The R word

[RH | 4,897]

On 3/28/2020 at 3:52 AM, fcgamer said:

For me, there are three varieties of rare that I use, which are as follows:

1. Rarity compared to its peers. For example, I collect unlicensed Famicom games. Truth be told, *original* prints of most of these are going to fit either as uncommon or rare, period. Compared to licensed carts, there just weren't as many produced. Something like Lee Dragon, boxed, is going to be much more common in this set than some other carts. I think this sort of definition of rarity is good to use when the whole set is rare, as it still helps rank the items when doing trades, making purchases, etc.

2. Rarity amongst all items. This isn't nearly as useful imo. Sculptors Cut, Little Samson, and many Gamate games are all rare. But I know which if these I would have the easiest / hardest time purchasing, if money wasn't an issue. Therefore I see comparing rarities across platforms to be pointless generally.

3. Fake rarity. These items are rare, yes, but it's the type of thing such as all the limited edition NES homebrews and repros back on Nintendo Age a few years back. Or the extremely limited runs of some modern games, trying to cater towards collectors. While rare, collectors will snap them all up so they'll all "survive" in excellent condition, and in terms of the non commercial stuff, most will just write it off and not bother collecting it. So it's rare, but it's a whole different ballgame from the other rarities.

Don't forget conditionally rare games. For instance, Wild Guns is tough to find but due to the super cheap quality paper they used for the label a good quality label is also truly rare.

Edited March 29, 2020 by RH

[fcgamer | 4,719]

@RH : I didnt think about that, but you're absolutely right! That would definitely be another one on my list

[GPX | 1,369]

“Rarity” to me means very low numbers, which equate to high difficulty for the average collector to obtain.

Rarity alone doesn’t mean much unless you associate it with actual demand. For example, you can have a NES game with 50 known to be in existence and a modern limited-edition game with 50 known to be in existence. Due to there being likely a ridiculous amount of collectors for NES, that “rare” NES game is likely to be extremely hard to obtain for the average Joe. Conversely, for the modern limited-edition, you may have only 40 people who are interested in it. If so, then that “rarity” labelling becomes meaningless.

 

[DarkTone | 984]

I agree that if there are enough copies on ebay, it shouldn't count as "rare". 

[ThePhleo | 2,184]

Using eBay as a sole metric for rarity is like using the “Waffle House Index” as a sole metric for disaster severity.

Also, if we’re using eBay then we’re not even tracking rarity anymore, but “availability”.

This would make games like Firehouse Rescue, which to be clear is in fact rare, appear to be rarer than something like Bonks Adventure, Dinosaur Peak, or Little Samson which are generally more glamorous rare titles.

Though, despite what I just said, availability is the only metric that really matters anyway since eBay became a thing.

[Makar | 1,946]

Rare is all relative. What's rare on one system might not be as rare on another. Stadium events for example is probably far more rare than say Hagane. Then you have other stuff to consider like complete copies of games. A complete Solatorobo is probably rarer than a loose shepherds crossing 2 even though a complete shepherds crossing 2 is much rarer than a complete Solatorobo. 

I say rare is anything with 1000 or fewer copies made if you really want a number because you know there aren't still 1000 in existence and in the collecting world, 1 person could have all 1000 so the odds of you getting a copy down the road are very slim to none. 

[spacepup | 2,404]

Since I'm often after really obscure PS2 Japan discs, "rare" to me usually means something I'm looking for, that is not available for sale anywhere online, including japanese sources such as yahoo auctions, mercari, etc etc.  For these items, you just have to reach out to communities, and/or wait for it to pop up online.  Some of these things I've only seen once for sale, or haven't even seen for sale but have documentation that it exists.  

As for US items, I'm after some rare PS2 US demos and trade demos, that rarely if ever come up for sale.  

I have plenty of "rare" items in my collection that meet the above criteria, but they probably aren't extremely valuable as there isn't as much demand for them.  I don't really equate rarity with financial value or FMV, although sometimes it can influence that of course.

I enjoy researching and finding these sorts of things.  I don't really have much interest in the more popular rare items such as NWC or Stadium Events (which everyone knows about, and they are documented, etc.).  I'd rather find out about, and document, some things that aren't really well known.

At the end of the day, I don't really pay a whole lot of attention to the buzzword, as it has become so meaningless and arbitrary in terms of how people use it.

 

[DarkTone | 984]

Has anyone changed their minds on the meaning?

[Deadeye | 1,595]

Relative to what kind of item is being discussed, but I generally agree with @spacepupsaid.  Known to exist, but you almost never see them appear for sale.  You could go years or a decade without seeing a copy for sale.

 

[Hybrid | 424]

On 3/28/2020 at 6:57 AM, Hammerfestus said:

My favorite is when people think rare is a synonym for expensive.  Like over $20 expensive.  “I’ve got a black label copy of Final Fantasy VII.  So rare.”

You missed with the masterpiece misprint 

[segashack | 15]

I think many would be amazed to find out that shovelware titles are much “rarer” than many of the titles that people attach “rare” to today.

Fire Emblem Radiant Dawn and Earthbound are not rare at all and most likely have many more copies produced than things like “Imagine: Doctor” for the DS. 

The true “rare” games/items are the things that don’t ever show up on ebay. It’s funny when a game can have 50+ listings on ebay at any given time and people think it is rare. 

There are many “valuable” and “sought after” games that are not rare at all. Look at Atlus titles for practically any system and how the prices go up over the years despite them all having fairly decent print runs.

[Code Monkey | 2,005]

If you can find one with a $1,000,000 budget and 24 hours, it isn't rare.

Find me a:

• complete Linux for PlayStation 2
• complete Tooth Protectors for Atari 2600
• complete Color Bar Generator for Atari 2600
• Sharedata Chiller for NES

These are just some of the games I've been trying to find for 10 years but no amount of money and no amount of time have aided me in actually finding one. And there are way more on my list.

[AdamW | 713]

21 minutes ago, Code Monkey said:

If you can find one with a $1,000,000 budget and 24 hours, it isn't rare.

Find me a:

• complete Linux for PlayStation 2
• complete Tooth Protectors for Atari 2600
• complete Color Bar Generator for Atari 2600
• Sharedata Chiller for NES

These are just some of the games I've been trying to find for 10 years but no amount of money and no amount of time have aided me in actually finding one. And there are way more on my list.

Well, eBay shows two PS2 Linux kits sold in the last few months, one claimed to be complete except for the mouse and one claimed to be complete except for the hard disk, so you could've put those together, I guess...they went for $300-$400 each...

[Deadeye | 1,595]

Ebay has a sold listing for Sharedata Chiller  box and manual this past month, and several for cart only.  Could have been pieced together, unless there was some registration card or poster you were after. 

[Viper0hr | 4]

One I hate more...

Mint

[Code Monkey | 2,005]

1 hour ago, AdamW said:

Well, eBay shows two PS2 Linux kits sold in the last few months, one claimed to be complete except for the mouse and one claimed to be complete except for the hard disk, so you could've put those together, I guess...they went for $300-$400 each...

 

1 hour ago, Deadeye said:

Ebay has a sold listing for Sharedata Chiller  box and manual this past month, and several for cart only.  Could have been pieced together, unless there was some registration card or poster you were after. 

I've looked at these over the years and they're often sold within 2 minutes for one of two reasons:

1. The first person that sees it gets it because it's so uncommon.
2. Or more likely, people think eBay offers them seller protection so they set up a private listing and only allow one person to buy it.

I've had people ask me to do that in the past, they don't want to just sell me an item, they'd rather list it on eBay and have me buy it there just to get the zero protection eBay offers, I don't know why. If you ever find one that's currently listed, let me know, past sales doesn't put the game on my shelf.

[fcgamer | 4,719]

One of these is truly rare, the other is only rare in its condition, I'd reckon.

[fcgamer | 4,719]

5 hours ago, Code Monkey said:

If you can find one with a $1,000,000 budget and 24 hours, it isn't rare.

Find me a:

• complete Linux for PlayStation 2
• complete Tooth Protectors for Atari 2600
• complete Color Bar Generator for Atari 2600
• Sharedata Chiller for NES

These are just some of the games I've been trying to find for 10 years but no amount of money and no amount of time have aided me in actually finding one. And there are way more on my list.

This would be my definition of rare as well.

edit: I also want a Sharedata Chiller.

Edited May 3, 2021 by fcgamer

[FireHazard51 | 2,043]

Rare is anything in my collection that other collectors don't have 

 

I think rarity also plays a factor in where you find it.  To me a game or system can be rare if people don't find it in the "wild" aka thrift stores/garage sales.  But if you go to ebay you could find said item easily. 

I also think people take "rare" as the highest status of rarity.  In collecting baseball/basketball cards as a kid you'd see cards listed as rare all the time.  It never meant you'll never find it.  It just meant that in a full set of cards, these 10% were the least produced.  This had ZERO to do with how many sets were produced but was just a relationship of rarity within the set.  

I think words like "elusive", "rarefied", "stray", "freak", "obscure", "scarce", "extraordinaire", "weird", "unexpected", & etc.  aren't used enough to describe games.  Specifically I think "elusive" is best used as it doesn't indicate the number produced but how hard it is to find.

[Robot_Ninjutsu | 122]

I think "RARE" (or R@RE!) really lost all meaning the moment it was applied to copies of "Super Mario World". 

I think FireHazard51 is right with the word "elusive".  I have some games that are worth what they are because they are elusive, not because they were produced in a small quantity.

[Khromak | 768]

I know it's fun to debate semantics with other nerds online but I feel like the real answer is a simple one: rarity is a spectrum. Combat for Atari 2600 is on one side, Air Raid is on the other. There's plenty of stuff in between.

Also please don't bite my head off and tell me about some game that's more common than Combat or rarer than Air Raid, you understand my point.

Air Raid is rare, sure, but that doesn't mean nothing else is rare because it isn't as rare as Air Raid. This is like the logical fallacy of "there are starving children in Africa who would love to have your leftovers." The two situations exist independently of each other.

[guitarzombie | 924]

NES Rare > Gameboy Rare > TG16 Rare > Atari Rare / NEO GEO Rare.

[JVOSS | 1,762]

On 5/3/2021 at 11:28 AM, Code Monkey said:

If you can find one with a $1,000,000 budget and 24 hours, it isn't rare.

Find me a:

• complete Linux for PlayStation 2
• complete Tooth Protectors for Atari 2600
• complete Color Bar Generator for Atari 2600
• Sharedata Chiller for NES

These are just some of the games I've been trying to find for 10 years but no amount of money and no amount of time have aided me in actually finding one. And there are way more on my list.

@Code Monkey this the one your looking for???  https://www.ebay.com/itm/124430558164?hash=item1cf8a3a3d4:g:f4QAAOSw31JfqACh

[Code Monkey | 2,005]

1 hour ago, JVOSS said:

@Code Monkey this the one your looking for???  https://www.ebay.com/itm/124430558164?hash=item1cf8a3a3d4:g:f4QAAOSw31JfqACh

No, that's AGCI Chiller. I'm looking for Sharedata.

[fcgamer | 4,719]

Yeah we want the blue one.

Edit: actually I want a AGCI Wallybear too

Edited May 5, 2021 by fcgamer