7 replies to this topic

[woodyi76]

What would the rating for the Pal version be. Is the 8 for the NTSC version only?

[Albert]

The PAL versions of many Spectravision games are easier to obtain than their NTSC counterparts. Games like Gas Hog and Master Builder are lower in rarity than the NTSC carts, but I'm not sure exactly what value I'd assign to them. The PAL versions seem to come up more frequently for auction on eBay. Perhaps some European collectors can chip in their thoughts?

..Al

[ren.dhark]

I got mine for $6 (cartridge only) at Ebay Germany. You can find one here: Gas Hog at Ebay Germany

Günther

[Marc Oberhäuser]

Gas Hog and Master Builder are not that rare in PAL. I would give them a 3 or 4 on the rarity scale. But to find one in a Spectravideo box (not the golden Quelle boxes) is damn hard...

Marc

[Marco(2)]

I'll put forward Marco's Thesis on 2600 Rarity ™ again:

I believe that we will end up with two categories of rarity: (1) games every collector *will* acquired (just be patient, the supply is infinite compared to the number of collectors) and (2) games that 95% of collectors will *not* acquire.

The first category holds games that used to be considered rare or even extrememly rare, titles like Q*Bert's Qubes, Mangia', Chase the Chuckwagon, Crazy Climber, Waterworld and the likes. The second category holds UR games and rare prototypes.

I do believe that in a couple of years from now, many 2600 collections will consist of the same games. It will be the "Top-10" and obscure games from countries like Brazil and Australia that make the difference.

Cheers,

Marco

PS: I expect 1000 'followers' of my thesis, one year from now

[Deleto]

I am a big follower of the Marco Rarity Thesis. And of the Roloff Rarity Thesis (Rarity Schmarity). In Europe there is no such thing as rarity. First off, the VCS was only released in a couple of countries. Some of these countries sold the VCS and it's games from '77 to well into the Nineties, some only for a limited time (like Denmark). A country like Germany had a huge market for pirated and semi-pirated games, and had limited sales of actual games by ATARI or AcTiVision.
Then within a European country different rarities exist, depending on which big warehouses bought what, were certain games got distributed to, and such factors. Please keep this in mind when mentioning something as "This is easy to find in PAL"..

In my almost 10 years of collecting, me and collecting friends here have found around a total of around 13 X-mans. Some in beautiful conditions, others with screwholes exposed and the ROM falling out. Oddly enough (or perhaps not), all of these were found in fleamarkets in and around Amsterdam. My buddy Marco, who has been scouting the rest of the Netherlands, has not been so lucky. Nor have I ever heard of anyone finding an X-man outside of Amsterdam (okay, maybe one or two) in Europe. So how rare is it then?

Same goes for Gas Hog (and Bumper Bash). These have been spotted often in Holland (mostly in bad conditions) and Germany, but nowhere else.
In teh US, Bumper Bash, Gas Hog, Mangia and Master Builder were only available through the Columbia Music House mail-order service, although I believe some had a short shelve-life.
That would make it rarer.
But then let's say a 10,000 of each cart were produced and sold in all of the US, and 1,000 for Europe (=Holland & Germany) We know there are over 1,000 VCS collectors in the US, and less than 100 in Europe. This means only 1 person in the US is entitled to one maybe two, but in Europe, the chance of a collector picking up 5 of these is more likely.
So I find it very hard to rate these games with a number. For the record: I have yet to find a Gas Hog.

[Rhindle The Red]

The problem with the Marco theory is that it assumes that there will be no new collectors. The fact is, in today's world, new collectors are created all the time. The number of collectors as a percentage of population may drop, but the actual number usually increases. Kids suddenly start collecting vinyl albums. Why? Because it's neat. They may never have seen a turntable, but they want the vinyl. In a world where a dance form from the 16th century can have a significant following anything can be picked up by a new generation.

I think rarity has its place. It will always be easier to find Combat than Swordquest: Waterworld. And there will always be collectors who are just bought their first 2600 and a bunch of games from a thrift store and need someplace to start.

And as for the European thing, I think most North Americans will admit that they know little about what is available over there. But you should also be aware that rarity varies in the U.S. as well. Many titles are easier to acquire in California than New York, due only to it's proximity to the center of the gaming universe at the time. This is certainly true of prototypes.

Anyway, an accurate rarity guide is a noble endeavor (I'm not sure about price guides, but that's a different issue), so I say, the more data the better.

[Marco(2)]

quote:

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Originally posted by Rhindle The Red:
The problem with the Marco theory is that it assumes that there will be no new collectors. The fact is, in today's world, new collectors are created all the time. The number of collectors as a percentage of population may drop, but the actual number usually increases. Kids suddenly start collecting vinyl albums. Why? Because it's neat. They may never have seen a turntable, but they want the vinyl.

---

I guess you are right: new collectors keep appearing. But still, others quit collecting and IMO the number of collectors still is extremely small compared to the amount of carts that exist.

This, plus the difficulties of creating somewhat generally applicable rarity lists (see points raised by deleto and yourself) has made me put forward Marco's Thesis on 2600 Rarity ™

Perhaps though this thesis is merely the result of the efforts put into this hobby by this collector, only to find out that if he had been more patient, he would have gotten the same result, with less effort (though the waiting!

Cheers,

Marco