What Is Your Own Personal Holy Grail?

[Steve W]

My Holy Grail used to be something I always coveted but had never even seen before. It was a Milton Bradley eXpansion System for the TI-99/4A. There were several games made to be played with the MBX, but I never saw the actual system outside of catalog photos. It was a voice recognition/synthesis module with an external keypad and a space-age analog joystick. I've read some statements from people who think as few as 300 MBX units were ever made, since it was put out right around the time TI discontinued the 99/4A.

One day I was checking out the local flea market and the collector guy's booth at the back of the place, and I did a double-take when I saw the MBX, boxed and complete. I took it to the seller's register, and he smiled and said "I was wondering how long it would take for someone to realize it was on the shelf". He charged me $40 for it, then said "you realize you're getting a fantastic bargain?" Oh yes, I knew it.

The thing is, I still have yet to try it out. I wanted one since 1983, and now that I have one, I don't want to play it and be disappointed that I wasted so many years wanting it. It's like when I bought a boxed Bally Astrocade and read up on it, with it's high failure rate after all these years, so I put it on a shelf and never played it because I wanted to believe I paid $40 for a working console and I didn't want to know if it was dead on arrival. Eventually, I broke down and played it (it worked). I'll do the same one day with the MBX.

[Porksta]

My holy grail used to be Sin and Punishment for the N64. Fortunately I got a complete one here from a user (thanks monthly finds thread!). Still haven't played it though. Damn you 360...

As for my current holy grail - Samba de Amigo with maracas. Man I want it so bad.

[outsider]

I suppose my grail would be my complete/mint copy of Mountain Bike Rally/Speed Racer + exercise bike.

[gameofyou]

I would like to acquire the gold master cd for the unreleased Saturn game, Waterworld.

http://www.GamingEnterprisesInc.com/temp/ww.jpg

[Steve W]

I would like to acquire the gold master cd for the unreleased Saturn game, Waterworld.

http://www.GamingEnterprisesInc.com/temp/ww.jpg

Well if the gameplay's anything like the Virtual Boy's version, then you aren't missing much. Although I'll take polygonal 3D graphics on a 2D TV set over the Virtual Boy's real 3D anyday.

[Ed Oscuro]

I should mention that for a while on #cv (IRC channel I ought to visit more) there was a bit of a running joke between me and a German user about how Rendering Ranger was a grail for me. Next time I see him (I hope) I'll be able to say..."been there, done it - twice!"

Next stop...Psychic Killer Taromaru probably (GaijinPunch once had a shot at some original artwork for the game but couldn't get it, which he regrets - I know the feeling).

I also have had some "close calls" lately with stuff I'd like to get, but something usually intervenes (and not always my doing)!

Sin & Punishment...I don't know how but I managed to get three copies of this. Okay, it went like this: First one bought, didn't really care for the condition (probably being too picky), got another (don't know if it was any better hah) and a third came along with a JP N64 recently-ish. All boxed & complete.

Right now my "holy grails" aren't even gaming related though: the newly-released Canon TS-E lenses are pretty expensive but worth it, and hold their value pretty well too. Apparently the new 24mm one is just as sharp as Canon's regular 24mm lenses, which is amazing Barring that, a tilt-shift lens & medium format camera would be...good...but not a little bit expensive (just the camera system and a basic lens would be more than my entire game collection is worth, without a doubt).

[77punk]

My Holy Grail items would be my boxed Master System original from when I was a kid and my GP32 FLU.. viva GamePark!

How rare are those Teradrives and is it US made?

[Game Freak]

My holy grails are my MIB (and unfortunately once sealed) Super Star Wars, as well as a boxed minty condition TRS-80 Color Computer (only used 3 times according to the seller, looks that way too, even had the bubble wrap)

Finally, i have an Atari 5200 and MIB copy of Kirby's Dreamland 3

[tom]

How rare are those Teradrives and is it US made?

rarer than rare ,and Japan made only

[JohnnyBlaze]

My boxed Twin Famicom.

Let me give a quick story:

I was a BIG Nintendo mark(still am) and this was one of those things that always escaped me. I've always wanted one of these because it was not only a combo deal of two systems I've always wanted, but it was also a work of art in my opinion.

I FINALLY got one on eBay for $190. But, long story short, the aggravation that went along with it(non responsive, deceitful seller, fight to get him to even send a part, the hours upon hours of cleaning it and fixing it) was what made it even more definitive.

You see, a few years ago, I lost the woman I was going to marry to a car crash. She was a BIGGER mark than I was when it came to classic games. She's wanted one of these more than me, as she was big on rarities and obscurities(this is the SAME woman who actually OWNED an N-Gage at launch).

So, like out of a storybook, at the point where it seemed hopeless, there was a sort of divine intervention. The belt finally arrived after all the aggravation. After all the hours I put into fixing this unit, it STILL didn't work, even with the belt, even after turning the heads, and EVERYTHING.

As I was putting it back together, ready to ship it back, I was heart broken. After all, I finally got my hands on something I really wanted most of my life and spend countless hours on it and now it's gone again.

But, as it was put back together, a voice inside me told me to give it another shot. I figured I had nothing to lose and popped Zelda in again. To my amazement and shock, IT WORKED!

I've been playing it ever since and I do believe that on that day, Rachel was truly my angel. So, the Twin Famicom isn't really a holy grail because of the rarity, it's because of what it meant to her and what it means to me.

[Compute]

Ooh forgot about the 3DO Blaster.

I remember many years ago seeing an exercise controller at the Nordic Trac kiosk at the mall, but it was not the one that uses an actual Nordic Trac machine. You sat with your legs stretched outward and pushed against a plate at your feet to move your set upward and into the middle; this would be your dpad. It was available for SNES and made it hurt (even more) to play StarFox, but it looked so friggin cool.

How about some protos of those unreleased Power Glove games while we're at it. Does anyone even have these?

[Achika]

Of course Port's will differ from mine - we've got so much stuff that is monetarily a grail that we are proud of, but for me the sentimental stuff is way easier to choose!

Back when we were dating, he found someone that was making custom plushies, some of them FFXI models. He had gotten me a larger one, which is very nice and in some of the early level gear. The second one, he gave me on one of our dating anniversaries, I awoke to find a small Taru red mage looking down at me. The first one won't fit in our display case, but my little red mage sits proudly between my Elvaan cold cast and the Shadow Lord.

My other personal grail is my sealed copy of Castle of Illusion for the SMS. I had played that when I was young and knew the name of it but was never sure what console it was for. Obviously it wasn't the GG version, although that was fun too. Working at Funcoland for 5 years, I finally came across a copy for Genesis. I was so excited to pop it in only to find... it was the wrong one!

Eventually I found my way to NYC and into a game store that had a SMS copy tucked deep in their back room. I figured this was it - I would finally get the game! And then they brought it up, much to my horror it was still sealed. I thought it was a crime to rip the shrinkwrap off a game that had manage to stay pristine for over 15 years. Of course they came up on eBay periodically, but I wasn't going to spend the money for a complete copy when I had a perfectly good sealed one. So, Port came to the rescue again and now I have a loose copy I can play whenever I so choose.

[k8track]

My holy grail is the search results page which lists all the other threads asking about holy grails.

http://www.digitpress.com/forum/sear...archid=3404905

[Flashback2012]

Non obtained grails to date for me would include a CIB Magical Chase for TG16 and a fully working Addams Family Pinball machine.

[PallarAndersVisa]

my favorite items i have in my collection:

Castlevania SOTN official strat guide
Castelania SOTN black label
a Top Loader that my grandma bought me back when it first came out.
My two original NES controllers that my brothers grew up with and passed on to me when they grew out of it.
Holy Grail? Dracula X Rondo of Blood for the pc engine, and a system in which to play it on. Whether it be a Turbo Duo, or a TG16 with TG16-CD and System 3 card, it doenst matter, as long as I can play it in its original format.

[mobiusclimber]

My "holy grails" that I'm still searching for are:

- Panzer Dragoon Saga
- Madou Monogatari (PCE CD version)
- Might & Magic (TG CD version)
- Splatterhouse LCD game
- Arc the Lad (WonderSwan)
- Any of the LE PSP and DS Japanese Systems
- FM Towns Marty
- Dreamcast Divers 2000
- PCE LT

[tom]

Oh I want this, one of the über-holy grails (Wii eat your heart out):

[Black_Tiger]

I have a Tengai Makyou Fuun Kabuki Den wall scroll signed by Hiroi Oji.

As far as software goes, the item I have that I see available the least often is Ys for PC-88.

My Black Tiger cocktail arcade is priceless to me, closely followed by my SFIICE dedicated Capcom cabinet and I fulfilled a third long held wish by obtaining my very own sit-down Daytona USA arcade.

My PC Engine Tattoo cost more than my boxed Duo RX and will last much longer.

[StetsonGraves]

Here's my full list:

http://virtualolympus.blogspot.com/

[The 1 2 P]

I found one of my holy grails earlier this year. Actually, I acquired six copies of my holy grail: the 911 variant cover of Syphon Filter 3. It took me eight years to finally find it but finally it's in my collection.