Doing som cross-posting here, because I did not buy these:

I found them in the trash.

The top two are PC-versions of FFVII and FFVIII, if that's not apparent.

I got the Reelmagic compatible version of Return to Zork off ebay for $15 BIN. 😲

Another sealed big box; DOOM II IBM CD-ROM version. Got it because it was the cheapest DOOM II big box (either sealed or opened) I could find. 🤣

Notes:
* The jewel case seems to have been damaged in transit (it has a crack and the lower hinge is broken).
* The paper contents seem to have minor water damage. Thankfully, however, there's no major damage. Aside from some warping, all of the manual's pages are fine and aren't glued together.
* The jewel case does not have a front cover insert. I have seen quite a few opened boxes on eBay like this. It seems that some releases of DOOM II did not contain a cover insert.
* There is a "MADE IN CANADA" sticker attached to the rear of the jewel case.
* The disc itself is also made in Canada (disc ring says "CD-ROM BY GOOD TIMES ENT. - MADE IN CANADA").
* The disc contains DOOM Shareware v1.666 and DOOM II v1.666 (the first version of DOOM II).
* The copyright year on the RSAC advisory paper is 1995.

Other pictures can be viewed here: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/k5yv0sge3avz95v/AA … pSIRzVmxka?dl=0

The mailman was here..

Synthoridity wrote:

Another sealed big box; DOOM II IBM CD-ROM version. Got it because it was the cheapest DOOM II big box (either sealed or opened […]
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Another sealed big box; DOOM II IBM CD-ROM version. Got it because it was the cheapest DOOM II big box (either sealed or opened) I could find. 🤣

Notes:
* The jewel case seems to have been damaged in transit (it has a crack and the lower hinge is broken).
* The paper contents seem to have minor water damage. Thankfully, however, there's no major damage. Aside from some warping, all of the manual's pages are fine and aren't glued together.

How can the manual and such have minor water damage if the box is supposedly sealed? Is it not an actual mint condition box copy?

DracoNihil wrote:

How can the manual and such have minor water damage if the box is supposedly sealed? Is it not an actual mint condition box copy?

Either water somehow leaked into the top of the box at some point within the last 20 or so years (the shrink wrap has lots of tiny holes in it, and some parts of the wrap were split), or it is a re-seal. I suppose I should ask the seller if they know the source of the box (they listed it as "brand new"/"still sealed", and they did have reasonably clear photos of all the sides of the box).

Edit: Seller says they bought it at a garage sale and thought it was new because it was still sealed.

After closely examining the box under the wrap (I left the shrink wrap on the box after opening it), I think it is very likely a re-seal. Possibly from a used-game store?

I have looked at many pictures of both sealed and opened DOOM II boxes online. Sealed copies do not always have the same shrink wrap format, and opened copies do not always come with the same paperwork.

However, the most common shrink wrap for the North American IBM CD-ROM release of DOOM II seems to be the same as the shrink wrap on the copy I got: A seam along the top, another seam along the bottom, no side seams, and a vertical strip down the back.

Some of the other boxes I've seen on eBay include the following:

* An opened box with the shrink wrap still on it. There is a Walmart price sticker on the front, and the wrap is considerably looser and glossier than the wrap on the box I have. Comes with manual, addendum, registration card, and disc in jewel case with no front cover insert. Disc has "MADE IN U.S.A." printed on it.

* Another opened box with the shrink wrap still on it. Comes with manual, addendum, and disc in jewel case with no front cover insert. Disc does NOT have "MADE IN U.S.A." printed on it.

* An opened box with no shrink wrap on it; described as "like new". Comes with manual, addendum, registration card, "IMPORTANT! A printing error was made ..." card, DOOM II Official Players Cap / Screen Saver order form, DOOM II Official Strategy Guide order form, and disc in jewel case. A front cover insert was partially visible in one of the photos. Disc has "MADE IN U.S.A." printed on it.

* An opened box with no shrink wrap on it. Comes with manual, addendum, and disc in jewel case with no front cover insert. Disc does NOT have "MADE IN U.S.A." printed on it. Rear of jewel case has "MADE IN CANADA" sticker on it.

* An opened box of the Australian version (has small OFLC sticker on front). Comes with manual, addendum, and disc in jewel case with front cover insert. Disc has "MADE IN U.S.A." printed on it. The listing also included the DOOM II Survival Guide by Ed Dille, distributed by Sega-Ozisoft.

* A sealed box of another Australian version (a large OFLC sticker is attached directly on the front of the box [under the shrink wrap]). The wrap is pretty tight (the box is squashed/warped) and has a price sticker on the front. There is a single medium-small circular hole in the wrap on the back.

* A sealed box of a Windows 95 version. The wrap has a seam along one of the sides of the box (the side that lists the system requirements), in addition to the usual top and bottom seams (the other wraps I've seen have no side seams at all).

My money is on a reseal..

A few more things I just got:

* Return to Castle Wolfenstein (Game of the Year/Special Edition). I've never owned RtCW before, but I did play the demo years ago. I got the UK version, which contains a physical manual and keyboard reference card/insert. The US version comes in a cardboard box and jewel case instead of a keep case, but it was more expensive, and the only Australian version of the GOTY edition I could find for sale was a budget re-release that doesn't have a physical manual.

* Call of Duty: War Chest. This is the US version, which contains 4 discs: CoD2, CoD1 + United Offensive, a soundtrack disc, and a digital strategy guide.

* Final DOOM PC big box, EU version with English manual. Nice and glossy. 😀 Yes, I previously just bought a Final DOOM Platinum PC jewel case, but I then saw the original release for sale and decided to get it. I also saw a listing for the Australian big box release, but that one was excessively overpriced (over $100! And the game's box was damaged!), which I found very off-putting.

"CDs" (i.e. anything in a jewel case) were 25 cents each at the thrift shop next to where I bought my retrobrite stuff today. Had to pick these up.

Never seen the Creative disc before. They had all kinds of weird promos & samplers out back in the day. MS Flight Simulator is a DOS version, wouldn't have bought it otherwise. Also grabbed two bebop jazz albums (one Duke Ellington and a mixed compilation) to bring the total up to a whole dollar. B)

Picked up some games from ebay. A couple of DOS titles -- Links LS 1997 and Shadowcaster; and a few titles for my Win98 PC -- Links LS 1998, MotoRacer, Thief: The Dark Project, and Need for Speed: High Stakes. The Win98 titles I chose to fit my mostly period-correct 1998 PC. This PC and this year were near the end of my first run of gaming days, so the system is set up for maximum nostalgia. Around 1999 life and career took over, and my gaming tailed off rapidly. The system is an HP Vectra VL with a P2-400, 128MB, integrated Matrox G100, Voodoo2 SLI, and 20GB hdd.

The two DOS titles will be interesting too. I did own Shadowcaster back in the day, but have since lost the disc, and the game is not available legitimately from GOG or Steam. And Links LS was a game I poured a ton of hours in during my online tour days. Maybe the last DOS title I ever purchased. And if you have the right monitor and graphics card with enough memory, you can play this DOS game in 1600x1200 in millions of colors. 😎 I'll probably be playing it in 800x600x32k since my Pentium DOS PC has a 1MB graphics card and my monitor is only realistically capable of 1024x768.

Not me, but someone apparently made out like a bandit: 600 "big box" PC games for $75.00! 😲
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qy8bo6d6fvs

Well, $75 plus two trips in the SUV. Gotta worry about freight costs for that many games.

Even so, what's crazy is that the seller had pretty much everything short of weird Japan only releases.

Stiletto wrote:

Not me, but someone apparently made out like a bandit: 600 "big box" PC games for $75.00! 😲
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qy8bo6d6fvs

I wonder why the seller would've let him get sold out for such a laughable amount of money? 😕

You put a saddle on a gift horse, not look it in the mouth.

Sometimes the convenience of having someone do all the work in coming and getting the stuff out of your hair is worth more than the hassle of trying to sell at a higher price and do the transport/shipping yourself.

^^ Awesome haul & great that it went to collectors who will share it with others on Youtube.

Picked up a game I've been after for years.

@bjt - gorgeous! Congrats on finally getting U7 boxed after so much time. 😀

Got 4 games from eBay recently. Those are the first two. I LOVE the music in Colonel's Bequest.

The Settlers III is actually a Big Box edition (as is the Sierra game). I remember playing S3 a LOT back in the day.

My latest flea market finds:

Picked these up on ebay for about 5 bucks apiece:

Thief: The Dark Project (came with a 2nd CD of Eidos demos)
Need for Speed: High Stakes
Links LS 1998 Edition
Moto Racer
Links LS 1997 Edition
Shadowcaster

The first four go on my 1998 Dream PC (P2-400, Voodoo2 SLI), the last two are MS-DOS games.