Auctions, Auctions, Auctions!

In keeping with our policy of promoting online auctions by former Origin employees, I'm happy to announce... a huge lot of items from Rhea Shelley! Mr. Shelley worked on Privateer 2, Wing Commander Prophecy and Secret Ops. Sharp minded fans may remember him as the author of "Alien Capital Ship Attack Techniques", a piece of the Secret Ops fiction! So, go out there and spend some money! Since he's starting by selling off software and books, I thought it would be fun for all to mention some of the history behind the releases he's selling right now:

Wing Commander 1/2 & Official Guide: In early 1994 EA sold a pair of 'twin packs'. One paired the Strike Commander and Privateer CD releases, and the other combined the deluxe editions of the first two Wing Commander games. Privateer/Strike Commander was the more popular of the two... making WC1/2 harder to find for sale today! This copy is shrinkwrapped, which may be of interest to some collectors. (Current Bid $3, 5 days remaining)

Privateer 2 Deluxe: This is a rare game indeed. Several months before Privateer 2 came out, Origin's website advertised that you could purchase a "Deluxe Edition" straight from EA's mail order service. It was to include the hint book, a poster, a cloth patch and a copy of the original Privateer CD. Everyone was very excited... until they called the EA Store and were told that the deluxe edition had been cancelled. That would have been fine... except it wasn't cancelled at all. If you called EA's store and asked for the support department instead of ordering, they would actually check their inventory and place an order for you. Since no one knew this, very few people got copies of P2 Deluxe... outside of copies sold at Origin's company store. Many of the contents of unsold P2 Deluxes (cloth patch, poster, etc.) were later resold as part of the Windows 95 rerelease of the game. It's not visible from the picture, but this is a "big box" - like the Ultima 9 Dragon Edition, if anyone is familiar with that more recent release. (Current Bid $3, 5 days remaining)

Prophecy Gold w/ Guide: Prophecy Gold, for those unfamiliar, is a collection including both Wing Commander Prophecy and the Secret Ops followup. It also includes an updated version of the manual, adding some additional fiction and some of the ship specifications that were unavailable when the Prophecy documentation went to print. If you don't have a copy of WCP:G, now is the time to get in on it - the game is slowly increasing in general value, and looks like it could be the next Kilrathi Saga! (Current Bid $3, 5 days remaining)

Privateer 2 w/ Guide: If you win this auction, be sure to ask Mr. Shelley to sign the included Official Guide for you - he's one of the playtesters that the book quotes throughout. (Current Bid $3, 5 days remaining)

Kilrathi Saga: This is a mint, still in its shrinkwrap edition of The Kilrathi Saga. KS is probably the most sought after item among casual Wing Commander fans... since it allows you to play the original three DOS games in Windows 95. KS also includes a beautiful manual, set up as Col. Blair's 'scrap book' containing items pertaining to all three games. But heck, the game would be worth it just for that beautiful cover artwork. This auction is sure to run high! (Current Bid $41, 5 days remaining)

Srike Commander/Privateer & Playtesters Guides: This is the second of EA's 1994 'twin packs'. It's slightly more common than WC1/2 set... but you also get more for your money! Strike Commander and Privateer are both their CD versions... which include full speech and, in the case of Strike Commander, additional 3D sequences. (Current Bid $3, 5 days remaining)

Wing Commander III Tin: This is the "Premiere Edition" of Wing Commander III. Only 2,000 copies were made and sold through EA's store. It may look like it's missing the "WC3" sticker on the tin... but that's actually how it was made! For whatever reason, a large number of WC3 Premiere Editions never recieved their sticker... so many that EA actually issued an apology to Premiere Edition buyers. (Update: this auction actually includes the sticker... unstuck on its original wax paper! I've never seen one like that for sale before.) (Current Bid $3, 5 days remaining)

UK Privateer 2 w/ Patch: Here's one that's rarely available in the US - the British version of Privateer 2, featuring a beautiful piece of alternative artwork as the cover. Grab this one before I do! The "pirate clan" patch is also included in this auction. The patch was given out to team members and included as part of both "Deluxe" editions of Privateer 2. I've never understood why they chose the "Chirichan Pirate Clan" as the theme for the patch... but they did! (Current Bid $3, 5 days remaining)

Underworld/Wing Commander II: Back in the early nineties Origin had two big lines, each with their own separate fanbase. Ultima people played Ultima games and Wing Commander people played Wing Commander games... with very little overlap. How do you get one interested in the other? Release a line of unlikely-paired 'two for one' game packs! With this plan in mind, Origin sold "Ultima VI and Wing Commander" and a "Ultima Underworld and Wing Commander II" CD sets. This auction includes the Ultima Underworlds hint book... so you can see how the other half lived. (Current Bid $3, 5 days remaining)

Wing Commander IV w/ Guide: There isn't much to say here - this is a perfect copy of Wing Commander IV, which is great for anyone interested in starting a Wing Commander collection. It's shrinkwrapped and everything! Does anyone remamber that long, difficult delay for Wing Commander IV? We all expected it to be out on December 8th, 1995... and that morning Origin's website posted a press release announcing that it was delayed until February 12th. Longest two months of my life! (Current Bid $3, 5 days remaining)

Secrets of the Wing Commander Universe Book: This was a circa 1993 unofficial Wing Commander guide... but unlike some of the cheap WC3 and 4-specific guides, SotWCU was a beautiful piece of work. It's well written, well illustrated and was very clearly a labor of love for a true wingnut author. It includes a background of the Wing Commander universe, a comprehensive ships guide and specific strategy guides for every game up to Privateer. This is the only printed guide that includes information on Special Ops 1 and 2. (Current Bid $3, 6 days remaining)

Privateer Playtesters Guide: This is probably the most sought-after of the English-language Wing Commander guides! (Possibly not the rarest number-wise - that honor falls to the Armada guide). The Privateer Playtesters Guide includes maps of all the systems in Gemini, with the percentages the computer uses to determine random encounters at each point. If you're still paying off your Centurion, this is the rare useful strategy guide. (Current Bid $3, 6 days remaining)

Collection of Manuals: This is a lot of mostly Origin product manuals... including the much desired Kilrathi Saga booklet and the beautiful Voices of War (Armada). It also has Strike Commander's Sudden Death magazine, which any fan of Wing Commander 1's Claw Marks should appreciate. (Current Bid $3, 6 days remaining)

Collection of CDs: This is a lot of various individual CD-ROMs... including a Wing Commander IV/Crusader demo disk! The Wing Commander IV demo pits you against pirate fighters and frigates in a 5-15 minute gauntlet. It has a neat easter egg, too - target Dekker's shuttle when you takeoff for about twenty seconds, and it'll drop an extra stormfire gun for you to use! This lot also includes a copy of The Seventh Guest, which included an award winning score by Wing Commander 1 & 2 veteran Fatman. (Current Bid $3, 6 days remaining)

Wing Commander Deluxe w/ Official Guide: Here's a copy of Wing Commander Deluxe and the official guide. More importantly, however... if you're coming to Dragon*Con in the future, you need as many cheap copies of Claw Marks as you can get your hands on. We've managed to besiege Aaron Allston with more and more Claw Marks autograph requests each year, and the trend must continue! (Current Bid $3, 5 days remaining)