There are many books and magazines showing off and detailing the various works of art Yoshitaka Amano produced for the Final Fantasy series, but this box contains more than I have ever seen in any other collection. Think about this; the box weighs about 16 pounds… you could spend an entire weekend looking through these books and extras. The collection covers every title from the first Final Fantasy through to and including Final Fantasy X.

Yoshitaka Amano “The Sky” Art of Final Fantasy - Inside you get three hardcover books that divide art for the series I to III, IV to VI, and VII to X. There’s a fourth softcover book called “All About Yoshitaka Amano” which is exactly that; a biography and more information about his work. Then you have an illustrated plastic sheet, two postcards, and a 96 page flip book which shows an example of Amano’s art in motion. The text in the books is Japanese unfortunately, but the collection of art here is staggering. Concerning the price… keep in mind this box is long sold out (2002) and is really hard to find. The release price (sold only in Japan) was about 28,000 Yen which converts to about $360 US. The auction’s buy now price is $1,000 with the option to make an offer. If the seller accepted an offer of $700, I would say you have a nice deal going. I envy the future buyer of this amazing set.

While we are on the subject of Final Fantasy, I would like to list one of my favorite Final Fantasy VII statues. I don’t own one of these (yet) but, damn… look at this…

Final Fantasy VII Aerith Gainsborough Polystone Statue - The design gives a sense of weightlessness that stops your heart for a moment. It also brings to mind one of the most important moments in FFVII (if not the most important). The statue stands over a foot tall and is simply pure awesome. The price set by the seller is quite high. The release price was something around $200 and I’ve seen this selling for $600 recently off eBay. You can try contacting the seller for a more reasonable price.

Next we have two homebrew games built off of Zelda Link to the Past and Super Mario World. You may have heard of or even played the ROMs, but these are well done reproduction carts.

The Legend of Zelda Parallel Worlds - For people who wished there was a sequel to Link to the Past (there are official semi sequels but let’s not get into that).

Super Mario World Return to Dinosaur Land - This is great because new Mario games are, for the most part, new level designs. Most Mario hacks are just made to test people with the most difficult levels possible but this game does well in making a fun experience.

I’ll end things today with a bunch of quick auctions for some great rare games. Not much to say about each individually but if you’re looking for a certain Neo Geo or Sega CD game that is hard to track down, it may be listed here.

King of the Monsters (Neo Geo)

King of the Monsters 2 (Neo Geo)

Last Resort (Neo Geo)

Shining Force CD (Sega CD)

Snatcher (Sega CD)

Keio: Flying Squadron (Sega CD)

Lunar: Eternal Blue (Sega CD)

Ebay seller mazoku has a ton of great promo pins up for grabs. Each auction began with very low bids. Pins are a category of collecting all it’s own and is often overlooked. I think they’re great when they are hand outs to promote a game before it’s release because it’s a cool look at the past. So, take a close look here today pin collectors. You may find something you want which has been mixed in with a bunch of unrelated pins.

Final Fantasy VI Pin - Very classy pin here. They didn’t clutter it up with the title or anything. You can be sure the final bid on this pin will be quite high.

Sega Pins - Here’s a nice selection of Sega pins. There’s a couple Saturn pins, Sega Sports, Dreamcast, and a few Sonic pins. 11 pins in this auction.

Working Designs Pins - They may not be very well known in North America, but Working Designs had some great games. 6 pins here.

Virtual Boy Pin - Here’s a sad reminder of the disappointing days of Virtual Boy.

Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time Pin - This pin shows up on eBay often and I’m sure we listed it more than a few times. The auctions that never sold had this pin up for a crazy buy now amount. This pin however is taking bids.

Legend of Zelda Majora’s Mask Pin - You can tell at first glance that this pin was made out of plastic or rubber. I prefer metal pins, but hey… it still looks good.

10 Mixed Pins - This auction for 10 pins has a bit of everything including 3DO, Sonic, Mega Man X, and Atari Jaguar. The one that stands out the most to me is the Pac-Man pin.

Mortal Kombat, Area 51, and Sports Pins - Not sure why such a nice Mortal Kombat pin was mixed in with a bunch of sports pins. Still, it’s only a few bucks if everyone else keeps away from this auction.

Playstation Pins - Hey check that out. One of the four pins is a Playsation VIP pin. Try putting that on and walk around a Sony booth at a convention answering questions and taking interviews lol.

Mario and Wario Pins - These are some great early pins. Mario is Missing? Hmm, there can’t be too many of those out there.

Nintendo Gamecube Pin - It looks to me like this is a very cheap quality of metal, but it’s very clean and in great shape.

Capcom Pins - Here’s a mix of Mega Man and Street Fighter pins. 8 pins in total.

For those who may not know, Ted Peterson began the Elder Scrolls series with Elder Scrolls: Arena and helped the series become what it is today. His writing gave the world and history of Nirn it’s form and he took the role of lead designer for Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall. He also wrote many of the books found in Daggerfall, Marrowind, Oblivion, and Skyrim. For all of you out there that spend hours looking through all of the books in a Elder Scrolls games; you have Ted to thank for that depth to the games.

We decided to get in touch with Ted for an interview on gaming because he has a very unique point of view. Before Elder Scrolls: Arena was made, such a game seemed impossible! Read on for his thoughts on gaming and some details about Elder Scrolls behind the scenes.

Video Game Auctions: How did you begin your career in video games? What were your inspirations?

Ted Peterson: I was inspired by my need for a paycheck, which still inspires me to this day! Honestly, I lucked into my job at Bethesda Softworks. I answered a two-line Classified ad in the (physical! Paper!) Washington Post, which said they were looking for a writer of science-fiction/fantasy. (In my introductory letter, I mentioned that I had a third eye and butterfly wings, which probably clinched my interview. At the time, I was a little tired and punchy after doing fifty or so cover letters for “proper” jobs) When I went in, they had me do a test, which was to write a short story set in a sword and sorcery world about a group of gladiators fighting their way through a maze in a competition of some sort. I remember they thought my boss monster in the story was ridiculous – evidently, I’m the only person who finds the idea of a humanoid, albino walrus scary at all – but they liked my writing and the speed I could get stuff down on paper, so they hired me.

VGA: What did you hold as most important during the development of Elder Scrolls: Arena?

TP: I think the best thing we did was let the design evolve as the game was created. The end result was much different from initial design, which was more of a squad-based action game with some sword and sorcery trappings than the hardcore CRPG that it turned into. We were late and we were buggy, but there was something in it that players responded to.

VGA: Have you spent much time playing the games you have made or is it too familiar to you to be able to play?

TP: No, I honestly haven’t played any of my games much after they’ve been published. I have absolutely zero objectivity, and all I can see are the parts that didn’t get done the way we wanted them. That’s not to say I’m not proud of a lot of what we did. I’m just proud … at a distance. You know, like a deadbeat dad.

VGA: The books in the Elder Scrolls series (many of which you wrote) make the games incredibly immersive. How much time do you think you put into the books you wrote?

TP: There aren’t any books to speak of in the first game, Arena. It was while we were testing it that some people started making up stories, mainly because there was a lot of the world fiction that was very sketchy. I’d write stories in response, and we’d go back and forth, mainly for our own amusement. When we started creating Daggerfall, and the artists were creating bookshelves to decorate the world, it struck us that we should include some of the text that we had been writing in the testing forums.

I’m a fast writer, but I’m sure I’ve put in hundreds of hours of my life into writing books for the Elder Scrolls series. They’re fun to write, and I don’t have to rely on a programmer or an artist, so I can knock off one or two in between other work.

VGA: Massively multiplayer online RPGs became very popular in the late 90′s shortly after the release of Elder Scrolls I and II. Do you believe an online Elder Scrolls game would be a wise direction or would it spoil the experience?

TP: I’m afraid the most honest answer is the unsatisfactory – it depends. It’s difficult and time-consuming to create a massive single-player game like any one of the Elder Scrolls games, and there are even more pitfalls in creating a multiplayer version. And I would hate to walk into Windhelm, and have the conversation be about which noobs are going to be pwnd. That said, I could also imagine it totally kicking ass, joining the Dark Brotherhood and going on assassination assignments with a group of friends. Everything we did in the Elder Scrolls games were based on playing pen and paper role-playing games which are inherently social experiences.

VGA: While working on a game, I can imagine the hours can get quite long. How did making Elder Scrolls Arena compare to making Elder Scrolls Daggerfall?

TP: I wouldn’t wish those hours and frustrations on anyone. Thinking back, I think that Daggerfall was harder and more grueling, but that’s really picking the lesser of the two evils. But I was young at the time and didn’t have a family and a kid, and it felt like we were really creating something new that no one had seen before.

The whole experience was very different in the sense that while the design of Arena completely changed, it never changed in Daggerfall – it just expanded. We wanted to be the game that would let people do everything, so whenever we thought of something we didn’t have in there (“What if people want to be vampires or werewolves?” “What if people want to create their own character class?” “What if someone wants a different ending?”), we just put it in there together with the kitchen sink. Even though we never lost our way, because of the hugeness of our ambition, the end result was – like its predecessor – lateness and bugginess.

VGA: Are there any characters or features that were planned for the Elder Scrolls games that never made it into any of the titles?

TP: Oh yeah, plenty. Like I said, the first Elder Scrolls game drifted so far away from its initial premise that it’s really one long, uncreated feature. The first feature that was dropped out of Daggerfall in the early stages of development, one which we actually promised in early previews of the game, was the ability to port your character from the earlier game to the sequel. We ripped that idea off of the last two Wizardry games which allowed you to do that, and I really liked the concept of you playing the same character throughout the games. The moment we stupidly promised that feature, there were some design challenges with creating a game that was balanced towards brand new characters and 20th level characters, starting off from the start. And once we changed the system to be a more skill-oriented advancement system and less class-oriented system, then we realized that your ported character would have to be translated and bear little resemblance to your old character. It wasn’t worth it, but there was an uproar when we announced it wasn’t going to happen.  
One of the features that we dreamt of from the very beginning was dragons. We had dragonlings in Daggerfall, but it really wasn’t technically feasible to create them the way we wanted them to be until Skyrim.

VGA: Despite how impossible it may seem today what would you like to see in games of the future?

TP: Hmm… I have to say, I’m less concerned with technology and more concerned with corporate mentality. In order for us to improve, we have to take risks. It’s very costly to make a game now, and we, as an industry, are more nervous than ever about money.  We are positioned like the movie industry was in the beginning of the 20th century, when they first learned what they could do with the technology, and that it wasn’t inherently inferior to theater. I’m not even talking about color and sound, but the first guy who realized that with movies, you could do close-ups and huge scenes outdoors, which you could never do on stage.

I’d love it if in the future, we trusted the gamer to explore and find the challenge and the adventure within the world, even if we lost some folks along the way. Right now, some games are costing half a billion dollars to create, and if we keep that up, we’re not going to be able to afford to cater to anyone but the lowest common denominator. I do think it would be wonderful if games could fulfill our promise from 1996, and let you do whatever you want to do. Right now, I’m afraid that if the Elder Scrolls were just starting off at a little fledgling developer like Bethesda Softworks was when I was there, we’d never get past Chapter 1. I hope a space opens up soon for independent developers, outside of the overcrowded Facebook and mobile aps fields.

Thanks very much to Ted for this very interesting interview! It’s amazing to hear from the man who made games like Oblivion and Skyrim possible. I hope this helps everyone to appreciate the time and effort that goes into games like the Elder Scrolls series.

In celebration of the 25th anniversary of Super Mario Bros, Converse released four different pairs of Super Mario shoes. Sadly, the shoes were released only in Japan. This of course doesn’t stop a hardcore collector from grabbing up a pair on eBay. The only question is… which pair would you want most? Or can you afford to buy one of each for your collection? It’s a tough choice and they are getting more rare by the day. Even now, about 7 months since their release in Japan, the prices have gone crazy and they are still selling. I’ve listed the cheapest auctions I could find that are still put up by sellers with %100 positive feedback. You don’t want to end up with a $20 pair of shoes with some Mario doodles on them, right?

Mario Sprite Pattern (Black) - This simple looking pattern nails the quiet cool that game related gear can sometimes have. At first glance for many, it’s nothing special. If a gamer takes a glance, it catches their eye before they know why!

Mario Sprite Pattern (White) - Same as the pair above except these have a white back. Something to note about all four pairs is the starman Converse star. Awesome…

World 1-1 Pattern - Nothing in the Super Mario series is more recognizable than world 1-1. If you flip down the back, you see Luigi grabbing some coins.

Bowser’s Castle Pattern - This is my favorite of the four. It works on so many levels color-wise, it puts Mario up against Bowser, and if you flip down the back of the shoe you see Princess Peach with Mario. It’s also up for the lowest price compared to the other three auctions here today.

The majority of today’s auctions are for promo items, but I’ve included a few other gems that everyone may want to check out. The Club Nintendo item you will find below is very interesting because it’s not the typical Mario figure, pin, statue, etc. You’ll see what I mean…

Metal Gear Solid 2 Poster - The title on the poster is printed in stylish silver foil. The seller has it framed in the picture, but the frame is not included in the buy.

Tomb Raider Pewter Figure - This sloppy rushed looking blister pack contains a pewter figurine of Lara Croft. Keep in mind that this is a very early item in the Tomb Raider series.

Crash Bandicoot Plush - The Playstation mascot (once upon a time) in plush form! It’s a great addition to any Playstation collection.

Zelda Twillight Princess Coin - This promo was given out at ComicCon 2005. The seller mentions only 5,000 were made. The quality is amazing.

Sweet Tooth Mask - Likely due to the upcoming new entry in the Twisted Metal series, this auction has been getting some attention. The bids are stacking up.

Pac-Man Bed Sheets - Very interesting to see the color on these sheets last so long. Oddly, there’s no buy now price.

Invasion of Nintendo VHS - Ok, yes… the price is beyond crazy. The tape is rare and normally found in poor condition. You can make an offer and hope the seller will realize that they aren’t holding the holy grail of promos lol. If you just want to watch it, you can find it on YouTube.

Pac-Man Flying Disk - A great unused Pac-Man frisbee still in it’s original packaging! The price is good too.

Nintendo Banner - Here’s something to add to most any game room. The banner is four feet long and is in great shape.

Centipede Original Promos - Wow, it’s very rare to see related promos this old being sold together like this. This is an instant buy for many classic arcade gamers.

Pac-Man Plush - This plush is an official Namco item but it’s not from the easy years of Pac-Man. The tag shows it’s from 1991. Also, it looks like it’s been through the washer and dryer a couple times. The price isn’t terrible, but still too high.

Club Nintendo Star Tenbillion - Here is a unique hand held puzzle from Nintendo that turns the idea of a Rubik’s cube inside out. The goal is to get all of the matching colored beads in the same tube. Check it out…

Today you will find some very high end expensive items. Most people simply cannot afford  many of these things (myself included), but there are the few collectors and business owners who may consider throwing down some cash to get their hands on this stuff. First up is, I believe, physically the largest “item” VGA has ever listed. This would be a major investment for a business and would require plenty of maintenance. Still, how many places have a shooting gallery this big?

Disney Shooting Gallery (1977) - Like I said; a big investment. It’s unfortunate that the seller doesn’t have an option up to take offers. I’m guessing they don’t want to sort through them for a serious one. I could see this working for a new classic arcade opening. People would start talking… saying things like, “Ya, they have the classic games from the 80′s but they also have this huge shooting gallery in the back!”.

Next up is a prototype arcade cabinet for a game called The Act. Some of you may know of it, but for those who don’t… there are only 10 of these which were released to the public.

The Act Prototype - The game plays like Dragon’s Lair (mostly) while you watch the animation on screen. The company that made it (Cecropia) closed up before this game was released commercially and only 10 kits were sold to cover expenses. This is a game very few people will ever see. Check out this video for more info and to see the game in action.

Here’s an Atari 2600 game considered by some as the “holy grail” for the 2600. There are rarer games, but I think it’s the story behind this one that gets the collectors lined up.

Pepsi Invaders (Atari 2600) - Only 125 of these unlabelled carts were given out to Coke executives. The game plays like Space Invaders except you’re shooting at “P E P S I” with an invader at the end. It’s a pretty bold statement to have a custom game made where you shoot up your competition lol. Several offers have been made so feel free to make yours. Anything under $1,000 will likely be quickly passed. (Credit to Troy for submitting this auction)

Something now for pinball collectors and/or someone looking to buy a machine that has never been played…

Stern Rolling Stones Limited Edition (New in Box) - Something I love about pinball games is when you get a jackpot and everything goes nuts. I’ve never played this Rolling Stones game, but I bet it’s a blast just for the sound. This machine is still in it’s shipping box and have never been touched.

Gottlieb Home Run Pinball - Only 580 of these made and it was made in 1971. Look through the pictures for yourself, but this looks like a very clean machine to me.

Now, I’m sure everyone was hoping for some more affordable items, so here are a few more of interest.

ColecoVision Expansion Module with 48 Games - The module lets you play Atari 2600 games on your ColecoVision. Included in the auction are 48 games (Atari 2600 and ColecoVision mix).

Lot of 42 NES Games (Loose) - The first bid (which unfortunately has already been made) is only $20. As soon as you see each game is going for less than a dollar, you feel the need to look through the titles I’m sure. There are a few doubles but you’ve also got Donkey Kong Jr and Kid Icaris in there so $20-$30 isn’t bad. Wait it out until the end though; no need to bid yet.

Sega Game Gear TV Tuner - This is something sometimes overlooked in Sega collections. First bid is $0.77 and there’s a bit more than a day left on the auction.

The posters and banners listed here today vary from uncommon to very rare. Every one of them is in great shape too. We also have a bunch of figures listed and most of the auctions are complete sets. If you’re a figure collector, you will find some great sets here you can check off your list. First, let’s start with some limited print posters…

Silent Hill “I’m Alone There Now…” Poster (Limited 300) - The complete title for this piece is “I’m Alone There Now, In Our Special Place, Waiting for You” and I’m sure every Silent Hill fan remembers those haunting words. A few offers have already been made.

Final Fantasy VII Store Poster - This poster showing the release date for Final Fantasy VII is in great condition. It’s double sided and the color is a deep as it was day one.

Space Channel 5 Figures, Complete Set - Unless you’re a fan of the games, you probably wouldn’t think of Space Channel 5 when thinking of figures based on video games. This auction is for the complete set of figures and the resin statue as well. All figures are sealed.

Resident Evil 1 Figures, Complete Set - The complete set, sealed of course, comes in 5 packs but there are actually 9 figures total.  The Tyrant figure was made so huge that it needed a blister pack unique from the rest.

Resident Evil 2 Figures, Complete Set - Another sealed complete set. This time, 7 packs containing 12 figures. Very cool stuff from my favorite in the series.

Metal Gear Solid Snake & Meryl Figures - Fairly common, but the price is decent. The box is still factory sealed.

Super Mario RPG Vinyl Banner - Vinyl banners sometimes be made in a cheap run which leaves them open to easy damage. If you make the winning bid, try not to roll and unroll the banner too often.

Mario Kart 64 Vinyl Banner - Another banner that is taking bids. This one comes with the shipping box and hanging instructions.

Before we get to today’s auctions, I would just like to mention that one lucky VGA reader has made a video about their recent buy! On January 12, Kenji listed a Starfox Competition cart which was selling with the score card. The final bid of $450 was made by TheJuice401 and he posted a comment which showed how ecstatic he was about the buy. You can view his video showing off the rare cart here on his YouTube channel. It’s always nice to see an item like that go to a true collector.

Here are today’s auctions…

Prototype Pokemon Hat - Any Pokemon fan will recognize this hat instantly. This hat was not meant for sale however. There’s a tog on the inside showing that it’s only a sample version of the hat. Only one day left on the auction and the current bid is very low.

Shigesato Itoi Autograph Board - For those who don’t know, Shigesato Itoi is the creator of the Mother (Earthbound) series. This autograph board appears to be dated 1985 which would mean he signed it for being known in something other than video games. This doesn’t come as a shock since Itoi is known for a large variety of work including writing and voice acting.

Legend of Zelda Majora’s Mask E3 Promo Pin - A simple pin that would be difficult to find if you were targeting it for a pin collection. There’s a mini bid war started on this auction.

Front Mission Pin Set - This set of pins was limited to 10,000 but, unfortunately, there’s a very clear crack in the front display of this set. Still, the price isn’t terrible.

Metroid Prime 2 Store Kiosk Display - You may have seen this in game stores back in 2004 framing the screen on Gamecube kiosks. The price is simply ridiculous and it may be tough to talk the seller down to something reasonable. Maybe offer a trade for a different item of similar value.

Sega Saturn Launch Promo Pin - This is a cool pin. I remember the early days of the Sega Saturn, the console’s ads were very mysterious. This pin captures that mood perfectly.

Twin Galaxies 1999 Poster - Here’s a poster that’s also a cool read. There are several dollar prizes for playing well at various games back in 1999. The seller has two of these.

Twin Galaxies 2001 Poster - Another Twin Galaxies poster but this one is from a festival in 2001. Same seller and once again, they have two.