Classic video games seized at L.A. port

KenLayton

In Memoriam
Joined
Dec 14, 2003
Messages
20,220
Reaction score
712
Location
Olympia, Washington
From Replay magazine:

FEDS SEIZE ALLEGED CLASSIC VIDEOGAME COPIES
(Posted November 6, 2009 -- 3PM)

A load of recently confiscated games were reportedly illegal classic video titles, according to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Department. As reported earlier by RePlay, federal customs officials seized 168 coin-op videogames at the Los Angeles seaport on Oct. 23, 2009.

"The shipment had a total domestic value of $138,000 and a manufacturer's suggested retail price of $672,000," federal officials declared in a release to the media. "CBP officers seized the videogame machines on October 23 after confirming the videogames were not legally authorized. The shipment had arrived inside a sea container from China."

The machines in question contained several copyrighted videogames, which are registered with the U.S. Copyright Office and recorded with CBP. The videogames found on the coin-operated machines were Frogger, Scramble, Time Pilot, Ms. Pac-Man, Super Pac-Man, Donkey Kong Jr., Donkey Kong 3 and Donkey Kong. CBP seized the items when the importer was unable to provide authorization from the owners.

CBP has designated intellectual property rights enforcement a priority trade issue, devoting considerable resources and personnel to property rights enforcement. CBP's strategic approach is multi-layered and includes seizing fake goods at our borders, pushing the border outward through audits of infringing importers, cooperation with our international trading partners and collaborating with industry and other government agencies to enhance these efforts.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection is the unified border agency within the Department of Homeland Security charged with the management, control and protection of our nation's borders at and between the official ports of entry. CBP is charged with keeping terrorists and terrorist weapons out of the country while enforcing hundreds of U.S. laws.
 
Since they are impounded illegal knock-offs, they'll be destroyed rather than auctioned off.

I wonder where their destination was? A reseller we know?




..
 
Here's a picture from the Replay Magazine story.
 

Attachments

  • Customs 11-6-09 replay story.jpg
    Customs 11-6-09 replay story.jpg
    58.3 KB · Views: 735
I'd love to know more about this and see some pics. Seems odd that anyone would take the time to bootleg entire game cabs and all and ship them over seas. I guess if you could buy them cheap enough and you sold at retail prices it would be worth it.

Oh, Ok now I see the pic and they're all cocktails. Look like the ones that have been here for years. They're just now catching them being imported?
 
Are those cocktails? Or just the bottoms of a cabinet?

attachment.php


ken

Edit: Never mind. I see the one in the lower left corner. They look like the "multicade" cocktails that I keep seeing advertised as "I make these locally"...
 
Man... I hope they just strip the illegal PCBs and possibly the art, and not destroy the entire cabs. Well... not that I really care about some generic cabs, but that still seems like such a waste.

DogP
 
C'mon mister customs agent...we know you wanna put a quarter in...

that dude looks like he's itching to find a plug in.
 
The buyer should have just had them shipped to Mexico first then brought into the USA. In fact, a person could have just told the inspectors they are used machines that have been "restored".

Or you could just remove the gameboards and have the gameboards shipped seperately.
 
these are the same guys who have been selling fake
"new in box" robotron video games lately.
 
"The shipment had a total domestic value of $138,000 and a manufacturer's suggested retail price of $672,000,"

Wait, what? MSRP on DK and Pac cocktails? Are nintendo and namco magically making cocktails again that nobody here has heard about or are those just prices from the 80s? I can understand an IP claim, but where in the hell did they get an MSRP figure from, those things haven't been made in decades.
 
I count about 15 a row...6 rows, 90 machines, that come close to the domestic value they quote, these go for somewhere in the 1000-2000. However, who ever lost these lost about 35000, ouch. Someone needs to suggest a monitor and cabinet auction :)
 
Well, the numbers given divided up among 168 games gives
$821 per game with a MSRP of $4000 each.

Hopefully these are inflated numbers on both sides.

It reminds me of how they break down the 'street value' of drugs. One time I calculated out what they said some recovered stash of marijuana was. The only way you could come back to their number was to sell the entire brick as skinny joints at $5 each.

As to disposal of the machines...
Here in SC, video poker/gambling is illegal. They routinely confiscate machines and store them until the court case has been judged. Well, they take nice, new cabinets and get them busted up and thrown into a construction dumpster by prisoner labor.

About the only thing salvagable is some locks and keys, but it's not worth the risk of getting impaled by cabinet pieces.

I asked about the monitors and was told that they are environmentally recycled. I'm pretty sure this simply means 'destroyed' to me and you.

At first, I would think that it would make more sense to disable the game by destroying the PCB and graphics. This way, there would be a nice new cabinet waiting for something like a multi-game or a home for an old classic. Then I figured that it would be too easy for the gambling industry to get them back and 'restore' them to the game that was confiscated to start with.

alas...

K
 
I wonder of the guy who was thinking of doing the $10K buy from HK is thinking twice now? That would suck ass to have a shipment from Excellentcom ceased.
 
The cab design looks close to the ms pac man CT style. The plans are readily available, so at least they tried to make them look classic, sort of. Lets hope they can figure out how to salvage the cabs and sell them at auction. Maybe we'll get lucky and one of the agents is a KLOV member.
 
I wonder of the guy who was thinking of doing the $10K buy from HK is thinking twice now? That would suck ass to have a shipment from Excellentcom ceased.


He was going to buy generic wired cabinets (no boards installed) and generic parts (coin chutes, power supplies, etc. ). Should be no problem bringing them into this country.
 
Back
Top Bottom