Akai Katana “conversion” (=bootleg/illegal copy) sold on ebay

Started by EOJ, April 05, 2024, 12:57:14 AM

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EOJ

I just saw this today :

https://www.ebay.com/itm/116130956267?mkevt=1&mkpid=0&emsid=e11021.m43.l3160&mkcid=7&ch=osgood&euid=8961fb79201b4212903b92681a7e2e9c&bu=44149015889&ut=RU&osub=-1%7E1&crd=20240404074446&segname=11021

This is listed as an Akai Katana conversion, and it sold for a buy now of $1600. However, it is certainly a manufactured bootleg, not a conversion of an authentic PCB. First, it lacks a serial number sticker on the front and date stamps on the back. Second, the cheapest CV1000D PCB is DFK 1.5, and that goes for over $2500 these days so why would anyone convert it and sell it for $1000 less? Third, the JAMMA connector pins are gold plated, but all genuine CV1000D games have silver plated pins.

Anyway, buyers need to be careful with these out in the wild. Since this is clearly a bootleg it is a huge ripoff, these should be around $100-$200 as you are just paying for the parts.

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_rm_

Still a lot to be uncovered on this matter, but i'm sure some more info will show up in the upcoming days/weeks since these continue to sell on ebay...

SuperPang

Wow. That's crazy money for a bootleg, but to be fair, it must've taken some investment. Where the heck did they get the parts?

EOJ

I just noticed there is a six-page thread on this here:

https://www.arcade-projects.com/threads/cave-cv1000-d-bootlegs-a-hoy.29488/

SDOJ and DFK BL bootlegs have also been sold by the same vendor on ebay, for as low as $1000 (Still a rip-off).
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EOJ

These keep selling on ebay, week after week.  :facepalm: Must be at least 30 sold thus far. Games include AK, DFK BL, DFK 1.0, SDOJ, and DSMBL.

I've heard through the grapevine they have the parts to make hundreds of these (and a multi with all CAVE SH3 games on it, though I doubt that will ever be offered for sale as long as people keep paying $1000+ for individual game bootlegs -- they can't beat that profit margin!). Seems like they'll start doing CV1000B board games soon too.

I think this whole thing is terrible. This Chinese syndicate who copied the PCB is making good profits off of CAVE's copyrighted games (they list certain games for more than others, so obviously they are selling both the SOFTWARE and the hardware!), and people buying them are paying way too much. Yes, you can "save thousands of dollars" by buying these instead of the real PCBs, but stop and think where your money is going and who is profiting here - the production cost to make one of these is only $100-$200 USD. If I were still playing these games on PCB I'd never buy one of these bootlegs, just out of principle.
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ShootTheCore

To paraphrase Steve Jobs - "piracy is a supply problem."  Cave themselves should have been producing more boards (maybe dual game boards or multi boards?) and selling them on their website. Demand for original boards is obviously higher than supply, and I'm sure plenty of us who missed out on buying the boards when they were first released would happily buy from Cave now rather than China even if it cost more.

EOJ

An auction for an Akai Katana "conversion" (=bootleg) has popped up on YAJ:

https://page.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/o1137215645

I wonder if CAVE or EXA will shut it down?

Current bid is 10,150 yen, all the bidders are proxies.
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EOJ

Quote from: EOJ on May 20, 2024, 05:45:49 PMAn auction for an Akai Katana "conversion" (=bootleg) has popped up on YAJ:

https://page.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/o1137215645

I wonder if CAVE or EXA will shut it down?

Current bid is 10,150 yen, all the bidders are proxies.

Ended at 134,999 yen (=$860 USD ~ 795 Euros), sold to a proxy bidder (of course!).

The guy selling them on ebay had a few listings taken down by ebay due to copyright claims (I'm guessing from EXA or CAVE?). So now he appears unable to list them there, instead he posts a message in his other listings saying "DM Me for SDOJDFKBLDSMBLAK".  :displeased:  I wonder how long that will last until someone notices and takes those listings down too.
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XtraSmiley

Quote from: EOJ on April 29, 2024, 09:33:11 PMI've heard through the grapevine they have the parts to make hundreds of these..

..the production cost to make one of these is only $100-$200 USD. If I were still playing these games on PCB I'd never buy one of these bootlegs, just out of principle.

Where are you getting this info, is it accurate? I think there might be no telling how many parts they have, and if the parts "only" cost a few hundreds of dollars they would make them indefinitely and it would eventually come down in price.

On the A-P thread, people are guessing the parts are very hard to come by and very expensive. I hope they are wrong and you are right!

I don't know if these bootlegs are worth $1k, but clearly the demand is there. I'd pay a ton for a full CAVE collection, but I don't know about $1k each.

EOJ

Quote from: XtraSmiley on July 22, 2024, 10:21:08 PM
Quote from: EOJ on April 29, 2024, 09:33:11 PMI've heard through the grapevine they have the parts to make hundreds of these..

..the production cost to make one of these is only $100-$200 USD. If I were still playing these games on PCB I'd never buy one of these bootlegs, just out of principle.

Where are you getting this info, is it accurate? I think there might be no telling how many parts they have, and if the parts "only" cost a few hundreds of dollars they would make them indefinitely and it would eventually come down in price.

On the A-P thread, people are guessing the parts are very hard to come by and very expensive. I hope they are wrong and you are right!

I don't know if these bootlegs are worth $1k, but clearly the demand is there. I'd pay a ton for a full CAVE collection, but I don't know about $1k each.

I can't reveal my source so I can't say more than it's "the grapevine", but I believe it is accurate info. They have a large stockpile of these parts (many of which they simply cloned from the original chips and then produced them en masse) and will make the PCBs indefinitely but like I said they have no reason to lower the price as long as people keep paying it. They will milk this cow for all it's worth because the profit margin they have is insane.
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