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Post by hcmffm on Nov 4, 2013 18:15:09 GMT -5
I'd also throw in some money. If we really want to buy the Mail Plane prototype, we should contact the seller, explain that the Vectrex community is speaking here and ask for a direct sale. Chris: Have you received a reply, already? |
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Post by vectrexmad on Nov 4, 2013 18:30:08 GMT -5
... I know these carts are different though because the Digital Press one said "MB 1983" and the one on eBay says "GCE 1983". Interesting info with the guy from Digital Press. FAIK the label "GCE" cannot be changed by programmers. Are you sure you saw "MB 1983"? EDIT: Just found the Mail Plane topic that you wrote about at DigitalPress with a link to the Youtube video. It does say "MB 1983".  Whether you see GCE 1983 or MB 1983 depends if you are using a GCE US Vectrex or European Vectrex. This copyright text comes from the ROM inside the Vectrex. When a cartridge is plugged in, the program in the Vectrex ROM checks if the cartridge binary contains the text "(C) GCE ...." inside. If it does find the text, the Vectrex ROM program displays the startup screen with the copyright text according to which Vectrex ROM (US or European) is present and allows the rest of the cartridge program to execute. |
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Post by vectrexmad on Nov 4, 2013 18:34:07 GMT -5
Hi all, So how much $ do we ll need to throw in to get the Mail plane and get some one to get it onto a cart for us? I hope someone out there is really cashed up as I'm on a pension but can throw i some smaller cash. Cheers, Daniel Last week I received a message from a guy in Brussels who wanted to sell me what he claimed was an original Mail Plane for 3000 Euros! I turned down his offer and that was before the eBay Mail Plane came to light. |
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Post by rapetou33- on Nov 4, 2013 18:40:58 GMT -5
In any cases, the purchaser must be US resident. No sale abroad confirmed by the seller.
Just a technical question : is that easy to extract the binaries or to duplicate it ?
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Post by vectrexmad on Nov 4, 2013 18:46:36 GMT -5
In any cases, the purchaser must be US resident. No sale abroad confirmed by the seller. Just a technical question : is that easy to extract the binaries or to duplicate it ? Yes, you just need an EPROM reader. They are fairly cheap new on eBay. |
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Post by hcmffm on Nov 4, 2013 18:52:34 GMT -5
Last week I received a message from a guy in Brussels who wanted to sell me what he claimed was an original Mail Plane for 3000 Euros! I turned down his offer and that was before the eBay Mail Plane came to light. Very hard to say how much we have to throw in. I think only a VERY dedicated Vectrex collector will buy the item and those collectors are either registered here or are former members of RGV. It's pretty clear that we should not bid against each other. Instead, we should contact the seller, explain the situation and ask for a direct sale. I think quite a number of forum members are willing to throw in money, but the offer should be reasonable. From my point of view, 3000 EUR is definetely not reasonable. Next steps: 1 - Agree on whether this Mail Plane prototype would be worthwhile purchasing. 2 - (Roughly) clarify what will happen with the prototype after the purchase. 3 - Wait a *little bit* more for seller's answer to Chris' inquiry 4 - Find out about financal commitments 5 - Either purchase directly or bid on the ebay auction. ebay auction will end in four days. |
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Post by hcmffm on Nov 4, 2013 18:58:05 GMT -5
In any cases, the purchaser must be US resident. No sale abroad confirmed by the seller. Just a technical question : is that easy to extract the binaries or to duplicate it ? Yes, you just need an EPROM reader. They are fairly cheap new on eBay. I guess the EPROM is soldered. So you would have to carefully unsolder the EEProm, first. |
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Post by Mayhem on Nov 4, 2013 19:18:37 GMT -5
I asked for a shot of the circuit board, but he's stalled on that, saying the case is too fragile to take it apart. I'd like to see the board and chips to confirm it's genuine.
I do have the ability to dump Vectrex carts as is without having to desolder the chips from the board btw.
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Post by Mayhem on Nov 4, 2013 20:25:09 GMT -5
Okay, so it appears (presumably) the board is inside a standard black plastic shell with no screw. Hence why he doesn't want to prise the thing apart. Fair dues. Seeing the board would make a difference I think though.
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Post by TrekMD on Nov 5, 2013 8:48:01 GMT -5
Last week I received a message from a guy in Brussels who wanted to sell me what he claimed was an original Mail Plane for 3000 Euros! I turned down his offer and that was before the eBay Mail Plane came to light. Very hard to say how much we have to throw in. I think only a VERY dedicated Vectrex collector will buy the item and those collectors are either registered here or are former members of RGV. It's pretty clear that we should not bid against each other. Instead, we should contact the seller, explain the situation and ask for a direct sale. I think quite a number of forum members are willing to throw in money, but the offer should be reasonable. From my point of view, 3000 EUR is definetely not reasonable. Next steps: 1 - Agree on whether this Mail Plane prototype would be worthwhile purchasing. 2 - (Roughly) clarify what will happen with the prototype after the purchase. 3 - Wait a *little bit* more for seller's answer to Chris' inquiry 4 - Find out about financal commitments 5 - Either purchase directly or bid on the ebay auction. ebay auction will end in four days. There's only been one bid. Any answer to Chris' inquiry? |
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Post by Rapetou33 on Nov 5, 2013 8:52:30 GMT -5
There's only been one bid. Any answer to Chris' inquiry? And I want to underline that this bid is made by a purchaser who has retracted 24 bids in the last 6 months. We should be careful if we bid ... |
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Post by TrekMD on Nov 5, 2013 8:53:56 GMT -5
Not a good track record for that bidder!
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Post by scallen on Nov 5, 2013 9:43:33 GMT -5
hey all, i still have my copy and am definitely interested in releasing it a la Pitchers Duel/Cube Quest, but it seemed cost prohibitive due to the limited audience being a light pen game...
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Post by gliptitude on Nov 5, 2013 14:12:47 GMT -5
There's only been one bid. Any answer to Chris' inquiry? And I want to underline that this bid is made by a purchaser who has retracted 24 bids in the last 6 months. We should be careful if we bid ... Hmmm. On U.S. ebay the buyer's/bidder's names are kept private. I do see a description here of "***c" where it says 24 bid retractions (last 6 mos.), but right above that it says "Bid Retractions: 0". ... So, not being able to view his history in more detail, I am skeptical that these records are accurate. 24 is a LOT of bid retractions, and I would think that that volume would land a buyer in some sort of delinquency on ebay. I think that the 24 is an error, unless maybe this is a phantom buyer (shill) used by the seller to inflate his own auctions. ... At any rate the seller is bound by ebay policy to auction the item on ebay, now that there is a bid. He is prohibited from closing it at this point, (as in agreeing to sell it to us directly). We MUST bid in order to compete for the sale, or else hope that the sale otherwise fails to go through. ... I don't know that there are enough of us to pool for a communal purchase. Who would get the cartridge? What would the other contributors get? ... Personally, I don't think that a physical cartridge release would be the best idea, especially if contributors were waiting on and relying on that. With Mr. Dondzila out of commission, I'm afraid it would take a long time to get these made and distributed, not to mention quality packaging and overlays if that's the goal. ... Plus, since this is one of the GCE games, it really ought to be distributed as a free ROM download anyway. There is one ROM of Mail Plane available here: www.vectrex.nl/games.htmlI haven't tested it, but I assume it is one of the lesser versions previously discussed. This is not a new or obscure link, but I think a few people were asking earlier in this thread and I didn't see any one refer to a download. Unless this seller is putting on a very clever and well thought out show, I DO think that this is a unique FULLY PLAYABLE version of the game. He claims in the description that this was his kids' very favorite Vectrex title, and that it led to them learning all of the state capitals. If this is true, I can't imagine that the game had the problems that have been described with the other known releases. |
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Post by gliptitude on Nov 5, 2013 14:17:20 GMT -5
hey all, i still have my copy and am definitely interested in releasing it a la Pitchers Duel/Cube Quest, but it seemed cost prohibitive due to the limited audience being a light pen game... Could you elaborate on what you have? Would you consider a ROM release? |
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