18 replies to this topic

[Hubie The Cube Master]

I must disagree with the rating of 8 for Rubik's Cube. I think it is a lot rarer than that. I have looked through almost every state I've been in for this game, in pawn shops, game shops, even a shop that specialized in 80's video games. I have looked through every pawn/old game shop in South Carolina that I know of, and STILL can't find the game! I think it deserves a 9 or a 10...

[videotwit]

I don't know if I agree.

According to the rarity key, an "8" is...

"Very Rare+" -- "Worth bragging about if you find it in the wild. If you buy one of these on Ebay, expect to pay well for it."

I think that accurately describes it.

As a sidenote, in my almost 10 years of collecting (over 600 unique 2600 titles), I've never found Rubik's Cube either. Then again, I've never seen many "8's."

[MattyXB]

I think the Rarity has a bit to do with ebay too. You can find sometimes Rubik's Cube on ebay. But I have never seen a game with the Rarity 10 on ebay.

But I think its hard to find games in the wild from a rarity 8-10. And maybe a 7 too.

[Buyatari]

Rubics is rare in the wild in 2002 but it pops up on ebay often enough. I think 7-8 is where it belongs

Adam

[rolenta]

quote:

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Originally posted by MattyXB:
But I have never seen a game with the Rarity 10 on ebay.

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I've seen Air-Raid on Ebay and didn't bid on it because it was too pricey. Naturally I regret that now. On the other hand, I did bid on Sound Machine when it was offered on Ebay and won it.

[Buyatari]

Sound Machine?

You mean Music Machine,maybee? Or are you talking about something else?

I don't think Music Machine is a 10 is it?
Masic Machine is on eBay about 1 per year.

There have been other 10s for sale on ebay. Atlantis 2 was sold on eBay. I also saw Eli's Ladder up there once but the auction was pulled and the seller sold early.

Adam

[Albert]

quote:

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Originally posted by Buyatari:
I don't think Music Machine is a 10 is it?
Masic Machine is on eBay about 1 per year.

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Yes, we do have Music Machine listed as a 10. Maybe games that come up for auction on eBay once a year should be 9? With all the collectors who'd like to get their hands on titles like this, your odds aren't very good if they show up on eBay that frequently. Especially since it's been demonstrated repeatedly that many 2600 collectors have rather deep pockets.

..Al

[jahfish]

i see quite often titles from 9 & 10 (well just 3-4 times a year) on ebay, waterworld seems to pop up nearly 1 time a month ....

the thing is ... some games are a safe bet for high ammounts on ebay, others are unsure .... i've bought Qberts Cubes for 60$: it's cheap (the label beeing in top condition) compared to others i've seen, and still it wasn't the cheapest. but then i've seen some in bad condition ending at 150$.
so people on ebay tend to offer the "classic rare games" (waterworld,cubes) or the "best promoted rare games" like river patrol hoping to get big $$$ .... while rarer games like video jogger don't appear that often and sometimes just end at 30-40$ ...

usually after a rare game was sold for bog bucks, there's a second one comming up soon after that ....

to make it exact, we'd need the list of sold carts from the companies, plus we'd need to know what happened to the unsold carts.

maybe it would be good to make a pol with 20-30 people that are on ebay daily and have at least 10 carts from rarity 8-10.

[Buyatari]

Ahh I know finding Music Machine in the wild is a prize but I don't think its a 10. One just sold on ebay for $250 or so. I happen to have 3 copies of this title so I am a little biased here.

I kinda like the top 10 rarest games shrowded in mystery though. For the same reasons I like how the DP has the prices wacked.

But between you and me Music Machine is a 8.5 or a 9. Its not nearly as rare as Eli's or Magicard or Video Life etc...

[King Asmo]

I agree BuyAtari, but can you name 10 regular release NTSC games (non-pirates, prototypes that are rarer than Music Machine?

I'd say Air Raid, Eli's, Gauntlet, Karate, Magicard, Mangia and Video Life are rarer.. so that would place Music Machine 8th.

I can't think of any that I'd say are rarer.

If it is a 9, it's the rarest 9 out there. Spider Maze, Q*Bert Qubes and Vulture Attack are ridiculously common compared to Music Machine.

KA

[Alex]

Yes, titles of the same number are not going to be exactly the same. It just isn't possible. You'd need a scale of 1-1000 to do that, not 1-10. Sure it's not as rare as some 10's, so you bump it down to 9. Suddenly a bunch of 9's are not as rare as MM. So you bump them down. Then you have problems with the 8's. It's all relative, and it's not an exact science.

I think anything that only shows up on eBay once per year is a 10. That's pretty rare.

[Buyatari]

If Waterworld and Crazy Climber are 8
and Eli's and Air Raid are 10

Then Music Machine should be a 9.

Others rarer?

These are all NTSC
I don't count Beagle Bros or Xante

Malagai,Cake Walk,Atlantis 2, Quadrun,Lockjaw,River Raid,Color bar, All NTSC Bomb carts,Spike's Peak single ender.

I also think Music Machine is about as rare as Condor Attack. Both are available for sale 1-4 times a year.

Looking at the list I don't think Obelix is a ten either.

Whats up with BMX and Motorodeo btw? Is there an NTSC version for sure? Is so both are rarer than Music Machine.

But that doesn't matter anyway. The rarity number is based on the description not in reference to other carts.

In my mind a 10 is a cart you can't find looking day after day for years. Looking in the wild,in newsgroups and on ebay. Even if you have thousands to spend.

A few 2600 carts fit this description but Music Machine isn't one of them

However, find a boxed Music Machine. Now thats a 10.

Adam

[King Asmo]

It must be a regional thing. All the major collectors I know in the Toronto area have both the K-tel games.. they're hard to find up here, but not impossible.

As I recall, I sold you one of them last year... for nowhere near Music Machine prices.

Was Atlantis II comercially released? I was under the impression it wasn't.. that's why I include it with the pirate/proto pile.

I didn't think a Spike's Peak single ender was incredibly rare.. but then again, I've never seen one, so it probably is.

KA

[Buyatari]

well K-tel made Vulture Attack.
Ultravision made Condor Attack.

Atlantis 2 wasn't comerically released but that doesn't stop it from being a 10.

I can see throwing it in with the other protos. I am not sure wether to count it or not. If I don't count it I guess I'll end up trading or selling mine.

Adam

[King Asmo]

Ooops... I always get those 2 confused. I've never seen the Ultravision one. My mistake.

I agree that something can still be a 10 if it's not commercially released.. but I wouldn't put it in the top-10 must have games. That's my feelings on the Xante/Beagle Bros. titles as well.

Cheers,

KA

[King Atari]

Pepsi Invaders/Coke Wins (whatever it's called) wasn't commercially released, yet it is listed as a proto (last I looked).

[san-d-2000]

quote:

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Buyatari : well K-tel made Vulture Attack.
Ultravision made Condor Attack.

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I posted this before but the K-tel and Ultravision carts came from the same manufactuer, look at this cartridge scan, hey an Ultravision label underneath the K-tel label!

- Sandy

[Skatepunk60]

Took me a while to see but i see the light now. thats really cool

[CincYnoTi]

I like the idea of having a "top 10" or "top 20" rarest games rating list. That would spark a lot of debate among the relative ratings, but even the debate should bring to light information that would be valuable.

My opinion on rating them would be based on the number of "confirmed to exist" for each game. So if there is only one NTSC Motorodeo confirmed to exist and say ten Magicard, well then Motorodeo would be closer to the top of the list than Magicard. My guess is that many of those games rated a 10 have fewer than ten confirmed owners, at least among the readers of these boards. And some rated a 10 will be in over twenty collectors' hands. Even from watching ebay you can see frequency of appearance as an indicator of how many exist. In the last two months, more Music Machine and Quadrun's have appeared than either Malagai and Color Bar Generator have in the last two years.

The vulture attack/condor attack label is cool. IF you KNEW vulture attack averaged $100 on ebay and condor attack averaged $200, would you try to remove the vulture attack label and sell it as condor attack instead?

That also makes me wonder about the Halloween "no label" being rated more rare than the one with a label. Would you pay more for one without a label on ebay? How would you know if it started out with a label and the owner removed the label, cleaned off the glue and wrote "Haloween" with a marker on it. Or maybe even slap a white sticker on it and call it a prototype. Did any one else think calling this Halloween a prototype was misleading?
http://cgi.ebay.com/...item=1342874330

It looks like one of those Halloween carts that was manufactured without a label that Jerry Greiner got from Renny Mitchell and stuck his "guaranteed genuine" signature on it.

One last note...add one more Xante title to the list. I have a Trick Shot made by Xante.