What I find very strange is that David claims to have been continually collecting Neo games after he left SNK and must have an enormous (if not near complete) collection of which included 3 (sorry 6) unreleased AF3 carts. Now what just doesn't make sense is why anyone would then decide to sell off all of them and not keep at least one for themself. If collecting meant anything to someone then you would have thought they woudl at least do that, as it was not like he needed the cash after selling the other five.
And I know it has been said already but it does just seem that the game has been created to target the big collectors. One thing I can't find is whether the first 3 were already sold before the next batch was 'discovered'.. I think it was said that they were. And then I feel real sorry for Billy, John and Brandi as if that was the case, then that just looks like it was 'lets make some more cash out of this while we can'.
Billy, John... have you guys posted any pics of your carts yet....? As far I can remember you haven't so no one actually knows 100% that you do possess the cart... for all we know that could be part of the scam as well. Just asking...
As far as I was told, David was not a "collector" per say. Yes, he purchased carts here and there, and he owned a neogeo, but I believe he was mostly a re-seller. I think he purchased the carts over the years at SNK with the intention of making money, not playing them. (many of the employees there did)
Also he was never trying to get the complete collection as a collector would do. He was missing dozens of earlier titles, and he passed on dozens of later titles.
As for your questions regarding my own personal Aero Fighters 3, I have said this over and over at nausea, but again it gets ignored because it does not add drama to the scandal. I was a BUYER, and I was the LAST BUYER. So how the hell do I have ANY damn involvement or association in this mess beyond that? I NEVER wrote ANY report. I NEVER received any commission, I never had a horse in the race until the race was over! I never even wanted the game! I was perfectly happy with my Sonic Wings 3 cartridge. And at 30K, I was like, "kiss my ass", no freaking way I would pay that for this stupid crap. But as more buyers bought the game, the price kept getting lower and lower. (less demand) 31k, 30k, 25k, 20k, etc. And when Mike approached me about buying it. Coupled with the fact that he was going to be in Florida, I was like well dude, maybe I will buy it then. Think about it from my perspective:
-- In person.
-- Lowest price (that I knew of).
-- And conveniently nearby.
-- Much less risk of getting scammed.
-- The best odds among the 6 buyers in the casino.
So I took it. What collector WOULDN'T?
As a side note. The English Sengoku 3 home cartridges went for sale at the neostore for $285, and by the time the last one sold, it sold for $119. So are the buyers who paid $119 guilty of scamming the buyers who paid $285? Did Shawn put a gun to the head of the buyers who paid $285? If a buyer who paid $285 did so because he read some report or got some so called experts opinion, does he have a right to a refund? And even if in the end, the entire stock of Sengoku 3 carts at the neostore were somehow found to be fake, how the fuck are the ones who paid less responsible for the ones who paid more? This has been my biggest beef since day one. I was (and still am) called a scammer. WHY!? WHO THE FUCK DID I SCAM? To the people who accuse me of ANY wrongdoing here all I have to say is FUCK YOU and FUCK YOU and FUCK YOU and GO TO HELL.
I will not give an exact amount because I do not have to. KISS MY ASS. What I paid is my business. But I will go as far as to say that what I paid for this game was NOT "pennies" or a "discount" for helping sell other copies" etc. How the hell could it have been? I was the SIXTH AND FINAL buyer! There were none other left to sell! So what the FUCK difference did my opinion on the game make to the sellers? How would that help them sell more of them?
But suffice it to say, I paid several thousands of dollars. SLIGHTLY less then the others, but not by much! A VERY healthy 5 figure number.
So in the end, yes, I was the "smartest" of the buyers, but guess what, if the game ends up being fake, I was scammed just like the rest of the buyers, only it will sting a little less because unlike them, I checked my ego at the door.