Al Lowe worked on a number of games during Sierra's glory days, but it was Leisure Suit Larry that made him a legend. The thoroughly skeevy (yet somehow likable) polyester aficionado is probably Sierra's most enduring character, and in fact a new Larry game, Wet Dreams Don't Dry, was released just this month. (And defying all expectations, it's actually pretty good.)
Lowe is also quite an archivist, and he recently hooked up with YouTuber and game collector Metal Jesus to show off some of his treasures, including source code, utilities, hint books, a few games you've probably never heard of (including the very first he ever made), and other curiosities. (Those Elephant Memory Systems diskette sleeves are pretty great in their own right.) It's a lot of fun to watch: Lowe's warmth and enthusiasm come across as fully genuine, even when he corrects Metal Jesus that it's not a Disney game, it's an Al Lowe game.
But he's not just showing it off, he's also looking to sell it. "I'm 72 and none of my kids want this junk," Lowe said. He's currently got just four items listed on eBay, but there's apparently going to be a lot more coming, and not for cheap. The source code for the original Leisure Suit Larry is currently sitting at $1525, while the LSL2 source is at $2100; if that's out of your reach, there's a Sierra Christmas Card for $158 (you can see a video of those in action on YouTube) or the cheapest one of the lot, a Softporn Adventure floppy that's $128.
These are very niche items: For one thing, you'll need a 5.25" floppy drive to read them, and for another there's no guarantee that the data on the diskettes is still intact. Lowe also clarified in the listing that buying the source code gets you just that, and nothing else: "Realize that, while you’ll have my data as of the day of Larry 1’s creation, you will not own the intellectual property rights to the game, the code, the art, or anything else. Nor do I. The IP rights were sold over and over again, until they are now owned by a German game company."
It's also kind of a shame to see such an impressive collection broken up—although better that than seeing it all go into a landfill a few years down the road.
If you're the sort of gamer who either has a 5.25" drive or knows where to get one, these listings—outrageous price aside—are gold. And for those who don't think the prices are too outrageous, Lowe's current round of auctions runs until December (not November!) 10.
