Sales Yard Finds - II
-David, webmaster DVGI

Another Tuesday without rain means another trip out to the Sales Yard but first I want to update this continuing editorial with a little information.  I go out to the Sales Yard every couple weeks and I usually pick up at least one or two NES cartridges each time, however I won't always write about them here.  For instance the time before last I picked up Baseball Stars and a couple other games NES games, I also found a complete copy of F-16 Fighting Falcon for the Sega Master System.  I write the Sales Yard Finds editorials when I either find something really unique or simply have the time and feel the need to write one.  Rarely has there ever been I time I've went out to the Sales Yard and didn't come across something to do with video games at a reasonable price, so you can expect these particular editorials to continue for some time.  Remember that as the temperature drops and it is more prone to rain I will be going out to the Sales Yard less often, as when the skies open up people are less willing to make deals.  Now with all that out of the way I'll resume this editorial.

It was a typical Tuesday at the Sales Yard, the November fog had settled in which drives away the last row of sellers but this is common around this time of the year.  Other than that things were pretty much average and all the usual dealers were around trying to sell their wares and miscellaneous junk.  I had picked up a book on "modern" railroading from 1951 for a few bucks that's in excellent condition (anyone that knows me can tell you I've been a train buff long before I went into video game archival) that I was psyched to come across.  I saw a few NES games here or there but no one that really had very many, I went through some SNES cartridges as well looking for games to resell but didn't see anything worth pursuing.  Last time I was out there there was a Genesis and Sega CD complete with everything that this one seller had, however it seemed they didn't know how much the person selling it was asking since they stepped away or something.  Rather than giving me a price or looking for the owner, she just turned around and resumed blabbing in Spanish to the person in the next space - I was seriously thinking of just picking it up and walking away, she probably wouldn't even notice since I stood there for about five minutes waiting for her to turn back around so I could make her an offer.  I bring this up since once again the same Genesis and Sega CD was there, and once again the idiot woman gave me a "durrr" look when I asked her how much, and once again then she looked around like she didn't know where the owner was, and once again she just turned around and resumed blabbing in Spanish to the seller next to her.  However this time there were a few people walking around the back of her spot where the console was so there was no way I'd have a clean shot at just taking it.  The Sales Yard is where communism meets capitalism but when you're an ass it's anarchy time.  Having no choice I just rolled my eyes and walked away.

Progressing farther through I really didn't see anything else that was very interesting, at least interesting enough to buy anyway.  I finally got down to the last row in the front before going through the produce.  There's a double spot in this front row that is reserved for this Asian junk dealer that comes down from his junk warehouse in the bay area.  Basically he just unloads his truck with boxes all over the place and sells whatever the hell he's got for a dollar.  There's always a frenzy of activity over at his spot as people dig through the boxes or stand over by the truck where one of his buddies unloads more junk throughout the day.  Additionally there are always a few nicer items he leaves in the truck that he sells for more, yet most of his stuff is one dollar, sometimes two or three bucks for other items.  I usually peek around through the boxes of junk since from time to time I find something interesting.

I looked through a few boxes and didn't find anything and continued to step around the piles of crap and people when I saw a black video game console sitting atop another pile of junk.  I picked it up and realized it was a JVC X'Eye (more on that later) which is pretty damn rare, especially for the Sales Yard (where I've gotten TurboGrafx16's and the Atari Jaguar I had for years from as well).  It seemed in pretty good condition, both of the doors over the cartridge slot were complete and worked properly, the CD lid opened and closed perfectly, the CD spindle seemed to spin smooth and level, the power and reset buttons seemed to have the proper spring to them, and over all the console looked to be in pretty good condition with no cracks, water damage, or odd smells.  (yes, I frequently smell things at the Sales Yard - there's a difference between flea market smell, water damage smell, and acid damage smell)  I didn't locate any controllers or adapters but the X'Eye uses normal RCA cables and normal Genesis controllers so all I had to worry about was finding an adapter which isn't a big deal since it uses a standardized jack.  I held it up and called out to the dude that runs the spot (who was in a frenzy of wheeling and dealing as usual) and he held up three fingers, I held up two in response and he nodded.  I figured for two dollars if it doesn't work then oh well, but if it does work then I got one hell of a deal.  Stopped on the way out down the produce row to pick up various fruit and left.

Now I suppose I should explain what a JVC X'Eye is.  Uh... if you happen to know already then the rest of this editorial is old news to you.  The Sega CD (Mega CD in Japan) was an expansion unit for the Sega Genesis (Sega Megadrive in Japan).  In Japan JVC Electronics released a 2-in-1 combo unit called the JVC Wondermega, similar to the TurboDuo.  Later on they released the Wondermega 2 and additionally planned on a US release.  The Wondermega 2 retailed for around $600 and had integrated wireless controllers (daisy chained together at that - the 3DO didn't do that first, the Wondermega 2 did) however it did have support for wired controllers, the ports were on the back like the old Atari 2600 none the less.  The JVC X'Eye is basically a reworked Wondermega 2 with the wireless controllers removed and the controller ports moved to the front where the infrared controller sensors were on the Wondermega 2.  Even with these changes the X'Eye retailed for $500 at the time of its release which only put it in the hands of the ubergamer and kids with wealthy grandparents.  It plays Sega Genesis and Sega CD games all in one unit.  While X'Eye is a cooler name than Wondermega, I've always liked the Wondermega logo better but that's just me.  The JVC X'Eye is pretty much the holy grail of 16 bit American consoles.  I have yet to pick up a compatible power adapter but I'm pretty sure it takes a 9.5v DC adapter at 1.5A positive tip, so it shouldn't be long until I know if this particular X'Eye works or not.  They're pretty freaking robust so I have high hopes.  If it boots up and works fine I don't expect I'll be selling it even though I could make a quick $60 - it's just far too rare.

Acquired...
JVC X'Eye - Console only (plays Sega Genesis + Sega CD)

Sold...
None
 

Written on 11-18-04 by David, insanedavid@classicplastic.net

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