Buying a Gimmick! without getting burned

[nerdynebraskan]

Ok, so I'm thinking of finally breaking down and buying myself a Gimmick! cart with some of my tax return. But I've gotten a bit paranoid, given the increase in counterfeiting of retro Nintendo carts. Unfortunately, opening a Gimmick! is a little trickier than opening an NES rare, and I'd be really nervous about breaking the tabs if I tried to open it. But is that what I'd have to do to be sure?

I guess some things I've read suggest that it may be enough just to hear the extra sound when I plug it in, but I've also seen people making bootlegs with the extra sound channels. How many of the fakes being sold have the enhanced sound?

I hate counterfeiters...

[fredJ]

Well, if you buy it from eBay or with paypal payment you will have buyer protection...
I don't think counterfeit is that common however. Buy from a reputable seller/collector and it shouldn't be a problem. The original cart is still far more common than a counterfeit, and there are still few counterfeiters.
Making a counterfeit with enhanced sound isn't too difficult, because Gremlins 2 isn't that expensive.
But I don't seriously think counterfeiters would care about the extra sound.

You can also look around the label of the cart. Most original carts are discolored around the edges and I don't think a counterfeiter would be able to achieve that (or care). See here for example

[L___E___T]

I hope you are not referring to repro makers as 'counterfeiters'...

I would get an original cart if you have enough.  I have pirates and repros of Gimmick and still really want a legit one.  It's actually not as easy as it sounds to make a repro with the enhanced sound, you'll need a rare 5B chip and even then it can sound a bit different.  Best to grab the real cartridge.

So I would follow FredJ's advice, or set yourself a budget amount and see if one of the expats here can help you find one.  They know exactly what to look for and it'll be commission well spent.

Are you looking for loose or CIB?  CIBs are going for double what loose carts are and more in most cases.

[UglyJoe]

I personally wouldn't buy one without seeing the insides first.  I'll admit that that is a bit unreasonable, though.

[nerdynebraskan]

I hear ya, Joe. I would certainly be more eager to throw down the cash on one that I could see the insides of first. But a lot of even well-meaning sellers aren't going to want to risk that plastic being brittle and snapping in the attempt. That's a lot of value to be potentially lost.

@ Fred

Yeah, I've considered offering on one that's on Ebay right now. But I'm just not confident in my abilities to open one of these without breaking the case, so I'd have a hard time proving if it was a fake. And yeah, I am concerned about people making them with Sunsoft donors and restoring the added sound channels.

@ LET

Reproductions are a gray area, both ethically and legally. Anyone who wants to take a game that never got released, and put that ROM back into an original shell and give us a chance to enjoy it as it was meant to be played is doing a wonderful service for our community. Even the NTSC/NES Mr. Gimmick repros may qualify for that. And I'd be ok with adding goofy pirate stuff here, as it offers a dirt-cheap way of playing what are often pretty rare games on original hardware (while making no effort to pass itself off as original to scam a collector).

Then there was that Volk guy who used the schematics provided here by Pit, and he's now selling counterfeit Gimmicks with identical labels on Ebay. (And he's trying to get away with it by advertising them as "reproductions.") I am understandably concerned about people buying his bootlegs and trying to resell them as legit. I know I don't want to drop $200 on a cart just to get one of his modern fakes.

And yes, I am quite set on getting an original at this point. I want to be able to play the full game (which I understand is not even possible on my Pipe V pirate version), I want the enhanced sound, and I don't want my cart to die on me in ten years when a bunch of cheap repro parts start failing inside of a counterfeit cart. And I'm prepared to spend the money, as long as I'm confident I'm not going to get screwed by one of the vultures trying to get a piece of the cash cow that our hobby has become.

[MasterDisk]

I don't want to get into arguing but repro are counterfeit items for certain since no money is given to the publisher/developper.

[UglyJoe]

Stay on topic, guys.  This is a thread about buying Gimmick!, not a thread about the merits/faults of repros.

[JessicaWolf]

Stay on topic, guys.  This is a thread about buying Gimmick!, not a thread about the merits/faults of repros.

The way people white knight about repro's around here is crazy. It seems like certain people think repro makers should be beheaded and their heads put on pikes as a warning to others.

[MarioMania]

I wouldn't mind a Pirate Cart

[P]

I'm just not confident in my abilities to open one of these without breaking the case, so I'd have a hard time proving if it was a fake.

You can practice at opening cheap loose carts first. I have yet to break a tab using the quick-grip method, but I'm not sure how many times a cartridge may be opened before it breaks. Some carts are brittle and some carts are more rubbery-like.

[Profeta Yoshitake]

I wouldn't mind a Pirate Cart

The problem is that great part of the pirates have some cheat enabled.
My pirate Gimmick!, labeled "PIPE V" for example starts with 30 lives.
I don't like it.

[P]

Yeah I don't see the point in these "trained" games.

[fcgamer]

I have the Pipe V pirate too, but haven't played it too much, as the music sounds so horrible.

[L___E___T]

It does on real hardware - sounded fine on my clone.

[Profeta Yoshitake]

I have the Pipe V pirate too, but haven't played it too much, as the music sounds so horrible.

Mine too. Maybe due to the absence of Sunsoft's special sound chip.

It does on real hardware - sounded fine on my clone.

Really?! 
I'm gonna check this out!