Hospital, Games, TMNT and Dinner

So 2 days ago I went to the hospital for my regular check up, while I was there they told me that I would need to replace the battery in my defibrillator. So I had to schedule surgery, I knew the battery was going so it wasn't really a surprise or anything. I got the surgery scheduled, October 20th, one thing that sucks is that in Japan they make you stay in the hospital for at least 5 days and up to 7 days. That is going to suck big time last time I had the surgery I wanted to leave after the 1st day but because I was in a children's hospital I was suppose to stay 3 days. My mom ended up bitching the doctor out and I was able to leave after 2 days, good job mom :-). The other thing that sucks is that if I don't pay for a private room I can't use a computer while I'm there as the typing noise would be disturbing to the other patient, using a phone for music, internet, chat is okay just not talking on it. There will also be an issue with the food not only is it hospital food but its mostly fish and Japanese traditional stuff which I'm not really a big fan of.

Finally we get to the big problem, the surgery costs about $30,000 of which I might have to pay 30% which would be $9,000! I will likely be covered though and not have to pay anything (which would be nice) but I need to go to the insurance office next week to find out for sure. Im not really sure what I'm going to do if I have to pay the 30% cuz thats a lot of money. If I am covered (fingers crossed) then I may get the private room at the hospital, it costs like $70 a day but using a computer may make it worth it.

So after I got all that news I thought I would be heading home but it turned out that they wanted to do blood work first. Im not the biggest fan of blood work and needles but have not really had too much trouble in the past. However I had not eaten anything all day and was a little worried about that. So I went in to the office to get it over with and the tech looked at both my arms and said the left one should be fine. I sat in front of a table with my arm stretched out over it. She tried twice but couldn't get it, gahh come on! So she decided to do the other arm, she got it on the first try and as she was doing it she was asking if I was okay and I was. Then I started to feel different all over then I got a sweaty all over (which is a major sign that my body is freaking out and I don't know, but I do know). At that point I had no energy and put my head down, she quickly finished and was asking if I was okay and if I could move to a bed behind me. All I could say was "uhh" and I wanted to sleep. She called in some other nurses and they tried to move me to the bed, it took about 3 of these small Japanese girls to get me over there. I never fully passed out but I was pretty useless. After a few minutes I was fine and said that I just liked all the attention and I figured that would be the best way to all those girls around my bedside fussing over me.

Yesterday I went into Tenjin to have dinner with some friends with my wife. I got there early and did some game shopping. First went to Mandarake and picked up Puyo Puyo 2 ($1) for the Mega Drive, I already had the first game so I figured I could sell them together. Then I found Ninja Gaiden III for the Famicom ($6) again I had the second game now I just need the first to sell it as a set. I came across Shell Shock ($1) on the Saturn and finally for the Neo-Geo CD I found Metal Slug 2 ($45) it was a little expensive but I should be able to get around $100-$150 for it.

Then I made my way over to Super Book Off, I wasn't really finding much but then as I was looking though the Famicom game carts I came across a copy of Metal Gear that was only $2.80. That was odd because in the past that game was around $20 from this shop. Taking a closer look I noticed that it wasn't a Famicom cart it was a MSX cart. Now, I had heard "MSX" in the past but didnt really know anything about it other than the name, I did some quick research and learned that it was a standardized computer system developed by Microsoft in Japan sometime in the 1980s. I wasn't sure if the games were worth anything so again I did some quick research and found that Metal Gear was going for around $100 loose and $300 if it had the box etc. This was loose but for $3 I was excited.

I started looking to see if there were other MSX games and I found a bunch, Door Door, Mr. Do's Wild Ride, Knightmare, Nemesis 2, Project A2, The Goonies, Comet Tail, Crazy Bullet, Exchanger, SASA, Star Ship Simulator and the Bee Pack.  All the games were marked at $2.80 and most would sell for around $20 with about half of them fetching prices around $50-$100. So I could tell that they got the games in, didnt know what they were or what to charge and just put them all at the same low price and said lets see what happens. So what happened? Well I happened.

I also found another copy of Fire Pro Wrestling X Premium ($2.50) for the Super Famicom and another copy of Valkyrie Profile ($2.50) for the Playstation 1. I had just sent out a copy of Valkyrie Profile that morning that I sold for $25 and it was the second copy I had sold for that price so I figured I would try again.

So that was a pretty good haul but I still had some time to kill before meeting everyone so I headed to a regular Book Off. There was nothing really worth getting at least nothing priced good enough to get but I did find a Super Famicom Guide book for Mario Kart ($1.50) theres only one copy on eBay right now and the seller wants $60 I figure I should be able to get at least $20.

After I left I still had some time so I went to a regular electronics store just to look around. The games here are really expensive and it doesn't matter if the game is old or new. When I say old I mean new old, they don't have retro games. But their games are on the same floor as toys and while I was making my way to the games by chance I went down a random aisle and saw this:

They had a little screen showing different ads.

I had to get one. Quick history I used to have tons, around 500 or so sealed TMNT toys from the 2003 and 1988 line that I had sold due to space requirements and urgings from my parents and wife to get rid of them. So I kind of felt like an alcoholic or something you know "Ill just have one... that should be fine". So I picked up one and thought well what one should I get.... hmm maybe I should get all 4 turtles, well if I do that I should get Splinter, if I have them maybe I should get Shredder and a foot soldier well you can't just have one foot soldier, hmm maybe I should just get all of series one. Ooo and look they have the location and vehicle sets as well. No, no, no, no, stop! Get a hold of yourself man! Okay, okay so just one. I picked Mike and left still feeling the itch but trying to keep it together. One thing that is really nice is the packaging is set up so you can open it without destroying the plastic or cardboard, bonus!.

ACTION SHOTS!

Wow this is getting long.

After I made my way over to where my wife works and headed over to a restaurant with her friends. It was a Hawaiian place called Eggs 'n Things which was a breakfast place, breakfast for dinner not my favorite but whatever. I got a omelet with spinach bacon and pepper jack cheese and 3 pancakes, it was pretty good but at $16 I was hopping for more. Still we had a good time hanging out and who wouldn't being the only guy at a table of girls.

Ikea and some Games

Today I decided to go to Ikea to get a pillow, for the last 9 or so months I have been using one of those good for your neck kind of pillows. Thats as best I can describe it so hopefully you know what I'm talking about. Anyway its actually makes me hot due to the insulation and its not very comfortable anyway. So I finally decided that I was going to get a new one. Making my way over to Ikea also meant that I would be close to Hard Off and Book Eco so I would take some time and check out what they had.

When I got there I decided that I would go to the game stores first and then hit Ikea and have dinner there before going home. I made my way to Hard Off and started looking around, they had got a few new Saturn games but nothing too special. As far as new hardware went the was really nothing new accept I did find a Famicom Disk System Ram expansion adapter which I picked up for $3.

*INTERESTING FACT*

The Ram cart is required to hook up the Disk System to the Famicom. The Ram pack had an amazing 32KB of ram for temporary storage, 8KB for sprite and data storage as well as ASIC.

*END INTERESTING FACT*

I also grabbed a stand alone copy, meaning it was not a boxed version that came with ram and there for it has artwork on the back of the jewel case, of King of Fighters 96 ($1) and a loose copy of Fire Emblem Monsho ($1).

I then made my way to Book Eco, which Im sad to say has started to raise their prices. The only real difference I saw was with the Super Famicom carts. I wonder if they noticed I was coming in and buying 20 or so games at a time and decided to raise the price.... hmmm. Here are just some of the before and after comparisons I noticed. Also note not all are bad, just most of them.

Area 88 was $3.98 now $9.98

Lion King was $3.98 now $9.98

Donald Duck Maui Mallard was $6.78 now $4.98

Star Fox was $.28 now $1.98

Super V.G. was $.48 now $4.98

Anyway I was happy to see that a game I had wanted also had its price changed but it was the only other game besides Donald Duck MM that I noticed getting a price cut. That game was Raiden which used to be $12 or $16 but they were now asking for $4.98. They had 2 copies so I picked up both, one for me and one to sell.

I also got R.P.M Racing ($.98) and another copy of Super Donkey Kong ($2.98).

I made my way over to the Saturn games and noticed right away that there was a copy of X-Men vs. Street Fighter ($6.78). It was the boxed version but with out the box so its in a clear case that comes with the CD and the instruction book but the back of the case is empty. I probably over paid but I should be able to make a small profit on it.

I had hoped that seeing a new game right away would mean that there were other new games too but that was the only game of note. I decided to go though the Famicom games which is something I had only done lightly in the past. The reason for that was due to the high prices but I had time so I figured I would check them out anyway. I ended up buying Batman ($4.98), Super Mario U.S.A. ($4.98) and Salamander ($4.98). I wasn't going to pick up Salamander but the case is this really awesome translucent blue/teal and I just couldn't put it back. I also found a boxed copy of Tecmo Bowl ($1.98).

Finally I had the clerk open the case so I could get another boxed version of The Legend of Zelda: Majoras Mask ($12.98). For some reason this box is different then the last one I had but the inside and game cart are the same so I don't know what the reason was, perhaps something about the expansion pak? Heres the new one on the left and the old one on the right.

***UPDATE***

From what I have found due to the games requirement of the N64 Expansion Pak there were two version sold. One was the game by itself if you bought this you would need to already own the Expansion Pak or purchase it separately. The other option was to buy the game in a box set that included the Expansion pack. The game on the left was the stand alone version and the the one on the right was the one that came in the boxed version. The boxed version had an outer box that had the same design as the one on the left minus the red warning bar. 

***END UPDATE***

I then made my way to Ikea, I found a pillow that was good enough and headed out but before I left I grabbed a hotdog, okay I got 3. I mean I was hungry and they were only  $1..... stop looking at me. Anyway here is a picture of two of them, nothing special really but they were good I just wish they had onions.

On my way home I had to wait for a bus in Hakata which had this huge Pickachu in front of the station. The picture doesn't do it justice it was huge.

There is a Book Off close by and I had some time to kill so I went to check it out. I ended up finding a Premium version of Nissan Over Drivin' GT R ($2.50, known as Need for Speed in the US) which came in a Japanese Playstation style fat case (which is the only Saturn game I know that did that) and it still had the key ring inside. I also got Samurai Spirits 3 the Boxed Ram version which again I probably over paid at $9.50 but whatever I won't lose money on it I just won't make as much.

How did this get here?

The other day I was in Tenjin to meet my friend, we were going to meet at the same place we always do but when I got there I saw this:

It was a life size steam engine train that was made out of cardboard boxes. It was awesome and super detailed, the information board said that over 4000 boxes were used to make it.

Other than that not too much has been going on, its been really hot so mostly just sitting around. I did pick up a few games just yesterday, nothing crazy just a few PC Engine (TurboGrafx 16) games. They were loose game cards only but the prices were too bad and I hadn't bought anything in a while so.... First was Twin-Bee ($5) then Kyukyoku Tiger ($3) and finally R-Type I ($2). I already had R-Type II so now I will be able to sell them together.