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US Master System tablet on ebay
Post Posted: Fri Sep 05, 2014 3:39 pm
Not mine and someone posted about it on another forum but I'm sure there's someone here who wants it.

http://www.ebay.ca/itm/Sega-Master-System-Graphic-Board-UNIQUE-PROTOTYPE-Incredi...
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Post Posted: Fri Sep 05, 2014 4:39 pm
That looks same/very similar as what is shown with a MD along with a floppy drive in one Japanese magazine. Very cool.
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Post Posted: Fri Sep 05, 2014 4:49 pm
Let's hope Bock gets it rather than a secret collector.
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Post Posted: Sun Sep 07, 2014 6:58 pm
Been looking for that one for a long long time. I knew that guy had it and been desperate to contact him since 3 years (was borderline stalking him) but he never answered him.

Committed to buy it and dump it Etc..
But please I can do with small relief donations (you can pledge PM to me) because I've just quit my job recently and I know this will be high spending.
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Post Posted: Mon Sep 08, 2014 5:53 pm
It has become a bidding war between two people. Currently it's at over US $222. I hope Bock can afford this...
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Post Posted: Mon Sep 15, 2014 2:08 am
I have lost the auction with a bid of $2222.
Out :(

*EDIT* attached the bids. It would be good if we can identify who won. She or he has 1311 of feedback and the letter "i" and "c". note that the letter are shuffled. I am "smspower" (548).
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Post Posted: Mon Sep 15, 2014 7:31 am
:-(
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Post Posted: Mon Sep 15, 2014 1:11 pm
Fu** !
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Post Posted: Mon Sep 15, 2014 1:41 pm
Errata - long story short, I got it. (also, ahem I am badly out of cash)
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Post Posted: Mon Sep 15, 2014 4:17 pm
Is the long story secret?
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Post Posted: Mon Sep 15, 2014 5:51 pm
I heard he killed a man.
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Post Posted: Mon Sep 15, 2014 6:02 pm
Actually it's not really long, sorry to be disappointing. It sounded long when I was about to leave the house (jazzmarazz: to hide the body) The first bidder desisted and there were two others equals bids just below. Mine came two seconds before and because they are equal I am technically the second bidder. One could argue that it could be dodgy but there were two others bidders (not one), both with high amount of feedback, and there was no point at that time to figure out what I was going to bid. And I can't risk passing down the buy offer to third bidder at this point.
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Post Posted: Mon Sep 15, 2014 6:14 pm
And obviously this is getting completely out of hands in term of pricing. :( Silver lining, at least it is a "unique" item and not some random proto or game with a UPC sticker.
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Post Posted: Mon Sep 15, 2014 8:10 pm
Personally, I don't think it's worth $2,000 or even $1,000 but all I can really do is throw a $5 your way. Let me know where to send it (i'll pay paypal transfer fee as well)
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Post Posted: Mon Sep 15, 2014 8:55 pm
Here's the description from ebay for when the ebay link decays someday:

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This auction is for a UNIQUE piece of videogame history : A Sega Graphic Tablet Prototype destined for the North American Sega Master System but that never saw final production and retail shelves (there was plans to also release this tablet later on with the Sega Genesis but once again, this project never saw the light of retail).

The tablet comes with the original sending box received by Tonka in 1987 and an Eprom containing the original test software being developped for the tablet over here in America. The software is almost unusable as the only thing that works is the detection of the tablet (shown in the 2 pics with the Sega logo) and some basic detection of the lightpen.

This tablet was based on a similar tablet used in Japan on the Sega SG-1000 which was white. This white tablet, which saw retail and was actually sold in store as a final product, is still worth a nice amount today, so imagine a north american prototype never released to retail. A truly UNIQUE PIECE of Videogame History!

I was jealously keeping this incredible piece in my collection and I shared a few pics 4-5 years ago in a well-known video game collector forum and the pics found their way to the 4 corners of the internet on different websites (without my autorization but you know ... the internet.) so the ONLY pics you find on the web right now is of this actual tablet (feel free to message me if you find any other pics and I'll confirm). To this day, no other actual pictures than mines are around which leads me to believe that 27 years later, this is probably the ONLY prototype still existing.

The condition of this piece is awesome, only the box saw better days (there's a large rip on the back of the box, it still holds its own when it's closed, but after all it's just a white shipping box they used). Everything was tested when I acquired the piece 5 years ago (the pics you see of the tablet working), unfortunately I don't have any Sega Master on hand anymore as I actually got rid of my collection almost 4 years ago. The piece was kept in a climate controlled environment, so I don't see why it wouldn't work as good as the last time it was used, especially since it was cared for probably a lot better than it's first 22-23 years! Still, vintage electronics (and a unique piece anyway!), so sold as is.

If the item sells for more than $250 (which I expect, but I'm not listing a reserve and will let go the item at the value the market will tell me), shipping will have to be made with a signature at delivery and full insurance to comply with Paypal Seller Protection program. This signature at reception is actually quite costly from Canada Post when the package is going outside of Canada (54.70 USA, 157.40 International) . I'll go ahead and list the shipping price for this (signature delivery), but be aware that if the item ends lower than $250, you'll have the option of standard tracked parcel shipping which is only $32 to the USA and $67 to International (Canada is the same cost (which is free, I'll cover the shipping fees in Canada), since signature is only an extra $1.50 here, I'll cover it too).
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Post Posted: Mon Sep 15, 2014 8:58 pm
It jumped from ~$280 to $2247 in the last 10 seconds of the auction, with 2 runner up bidders both bidding the same $2222.00 price. Wow what an auction.
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Post Posted: Mon Sep 15, 2014 9:13 pm
Shill bidding to expose the highest bid as a second chance? Or just luck? I wonder if we can make something good out of the prototype software...
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Post Posted: Mon Sep 15, 2014 9:55 pm
If you look at the bidding times (in screenshot above) i don't see how they can be shilled.

It'll probably be easy to emulate the hardware in emulator.
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Post Posted: Tue Sep 16, 2014 7:55 am
I'll pledge $25. PM me if you find the time.
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Pictures
Post Posted: Tue Sep 30, 2014 1:03 pm
It just arrived.

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Post Posted: Tue Sep 30, 2014 1:50 pm
Signature in the code.
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Post Posted: Tue Sep 30, 2014 2:18 pm
Columns developer, isn't he?
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Post Posted: Tue Sep 30, 2014 4:32 pm
Great pics. It looks so modern!
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Post Posted: Tue Sep 30, 2014 10:56 pm
Did you hook it up and have any fun with it?
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Post Posted: Tue Sep 30, 2014 11:12 pm
Maraakate wrote
Did you hook it up and have any fun with it?

Hell, for that price it had better hook up and have fun with him!
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Post Posted: Wed Oct 01, 2014 8:06 am
This is clearly related to the Japanese Terebi Oekaki, but it does seem to be a little different. For example, this simply connects to the controller port whereas the Terebi Oekaki requires a special cartridge.

@Bock: In this thread, where the possibility of an export Graphic Board first came to light, you speculated that the software would need to use a legacy video mode. Is that indeed the case, or does it use mode 4?
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Post Posted: Wed Oct 01, 2014 9:21 am
It's mode 4, with a restricted screen size to allow for pseudo-bitmapped tiles.
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Post Posted: Wed Oct 01, 2014 9:25 am
It's then funtional? In the bid it was not clear if it was working at all....
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Post Posted: Wed Oct 01, 2014 9:51 am
The photo above of the main screen menu shows a non-fullscreen drawing area and a non-SG-1000 palette
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Post Posted: Wed Oct 01, 2014 11:25 am
Maxim wrote
It's mode 4, with a restricted screen size to allow for pseudo-bitmapped tiles.


Wow! Will that be the kind of bitmap 'faking' Heliophobe discussed here:
http://www.smspower.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=2116 ?

Now, there are no limits....
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Post Posted: Sat Oct 04, 2014 9:53 pm
The dump is now released:
http://www.smspower.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=15039
http://www.smspower.org/Games/SegaGraphicBoard-SMS
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Post Posted: Sun Oct 05, 2014 1:09 pm
Also, now that it is released can you crack open the device itself to see what hardware is inside of this? Would it be possible to make a DIY device? The Vectrex had it's own lightpen and software and it's very easy to make one.
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Post Posted: Sun Oct 05, 2014 1:18 pm
I think with modern technology it would be very simple. Let's discuss that in the development forum.
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