"The seller went to great lengths to protect the product and send pictures as proof," wrote collector Philip Peng after receiving what remained of his purchase: a shredded floppy disk that was once one of gaming history's rarest artifacts.
A Collector's Nightmare Arrives in the Mail
On February 26, Philip Peng, known online as Keripo, shared devastating news on X (formerly Twitter): a copy of Tsukihime Trial Edition he had ordered from a collector in Portugal arrived completely destroyed. The protective bubble wrap had been removed, and the floppy disk itself was torn to pieces. Most telling of all, the package was resealed with tape bearing the message “Opened and resealed by customs.”
Peng noted in a follow-up post that the package had been held at one point "stuck in Customs for additional inspection," pointing to US Customs as the likely culprit behind the destruction. He confirmed plans to file an official report.
Why This Floppy Disk Was So Valuable
To understand the weight of this loss, you need to know what Tsukihime Trial Edition actually is. Tsukihime is a landmark adult visual novel developed by Type-Moon, the studio behind franchises like Fate/stay night. It was the studio's very first title, and nearly every subsequent Type-Moon project traces its roots back to it.
The Trial Edition is not simply a demo disc. It is an early preview build distributed at the 1999 Comiket convention in Japan, sold for just 100 yen per copy. Here's the thing: only 50 copies were ever produced. That extreme scarcity makes each surviving copy an irreplaceable window into the early development of one of Japan's most influential visual novel studios.
Game historians and preservationists prize beta and preview builds precisely because they reveal what developers changed, cut, or reworked before a final release. The Trial Edition offered that kind of insight into Type-Moon before the studio became a household name in anime and gaming circles.
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With this copy destroyed, there are now at most 49 known surviving copies of Tsukihime Trial Edition in existence. Whether another will ever surface publicly is unknown.
Tsukihime A Piece of Blue Glass Moon Arcueid character screen
For context on how the collector market values rare gaming artifacts, a Nintendo PlayStation prototype (a legendary piece of console history) sold for a significant sum at auction, demonstrating that rarity alone can drive extraordinary demand among preservationists.
The Broader Impact on Game Preservation
This incident raises serious concerns for the game preservation community. Collectors who import rare titles from overseas now face a troubling question: can fragile, irreplaceable physical media survive a customs inspection?
Peng's situation is particularly striking because the seller in Portugal took documented precautions to protect the item during shipping, with photographic evidence to prove it. The destruction does not appear to be the result of standard shipping damage.
What most players miss when discussing game preservation is how much of early gaming history exists in extremely limited physical form. Digital backups can preserve content, but the original physical artifacts carry historical and cultural weight that cannot be replicated. When one of those artifacts is destroyed, that specific piece of history is gone permanently.
The incident may discourage collectors from importing rare games internationally, particularly fragile media like floppy disks and cartridges, out of fear that customs handling could cause irreversible damage.
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If you are importing rare physical media, document the item's condition thoroughly with the seller before shipment and consider whether shipping insurance covers rare collectibles at their true market value.
Background on Type-Moon and Tsukihime
Type-Moon began as a dojin (independent) game circle before evolving into one of Japan's most recognized visual novel and anime IP studios. Tsukihime, originally released in 2000, tells the story of Shiki Tohno and his encounters with supernatural beings, including Arcueid Brunestud. A remake, Tsukihime: A Piece of Blue Glass Moon, was released for PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch, introducing the story to a new generation of players. The Trial Edition predates even the original 2000 release, making it a genuine historical artifact from the studio's earliest days.
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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
How many copies of Tsukihime Trial Edition exist?
Only 50 copies of the Tsukihime Trial Edition were ever produced, distributed at the 1999 Comiket convention in Japan for 100 yen each. Following the destruction of Philip Peng's copy, there are now at most 49 surviving copies.
Can you play Tsukihime today?
Yes. A remake titled Tsukihime: A Piece of Blue Glass Moon is available on PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch. However, the original 2000 visual novel and its 1999 Trial Edition remain Japanese-exclusive releases in physical form.
What is Comiket?
Comiket, short for Comic Market, is a large self-published works convention held in Tokyo, Japan. It is one of the world's biggest gatherings for independent creators, including game developers, manga artists, and doujinshi publishers. Type-Moon originally distributed Tsukihime there as an independent circle.
