Once in a lifetime are some people fortunate enough to find items of true glory and amazement. To be able to find one or more items that can be deemed the ultimate in collectors items is sometimes said, without the significance of the actual meaning. Time and time again, we hear people use the term "rare" and "collectible" just for the sake of using the word. Basically, anything and everything can be a collectible, and a lot of things can be rare. But in the general scheme of real collectors items, there are some items which are by far, and without a doubt, the REAL and ULTIMATE in such collectible items. And with that in mind, we bring you pictures of some of the most amazing and rarest items to ever appear before the world of NeoGeo collectors, and within our own grasps. Behold, we are now proud to present and show to the public some of the actual OFFSET PRINTING PLATES used by the now defunct SNK Corporation of Japan to print NeoGeo AES cartridge packaging.

When we first arrived to the SNK offices in Japan this last December to finalize our property buy-out, we were given the grand tour of their inner offices, computer visuals department, storage facilities, warehouse, and of course the shipping docks. Everything was either going to be sold, or thrown away. The purpose was to grant all interested buyers a final look before the bidding and offers were to start. Te majority of their bigger sales were the furniture, computers, fixtures, and such. But to NeoGeoFreak/NGF-USA our purpose was of a much different level. We were only interested in buying their remaining NeoGeo game stock and other NeoGeo game related items and paraphernalia. We amassed a purchase order for close to 2000 NeoGeo AES and MVS gaming cartridges, magazines, posters, toys, and many other items. But to our astonishment, we found something we would have never guessed would still exist... the ACTUAL OFFSET PRINTING PLATES used on many of their top selling NeoGeo AES and MVS cartridges. 

We will start off by showing to all what we feel is the most important find in all of the NeoGeo gaming history, the original offset plates for the English release of The King of Fighters 2000. As many may already know, the KoF2000 was an exclusive and super limited joint release by the former SNK-Japan and NeoGeoFreak/NGF-USA. At only 1 year old, it is already deemed the most rare and collectible AES cartridge to exist on the NeoGeo. There was always a little skepticism about the release, all of which added to the games history and notoriety. Something that actually catapulted the games mystique into the minds and hearts of the more affluent and serious minded NeoGeo fan and collector was the entire debate of "Where and how this cartridge came to be?" and "What is the real story behind the making and release of KoF2000?"

During the debacle, there were the rants and cries of the small minded few who tried everything in their fantasy land to try and discredit and take away the claim of this exclusive release. A desperate measure by all means with blatant lies ranging from the game was not official, to the game was never made by SNK, to the game was a retrofit from the Japanese, to the final icing on the cake in where some of these shallow and propagating few even went so far as to create the stupidest excuse.... that SNK did in fact make the English version, but that NeoGeoFreak received the item, and in turn removed the insert and manual covers (only) and replaced them with our own. The inconsistencies would be far to vast to actually warrant something like that from happening. To remove the manual cover and replace them would take far too much effort, work, and in turn the manuals would more than likely be damaged in the process. Plus the quality would not match nor would the insert or paper be of the same quality or high caliber of the original. And the lapse time to accomplish something like this would be a month in the making. Printers take a long time to do proofs and set up new orders. Many people and even respectable web pages confirmed that SNK made the English versions specifically and exclusively for NeoGeoFreak, but those same few tried to ignore that fact with their typical lies and stories. Whatever their new story of the week was, all the lucky 100 buyers knew how real this cartridge was. We like dealing with people who are smart enough and secure enough to not have to be influenced by what other people say or rant about.

For all the people who were smart enough to think for themselves and bought the game when it was released for $550, they are now being rewarded. The game escalated in a price to $600, $800, and even $1100 in the after market / collectors market scene. And this was even with all the hype and mystic trailing the games past and origins. But now with this final evidence laying all those other claims to rest, we can see this game jumping up in value to the likes of $1800 to $2000 soon.

To find something of this magnitude still shocks the NGF staff. Best quoted by them as "I wish we had these plates a year ago. It would have really showed more people how official the KoF2000 was. But more importantly, it just would be been nice to see as a NeoGeo fan. The game has already been proven to be official by the people that own the game, I just wish the other people who say otherwise with their lies would grow up and accept reality. The Neo is about games. Games that are supposed to be fun and bring people together, but jealousy can play tricks on a person's sense of reason. Like we said, it would have been nice to have these last year , December 2000. But better late than never."

            manualplate7.jpg (163401 bytes)

You can clearly see the pictures of the insert, full manual, and sticker on these offset printing plates. One of the manual plates NGF staff likes is the third one pictured above. It shows the prologue page, controller page, and a character page showing Kula, Mai, and Leona. A nice look at the inside pages of the manual. This clearly proves that the manual cover, as well as all the manual pages, the sticker, and of course the beautiful insert were all printed by SNK-Japan and nothing was swapped out or changed in anyway. To us, this is such an incredible find. These pictures speak more than a thousand words. NeoGeoFreak/NGF-USA has now proven, beyond a shadow of a doubt, to be the only team to EVER release and market an exclusive and limited edition English AES cartridge, through mutual and exclusive agreements with the now defunct SNK Corporation of Japan.

  

Other plates we have include:
Japanese: AoF2, FFS, Fire Suplex, KoF99, Metal Slug 2, NeoGeo Cup 98, SS2, Shock Troopers 2.
English: FFS, KoF99, KoF2000, Last Blade 2, Metal Slug X, MotW, 3 Count Bout, WH2Jet.

We'll finalize other pages showing these collectors plates soon. Keep checking back to see them.

**Some of these plates are all being sold as is to any and all NeoGeo fans who may want own one of these highly collectible and sought after items. No prior status approval needed. Prices range from the low $300s to the high $2000s, depending on game and specific plate. For example, the plate for page 3 of FFS-J will only be $300. The Plate for a the insert of FFS-J will be $900 - $1100, depending on plate ink color (C,M,Y,K) with black being the highest at $1100. Pictures available upon request. Serious inquiries only.

Coming soon: Page 2 of these incredible offset plate finds. There is more to this story! 
With even more incredible items that go hand in hand with these offset printing plates.

****NeoGeoFreak / NGF-USA categorizes these original offset printing plates as "SUPERFREAK" items****

 

* These offset printing plates can not be used for reproduction purposes. They are made to only to be used once. And many of the plates have overrun ink stains on them which further inhibits reproduction. That coupled with the fact that some of these sets are not 100%complete. Some are missing certain plate colors (C,M,Y,K) and some of the manual page plates are/have been lost. But the key factor is the cost involved would be staggering for a reproduction. And needed would be a sign off for the trademark allowance. These plates will be sold "AS-IS" and without reproduction trademark agreements.