I've tried the "Pokemon" strategy (gotta catch/get them all) in trying to get every LAST title from certain publishers (EA, Origin, SSI, Muse, Sir-Tech, etc.) Even when I swore upside down I had every last EA title ever made for the Apple II... *whack*. One I didn't know existed pops up (its the add-on data disk for Earl Weaver Baseball if you're wondering. Wasn't about to buy a 15-game lot for the disk only, either). Seems there's ALWAYS one more.
Games that I've actually played I value highly. Games I might actually play someday on an emulator I value highly. I won't bother with collecting 'variants' generally (but I will avoid most re-issues and value packs with a few exceptions). Truly ancient games are good but only if I'd actually play them (as above).
I've done some downright stupid things (once I bought an Ultima II box just for the 1st edition manual w/the typo + the card that says "this is one of the first copies..." The disks were copies (didn't care, had a set), there was no map (I already have one), the box was beat (see above), the card was good but THE MANUAL WAS A PHOTOCOPY. I couldn't tell from the auction because the original was B&W. But I badly wanted that card, and the seller "would get back to me" (never did). So, I was an idiot there and that was pretty much the end of variants for me (and yes I see the shiny 1st edition manual up right now).
I remember I bought Star Trek III & it came w/a movie ticket for "Insurrection". My friend chastised me because I'd never sell the game, so why was I holding onto the ticket? (No one here needs an answer). Its like the sick-o who says "Hey buy the collector's edition of (whatever) and get a $15 rebate". Part of the rebate requires cutting out a UPC symbol, etc. Who would bother buying a collector's edition to chop it up? Sigh.
What would I *really* love to have? Source code. To anything. Old Atari games. Any Ultima (yes the original U1 is in basic), Empire, Karateka, Paradroid, whatever. Don't care. Sure many games were probably pure assembly, why bother with comments :), and most ancient source has likely deteriorated or simply lost. To me, that would be the ultimate find (and worth a few bucks, even though there's really no 'original').
I'm surprised there aren't a bunch of incidents where classic game's source code was taken home by its developers, just to have. If that's inaccurate, I've never heard of it. Ok, not 100% accurate... there are rare cases like this:
http://killerbeesoftware.com/kbsgames/edee/empireseries.shtml
.. and I know people have acquired the rights to "Command HQ" and "Global Conquest" (I bought the add-ons to both at one point) but I would *really* love to see the code.
On Jan 5, 2004, at 9:09 PM, Brian the Fist wrote:
<BRAIN DUMP>Aye karumba. Looks like that Vic auction lasted just 3 hours too! I fail to understand how people find these things so fast. Personally I can't afford to search eBay more than once a week.. Personally I don't believe in the collectibility of disks/tapes, I go for the manuals/boxes mostly - after all these are the true 'pieces of art', a disk is a disk is a disk. Heck, anyone can make a disk from a disk image of an old game, so big whoop right?
The value is an interesting issue though, which I have pondered
endlessly recently. When it boils down to it, a rare game is worth
whatever someone is willing to pay for it, its that simple. I have seen
incredibly rare games (Scott Adams Gold Colelctor edition comes to mind,
1000 total made I think) sell for much less than they should. And I've
seen rare, but not impossible to find, games gor for absurd amounts
(some of you folk here were the buyers in fact!). I sill can't believe
the original Starcross and Suspended regualarly go for $300 and up for
example, they're just not that rare. I've seen dozens on eBay over the
last couple years. And come on, almost $200 for Origin's re-release of
Ultima I?? I'm almost ashamed to see people pay that much for it
(though that won't stop me from selling the extra one I have soon :) ).
On the other hand, there are some games I have been searching for for
years and have not seen EVER on eBay (or anywhere else), even once, thus
making them even more rare than Akalabeth or Mt. Drash technically. And
when I come across one like this by some rare fluke, I may get it for as
low as $10 (maybe no one else wants it, who knows).
I have sold things and received far less than a guy did the week
before. Is it because I'm in Canada? Who knows. I've also found the
level of detail in the description of the item and its condition can
have a big impact on the final price of a rare item, through
experimentation. I believe that most collectors have somewhat limited
cash flow, and so I have never seen any single game sell for over $1000
that I can recall, and I don't know if it ever would. I used to limit
myself to $5-10 per game, and now that I've filled the 'low-hanging
fruit' so to speak, and cleaned out all the local stores, I have raised
my spending on rarer items, and maybe some of you have done the same.
There is the issue of 'what if I never see this again' of course, and so
its sometimes wiser to pay a little more up front - if you find it again
for cheaper you can always sell it and cut your losses. Personally, I
would probably be willing to pay around $500 for a complete Drash game,
but I'm sure there's many who'd pay even more. I'd have to say about
the same for a PDP Zork. I just can't justify spending more than that
on a 'hobby'.
Interestingly, I have found trading used DVDs and Books much more predictable - most go for roughly the same price in a reliable way, there is not nearly as much uncertainty as in the game area. </BRAIN DUMP>
Stephen Emond wrote:
Yup, $765 is kinda pricey. Anyone have $100 and a time machine?
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ViewItem&item=3064724973&category=3544
I'll let you all have a moment of silence to kick yourselves...
Steve
PS - As for the NEW owner of the Drash I do believe I saw him around here
somewhere...
-- ---------------------------------------------- Howard Feldman, Author of The Search for Freedom A Computer Fantasy Role-Playing Game Visit its Homepage at http://bioinfo.mshri.on.ca/people/feldman/
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