Collecting boxed games used to be a fun little hobby. Passionate collectors could get complete copies through second-hand shops, searching around eBay or getting a lucky break from a friend who wanted to empty their attic. The entry price was relatively low, there was no need to struggle against other collectors as there did not seem to be a problem with scarcity and, above all, there were no companies trying to artificially inflate prices. In the last few years, things have changed for the worse for the average collector, with the pandemic and inflation checks also having important consequences.
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Collecting old games today seems to be a hobby reserved for people with higher than average income. So much so that finding and displaying an old boxed game, especially one quite sought after like the original Doom shareware copy, seems to have almost become a display of economic power, rather than an emotional trip down memory lane. Retro games have dramatically risen in value, with many companies embracing the gamers’ need for a physical copy. It does not help that many, like YouTuber Karl Jobst, have called into question the authenticity of online auctions where common console games have been sold for inordinate amounts of money. Even Pokemon cards have been known to go for millions of dollars.
The recent scandal which has hit the community of Big Box PC games collectors is probably bound to make the situation even more complicated. On May 30, a well-known user and Italian collector was accused of having sold forged games for years, to several members of the community. The user in question, a 60-year-old Italian fashion photographer from the Lake of Garda, seems to have been selling what appear to be forged games since 2015. The titles sold were particularly rare examples, like Akalabeth – the original RPG Richard Garriott released in 1980 – Ultima: Escape from Mt. Drash and Sierra’s Mystery House, the first-ever graphical adventure. The selection of titles should be particularly of note, as some of them were not even released in boxes. For the most part, the manuals, inserts, tapes, and floppy labels were originally printed in-house by the developers themselves. Very few people have ever seen a complete copy in real life, let alone possess one.
The members attached photos that showed different methods of printing the manuals, stickers which have been clearly produced in-house and, especially, floppies that seemed to contain nothing. What has especially raised the suspicion of the community is that the collector seemed to be doing most of his business exclusively through Facebook, using the network of “friends” that he had approached since he became a member of the community, almost ten years ago. The users of the “Big Box PC Game Collectors” Facebook group recall that the man would approach them confidentially, saying he would get them a decent bargain on these rare games, since he seemed to possess quite a number of copies. He would always recommend that they should not share with others where and how they got said titles. Considering the rarity and the number of games sold, the total amount of money being exchanged seems to be well over 100k euros.
Apparently, at least one forged copy of Ultima I seemed to have ended up in the hands of VGA and then WATA, both organizations recognized it as original and graded it as such. This should not really come as a surprise. Since those games are now pushing forty years old, it is very difficult to find a copy and complete ones in good conditions are becoming increasingly rare. Without direct experience and having seen at least different copies of the originals, it would be difficult to recognize a forgery. Still, some experience in printing methods and paper would clearly reveal the difference between a manual and floppy labels printed in the early ‘80s and ones produced a couple of years ago.
Reaching out to the collector via Facebook, he denies being a forger: “I am just a collector like everyone else in the community,” he says, requesting that we keep his name out of the article. “I was never into this hobby for the money, I always preferred exchanging games to selling. I surely never intended to take advantage of anyone’s good faith and trust.” The collector then mentions a massive sale of Apple II games, which apparently took place years ago, by someone who has since disappeared from the internet. Apparently many of those sold games seem to come from this unknown person, but no more information was provided. Still, he adds it has been quite a stressful time.
Curiously, the collector himself was someone who worked several times with others in identifying forgeries. He is especially an expert in the Ultima series, since he seems to possess an incredible number of boxed copies, even rare Japanese variants. Among the members of the group, he was probably the most knowledgeable in identifying a fake game box from the Ultima/Akalabeth series, especially before selling it off to others. Members of the group commented that his expertise during the years is now being put into question and that the group has lost its “resident Ultima expert”, even though, perhaps, he was never one to begin with.
The Italian collector says he does not want things to escalate any further and that he’s been offering refunds or “100% original games” to all collectors who received the supposedly forged boxes. On this, members of the group seem to be in disagreement – some say they would gladly accept a refund, others say they won’t accept a refund because this is an unacceptable situation that has to be dealt with and cannot be simply solved with the exchange of more money or other goods. The members of the group also recall that they have been in contact with the collector before going public, and he allegedly told them to destroy the games that appeared to be fakes. The Italian collector denies this, saying he was never asked for an explanation, even though several of the members told me they have the screenshots to prove that said conversations did take place before May 30.
Some of the people who have collaborated with him describe him as a passionate games collector. “He was often looking for ways to network with others,” adds Carlo Santagostino, secretary of the retrogaming association Retrocampus, who first met the collector back in 2016. “I remember his particular interest in learning how to reliably make copies of floppies and tapes… Thinking about it now, he was probably showing too much interest.”
Their collaboration was abruptly interrupted in 2021. “He made a post where he was selling an item described as the first-ever boxed computer game,” Santagostino alleges. “I commented that it wasn’t historically correct, he blocked me and we never spoke again. That always looked like a weird move, like he was trying to avoid unwanted attention at the items he was selling.” Another group member also recalls having been blocked straight away by the collector as soon as he mentioned doubts about some Ultima games he had posted photos of.
The collector also had ties with many industry veterans, among them Sierra’s original founder Ken Williams, former ID Software programmer John Romero, and Ultima’s original creator, Richard Garriott, who had met with him several times and signed items.
On Twitter, Garriott mentioned his surprise as to what happened but, after reviewing the evidence, confirmed that they look like fakes. Ken Williams, founder of Sierra entertainment, also mentions being flabbergasted and he never imagined the man to be capable of selling forged games.
The members of the Facebook group are still investigating, trying to find out if more people were duped by the forgeries. The collector says he has no plans to take any legal action to defend his reputation, while other collectors are discussing possible actions against him, either as a group or as individuals. The collector who is accused of creating these forgeries says he’s probably going to leave the world of collecting PC games for good: “I’ve been treated in a manner which I feel is unfair. After years of collaborating with the group I was banned without the possibility of explaining myself. There is no way I can build back my reputation after such a blow, even if I can prove my innocence.”
Surely, the greatest damage that this scandal has brought to the community is that of hurting the overall trust between the members. Unfortunately, this is not the first time a trusted user and respected member of the community appeared to be selling forged goods. Since the news came out, several users have called into question the authenticity of boxes that they bought or received from other collectors, even though having nothing to do with the accused. Hopefully, while justice takes its course, time can heal all wounds and trust can be brought back to the community, so that they can continue rediscovering the beloved games from their childhood.
Written by Damiano Gerli on behalf of GLHF.
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