I noticed it is right near the 20 year launch date for the Sega CD in North America, and no threads honoring the Sega CD. I have to fix that!
I fondly remember two times I got to play a unit back when they were new. I got to see the attract and one round of Blackhole Assault on the model 1 unit, and I actually convinced my parents to go through the hassle of renting a model 2 from a Blockbuster along with Sonic CD, Silpheed, and Tomcat Alley. I could never afford any of the units until I found a used one in a thrift store in 1997 for $40. I took the chance that it still worked, and it did! Since then I've been a collector whenever I stumbled across any of the games. It has had an undeserved reputation follow it for a long time, but I realized long ago that it was the first CD based console for most and it ruled the market for CD games for 3 years until 1995.
I have found it is a very difficult system to collect. Most of the model 1 units are dead now; the gameshop owner I bought mine from guesses only 1/10 he has received in trade have worked. Model 2 units are still trucking along. X'eye units seem to have lasted fairly well, but are very hard to find. Service Merchandise was the only store that I had X'Eye units back then in my area. My favorite variation is the Sega CDX, which everyone else likes too; they also seem to have the weakest laser. I just finished rebuilding a half dead one with a new laser and calibrated as best as I can, it still skips around on anything but a pristine scratchless disc. I don't think the Sega CD has error correction.
Sega CD games also seem to be magnets for damage. I've seen so many Sega CD games with pinholes of light problems, which are unrepairable. Sol-Feace is the worst for this problem. I've just had to accept that some of my games will have audio pops or bad intro movies; I would like to hear from other collectors out there: do you keep 'em or settle for small collections or empty wallets? I bought some of them as placeholders, but as the years have gone by, they have just become permanent fixtures that don't bother me too much. A large percentage of my collection has gotten to know CD resurfacers. The cardboard boxed games I've found have only been the manual and game at best, and good 'crystal' cases are difficult to find.
I've assembled most of the library, I think one day I may try to get all of them except the Good Deal Games releases. The library, when the FMV games are ignored, is actaully very good. For me, at least, the Sega CD really did deliver the Next Level in gaming. Silpheed today seems like a window into the 32-bit years, Road Rash had the first licensed soundtrack, Soul Star had the best soundtrack, Snatcher had the best atmosphere, Keio Flying Squadron had the best humor, and Lunar 2 EB is easily one of the best 16-bit RPGs. And hey, in closing I actually like Sonic CD's USA soundtrack.
Anyone else have some thoughts? I'll enjoy reading 'em.