Post a Comment On: The Dreamcast Junkyard

[Image] A couple of years ago, we the writers of this blog shared our collections with the readership and allowed the internet at large to bask in the fuzzy glow of the weird and wonderful items of Dreamcast-related tat we have all accumulated over the years. With that in mind, we thought it was about time that we turned the tables and asked our lovely readers - namely the members of our awesome Facebook group - which odd, strange and unique items they had acquired and added to their Dreamcast collections over the years. And they didn't disappoint.
[Image] No, they answered the call with gusto, and I was quite literally flabbergasted at the range of the unique and lesser-spotted items of Dreamcast hardware, software and merchandise (both official and third party) which was offered up for others to gawk at. Some of these items I had no prior knowledge of, and some of them are just downright weird. Others are completely unique and one-of-a-kind pieces of Dreamcast-related history. Forget your standard 'L@@K! R@RE!' eBay listings for copies of Buggy Heat. These items are the real Dreamcast crown jewels. So, without further ado let's embark on a journey into the more obscure annals of Dreamcast collecting...

[Image] First up we have several interesting items from hardcore Dreamcast collector Dennis Herr. A Dreamcast-branded block of sticky notes, a Space Channel 5 Part 2 collector's edition, and the lesser-spotted Dreamcast MIDI cable and the only supported game:
[Image] [Image] [Image] If you're wondering what the point of the MIDI cable is, it's for connecting instruments such as a keyboard (the musical type) to the Dreamcast. Yep.

Next up from Thomas White comes this rather impressive PAL Dreamcast floor mat (being used as a duvet here. To be honest, I've slept under far worse things). And below that you'll find a pretty rare white box Yukawa Dreamcast, a variant which was only supplied to Toyota dealerships:
[Image] [Image] The 'blanket' under which our intrepid hero slumbers actually comes from Sega Europe's QA offices and is probably quite rare these days.

Speaking of rare things, how about the Ascii pad? How about four of the blighters in various colours? Well you're in luck, as Ren Guard supplied the following image for us all to get jealous about:
[Image] Next, we have this fascinating specimen from Jeremy Lueken. Now, it may just look like a copy of Midway's Greatest Arcade Hits, but it's actually something far better - Marvel Vs. Capcom 2.
[Image] Jeremy explains: "My copy of Midways Greatest Arcade Hits Vol. 1! This isn't your everyday copy though, oh no! For this is a misprinted disc which somehow got screwed up at the pressing factory. What you see on the disc label as being "Midways Greatest Arcade Hits Vol. 1" is wrong... as it actually has a copy of Marvel Vs. Capcom 2 pressed on the disc itself to play! Unfortunately, I have found little about this and how it happened, as it would seem unlikely to happen being one game would have been made by Midway and the other by Capcom. There is mention of this disc around the internet as possibly being the only one in existence. All in all the mystery continues...as I am now the proud owner of what could be the rarest and oddest Dreamcast game out there!"

Do you know anything about this oddity? Or how it could be that a Capcom game was pressed onto a Midway disc? If so, let us know!

Moving on, how's this for a cool piece of magazine publishing history? It comes from Chris Powell (of SEGA Nerds fame), and is the very Dreamcast console used by Next Generation magazine writers to review games on.
[Image] Chris gives further details: "I don't think this one is really rare or valuable, but I own a Dreamcast that was used by NextGen magazine staff back in the day to review Dreamcast games. I bought it from one of their primary designers who also went on to design the Official Dreamcast Magazine."

Next Generation was a fairly popular US-based multi-format magazine that closed in 2002, so if you have any copies from around the time of the Dreamcast's reign, the chances are that the games covered were played on this very console!

Sticking with Dreamcast hardware (of sorts), here are a couple of interesting items from John Smith. First we have a fully packaged Dream Movie VCD player and remote control unit:
[Image] [Image] The second item is probably the more intriguing of the two - it's a Treamcast-branded power board for a Dreamcast console. I'm not totally sure why or when Treamcast started to manufacture own-brand internal parts for the Dreamcast, but this isn't something I even knew existed. Obviously, we know about the Treamcast-branded peripherals like the DreamPhoto mouse, but internal parts? That's a new one for me.

Speaking of the Treamcast, more than a couple were offered up in the thread. If you don't know what a Treamcast is, it's an all-in-one Dreamcast with a screen that most definitely isn't a Dreamcast...but comes in its own carry case and is compatible with Dreamcast games. Here are a couple from Rubén Vaquer Montes, Lincoln Ho, Rhys Bateup and Eddie Bogarde (in that order):
[Image] [Image] [Image] [Image] Eddie also offered up some other unusual items in his collection, in the form of the following peripherals: the DC Gamemate arcade stick, an official Sega Direct Capcom-branded VMU, the Bio Gun third party light gun and the official Sega Dreamcast system link cable...
[Image] [Image] [Image] [Image] We recently looked at some Dreamcast-shaped clone consoles here at the Junkyard, but here's one from Anna Fröhling that I hadn't seen before:
[Image] The 'Super Joystick TV Game Power Player' unashamedly assumes the form of an official Dreamcast controller, but allows for a second controller to be plugged in and also appears to take cartridges too. Quite why there's an aerial antenna on it though, is anyone's guess!

Next up, here's a trio of Dreamcast-branded bags and carry cases that were available in the US, supplied by Nathan Steward:
[Image] They're very cool, but do they beat the PAL variants? Here are a couple of Dreamcast bags from my own collection as a comparison:
[Image] [Image] Moving on to some more 'wearable' items, plenty of other Dreamcast-branded bags, jackets and shirts were offered up. Here's a rather interesting jacket combination from Sean Hampton. The jacket on the left is a Sampdoria wind breaker (Sampdoria is an Italian football team that was sponsored by Sega); while the one on the right is a bomber jacket with an embroidered Dreamcast logo and the text 'Townsend Centre Relocation Team':
[Image] I asked Sean for more information on the 'Townsend Centre,' but he wasn't totally sure. Here's what he said: "I wish I could give more information on the jacket, other than its physical appearance. Black outside with the infamous orange inside. Sega patch on the arm and the DC logo on the chest. Heavy duty zippers and pockets on the inside, too. Even came with pocket pen protectors. Other than that, your guess is as good as mine. If I had to guess, Townsend Center was a sector of Sega and this was an employee gift. But I really don't know. I bought it off eBay. No name brand either. One name brand tag on the arm next to pen/cigarette pack stash, but it's very small."
On the subject of jackets, here's an official Sega one from the launch of the Dreamcast in the US, which is owned by Mike Mayu: [Image] It looks very similar in style to my own Sega Europe jacket, complete with blue swirl which was also manufactured by apparel firm Cobles: [Image] [Image] Incidentally, this is the one that was featured on UK Resistance many, many moons ago!
There were several watches on show too, with examples of the chunky metallic Dreamcast watch, again from Sean Hampton and Rhys Bateup respectively: [Image] [Image] Then there's this beautiful replica of the Timex watch worn by Ryo Hazuki in Shenmue, supplied by Conlett White, who also has a rather impressive collection of related Shenmue paraphernalia and wearables: [Image] [Image] [Image] [Image] Sticking with the Shenmue theme, here's Thomas White (assisted by his brother) showing off his impressive collection of NAOMI and Shenmue-related items and games. If you look closely you can also see a HMV Dreamcast preview VHS tape hiding at the bottom of the image: [Image] Moving back to hardware and software, and more specifically stuff signed by internet celebrities, here's a US Dreamcast kiosk, which was autographed by none other than James Rolfe, aka the Angry Video Game Nerd: [Image] Third party VMUs are very common items when it comes to Dreamcast collecting, but what about a third party VMU...with a screen? There aren't many of these about, but here's one such article from DCJY writer Mike Phelan: [Image] And on the software side of things, here are a couple of very uncommon discs relating to Dreamcast software development. First up, the Loop Checker from Trevor Stokes: [Image] And here's a superb example of the lesser-spotted Dreamcast Middleware Conference Demo Disc Part 2 from Eric Fradella: [Image] Finally, a couple of Seaman-related items. Here's a fan from our own Ross O'Reilly:
[Image] And a collection of unopened Seaman promotional figures, supplied by Adam Beneke:
[Image] To be honest, there was so much cool and unusual stuff posted by members of the group that it's actually quite staggering how much merchandise and little-known collectables there are out there in peoples' private collections. Every one of them has its own unique story to tell and the ones I pulled out and stuck in this post represent the tip of the iceberg.

If I listed all of the peripherals, dev kits, special edition software and consoles, carry cases, action figures, stickers, key rings and God knows what else, this post would literally be as long as a very long thing. So I'm going to leave it there for now. A huge thanks to everyone who submitted images, and if you want to see more (or indeed, add your own) then by all means head over to our Facebook group and get involved!

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