Sharp Twin Famicom AN-505

[InsaneDavid]

Alright, after many years I finally bit the bullet and went after one of these full force. Auction just ended this morning and I ended up paying about $100.00 shipped for the system, power supply, AV cables, and six loose cartridge games. From the description and picture I'm going to take a stab and say the games are...

Abadox
Getsufuu Maden (or Getsu Fuma Den, or Getsu Fuu Ma Den)
Majou Densetsu II: Daimashikyou Galious
Mouryou Senki Madara
Quarth
Tetris

All appear to be authentic. The system is the black and green AN-505, which of the four Twin Famicom models is the one I've always wanted most. I'm going to assume the FDS belt is shot and will need replacement but I've fixed / maintained far more difficult things.

So I'm curious, how well / poorly did I do? After being so put off at the initial price + shipping for Twin Famicoms I stopped looking all together for awhile until last week when I came across this one. With that in mind I don't know the current going rate for these systems. I mean, either way I'm psyched about my purchase.

[Gapporin]

I'd say you did pretty well. I actually paid about $200 for my Twin Famicom, 5 cartridge games and an FDS disk, and I don't regret that purchase at all. I've always been kinda paranoid around using the FDS, but since it seems to be getting easier to find supplies and info about fixing it, maybe I should need not worry.

You probably already know this, but the AN-505 was the 2nd Twin Famicom model released, and it featured rapid fire buttons on the controllers, therefore making it command a little bit more money than the first model AN-500's. I've got a red case/black highlight AN-500, and I think it looks mighty slick. I've always loved the case design of the Twin Famicom for whatever reason.

One question: Was the console domestic or foreign? That is to say, was the seller in the US or did you pay for overseas shipping? When I bought mine, I bought it from a seller in Japan and it ended up costing a good deal for EMS shipping. But if you bought yours for $100, that's certainly nothing to sneeze at, especially for the reasons mentioned above.



"You made...a great deal!"

[smork]

Damn fine price -- you'll pay more than that on average in Japan. Very well done!

[Frankie_Says_Relax]

Very nice indeed!!

Were there HK/bootleg versions of the "Twin" Famis?

... I could be wrong, but as I've discussed in other threads, I've been in the market for Fami Disk stuff myself for the past few years with no luck (before finding a complete Disk only unit for less than $40 shipped) due to high shipping costs and low numbers, BUT it seems like now more than ever these things seem to be showing up in good numbers and decent prices.

I wonder if the Wii/VC stuff is causing less of a necessity for people to "hang on to them" where they previously were the only real way to play certain games, or if the high-value bubble of the units just "burst" due to so many having potential/eventual aditional costs.

In any case, great find, great price - congrats!

I have a duplicate of F1-Race re-written on a loose 3D Hot-Rally disc, I know you're a racing fan - let me know if you want it.

It's totally the game engine they used for R.C. Pro Am in the US with more repair/sim elements. One of the better Fami Disk games I've played.

[InsaneDavid]

Thanks for the replies!

You probably already know this, but the AN-505 was the 2nd Twin Famicom model released, and it featured rapid fire buttons on the controllers, therefore making it command a little bit more money than the first model AN-500's.

I knew it was in the second series with the turbo switches on the controllers but not that it increased the value. Awhile back I read that there are some FDS copiers / writers that will only work on the earlier systems due to some kind of lockout chip on the FDS drive - but that's something that doesn't matter to me anyway.

One question: Was the console domestic or foreign? That is to say, was the seller in the US or did you pay for overseas shipping? When I bought mine, I bought it from a seller in Japan and it ended up costing a good deal for EMS shipping. But if you bought yours for $100, that's certainly nothing to sneeze at, especially for the reasons mentioned above.

US seller amazingly, it's almost too good to be true so we'll see when it arrives. It looks good, description checks out and seller feedback is good. I paid with PayPal so I'm feeling pretty confident about it all. I think the combination of the auction ending on a Thursday morning at 6:35 PDT and the FDS drive being untested was a big factor. There was only one other bid in the closing hour and it was 30 minutes before the auction end. I tossed in my bid with about a half a minute to go and it was unchallenged aside from the previous proxy.

I'm not too worried about the FDS drive because as Gapporin said parts and information seem to be in a much healthier supply than in previous years. If I have to toss in a few bucks for FDS parts I think I'll still come out ahead, especially since I've seen tutorials that state the internals of a standalone FDS can be swapped with the FDS drive in the Twin Famicom.

I suppose I could call this one of my grails. Years ago after finally having some disposable income (amazing how that period comes and goes) to buy a TurboDuo, the Twin Famicom became the next system in the back of my mind to get.

I have a duplicate of F1-Race re-written on a loose 3D Hot-Rally disc, I know you're a racing fan - let me know if you want it.

I might take you up on that once the system arrives. If it's the game I'm thinking of I play it via emulation on the Dreamcast every now and then.

[RadiantSvgun]

Without games, I've seen them go for over 200. Let me know if its worth the money when you get it, because I am thinking of investing in one this summer.