30 Years of TurboGrafx-16 – By Rob Faraldi

Jeff Masser of Chicago, Illinois is a proud father and honorable veteran. He’s also an incredibly enthusiastic videogame collector with a fondness for the three-decade old TurboGrafx-16, a game console that’s notoriously expensive to collect for these days. Called PC Engine in Japan, its wide array of excellent games helped the system become a legitimate competitor to the Nintendo Famicom in its home country. In the U.S., it helped kick-start the 16-bit era, but was never a true competitor to the then-newly launched Sega Genesis and Super Nintendo, released in 1991.

For those who were lucky enough to play TurboGrafx-16 and its various add-ons and accessories, they knew what the Sega and Nintendo fans were missing out on. As the years went by – 30 on August 29, 2019 – more and more collec- tors and gamers were able to experience those great, very Japanese videogames too, and in turn, respect for the system and its library increased exponentially. Because of this admi- ration and relative scarcity associated with a failed system, the value for hardware and certain games has been driven up dramatically to what would have been unimaginable heights even a few years ago.

In honor of the system’s 30th anniversary, Masser was kind enough to sit down for an interview explaining his relationship with the system and how he built one of the finest TurboGrafx-16 collections in the world. Following the interview, Masser was kind enough to share photos (all photos courtesy of Masser) of some of the greatest and most interesting pieces in his impressive collection along with his commentary.

If you have any grasp of TurboGrafx-16 collecting you will understand how impressive these museum-quality pieces are. For everyone else, be impressed. What Masser has amassed is truly amazing.

OSG: What does TurboGrafx-16 and its library mean to you? What feelings does it conjure when you think about it all?