Signed Dreamcast Console

Hi there,

I have this japanese DC console here that seems to be signed / autographed.
I have no clue who's signature this might be.

Any hints?

Thanks

 

Interesting, how and where did you get it? Good luck translating it.

 

A friend of mine bought it on Yahoo auctions some 13 years ago. I no longer have the auction title or
the item description.

 

Takahiro Yoshimatsu a.k.a Something Yoshimatsu
If you google サムシング吉松 サイン you'll see some similar signatures. The character is ドリドリキャス子 (doridorikyasuko/Dre-Dre-Casko?) from a manga he wrote in some Sega related magazine or another.

 

Thanks a lot, dr.slump!
Are signed DCs of that kind valuable in any way?

 

Depends on the signature. Usually the signature is what deems value (and of course if it's a rare item as well wich could lower or raise the price with a signature).

For example, here's my DTL-H1200 signed by Keiji Inafune. I don't know how to gauge a price due to the signature, but it holds the value of a Debugging station alone (it's in great shape for what it's potentially been through). So would the signature raise the price? Depends on too many things so the real only way to know is sell it (and I wont be for mine - at least not yet).

Spoiler: 3 very large images

 

On eBay in the last week I saw one signed by Ozzie Osbourne IIRC.

 

I'd say it really boils down to luck - i.e. finding the person who (a) wants that piece of hardware and (b) is a real fan of the person who signed it. So there's no real way of valuing something like this, imho.

 

Signatures are considered a defect in a collector's point of view.

 

My point exactly.

To the item collector it's bad, but to a signature collector it's a good thing.

 

Not 100% sure about that - the Bill Gates signed XBOX is worth a fair bit of cash, aside from the fact that it's limited.

It depends on the signature with collectors, I don't think they're always considered a defect.

 

That's a completely different ballpark. It's officially done, not scribbled with a marker.

 

Gonna side with Hex on that one actually.
Production and official versus just getting an item signed is different. Microsoft had Bill as the CEO for some time, and as such he has quite a name (and a bit of power) and therefore a price that's high.

Whereas my PS1 debugstation is a debug station just signed by a dev/artist and is a totally hit or miss thing.

To the OP, my apologies if this worries you or is derailing too far. Signatures are weird to handle.

 

Thanks for all your opinions. I think I will get one of the Doridoriyasuko mangas and shelf it together with the console.
If anyone reads this and interested in the machine, just get in touch with me. Thanks for the excellent info!

 

Try telling that to collector groups on Facebook. Everyone in that crummy Halo Collector Group run by that Kevin Hurd guy had a cow at me when I said I'd much rather get something put in a case and have the person sign the case rather than the piece itself.

 

An item that is sold at retail and then signed is no big deal. You can buy another Dreamcast that isn't signed to please the sharpie haters. I think it makes a console that sold over 9 million units unique.

 

Agreed. A rare sealed game or prototype, on the other hand...

 

Those people are called fanboys, they'll defend a product or brand like they'll get rewarded for doing so.

There's no point getting a signature without proof either. I'm sure we all remember that member here who burnt Borman's rare protos he shared on a DVD and got someone from Rare to sign it (or so he claimed). Then sold it on eBay...

It's quite weird I don't see a signature as something to 'raise value' of an item, as it's more of an experience to get the signature than to buy it. Really doesn't make sense when I think of it like that.

 

I think it depends largely on if there's proof that the signature is genuine. I mean, to some collectors, a console signed by Shigeru Miyamoto, or Tim and Chris Stamper (formerly of Rare), for example, would be very collectible. But anyone can forge a signature and then sell it on ebay (ot anywhere else) as being genuine. Without proper proof, then it's just a normal console that's been somewhat defaced.

 

Exactly that. When dealing with signatures, it's imperative to have proof of authenticity. Anyone can make a certificate - unless they're a professional graphologist with knowledge of the genuine signature, they're largely worthless. A photo of the person signing the item or posing with it once signed is far better.

Value is very subjective - as with anything, it's worth what someone will pay. If it's a key person (especially one who died), then it will hold more value than "just" a QA tester or junior programmer or some such. Likewise, the relevance of the signed item to the individual - a Dreamcast signed by the director of the design team would hold more value than one signed by an animator for a few episodes of Dragon Ball Z and a handful of other obscure series.

Personally, I don't like the defacement of the Dreamcast badge. It seems to be incorporated into something he's sketched (a hat?) but, for an animator, that scribble looks pretty crude. Yup, looking at the Google suggestion, it's some weird head... so you get away with it using the logo, but there are other examples he did that are much better. I'd query the authenticity of this one, looking at other examples.