PC Engine LT SuperCDRom2 Adapter PI-AD 18

Well, it has been a while… I haven’t had the chance to post anything due to numerous life changing events, but I’m back!!

The thing I wanna talk about today is the PI-AD 18 PC Engine LT adapter. I’ve had this for a while, but due to it recently being sold to a worthy collector, and the fact that there is very little on the web about them, I thought I’d make a quick post to share some pictures.

PC Engine LT SuperCDROM adapter

This is arguably one of the most rare items an obsessive PCEngine collector/hoarder/crazy person can get. I have been in Japan for many years, and this is the only boxed one I have ever seen for sale in the wild. In fact, it is actually the only one I have seen…. So why aren’t I keeping it? Specially as I fit the “obsessive PCEngine collector/hoarder/crazy person” category? Well, because 1) I am in a position to pass this on to a friend that has been on the hunt for years, 2) the money will go towards a good cause (last minute game acquisitions before leaving Japan), and 3) I just don’t use the handheld gear enough. This is the kind of item that should go to a real collector, and not be made available for the money hungry scum that plague the web in recent times, so I am happy to let it go.

**Instructions are printed on the back of the box, so click on the thumb to view in more detail**

Anyone that is out there looking for one of these, I wish you the best of luck. I can’t imagine there being too many out there at all. The PI-AD 18 is just one of those bits of plastic that frustrates the hell out of most collectors.

PCE LT PI-AD 18 RomRom nec

This particular one is in great shape as you can see. From what I hear it’s rare to even find a rough as hell one.

Well, it’s nice to be back to post something. Not sure how much time I will get over the next few weeks, but I hope to put up a few more posts, as I have a heap of stuff here that I’ve been very quiet about! 😀

Yet Another Game Haul Post….

Sorry to do it to you again guys, but I have another photoblog that highlights just how cool retro hunting in Japan is. I know I’ve said it before that Japan is starting to dry up for retro gear (at least near where I live), and that still applies – even so, you just don’t get this kind of luck anywhere else in the world! 🙂

So what gear do we have today then….

Before I get into that, I have to say that the post today is brought to you by a pretty horrible head cold. I was at the desk, and there was no way I could finish off the official work I had on, so why not head home and put up a post.

Hopefully I didn’t leave any snot on the gear, but if you do see a few specks let me know. 😀

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OK so first off….

A TaTaKon (Taiko controller) and a few games for the PS2. I’ve actually wanted one of these Taiko controllers for ages, but I always thought they were a bit pricey – however this weekend luck was on my side! I managed to score this controller for the hefty sum of $3 in one of the junk bins of HobbyOff. Most of the PS2 games there were in the junk bins too, so there are a few scratches, but for the prices I can’t complain at all. Katamari Damashi was a game that I had borrowed, so I’m happy to finally have my own copy without having to pay $20 – I got this for only $1.

*Click on any thumbs to enlarge*

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Next up, a bunch of PCE titles. These weren’t actually obtained from the wild – well, unless you count Yahoo auctions as ‘the wild’ that is. There were a few that I needed in the bunch, so I basically bought this heap just for about 3 or 4 games.

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Some little figures for SNK vs Capcom. There were another thing gotten from the auctions that arrived over the weekend. They were pretty cheap, so I thought why not – not like I could get them outside of Japan very easily right?

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Not into real life Pachinko/Pachislo a great deal, but I do like the controllers and games for the TV. I have one of these controllers for the PCE, and to see one for the Famicom in the wild was a first, so I grabbed it. Managed to score a few boxed Famicom games as well, plus some new PCE and Saturn titles.

All of these were gotten from one of the HardOffs I frequent – unfortunately this HardOff has some of the rudest staff members you’ll be likely to meet in Japan though. Those of you that have been over here know how rare it is to get rude sales staff, so it’s a bit disappointing to hand over the cash, but hey…. they’re cheap! 🙂

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Yet another thing that I am now hooked on getting… Game related Manga! I found out about these recently while searching for something else online, and now it’s looking like I need to get the whole set – not easy to find though. I got this one from a BookOff that’s really close to my place (the first one I looked in incidentally), and then every other book related place I’ve been in came up with nothing. Have to persevere though!

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A few N64 and Nintendo related items. Got these from a BookMarket (not related to BookOff/HardOff/HobbyOff etc.) – you wait till you see what else came from this shop later in the post!

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PS2 special editions. I had one of these before (the Love Songs one), and sold it on. As this was only the second one I have seen in the wild, I thought I’d grab it just in case someone wants it back home.

Check out that pocket-watch in the Grandia set though! Won’t be long before they don’t even give you disks with the games you buy – stupid digital distribution….

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A nice Final Fantasy Wonderswan Color. This was about $5!!! My jaw seriously dropped when I saw this for that cheap. A few posts back I talked about a cool game shop that is absolutely meticulous in the way they wrap and store games which you may remember. Well, this was bought from that same chain – Chamelon Club. Really great stores made even greater by finding this for $5!

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Some Gamecube manuals bought from Book Market, and although these are related to the very cool item I mentioned previously in this post bought from the same place, these are not it. Also another DK G&W, as you can never have too many. 🙂

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And finally…. The pick of the bunch!

A Metal Gear Solid Gamecube limited edition! I have only seen one of these once before, and as I didn’t know what it was, I went home to look it up on the web (before smartphone days), and by the time I got back it had been sold…. Like I said previously in this post, I got this – and some other great stuff – from BookMarket. This was the first time I had checked the store out too, so needless to say I will be going in there again! To top things off with GC, it was literally half the price of the last one I saw!

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So, not a bad trek into the Japanese wild (plus a few auction finds thrown in). Ahh Japan. 😀

Another Retro Haul Post

Due to time being in short supply for the past four months or so, I haven’t been able to really get out there and hunt like I used to. I was getting withdrawals bad, so luckily, the past week or two I have had time to get out there and see what’s been on offer. Some may say that I’ve gone overboard with this latest lot, but the gap between hauls meant that I had no choice but to buy everything I saw that was worth while – regardless of whether or not I had it already. 😀

First up, the Dreamcast lot. I got this off the auctions for an absolute bargain – about 5,000yen all up after fees and shipping. In the pictures on the auction there wasn’t a great deal of detail – not all boxes were shown, and the condition explanation was iffy to say the least. I decided to bid on it anyway, and I’m glad that I did! Everything had their baggies, instructions, and inserts, plus some of the items are 100% new-old-stock – meaning unused. Got a wheel, twin sticks, console, controller, fight stick, keyboards, and of course, a console itself.

dreamcast-japan

Next comes the Game & Watch Fire (bought as junk from HardOff for next to nothing, but may not work…), SF Memory carts which I have been after for ages, a couple of 3D Systems, and a final fantasy toy. Looking forward to testing the G&W!

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Definitely one of the gems of the lot is the white Gameboy original you see there in the picture bellow. I didn’t know anything about it, and I hadn’t seen one of these before, so I grabbed it (I remember that philosophy worked well when getting that Jusco N64), and to top it off, it was found in an unlikely place too. I will probably do a single post about it when I get the chance. Those Sakura Pockets are unused and sealed too – pretty happy about that as I didn’t know that when buying.

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Bellow is just a few of the PS2 and Xbox disks. Pretty happy to get the KoF as I didn’t have that version before. Also a couple of Megadrive carts as well. **Click on the thumbs to expand**

Moving on to the next few pictures bellow, we have the PC Engine Duo (yes another one), and a box of PCE goodies. Although I have everything I see here already, I couldn’t bring myself to leave it all in the stores that I found them in. I know there are always guys back home after these, so hit me up if you’re keen.

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Here we have a random pile of goodness – Some NeoGeo CDs, a Saturn Bomberman controller (don’t see these often at all), and some NeoGeo Pockets. Also have some Wonderswan Color games, a MegaCD disk, and a N64 cart. Crap, that was a random pic… 😀

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Some more great NeoGeo CDs, and a few DC disks that I couldn’t let sit there. A few of these titles (NGCD) I didn’t have before either, so to find them in the wild was very nice indeed! **Again, click to enlarge**

Anyone up for 1960s slotcar action? Not really something I want to try and plug in and get power into in all honestly – early electric goods are something that should NOT be used on a tatami floor in a wooden house. I know nothing about slotcars though, so if anyone knows their slotcar sets, feel free to chime in and let me know what I have here. All I know is that it’s old…

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Also got myself a few spare Famciom Disksystems from one of the HardOff stores. Cosmetically they look pretty nice, but I doubt very much the rubber bands will still be intact – never know your luck though.

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And the final picture contains a bag of random Starwars figures. Unfortunately these aren’t the original 70s/80s items, but they do have all accessories and they were pretty cheap – cheap enough that I couldn’t leave them there anyway.

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Well, that should tide the addiction of retro hunting over for at least a few more weeks. I’m pretty happy with this lot, and hopefully there is more around the corner – at least until the rest of the stores close down. Doing my part to keep them in business, but they are definitely drying up fast these days. 🙁

Special Feature – Weird Controllers – Part Two

Well… I’m back with round two of the weirder controllers I have in my hoard. I could have easily gone into a part three, but I had to draw the line somewhere. I am leaving out a few of the music based controllers, the Gameboy add-on controllers, and a few various others that I am pretty sure people would have seen before. There are just so many that could have easily made it to this list, and if any of you have a few weird ones to add then I would definitely like to see them.

OK, so here we go again with part two! 😀

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The ASCII Grip

I see these around a fair bit, but to find one boxed is a little on the rare side. Honestly speaking I am not entirely sure what these are even used for, so please make a post and let me know if you have an idea.

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Capcom Quiz Controller for the Famicom

Many of you may not be aware, but the alphabet only goes up to the letter ‘M’ here in Japan. Something to do with WWII I believe – yes terrible joke – apologies to all my Japanese friends reading this.

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XE-1AP Megadrive Analogue Controller

Yes, you read that right! An analogue controller on the Megadrive! To my knowledge it only supports a few titles on the MD/Genesis – Afterburner being one of them. It really is one of the most ugly controllers I have seen though, but it doesn’t feel too bad in the hand. I do not know how rare these are, but this was the first time I had seen one here, so it was a must buy.

EDIT (credited to SuperDeadite from the PCE forum for the extra info):
SuperDeadite writes: “There’s about 12 games across the MD/MCD/32X platform, but it also works with the 5 analog pce games (needs the XHE-3 adapter), and also about 30 games on the X68000 (the original purpose for that controller), and around 10 or so on FM Towns.”

*I definitely want people to send/post any information they have it about any of the gear I have here. It’s hard to find info on the amount of gear I get, so it’s very much appreciated – not only by me, but by the next readers that pass through.*

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Sunsoft Pachinko Controller for the SuperFamicom

As most of you guys know already I am not a Pachinko fan at all, but the controllers really intrigue me for some reason. It could be purely due to the fact they highlight an addiction that in my country of origin has not been translated to the family game console. Some of the controllers are so damn elaborate as well – as demonstrated in the controller featured bellow this one. I just can’t help but pick them up when I see them.

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Hori Playstation Pachislo Controller

This would have to be one of the fanciest Pachislo controllers I have seen in my travels. It’s not only fancy, but also huge!

I have seen one other one for the PC that probably takes the cake with LEDs flashing all over the place, but this one dedicated for consoles is one of the most intricate I have so far. I am yet to use this, but I do have a few Pachislo games for the PS2 that I will have to try out at some point.

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Check out this chrome styling! 😀

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Playstation Kids Station

This controller is one of the coolest in my opinion. Not because it’s overly different, but just because it’s clear with giant buttons – I am a sucker for clear/crystal machines and controllers.

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PC Engine Pachinko Controller

Yep, another Pachinko controller makes it into the post, but this one is for the mightly PC-Engine (quite possible my favorite console here in Japan). This one is modeled on the old school style of Pachinko, and there are a fair few games on the PCE that support it.

Imagine the censorship board trying to allow gambling games on the WII/PS3/360 back at home – not a chance! 😀

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Hori Famicom Trackball

These cool little controllers only support a total of 4 games (thanks for that info Frank). I just did a quick search (as I couldn’t remember exactly which games Frank mentioned) and those games appear to be:

Operation Wolf
US Championship V’Ball
Pro Soccer
Putt Putt Golf

The feel of this isn’t exactly arcade perfect, but it’s surprisingly solid. Bet they would not have been cheap either.

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The Bandai Super Controller II

Think back a minute to the 80s – Back to the future, Arcades on every street corner (in the perfect city), flat-top haircuts, and every kid owning a BMX – now think to the level of technology….

I don’t remember seeing anything like this back home in the time period. I have been debating whether or not I should be breaking the collector’s rule and trying this out for ages. It’s brand new, and although I consider myself more of a player than a collector, this particular controller puts me on the fence. It could be another summer holiday item on the list though I reckon….

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Konami ParaParaParadise Controller

ParaPara is a dance craze that truly encapsulates all that is right/wrong with Japanese sub-culture. I am not even sure if ParaPara exists anymore, and based on this controller being unused and sealed, it may not have been as big as the media made it out to be a few years back. Definitely do a Youtube search if you do not know what this is. If I was to explain it though, I would say it is dancing without the need to move your legs – just stay in line, conform without question, and make sure original thoughts are left at the door, or else!! 😀

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And that brings us to the end of the controller feature special. 🙂

Like I said, there were many others that could have made the cut here, but I thought it would go too far if I decided to post absolutely everything. It was definitely fun going through these for a closer look, and I hope that there were at least a few that you guys had not seen before – even if you’ll be happy to never see them again. 😀

It just doesn’t seem to end – when retro gaming in Japan

You guys must be getting sick of me making post after post about the gear that I am finding over here in Japan. If I was back home scrounging to find a few carts, or a few lonely disks in the wild, it would make me sick seeing some spoiled bastard flaunting these huge finds. All I can say to that is… I’m sorry… If I could change places, I probably… wouldn’t. 😀

Anyway, I truly believe that you guys should be the ones feeling sorry for me! As Spring is in the air, and people are cleaning out their houses, there is so much to buy at the moment that I don’t even get any time to sit back and relax to play any of the machines or games I have been getting. Life is hard!! 😀

So the latest. Not many carts or disks in this bunch, but I have made up for that with machines.

A Sharp Twin Fami, a Gakken Frogger, and some other Famicom related goodies. I did throw some batteries into the Frogger as I hadn’t played one before – it really is a good game to my surprise! I will be doing a write-up about it at some point I think.
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Famicom Keyboard set, Famicom Tape Recorder, some Super Famicom gear, and a Sega mouse. I paid a fair bit for the recorder, but I don’t have buyer remorse just yet about it. It was something I have been after for a while, and they don’t come up all that often. The Nintendo RGB cable is definitely not on the common side – just wish my TV could support it…
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Wireless kit for the Capcom Famicom/SuperFamicom fight stick. Had no idea there was such a thing in all honesty. The Hori trackball is for the Famicom, but I am yet to look into what games actually use it – feels great though.
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Well, another nice pile of plastic that I have to try and squeeze into my gameroom somehow. I would leave it out in the lounge, but out of sight is out of mind (for the wife that is). 😀

What I’ll do now is leave you guys with a few pics of individual items in thumbnail form (click to enlarge). And remember, I’m not spoiled, I am in the terrible position of having too much to buy, and no time to play. 😉