Very nice. I bought Magic Knight Rayearth new back in 1998.
I was actually a big Rayearth fan before that. I found out about Rayearth through a very random web ring that I believe I found through the Anime Web TurnPike (Anipike.com) back when it was one of the places to go for anime and manga. I then came across some VERY early scanlations of the manga and screen grabs.
Ultimately too it may have just been my favoritism towards nerdy girls with glasses, so instantly Fuu became my favorite character.
I eventually did my Rayearth fandom the old-school way of fan-subbing that many younger people probably don't know, as in before you could stream or download fan subs online you used to send blank VHS tapes to fan-sub groups to get your fan-subs. I also got a mess load of Rayearth memorabilia from eBay back in it's hey day in the mid '90s. Doujins, mags with Rayearth in it (the oldest is an Animage from Nov 1994), yes the Kodansha dolls that go for a ridiculous amount of money, anything Rayearth I could afford I got. When MixxZine (what became TokyoPop) serialized the manga in the MixxZine mags I got most all the ones I could. Also bought all the anime when AnimeWorks obtained the license in 1999 (I got the dubs, since I had seen a good deal of the sub through fan sub, up to where Fuu and Ferio battle the monster in the desert and awaken Fuu's power).
At the same time when I found out the US was getting Rayearth in a game mag '96, GamePro I believe in their section where they previewed RPGs from the East, I was pretty stoked.
Then it got delayed.
Then again, then again, then again, then again.
Then it was supposedly released, but I couldn't find it anywhere locally.
Around November 1998, I remembered all of those cards I got in my other Working Designs Sega Saturn games and simply called the number listed. A lady picked up, said yes this is Working Designs, took my credit card information, and a week later it was in the mail at a cost of around $68 if I remember right. I then promptly opened it up, played the mess out of it, and beat it fairly quickly.
The game for sure had aged pretty bad by 1998, but my fan dom for the series did cloud me a bit. I had up until that point again only seen very little from the fan subs in my possession and read most all the manga from MixxZine so I knew the story for the most part. I enjoyed the play through well though, although I did have some qualms about the overall design of the game. But I didn't have any regrets buying it.
Strangely enough last year I dug it out and played through it again, although I didn't acquire all the Rainbow Amulets this playthrough.
The crazy thing is I spent just over $100 for this lot. Dragon Force was $30 new and Albert Odyssey was $20 new. Nowadays, you can't even find one of these games used for $100, so I smile every time I take a peek at this lot
![Mr. Green :mrgreen:](./images/smilies/icon_mrgreen.gif)
I did get the Fuu disk out of the three you could get.
I have obviously kept the game and I plan on keeping it as long as I can. My Rayearth fan dom has watered down a bit though. I did keep some of the big dollar items, such as that aforementioned oldest mag from '94 and a nice compilation doujin that's my favorite (it's called "Tricolor", which was one of the first compilation doujins of Rayearth doujin artists made back in 1995), and I also kept the Kodansha licensed dolls (not the re-release Chara versions, but the actual big box ones). For the most part though the manga and anime is now in digital form.
Although as much as Rayearth or any other Working Designs Saturn game goes for new now, I kind of wish I would of had the extra money to buy and keep a sealed copy...
Oh and on Chrono Trigger on the SNES... I have that too... and the crazy thing? I paid $5 for it; back in early 1998. I was traveling through Missouri and stopped at a random flea market that had some games. In one of the boxes was a loose Chrono Trigger on the SNES marked $5. Needless to say I promptly acquired it.