36 replies to this topic

[Christophero Sly]

Al has recently indicated his willingness to make adjustments to the rarity guide. I think almost everyone here feels that the rarities of the Sears picture labels need to be updated. I know that there have been several threads about this subject already, but rather than resuscitate one of them, I figured we might as well start a fresh discussion.

Below is my take on the relative rarities of the Sears picture label carts. The groups are listed in order of descending rarity. Within each grouping, I feel the rarities are about equivalent. I tried to keep the groupings as broad as possible to avoid complicating things with distinctions that are too fine.


Asteroids
Canyon Bomber
Dodger Cars
Gunslinger
Night Driver
_____________

Adventure
Arcade Pinball
Baseball
Basketball
Breakaway IV
Chase
Demons to Diamonds
Math Gran Prix
Missile Command
Poker Plus
Pong Sports
Race
Stellar Track
Submarine Commander
___________________

Berzerk
Blackjack
Haunted House
Maze
Outer Space
Pac-Man
Space Combat
Space Invaders
Speedway II
Star Raiders
Warlords
Yars' Revenge

I think 6 is a good rarity for the first grouping (Asteroids, Canyon Bomber, etc.). Some carts in that grouping are already 6's. Subterranea, Spy Hunter, Mines of Minos and Marauder are other rarity 6's and my sense is that the carts in the first group are on par with these titles. The carts in the last group (Berzerk, Blackjack, etc.) feel like 4's to me. I guess that leaves 5's for the middle group. I could probably split the middle group in two, but, like I said, that would probably just complicate things.

As for Superman, there are only two, maybe three, known copies, so I feel it deserves a 10.

I'm sure some of you completely disagree with me , so, if you have any opinions on the rarities of the Sears picture labels, please post them here. Hopefully, we can reach some consensus and get some rarity designations updated.

I think it's important to point out that the Sears picture labels aren't high-profile carts and they rarely appear in single-cart auctions on ebay. This can make it more difficult to track them down, but it doesn't necessarily mean that they are rare. Our individual experiences acquiring these carts can affect our perception of their rarities. Some of us may have spent years tracking down Gunslinger. Others may have had no trouble finding a copy of Gunslinger, but, instead, had a difficult time just finding Berzerk. I think we have to be careful to not let rarity designations be overly influenced by our perceptions of availability.

[Shawn Sr.]

Pong Sports Is a solid R6, no way its any less. The rest I agree with except pacman, berzerk & Star Raiders are more like a R3.

Edited by Shawn Sr., Thu Jun 8, 2006 10:21 PM.

[Omegamatrix]

Christophero Sly, on Thu Jun 8, 2006 7:08 PM, said:

Below is my take on the relative rarities of the Sears picture label carts. The groups are listed in order of descending rarity. Within each grouping, I feel the rarities are about equivalent. I tried to keep the groupings as broad as possible to avoid complicating things with distinctions that are too fine.

You are a genius Christophero! I like this system. To add what I think to your list:

Superman
_____________

Asteroids
Basketball
Canyon Bomber
Dodger Cars
Gunslinger
Night Driver
Pong Sports
_____________

Adventure
Arcade Pinball
Baseball
Basketball
Breakaway IV
Chase
Demons to Diamonds
Math Gran Prix
Missile Command
Poker Plus
Pong Sports
Race
Stellar Track
Submarine Commander
___________________

Berzerk
Blackjack
Haunted House
Maze
Outer Space
Pac-Man
Space Combat
Space Invaders
Speedway II
Star Raiders
Warlords
Yars' Revenge
________________

Berzerk
Pac-Man
Space Invaders
Star Raiders

These last carts are all three's. I see them all the time in comparision to the other Sears carts. This list looks a lot better now. I agree Superman is super and is a 10.

[crunchysuperman]

IMO, I'd scoot Gunslinger up above Asteroids, actually.

[Christophero Sly]

@Shawn & Omega

I think your right about those 4 being sperarated into a lower rarity.

@crunchy

Are you saying that Gunslinger should be separated into it's own group with a rarity that is higher than Asteroids, Night Driver, Canyon Bomber, etc.?

[crunchysuperman]

I think so. IMO, it's much, MUCH harder to find than those other six.

[Shawn Sr.]

crunchysuperman, on Fri Jun 9, 2006 12:03 PM, said:

I think so. IMO, it's much, MUCH harder to find than those other six.

Ya Gunslinger is quite rare, but maybe it's a "harder to get" R6?

Edited by Shawn Sr., Fri Jun 9, 2006 10:48 AM.

[Omegamatrix]

Shawn Sr., on Fri Jun 9, 2006 9:48 AM, said:

crunchysuperman, on Fri Jun 9, 2006 12:03 PM, said:

I think so. IMO, it's much, MUCH harder to find than those other six.

Ya Gunslinger is quite rare, but maybe it's a "harder to get" R6?

I've seen Gunslinger on eBay once, ever. Obviously Sears pic Superman is the holy grail of Sears carts, but Gunslinger and Cannon Man (Sears text) seem to be at the top of everyone's want list. I'm with Crunchy on this one. A seven doesn't seem unreasonable for this one cart, but might for the rest of the sixes.

I just went through the database and looked at all the sixes. I see all of them regularly except Cannon Man, and Raft Rider (standard case). Right now Gunslinger is listed as a 5 and that's just not right.

[Christophero Sly]

Gunslinger isn't a 5 that's for sure, but I've actually seen it several times on ebay and had no trouble finding a copy myself. I do agree that outside of Superman (and Tank Plus and Target Fun ) Gunslinger is the rarest label, but I don't know whether I agree that it is significantly rarer than Night Driver, Canyon Bomber, etc., and, thus, deserving of a higher rarity. I'll keep an open mind on it. I wouldn't be utterly opposed to making it a 7, but it just doesn't seem to me to be any rarer than Mines of Minos, Espial, and Subterranea. Although Espial is probably rarer than a 6 and needs adjustiing itself.

Edited by Christophero Sly, Fri Jun 9, 2006 12:54 PM.

[crunchysuperman]

Christophero Sly, on Fri Jun 9, 2006 1:59 PM, said:

(and Tank Plus and Target Fun )

Ah, you just had to go & do that, didn't ya? Just when this thread was makin' me feel pretty good about my Sears picture label collection.

[sku_u]

Pong Sports is rare? I didn't realize you guys were looking for that one. I just recently sacrificed one to a soldering experiment.

[Omegamatrix]

sku_u, on Fri Jun 9, 2006 1:44 PM, said:

Pong Sports is rare? I didn't realize you guys were looking for that one. I just recently sacrificed one to a soldering experiment.

You're joking right?

[CPUWIZ]

Omegamatrix, on Fri Jun 9, 2006 2:08 PM, said:

sku_u, on Fri Jun 9, 2006 1:44 PM, said:

Pong Sports is rare? I didn't realize you guys were looking for that one. I just recently sacrificed one to a soldering experiment.

You're joking right?

You don't even want to know what kind of Sears carts I have stripped in the past.

[Christophero Sly]

CPUWIZ, on Fri Jun 9, 2006 4:12 PM, said:

Omegamatrix, on Fri Jun 9, 2006 2:08 PM, said:

sku_u, on Fri Jun 9, 2006 1:44 PM, said:

Pong Sports is rare? I didn't realize you guys were looking for that one. I just recently sacrificed one to a soldering experiment.

You're joking right?

You don't even want to know what kind of Sears carts I have stripped in the past.

I'm afraid I already know, and it's one of the last ones I need.

[sku_u]

Omegamatrix, on Fri Jun 9, 2006 5:08 PM, said:

sku_u, on Fri Jun 9, 2006 1:44 PM, said:

Pong Sports is rare? I didn't realize you guys were looking for that one. I just recently sacrificed one to a soldering experiment.

You're joking right?

Not at all. I'm learning how to solder and desolder Eproms and roms and have been using my trash pile (aka all the extras I end up with when I win auctions that have the 1 or 2 games I am actually looking for) to experiment.

[Omegamatrix]

CPUWIZ, on Fri Jun 9, 2006 3:12 PM, said:

Omegamatrix, on Fri Jun 9, 2006 2:08 PM, said:

sku_u, on Fri Jun 9, 2006 1:44 PM, said:

Pong Sports is rare? I didn't realize you guys were looking for that one. I just recently sacrificed one to a soldering experiment.

You're joking right?

You don't even want to know what kind of Sears carts I have stripped in the past.

*Cpuwiz in the past*

"Boy the rims look dirty on my car. I'll just strip down this stack of Superman carts and use the labels to give them a wipe".

[Omegamatrix]

sku_u, on Fri Jun 9, 2006 4:02 PM, said:

Omegamatrix, on Fri Jun 9, 2006 5:08 PM, said:

sku_u, on Fri Jun 9, 2006 1:44 PM, said:

Pong Sports is rare? I didn't realize you guys were looking for that one. I just recently sacrificed one to a soldering experiment.

You're joking right?

Not at all. I'm learning how to solder and desolder Eproms and roms and have been using my trash pile (aka all the extras I end up with when I win auctions that have the 1 or 2 games I am actually looking for) to experiment.

Let me know if you have any extra pic label Pong Sports before you get crazy with the solder iron again and I'll make it worth you while.

[sku_u]

Omegamatrix, on Fri Jun 9, 2006 8:47 PM, said:

sku_u, on Fri Jun 9, 2006 4:02 PM, said:

Omegamatrix, on Fri Jun 9, 2006 5:08 PM, said:

sku_u, on Fri Jun 9, 2006 1:44 PM, said:

Pong Sports is rare? I didn't realize you guys were looking for that one. I just recently sacrificed one to a soldering experiment.

You're joking right?

Not at all. I'm learning how to solder and desolder Eproms and roms and have been using my trash pile (aka all the extras I end up with when I win auctions that have the 1 or 2 games I am actually looking for) to experiment.

Let me know if you have any extra pic label Pong Sports before you get crazy with the solder iron again and I'll make it worth you while.

No problem.

I used to list my extras for sale here, but never had any takers (even when offering games like Video Cube and Sea Hawk), so now I usually end up donating them to Good Will.

[video game addict]

This is how I would rank them::


10:
Superman



8:
Gunslinger



7:
Asteroids
Night Driver



6:
Basketball
Canyon Bomber
Dodger Cars
Pong Sports



5:
Adventure
Arcade Pinball
Baseball
Poker Plus
Math Gran Prix



4:
Breakaway IV
Chase
Demons to Diamonds
Missile Command
Race
Stellar Track
Submarine Commander



3:
Blackjack
Haunted House
Maze
Outer Space
Space Combat
Speedway II
Warlords
Yars' Revenge



2:
Berzerk
Pac-Man
Space Invaders
Star Raiders
Defender

Edited by video game addict, Mon Jun 12, 2006 9:27 AM.

[Shawn Sr.]

What about Sears Basketball??

[Christophero Sly]

Shawn Sr., on Mon Jun 12, 2006 2:11 PM, said:

What about Sears Basketball??

You mean on vga's list? He puts it at a 6.

[StanJr]

Gunslinger is very hard to find. Harder than Asteroids.

Canyon Bomber and Pong Sports seem a bit high to me. I have passed on a few of them around here after I picked up mine mainly because I had no idea they were that rare. We had Sears all over the place in this part of the world. I see about equal parts Atari carts and Sears carts for just about everything. Gunslinger, Night Driver, Dodger Cars and Basketball are the exceptions.

[Shawn Sr.]

Christophero Sly, on Mon Jun 12, 2006 4:48 PM, said:

Shawn Sr., on Mon Jun 12, 2006 2:11 PM, said:

What about Sears Basketball??

You mean on vga's list? He puts it at a 6.

Opps, I missdeded it on his there list

[holygrailvideogames.com]

If anyone has a pic label Gunslinger for sale I would be interested. The last two pic labels that I need are Gunslinger and Superman. These two are much harder to find than the rest.

[shining slade]

I agree with Omegamatrix's list except for Gunslinger. I think that should be a 7 myself. BTW if anyone needs any pic labels, I've got spares of Adventure, Dodger Cars and Missile Command. PM me an offer.

I myself own all the pic labels loose except for Superman. I would say my rarest cart at the moment is that standard Raft Rider