Reclaim the legacy that was Turbo Zone Direct

[nat]

I wondered what happened to the remaining inventory when RedFrog suddenly stopped operating, I assumed it had all been sold off. It looks like it's far more likely that it was probably been seized by law enforcement. A shame. A damn shame.

Isn't stuff claimed by law enforcement usually sold off at auction? Someone with something to invest could start a shop on that.

Usually is, yes. In this case, however, it was probably sold off at a small local auction in whatever municipality was handling this case.

That court document is almost three years old now (hard to believe that much time has passed since the RedFrog fiasco), so it's highly likely the stuff has already been sold. I'd be willing to bet that whoever bought it (if in fact it was even bought) had little idea what it was they were buying. I don't really hold out any hope that stuff will ever resurface on the Turbo market. Like I said... a damn shame. What a strange, sordid end to the TZD legacy.

[spenoza]

The document made it seem (based on skimming) that the case was not finished, and was, in fact, still in the early phases. Some litigation can take years. The goods could still be held. Maybe I read the document wrong, though.

[RR1980]

haha so in some police station in America somewhere there are boxes of brand new sealed  US Magical Chase? I think think somewhere in France Thibaut just fainted hehe

[MotherGunner]

Looks like the link is dead, can someone please redirect or repost?

Looking forward to the interesting read.

[nat]

The link isn't dead (just checked), try it again.

[vestcoat]

haha so in some police station in America somewhere there are boxes of brand new sealed US Magical Chase?

No, I think Steve gave the last one to Aaron in return for redesigning the site a year or so before it was sold to Red Frog.  The most valuable title Red Frog got was one sealed copy of Dynastic Hero which was sold on ebay for $800.  (I offered Steve $150 for it in 2007 and he turned me down.)

Long story short, there may be fifty sealed copies of Buster Brothers sitting in a cop shop and, maybe, one or two copies of Cotton, but probably not Magical Chase.

[nodtveidt]

I found the lawsuit a couple of days ago... pretty interesting stuff. More information was on another site... it appears this isn't the first time this "Redfrog" has been in trouble with the law.

[SignOfZeta]

haha so in some police station in America somewhere there are boxes of brand new sealed US Magical Chase?

No, I think Steve gave the last one to Aaron in return for redesigning the site a year or so before it was sold to Red Frog.  The most valuable title Red Frog got was one sealed copy of Dynastic Hero which was sold on ebay for $800.  (I offered Steve $150 for it in 2007 and he turned me down.)

Long story short, there may be fifty sealed copies of Buster Brothers sitting in a cop shop and, maybe, one or two copies of Cotton, but probably not Magical Chase.

Yeah, I don't recall TZD ever having copies of MC.

[MotherGunner]

Okay, NOW its working for me... weird, but thanks.

[blueraven]

I actually agree. The more you pester him, the more he perceives the domain must be worth to you.

As far as the link that blueraven posted.... Wow. Am I the only one that read that? I guess that finally explains what happened to the whole RedFrog-era TZD. I didn't think TZD's legacy could be marred any further after what happened with those guys, but this really beats it all.

From what I get from that document, apparently the TZD stock was used (by RedFrog) as a bargaining chip in a fraud to scam investors out of almost a million dollars. I wondered what happened to the remaining inventory when RedFrog suddenly stopped operating, I assumed it had all been sold off. It looks like it's far more likely that it was probably been seized by law enforcement. A shame. A damn shame.

nat, I read the brief over in full and it just seemed appropriate to post and clear the air on this issue.  He's getting his pants sued off.

The $816,000 fraud charge is the largest of their many alleged infractions brought by the plantiff(s), and it is possible that the assets have been seized. The brief has been filed and requests a Jury Trial, which means that there was probably just a preliminary hearing and it doesn't look like the issue has been resolved, so I'm guessing it's been delayed a few times. Does anyone know if the case has been settled or has come to trial?

Everything I have said here is just theory as I am not a lawyer, but my bet is that the domain is the cash-cow to pay the legal fees.

[DragonmasterDan]

Yeah, I don't recall TZD ever having copies of MC.

They did a LONG LONG time ago. But they had at least an extra of everything, regardless of whether or not they had it for sale or listed on their site.

[SignOfZeta]

Yeah, I don't recall TZD ever having copies of MC.

They did a LONG LONG time ago. But they had at least an extra of everything, regardless of whether or not they had it for sale or listed on their site.

Yeah, that's what I mean. They never had one for sale.

For the most part, what that had when they started was what they had 10 years later. Along the way they added a few things from the secret stash (like when the service contract expired and they sold off all the systems) and for a few years they had a small selection of new imports they got straight from Hudson (I think) like the Yuna 1 reprint, Card Angels, etc.

TZD was a very useful site, but not a particularly exciting one, inventory-wise.

[esteban]

I recall MC available when I still received mailings from TZD... which would be in the late 90's.

If only I had known then that BRAVOMAN and HERO TONMA wouldn't skyrocket in value like certain other titles... yes, I purchased goddamned titles like BRAVOMAN instead of Bonk 3. What the heck was I thinking?

[vestcoat]

Magical Chase was off the website in '96.  Henrysrc used the wayback machine to make a list of when games sold out here:
http://www.pcenginefx.com/forums/index.php?topic=8497.msg143642#msg143642

Neither is it on my earliest TZD mailing, dated August '97.

TZD pulled web and catalog listings off when they were down to the last 5-10 copies of any given game (the reason I always made my orders by phone!).  Judging by the way Aaron was talking when he posted his (now deleted) pictures of sealed MC, I'm certain he got the last one.

What I want to know is who got the loose copy from the tip line binder.  I was placing multiple orders hoping to get it, but they ended the free, alphabetical, Turbochip offer before they even got through "D."

[nat]

I'm assuming all the remaining "tip line binder" games probably went to the buyer of the rest of the stock: RedFrog aka Tennessee Criminal Syndicate, Inc.