dick!".



This is his collection. (http://www.gooddealgames.com/Worlds%20Largest%20Video%20Game%20Collection.html)

I've glanced over it, and I'm certain that portnoyd, PapaStu, GrandAmChandler, badinsults, and Dangerboy have, as well, and there's a distinct lack of rarities beyond his complete US sets, especially in the realm of big-value RPGs. There are, however, a metric fuckton of sports games and low-value commons.

I looked over it too & I agree. Don't forget though that the seller said that almost all of the games are mint/complete & around 25% are sealed. How long do you think it would take to estimate the value of 11000 games based on values from a particular source? 80 hours seems like it would be a quick estimate, yet people look at the list for 15 minutes, don't see any rarez & can say with confidence what the collection is worth.

Also, for the people who are saying that most of the collection is filler; do you know anyone who has 11000 unique games that are all rare/uncommon without any sports titles?

[Double Ugly]

That is not the first time someone here has told that to me. Funny. Anywho, wouldn't you want to know the driving force behind someone's actions? Critical thinking is a useful skill, you know. It can help you a great deal and help you make the right decisions. Like, say, not pledging money to someone who mismanaged a gaming auction site so badly, it's been on perpetual life support, so he can make a video game magazine. Or not pledging money to someone who can't even hold a game show annually, so he can build a museum. Or not forking over said game show to said idiot with a failing auction site. Yikes!

Their motive only matters if the action effects me. If the action does not effect you then your interest in the motive is more than likely a desire for drama which has nothing to do with critical thinking.

Do you consider it mismanaged because it has not been successful compared to ebay? Is the magazine youre reffering to the one that was kickstarted last year? If so I have only heard positive things thus far. I don't know anything about the game show you're referring to.




If you want my motivation, it's simply this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UecRfBJ2LBM

Maybe he is but I still don't understand the need for all of the negativity. I can't imagine you know the seller well enough to know what his motives are, you are merely assuming. If you had proof than what you say might be worth listening too but you just come off as an angry person with no logical reason for your hatred.




Well, yes. An ounce of humility for Thomasson and a metric fuckton of go the fuck away for SoCalMike would be awesome. Hell, if you want a reason, I am doing this because that's what SegaAges would have wanted.

No comment.



Because I know it's not worth more than $100k! Many people have said it's not worth $100k! There is a ton of filler, missing information (what's complete, what's not) and previous gen front loaded. If you have any familiarity with current prices, you'd know he's full of shit.

It's funny, I was going to end my last post with what I am about to say: Don't give me that 'sell what it's worth' nonsense. The point I was trying to make is it's not going to sell. There is no sell what it's worth because it's not going to sell. It's a fucking show for attention, period.

I stated my opinion on the value in my above post. No need to re-state it.

Both these men that you have a problem with may be terrible people but coming on here to commune with other enthusiasts about something I really enjoy & seeing all of this pointless hatred is a big downer. This thread could have been really fun if people were giving their honest opinions (along with their reasons for them) about the collection (the games) but some of you made it about the people involved. Can there be a seperate place to talk about people? This board is for video games.

,,,,,,

[bb_hood]

This is his collection. (http://www.gooddealgames.com/Worlds%20Largest%20Video%20Game%20Collection.html)

I've glanced over it, and I'm certain that portnoyd, PapaStu, GrandAmChandler, badinsults, and Dangerboy have, as well, and there's a distinct lack of rarities beyond his complete US sets, especially in the realm of big-value RPGs. There are, however, a metric fuckton of sports games and low-value commons.


Yeah, I just glanced over it and it is chock full of filler. If I had to guess, I would say he pulled mostly all of the good/rare nes and snes games before starting the auction. No boxed nes/snes games? I diddnt see any in the pictures and the collection seems to be missing many uncommons like adventure island 2, mega man 6. Like seriously, how can you have a collection of that magnitude and not have adventure island 2? How can you not have any boxed nes games?

[JeremiahJT]

I'm curious if the game lists are complete. I saw pictures of BattleSphere Gold and Zero 5, but neither were in the Jaguar list. He has the collections for the 7800, the 5200, and the Lynx as complete, but I found holes in the lists. Mean 18 Ultimate Golf for the 7800. Joust, along with Telegames releases Hyperdrome and Krazy Ace Miniature Golf for the Lynx. Now if you do not want to consider the last two for a complete collection I do not have a problem with that, although he has the rest of the Telegames releases I believe. For the 5200 he is missing quite a bit: Bounty Bob Strikes Back, Meteorites, Zaxxon, Star Wars: Return of the Jedi: Death Star Battle, and Pitfall!

Those are just the ones I noticed looking through the lists, there could be plenty of others.

[Zthun]

<3 <3 <3
We all know Michael had turned a blind eye to the neverending calls of 'YOU KNOW MANY PEOPLE HAVE MORE GAMES, RIGHT?' so it is possible he is just as delusional in regards to value. However, delusion has a limit when you are a functioning adult with a career. Take a look at this:


While i personally agree that the auction isn't worth what it is stated to be, I wanted to address the part in bold.

It doesn't matter that someone else has more games than him. He has the documentation that he has the largest game collection known - thus he can make the claim. Whether that is accurate or not doesn't matter. Until someone else comes along and proves with notarized documentation that their collection is bigger (key word, notarized - you can't just state 'my collection is bigger' and post a bunch of pictures online - you have to have some authorized personal verify it), then Michael officially has the biggest collection to date.

[YoshiM]

The auction's reserve has been met and I looked at the bidding history. It looks a little odd- one person with the handle "peeps[with a long number]" started rapidly ratcheting it up after beating "offshorecz" (or something like that). Then another user, "catch123" was in a bidding war with peeps but the bids were literally 5-20 seconds apart to bring it over $750K.

Could it be shill? Possibly as it looks like sniping attempts with a few of the bids being rather "small" increments but with a few days left.

However, does it really matter? So it hits the headlines that this site sold a collection at X amount of dollars. While some collectors will call (ahem....are calling) foul due to what is considered amongst their peers to be overvalued, it will have not much of an effect on the landscape. People will go to GG. Maybe buy something they didn't see elsewhere, maybe try and sell something. If they get results they are happy with, good for them. If not, they will go to eBay or elsewhere.

Attention grabbing or not, the site is only as good as its sellers and will sell itself on those merits. There's no need to get personal.

[Kaboomer]

The auction's reserve has been met and I looked at the bidding history. It looks a little odd- one person with the handle "peeps[with a long number]" started rapidly ratcheting it up after beating "offshorecz" (or something like that). Then another user, "catch123" was in a bidding war with peeps but the bids were literally 5-20 seconds apart to bring it over $750K.

Could it be shill? Possibly as it looks like sniping attempts with a few of the bids being rather "small" increments but with a few days left.

However, does it really matter? So it hits the headlines that this site sold a collection at X amount of dollars. While some collectors will call (ahem....are calling) foul due to what is considered amongst their peers to be overvalued, it will have not much of an effect on the landscape. People will go to GG. Maybe buy something they didn't see elsewhere, maybe try and sell something. If they get results they are happy with, good for them. If not, they will go to eBay or elsewhere.

Attention grabbing or not, the site is only as good as its sellers and will sell itself on those merits. There's no need to get personal.

Just some insights on the auction. We are phone verifying bidders at least making sure they are real people and have registered with real information and the two highest bidders are real people using their real phone #'s and what appears to be legit addresses. The reason for the quick back and fourth bidding is that the current high bidder has a higher maximum bid and the system continued to bid on their behalf with every counter bid. This is the first time we've had anything grab this much attention so were prepared to verify bidders. It's easy to delete bids by people who register with obviously fake contact info but never really thought people would shill bid and actually use their real contact info. I guess time will tell how this will play out.