nod,
Sucks about your Briefcase model. Was the unit shipped in bubble wrap?
I had an issue sending electronics, only once. That was because I didn't wrap it in bubble wrap and allow enough breathing room all around the unit. Something banged into the box and hit the unit inside, damaging it.
Also nod, what happened with your TG-16 stuff in 1996?
I first acquired my Turbo Grafx when it was pretty cheap. I purchased about 5 games and the system, all new, for about $100. I was a bit later than others to jump on the Turbo Grafx.
I remember ads for the system, commercials and seeing the display at Children's Palace (Splatterhouse looked awesome), however the cost was a bit prohibitive.
I had a Nintendo at the time, neighbour had a Nintendo and an Atari 2600 (I later acquired a 2600 after playing on his system). I had enough video game stuff to keep me busy. We could excange games back and forth, no need to transport systems. It worked out pretty well with us both having Nintendo and an Atari 2600.
I remember the orange console box, as when I would purchase a Nintendo game at Toys 'R Us and take my claim slip up to the booth where the video games were kept, I could see the system box through the plexi glass. The orange box was easy to recognize.
Later I met someone who had a Turbo Grafx 16, we had some fun with Bloody Wolf. Though, he didn't like to play the system often. He preferred his Genesis and new Sega Cd attachment. After playing Bloody Wolf, I knew I would EVENTUALLY get this system.
While at a department store, I saw TG-16 stock being cleared out. I wasn't too interested at first, 'til I asked the price, hahaha. I forget the exact cost for the system, it was somewhere between $25-50, the games I purchased were all between $5-10 a piece. I ended up with a system, and about 5 games. The first games I purchased were Timeball, Final Lap Twin, Chew Man Fu, Raiden (I think...), and probably one other game.
Upon hooking up the system, I wasn't terribly impressed with my selection of games, though I did feel they were all decent (Though Timeball didn't have too much replay) however I remembered Bloody Wolf and Bonk, I knew there had to be more stuff out there!
From there I went to out of business sales, Stores clearing out TG-16 stock, Yard sales, Mail Order (Found TZD this way), Video Rental Stores, etc.
Another memory I have is some of the crap games I'd buy from TZD sometimes the folks there would say, "Are you sure you want to buy that? Are you sure? You could buy Bomberman '93, we have ____ special going on", etc. I purchased Deep Blue and Fighting Street with those warnings, hahaha. I wish instead of spending money on games like that (Deep Blue was alright) I had purchased something else that now costs more $$$.
I got into the TG-16 a bit late in it's life. I scrambled a bit to find new stuff. I got a pretty awesome find at a video store. All in all, it's a fun hobby. Some folks who visit still remember the system.
