I've never actually seen one for sale. Does anyone here actually have one and how rare are these things? http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=220431543570
I believe they made about 40 of them. They gave a couple away at E3, and some to people who worked on the game at Working Designs. Apparently, some at an EB manager's convention as well.
Under 50, more than 2 (as this seller states). More in the 30-40 range. Here's a roster of people who were allegedly sent this prize (a full year after the contest, lol) Dan Amrich (GamePro) Oliver Chin (Animerica) Howard Grossman (Expert Gamer) Kraig Kujawa (EGM) Wataru Maruyama (Official PlayStation Magazine) Eric Mylonas (DieHard GameFan) Greg Off (PSExtreme) Andrew Reiner (Game Informer) Francesca Reyes (Game Buyer) John Ricciardi (EGM) Tyrone Rodriguez (Tips & Tricks) Byrn Williams (Gamers' Republic) Chris Johnston (videogames.com) Mike Fahey (videogamers.com) John Braden (Digital Ages Online) Jeff High (Inside Games) Joey Gray (PSX Nation) Brian Preble (Game Sages) Dan Granett (High Resolution) Sam Kennedy (Gaming Age) Marty Chinn (Cyber Games News Center) Andrew Pfister (Now Loading) Mark Macdonald (Gaming Age) Kelly Bradley (Game Otaku) Duke Ferris (Game Revolution) Lee Saito Fabian Blanche, III (Gaming Age) Of those, I'm caught a few on AIM and asked if they ever actually got it and was told yes. Here's the form letter that came with the (finally) awarded case/game: June 11th, 1999 Dear Contest Participant: Enclosed, please find the long-overdue promotional premium we promised you around E3 of last year. We had a number of problems with the vendor doing the gold-plating, and only recently completed the work with them. Enjoy the game and gold-plated GunCon. One tip, however. If your hands sweat a lot, you might want to limit the play on the gun as acidic sweat from hands will eat the gold plating off the handle. Not everyone has this condition, but we wanted to warn you if you do! Enjoy! Sincerely, Working Designs Staff (Letter and contestants ripped from GameRave - with personal knowledge thrown in)
I won it. Now he's trying to back out with some nonsense that it was "damaged by his son". I bet someone offered him more. If he doesn't agree to the transaction I intend to sue him for breach of contract.
Good luck with that. The sad reality is that a court is not going to force him to sell and the costs of filing suit, pursuing the litigation and serving him (if you can even find him) are well above the damages you could possibly allege for this breach. Of course, if worse comes to worse, he could just have his son damage it. Ebay blows.
We all know it is bs but it is easy to test for sure. Have someone ELSE email him with more $ say 4-5k and see if it is still damaged. edit------------ Before you do anything like that or get into a fight I'd say someything like.... Thanks for your honesty about the current condition. Please send me the item as is as carefully packed as possible. If I am unhappy I will pay to have it returned to you.
"[FONT=arial,sans-serif]I regret to inform you that I am unable to send the Elemental Gearbolt. While i was packing it, my 2 year old son decided to play with it while I was in the other room. I heard some banging and ran into the room to find my son banging the gun on my slate table. He ruined it. I have had that thing for 11 years and in 5 minutes my son destroyed it. I am sorry for any problems that this may cause you, but believe me it is even worse for me. I lost a rare item and the money I needed to pay my property taxes. I am truly sorry."[/FONT] "You are threatening me? The thing is in pieces and my wife threw it away. You would want me to sell you something that is not what was promised? That would be dishonest. I am sorry the circumstances turned out as they did. Believe me when i say i needed the money. Now i have to find money to pay my property taxes. Thanks for your understanding." I doubt anyone has EVER been able to break a guncon into PIECES let alone a 2 year old child as he claims. Would you throw away the "pieces"? no. I've been in a bad mood lately and this is the last thing I needed.
I've seen grown men throw GunCons across a room and not suffer any damage. A 2 year old might have damaged the gold plating, but he sure as hell ain't cracking the plastic. -hl718
Ask for pics of the thing in pieces. No garbage men should have taken it away yet I imagine, regardless of if its in the trash. Insist upon pics of the thing to prove that it is damaged. No reason he should object to that unless he just wants to screw himself further if he really is telling the truth. Edit: Just realized this wasn't a game disc but a gun
Well he states in the auction that only 2 were ready at the time of E3, which when Dangerboy and I taked to Zack Meston about these things, agreed with that train of thought. A bunch more of these that wern't sent out to industry people were sent back to the Japanese developers and a few were given to people at WD who had an integral part in making the game happen. Zach said that even he didn't get one, and he helped paint the guns, and did lots of testing among other things. Good luck in getting this guy to cough the thing up.
So, Assembler, have you had any luck with getting the item from the seller or proof that somehow a 2 year old shattered a gun made of hard plastic.
