Update: we won all of them!

Thank you all for your assistance. A full update with accounting will be shared once we have received them.

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We need your help to secure some early Coin Journal magazines!

We have a very special opportunity before us: a number of FULL YEAR RUNS of Coin Journal [月刊コインジャーナル] are up for auction, ending in 3 days. (plus some early standalone issues)

These will be very expensive to purchase, and I am asking for help from the broader arcade collector community. We can make this happen. These can all get scanned at 600 DPI and shared with everyone. But we need to win as many of these auctions as possible.

Current tally: $6021.61 USD
omg. WOW.

(includes the $3000 matching donation)

Every increase allows us to win more of these auctions! The goal amount is my estimate for winning all of the Coin Journal auctions.

Coin Journals from the 1980s will give everyone a deep look into the Japanese arcade industry. Researchers extract the game ranking charts, industry figures, interviews with developers and executives, and all of the industry news that would otherwise be lost. Lost Media fans find endless joy in the freshly unearthed game and prize advertisements. Game information and pictures will be utilized for my eremeka database project. Trade publications like these are filled with information that is not included in consumer-oriented magazines. These magazines will be accessible to the general public and even if you don't read Japanese (I use translation tools) the magazines are filled with delightful photographs and advertisements.

Some past issues we have digitized: Coin Journal 1989-06, 1992-08, 1993-07, 1996-05.

Donating:

You can send me PayPal at thetastates@gmail.com or if you're in Canada you can send me an e-transfer to thetastates@gmail.com. You can donate through Detchibe's Ko-Fi account, and add a note that the money is for Coin Journals. Any extra funds would be rolled in to future magazine purchases from Japan.

The auctions

Who is asking you for money?

Yeah, what's the big idea with an internet person asking you for money? If you are new to this blog, please see the SCANS tag and scroll back through the over 100 entries. Please see the archives of scans done by Detchibe and Hubz. Find us all on the Gaming Alexandria Discord.

If you've ever wanted to support a significant acquisition for arcade and videogame preservation, this is your chance.

Cost considerations

Prior auction results, for reference:

1976-09 single issue ¥31,500

1985-1986 8 loose issues ¥69,000

1986-05 single issue ¥15,000

1987-03 single issue ¥10,000

1988 3 loose issues ¥31,500

1988-01 single issue ¥11,500

1989 11 issues ¥52,000

1990 full run ¥51,000

1990-1992 12 loose issues ¥9277

1991-1993 10 loose issues ¥9150

1991-1994 9 loose issues ¥7750

1992 full run ¥14,500

We go from ¥31,500 for single issues from 1976 to about ¥10,000 per issue for the mid 1980s. That 1990 full run works out to ¥4250 per issue, but that 1992 run was just over ¥1200 per issue. You can see an inverse exponential scale at work here, with the 1980s and earlier being incredibly pricey.

I made a chart with some rough estimates for these upcoming auctions. We won't be able to get it all, but we can get some.

A set of issues from the year 2000 recently cost us about ¥17,000 (~$119 USD). The earlier the year, the more it will sell for. The early 1990s full year runs will probably sell for around ¥35,000 (~$245 USD). I imagine the 1980s runs will sell for far more, but I am hoping that there will be some voter fatigue to dampen the prices.

Shipping costs

Coin Journal and Amusement Industry magazines from the 1990s are huge. Averaged out over a large shipment, they cost about ¥1300 EACH just to get them here for scanning. That is ¥15,600 to ship a single year of issues. (about $110 USD)

The 1980s issues are thinner, but will still probably average about ¥900 each for shipping. That is ¥10,800 to ship a single year of issues. (about $76 USD)

Plan of attack

Unless we get a massive amount of donations in the brief time we have, we will have to use the money strategically. We won't be able to win if spread out bids out evenly, but if we bid live in the order things close, we can roll the money forward from lots we did not win.

Here are the auctions again, but with an image, and sorted by which auctions close first.