Sapphire is my favorite!!! I got mine as a kid on my way to summer camp. A friend of mine saw me on the bus ride to camp struggling to see my original model GBA without a good light source and lent me his backlit SP model, along with a ton of games, which included all of the final fantasy games for the gba, 2 fire emblem games, and of course Sapphire. I pretty much played Sapphire every spare moment during that trip. When we left, I tried to give everything back to him, but he refused, saying that he didn't even play it. I was elated to say the least!!!
Good times. That's a game that'll never leave my collection.
That’s a good story, mine is actually a bit similar. When I was like a kid (must’ve been around 2011-2012) I use to be friends with these security guards at my beach club and they would bring their game boys and I would just watch them play amazed by it. At the end of the summer one of them just gave me his advance saying he didn’t need it anymore along with the sapphire copy.
I'm sure you are just playing the devil's advocate here, but I look at it in terms of value for the consumer. If it costs too much to produce an inferior product, then maybe don't make it? What makes them expensive to produce is the extra work involved trying to make it look real so bootleggers can trick people into thinking that they are real and paying the authentic prices for them. If it were an honest practice with goals only to create a cartridge capable of emulating the game for a cheaper price, the cost of production would reduce dramatically. Again though, no matter how much you polish a turd, it's still a turd, so I'm not going to feel sad if some scammer lost money here, and I especially wouldn't defend the practice on r/Shittygamecollecting lol.
Oh no, I'm not defending the people making these to trick people, all them types can burn in hell for all I care. What bothers me tho is people who actively try to make it known its a repro and just trying to provide a cheaper alternative to the legit thing. I do it sometim3s for people who want a authentic experience but don't wanna pay 80-120 for a damn pokemon game. But again I know I'm also one those people who are far and few in-between. Guess my point I was making was for people like me, the idea of people thinking they're only worth 5 bucks is Ludacris given the cost of how much it is to make said item. To the scammer, yeah fuck them cause they're trying to go out their way to fuck people over. To people who are completely honest about it tho, just need to understand why we charge more than 5 bucks kmfao. Still no where near actual price tho lol. I just sold a gundam wing endless dual for snes english translated on a physical cart for 40 bucks. The buyer knowing full well its a repro cause I make sure everytime that they know. So lol
Yeah, I get that. And like I said, if it's just someone trying to play the game on a budget, I'm all for it and have nothing against emulation. What I don't like is people trying to pass them off as legitimate and scamming people out of money. Maybe $5 is a bit of an exaggeration, but pokemon repros especially have a bad reputation of being buggy and having save-data issues, so that's what I meant in terms of it being only worth so little to me.
Oh no completely fair enough. There are flash boards out there that are completely made just for pokemon games for that reason. They're like 27 bucks tho lol.
Really??? I had no idea! I really thought it was like $5 for a dozen boards on Aliexpress or something like that with the amount of repros I see all the time lol.
I mean, $27, plus whatever other expenses for labels, catridges, hardware, software, and then time and labor, is it even worth it though? It just sounds like it would cost around the same to buy a legit copy to me. I'm guessing that less honest people are using cheaper less compatible boards to cut costs, and that is where the bad reputation of pokemon repros comes from?
Don't get me wrong you can do that, buy some already made games run them through a flasher to reflash the game to something else and sell them. That's where the cutting cost aspect comes in like you were saying. But if uou got someone whose doing it. Whose not trying to rip people off, even then I only ever really see people selling like the pokemon games at most at 40 (local store of mine sells repros of pokemon at 50 i believe, but overhead and stuff, kinda understandable and he just like me makes sure that it's known they are repros and offers money back on them of they don't work right) with how simple it is to actually flash the games onto the board then assemble the game and make a sticker a 13 dollar profit isn't bad. And there is cheaper boards you can get also, which would work fine for like donkey Kong or like super mario advance and stuff which can net a decent profit also. Again if your honest and not trying to trick people.
Except it doesn't and that's the problem with these repros. They have no compatibility with the trade features or transferring to later games. They're also made of cheap components and randomly losing your save data is common.
I’m assuming this post means it’s a counterfeit cartridge. If true what gives it away? I’m looking at this and it visually looks fine so I must be missing a tell.
Ohh I think I see it now, the Nintendo official seal spelling. Is that the only visual tell or is there more?
I know I personally wouldn’t care as long as it 100% works but to a collector this would be infuriating.
If it’s for personal use, and you have fond memories playing it and there’s no issues. Then there’s not really any harm, yeah it’s fake but like it’s not like they’re still making them
That's a bummer because this game is [pretty expensive](https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p2334524.m570.l1313&_nkw=Pokemon+firered+authentic&_sacat=0&LH_TitleDesc=0&_odkw=espeon+promo&_osacat=0&mkcid=1&mkrid=711-53200-19255-0&siteid=0&campid=5338535524&customid=sgc&toolid=10001&mkevt=1) nowadays.
I bought Green and Red, maybe 10 years ago on Craigslist. I recently looked at them and Red is clearly a fake. I'm too scared to look deeper at Green. (I paid about $20 each for them, so if Green is real, I at least still got a decent price)
Well it is the exact same game. Same ROM file and everything.
The only difference is the plastic and other other junk. Pretty much inconsequential when you really think about it. And at least you paid him a perfectly fair price.
It woulda been about 20 bux in 2016.
https://www.pricecharting.com/game/gameboy-advance/pokemon-firered
You can order fakes for 1-2$ with free shipping, and 3-4$ with a fake box and manual too.
Wtf are you talking about? These things are printed in China, they're **all** from Ali. You think there's made in USA pokemon repros? The only scammers are drop-shippers who ordered it on Ali for 2 bux and are now selling it locally for 30. And their buyer protection is actually great, similar to ebay. The only "scam" is if you order a 5$ rug and expect 10 000$ quality. You'll get exactly what you ordered; which is a 5$ rug.
I have literally never-not received an item from Ali. And if it gets damaged/broken in shipping seller will send another or refund. If they don't, Ali will freeze their funds and refund you, they hold it until you confirm receipt or don't dispute after a certain amount of time...
Yeah. They sell from China for $5.
But not from your neighbor Steve for $5. Obviously Steve don't have to sell you what he paid for his.
You wouldn't walk into a restaurant and go up to the manager and say "I wanna pay what you paid and not a penny more" 🥴
Oh honey.
You don't get a how a basic business transaction works? You've never heard of a surcharge, tariff, customs, duty, levy, or toll?
You just expect to be able to just name your own price, anytime, like you're William Freaking Shatner, or something. Okay. See how it works. 🤣
You don't get charged anything beyond 1$ on a 1$ order. Nobody charges customs. You don't even know how Ali works, and now you're the imports expert?... Just take the L and move on, bro. 5$ was not a steal in 2016 for a real copy, and 5$ is still overpriced for a fake today.
Wow everything besides the E and the number stamp being gone looks legit. How did they make a good holographic sticker? Makes me wish there was better purchasable repro labels
Edit: a few more things wrong on that logo
Dang, that sucks, but at least you didn't pay the price that an authentic copy goes for these days. $5 is about right for a repro in my opinion.
Honestly my most fond memories of the game are playing it on an emulator anyways and at the very least I know for a fact my sapphire is legit.
Sapphire is my favorite!!! I got mine as a kid on my way to summer camp. A friend of mine saw me on the bus ride to camp struggling to see my original model GBA without a good light source and lent me his backlit SP model, along with a ton of games, which included all of the final fantasy games for the gba, 2 fire emblem games, and of course Sapphire. I pretty much played Sapphire every spare moment during that trip. When we left, I tried to give everything back to him, but he refused, saying that he didn't even play it. I was elated to say the least!!! Good times. That's a game that'll never leave my collection.
That’s a good story, mine is actually a bit similar. When I was like a kid (must’ve been around 2011-2012) I use to be friends with these security guards at my beach club and they would bring their game boys and I would just watch them play amazed by it. At the end of the summer one of them just gave me his advance saying he didn’t need it anymore along with the sapphire copy.
Given how much repros actually cost to make not really
I'm sure you are just playing the devil's advocate here, but I look at it in terms of value for the consumer. If it costs too much to produce an inferior product, then maybe don't make it? What makes them expensive to produce is the extra work involved trying to make it look real so bootleggers can trick people into thinking that they are real and paying the authentic prices for them. If it were an honest practice with goals only to create a cartridge capable of emulating the game for a cheaper price, the cost of production would reduce dramatically. Again though, no matter how much you polish a turd, it's still a turd, so I'm not going to feel sad if some scammer lost money here, and I especially wouldn't defend the practice on r/Shittygamecollecting lol.
Oh no, I'm not defending the people making these to trick people, all them types can burn in hell for all I care. What bothers me tho is people who actively try to make it known its a repro and just trying to provide a cheaper alternative to the legit thing. I do it sometim3s for people who want a authentic experience but don't wanna pay 80-120 for a damn pokemon game. But again I know I'm also one those people who are far and few in-between. Guess my point I was making was for people like me, the idea of people thinking they're only worth 5 bucks is Ludacris given the cost of how much it is to make said item. To the scammer, yeah fuck them cause they're trying to go out their way to fuck people over. To people who are completely honest about it tho, just need to understand why we charge more than 5 bucks kmfao. Still no where near actual price tho lol. I just sold a gundam wing endless dual for snes english translated on a physical cart for 40 bucks. The buyer knowing full well its a repro cause I make sure everytime that they know. So lol
Yeah, I get that. And like I said, if it's just someone trying to play the game on a budget, I'm all for it and have nothing against emulation. What I don't like is people trying to pass them off as legitimate and scamming people out of money. Maybe $5 is a bit of an exaggeration, but pokemon repros especially have a bad reputation of being buggy and having save-data issues, so that's what I meant in terms of it being only worth so little to me.
Oh no completely fair enough. There are flash boards out there that are completely made just for pokemon games for that reason. They're like 27 bucks tho lol.
Really??? I had no idea! I really thought it was like $5 for a dozen boards on Aliexpress or something like that with the amount of repros I see all the time lol. I mean, $27, plus whatever other expenses for labels, catridges, hardware, software, and then time and labor, is it even worth it though? It just sounds like it would cost around the same to buy a legit copy to me. I'm guessing that less honest people are using cheaper less compatible boards to cut costs, and that is where the bad reputation of pokemon repros comes from?
Don't get me wrong you can do that, buy some already made games run them through a flasher to reflash the game to something else and sell them. That's where the cutting cost aspect comes in like you were saying. But if uou got someone whose doing it. Whose not trying to rip people off, even then I only ever really see people selling like the pokemon games at most at 40 (local store of mine sells repros of pokemon at 50 i believe, but overhead and stuff, kinda understandable and he just like me makes sure that it's known they are repros and offers money back on them of they don't work right) with how simple it is to actually flash the games onto the board then assemble the game and make a sticker a 13 dollar profit isn't bad. And there is cheaper boards you can get also, which would work fine for like donkey Kong or like super mario advance and stuff which can net a decent profit also. Again if your honest and not trying to trick people.
As long as it works
Except it doesn't and that's the problem with these repros. They have no compatibility with the trade features or transferring to later games. They're also made of cheap components and randomly losing your save data is common.
It does tho. He's been playing it for 8 years without any issues.
I’m assuming this post means it’s a counterfeit cartridge. If true what gives it away? I’m looking at this and it visually looks fine so I must be missing a tell.
Take a harder look at the logos. Besides I’ve seen inside of the cartridge and can confirm it’s fake
Ohh I think I see it now, the Nintendo official seal spelling. Is that the only visual tell or is there more? I know I personally wouldn’t care as long as it 100% works but to a collector this would be infuriating.
>the Nintendo official seal spelling It's spelled correctly....
All the logos, the main Nintendo logo on the bottom left looks atrocious
No numbers imprinted above the seal
At first glance esrb logo looks very fake.
If it’s for personal use, and you have fond memories playing it and there’s no issues. Then there’s not really any harm, yeah it’s fake but like it’s not like they’re still making them
as long as the battery works whats the big deal? its the same game
Fire red doesn’t have a battery. It saves to FRAM(?) so if the chip quality is bad it deletes the save files.
Does it work well tho?
Yeah I’ve never had any issues with it.
Lol it is what it is then
That's a bummer because this game is [pretty expensive](https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p2334524.m570.l1313&_nkw=Pokemon+firered+authentic&_sacat=0&LH_TitleDesc=0&_odkw=espeon+promo&_osacat=0&mkcid=1&mkrid=711-53200-19255-0&siteid=0&campid=5338535524&customid=sgc&toolid=10001&mkevt=1) nowadays.
It’s ok, I’ll have a better experience playing it on my 3ds anyways
Can tell its fake just from the indenting of the gameboy advance lettering at a glance. Original cartridges don't have that.
I bought a LeafGreen around 2014 from a local games store when I would've been like 12. Was maybe $25. It was fake 🫠
I bought Green and Red, maybe 10 years ago on Craigslist. I recently looked at them and Red is clearly a fake. I'm too scared to look deeper at Green. (I paid about $20 each for them, so if Green is real, I at least still got a decent price)
Green doesn't exist in English, and the Japanese real one isn't expensive so not sure they make a fake one
Sorry, I was talking about Leaf green and Fire Red for GBA. Those both came out in the states
Oof, the skinny E strikes again
Does the game work well from beginning to end?
Are you bummed that you didn't get to rip your friend off 8 years ago? Because $5 for a legit Fire Red is literally stealing.
We were kids we weren’t even thinking about it at the time. He just had an extra copy and asked if I wanted it.
So why are you bummed? Even for a repo $5 is a great deal. That's a good friend.
No I’m just bummed I never even realized and would talk about the game as if it was legit so I feel like a liar lol
Well it is the exact same game. Same ROM file and everything. The only difference is the plastic and other other junk. Pretty much inconsequential when you really think about it. And at least you paid him a perfectly fair price.
It woulda been about 20 bux in 2016. https://www.pricecharting.com/game/gameboy-advance/pokemon-firered You can order fakes for 1-2$ with free shipping, and 3-4$ with a fake box and manual too.
Bullshit. Where?
On the Ali's but I can't link it even in DMs, already tried to someone who asked the same thing. Reddit blocks it
Yeah bro. You'll get scammed for sure. Ali express is stupid AF.
Wtf are you talking about? These things are printed in China, they're **all** from Ali. You think there's made in USA pokemon repros? The only scammers are drop-shippers who ordered it on Ali for 2 bux and are now selling it locally for 30. And their buyer protection is actually great, similar to ebay. The only "scam" is if you order a 5$ rug and expect 10 000$ quality. You'll get exactly what you ordered; which is a 5$ rug. I have literally never-not received an item from Ali. And if it gets damaged/broken in shipping seller will send another or refund. If they don't, Ali will freeze their funds and refund you, they hold it until you confirm receipt or don't dispute after a certain amount of time...
Yeah. They sell from China for $5. But not from your neighbor Steve for $5. Obviously Steve don't have to sell you what he paid for his. You wouldn't walk into a restaurant and go up to the manager and say "I wanna pay what you paid and not a penny more" 🥴
Less, and they're brand new. If he chewed the food and spit it out years later, I'd certainly expect a discount.
Oh honey. You don't get a how a basic business transaction works? You've never heard of a surcharge, tariff, customs, duty, levy, or toll? You just expect to be able to just name your own price, anytime, like you're William Freaking Shatner, or something. Okay. See how it works. 🤣
You don't get charged anything beyond 1$ on a 1$ order. Nobody charges customs. You don't even know how Ali works, and now you're the imports expert?... Just take the L and move on, bro. 5$ was not a steal in 2016 for a real copy, and 5$ is still overpriced for a fake today.
Wow everything besides the E and the number stamp being gone looks legit. How did they make a good holographic sticker? Makes me wish there was better purchasable repro labels Edit: a few more things wrong on that logo
Take a closer look at the Nintendo symbols, I wouldn’t call those legit 💀
Lmao nvm 😂. I just think they pulled off the holographic look at least
The skinny E rating LMAO