Akalabeth up on ebay... is it authentic?

[mindx2]

A question for my fellow Codex collectors: Someone has put up a copy of Akalabeth on ebay. Their description is pretty spartan to say the least so how can one tell if this is authentic? This appears to have parts from both Garriott's original release as well as the California Pacific release.


http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Com...616?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3f1acff7a8

 

[FeelTheRads]

Who can tell.
Here's some info about Akalabeth: http://mocagh.org/loadpage.php?getcompany=origin&npp=25&whatsnew=0&start=0&series=Ultima+Series

Going by what's said there the green sticker versions should be almost impossible to find. But fuck, who knows.
Would be a pretty dumb forger to go through all the trouble and then not even put the game's name in the auction title. I have Akalabeth as a saved search on ebay and didn't get any alert for this.

 

[Comte]

Ultima Aiera has warned before of counterfeit older Ultima's being put up on E-Bay http://www.ultimaaiera.com/ so buyer beware.

http://www.ultimaaiera.com/blog/the-akalabeth-scammer-is-at-it-again/

 

[FeelTheRads]

More info here too: http://www.ultimacollectors.info/ak_1.htm

Seems that auction has parts from three different editions. Starting to smell more and more like a scam.

 

[DwarvenFood]

Maybe Luzur can take a peek as well, I recall his personal collection being quite impressive.

 

[Phelot]

The seller is new and they've apparently never gotten feedback on selling anything (4 feedback on buying it seems) and that shipping price is oddly high. It is also kind of odd that they don't have the game name in the title, but who knows, they may simply not know what they're doing, being "mom n pop" :D

Hopefully for you it doesn't get a lot of attention, so say $20 or so isn't that bad if it ends up being a scam.

EDIT: As FeeltheRads noticed, that is odd too, having the cover for 3 separate editions.

 

[Gord]

A google image search doesn't turn up much.
But if it's a scam he either counterfeited the different items, he's himself a collector trying to scam other potential collectors or he got the pic from some other source, which might provide answers if found.

 

[Phelot]

Very true, Gord, I also tried searching for that pic and it didn't turn up anything. Honestly, it may very well be that the guy inherited it, doesn't care about it anymore, or doesn't realize what he has and is just trying to get rid of it for a few bucks. I'd lay low, watch it, and snag it last second if it's cheap enough

 

[Gord]

Yes, probably the best course of action, as long as it stays cheap the potential loss is small.

Of course, one might try to contact other actual collectors/aficionados, potentially risking to expose this to a far wider audience...
Still, they might have some informations on the potential origin of that picture - if I understood it correctly this disk on the left is from the first version, of which only 12 where sold?

Hm, I would at the very least ask the seller if this pic is the real stuff or whether it's just something he found when looking on the internet for "Akalabeth game picture"

 

[jocksitterdragon]

It's fake. Demon cover art is wrong font. Akalabeth CPC disk label is a bad copy. Akalabeth castle cover is a reproduction. Akalabeth computerland cover is not on the right paper. The photo is very similar to the other one used a while back from the scammer in Texas.

 

[Phelot]

Well, the seller will of course say that it's the real deal. What you could do is ask if they could take a closeup pic of the green sticker disk or of that disk with its original cover. Hopefully he takes it on the same surface for comparison.

 

[Luzur]

i would say Fake, stuff looks too new (even the most pristine real Akalabeth ive seen being sold had wear and tear) and as mentioned the shippingis odd and then some minor stuff like fonts etc

but to make a genuine appraisal i need it in my hand too feel the texture of the paper and whatnot, 31 year old paper feels alot different to modern papers.

here is a pic of a real one, provided by British himself:

and more pics of British and Akalabeth:
http://massively.joystiq.com/photos/tabula-rasa-war-college-2008/#/5

 

[Phelot]

I don't know... looks pretty real to me, but I'm no expert. The center cover has some wear on it.

Though... the guy is claiming that the games still work... come on, a 5 1/4 that is 30 years old still works?

 

[Luzur]

I don't know... looks pretty real to me, but I'm no expert. The center cover has some wear on it.

Though... the guy is claiming that the games still work... come on, a 5 1/4 that is 30 years old still works?

well the only expert on Akalabeth is the guy who owns/have owned a copy and Garriott, since he numbered the games he made by himself, California Pacific made around 30.000 (i think it was) so there could be alot of them out there still undiscovered.

and 30 year old 5 1/4 disks have been known to work, but i guess you have to be very lucky to find one, and even more to find one like this.

btw is the Origin Museum gone? Joe Garrity had better pics.

 

[Norfleet]

It looks like the real genuine imitation. The price isn't bad for a real genuine imitation, so maybe wait and see how it looks at the end.

 

[Phelot]

That OP pic doesn't looked shopped in anyway, so unless someone can find that pic elsewhere... or he just printed it out. We must fly Luzur out to feel the paper (seriously, that would probably be the only way to be sure) it was like it was stored in a vacuum

but...

http://www.ultimaaiera.com/blog/the-akalabeth-scammer-is-at-it-again/

http://www.ultimaaiera.com/blog/the-peddler-of-fake-akalabeths-has-struck-again/

http://www.ultimaaiera.com/blog/that-akalabeth-fake-was-probably-a-fake-or-another-scam/


So beware, they're out there...

 

[Gord]

Well, the big flyer in the middle (or whatever it is) does look suspiciously different from everything you find on the web with that pic/layout.
The font of the title is different, and there is no "Available thru your local computer store" written on the others, either.
Also, "thru"?

 

[Phelot]

I love this comment on one of the scams:

Another red flag I noticed is the seller won this auction on ebay 270622745181. You can find this on his buyer feedback. What would he want with vintage 1980′s green stickers.

EDIT: mindx2, I would be extremely cautious with this. It really sounds like a scam. Might be worth paying $25 or so if it slips under the radar and you win it at that. Worst that happens is you got scammed for just $25, not bad considering some people lost $1000 or so on other scams.

There's just too many red flags.

 

[Luzur]

i dunno, i am kinda interested in bidding to see if it is a good fake or not, if i loose it isnt a big deal since i got the rest of the games, if i win i win extra games to sell for profit and a fake Akalabeth (its better then nothing to add to the collection.)

 

[mindx2]

I love this comment on one of the scams:

Another red flag I noticed is the seller won this auction on ebay 270622745181. You can find this on his buyer feedback. What would he want with vintage 1980′s green stickers.

EDIT: mindx2, I would be extremely cautious with this. It really sounds like a scam. Might be worth paying $25 or so if it slips under the radar and you win it at that. Worst that happens is you got scammed for just $25, not bad considering some people lost $1000 or so on other scams.

There's just too many red flags.

Yeah, this whole auction just reeks of a scam. The way everything is "piled" on top of each other so you can't get a clear view. Even the coveted "green sticker" on the disk is obscured so you can't really see it. The extremely low feedback rating and not having any seller feedback just doesn't feel right at all.

Oh well, it's not like I could afford the thousands of dollars a real one would go for anyway ....

 

[Awor Szurkrarz]

Someone should hire these scammers to make official boxed re-editions of ancient games.

 

[Quetzacoatl]

Someone should hire these scammers to make official boxed re-editions of ancient games.

For what devious purpose dear sir?

 

[Jaesun]

btw is the Origin Museum gone? Joe Garrity had better pics.

Joe Garrity pulled the content of the Origin Museum after a disagreement (to put it mildly) with some of the CIC staff. Aside from what's copied into news articles on OM, the collection is not available online.

D R A M A

 

[Awor Szurkrarz]

For what devious purpose dear sir?

Full games being available again.

 

[Infinitron]

btw is the Origin Museum gone? Joe Garrity had better pics.

Joe Garrity pulled the content of the Origin Museum after a disagreement (to put it mildly) with some of the CIC staff. Aside from what's copied into news articles on OM, the collection is not available online.

D R A M A

Hmm. Joe Garrity participates on the UDIC Facebook group on occasion. Maybe I'll ask about this.

EDIT: Jaesun, that message you posted is from 2007. It's probably not relevant anymore.