What are the rarest games for nes.

[ThePhleo | 2,184]

Just now, Dr. Morbis said:

These are definitely "one of a kinds" but if the OP is looking for retail US releases, these don't really count any more than a final version prototype would...

I think Chiller might have actually been mail order.

[Dr. Morbis | 2,088]

1 minute ago, ThePhleo said:

I think Chiller might have actually been mail order.

Usually when you purchase the rights to publish a video game, it comes with an exclusivity contract within your region, or else what's the point of buying the rights to a game that a competitor could also buy the rights to the next day?  The odds of Chiller being under contract to two different publishers seems a bit far-fetched to me...

[Dr. Morbis | 2,088]

4 minutes ago, ThePhleo said:

 

Thanks for the shout out. Just a word to the wise: there's a clear error with my methodology on the higher end of the spectrum for some "cheap but rare" games that are not so rare when they're loose cartridges.

Sqoon and Chubby Cherub are calculated as R8's, and DK Math is calculated as an R7.

V2.0 of that list will be uploaded eventually when I can figure out a way to make those R9's without actually manually doing so.

You should just label it as either a loose rarity list or a CIB rarity list, and order it accordingly...  I vote for CIB

[ThePhleo | 2,184]

2 minutes ago, Dr. Morbis said:

You should just label it as either a loose rarity list or a CIB rarity list, and order it accordingly...  I vote for CIB

Was thinking of just adding another column, one for CIB and one for Loose.

It would definitely make it easier than just generalizing...games like Stack-Up, Clu Clu, and Volleyball are off as well. Cartridge is relatively easy to find, but man are those tough boxes to locate.

[Tanooki | 4,933]

1 hour ago, final fight cd said:

What are some examples of games printed in the same quantity but there is a noticeable difference in perceived rarity?
 

Every single rarity 9 I can buy RIGHT now on eBay.  I’m sure that is the case most days of the year.  I just don’t see how that can be called rare.  
 

If that’s rare, what would you call a game that somebody has been looking for for 10 years?  

 

 

Gray area come back here, but one that works, since most people don't care or don't care enough at least to perceive there's some mystic added value to it.  You get a game produced into the million + category like Mike Tyson's Punchout...yet a few, very few, have the old 5 screw shell vs the 3 screw common.  99 out of 100 aren't going to give a crap, it's a mass produced game and it all comes from the same quantity pool of titles, just someone at the factory had a few left over plastic shells and was like whatever...and did it.  The game isn't rare, but to a variant hunter into that madness it is.  Yet you won't see someone paying $10000 for little Mikey there, but there's less of those than Stadium Events which some nut will do to complete that set.

[Dr. Morbis | 2,088]

1 minute ago, ThePhleo said:

Was thinking of just adding another column, one for CIB and one for Loose.

Well at that point you may as well do manuals as well and be done with it!  Then offer your info to Gloves and - badda-boom-badda-bing - VGS has its very own NES rarity guide!

[the_wizard_666 | 1,325]

2 minutes ago, Dr. Morbis said:

Well at that point you may as well do manuals as well and be done with it!  Then offer your info to Gloves and - badda-boom-badda-bing - VGS has its very own NES rarity guide!

Then all we need is a handy-dandy database...

[ThadMyster | 3]

10 hours ago, Strikezone1 said:

There's a blog thread on this site that ranks the rarity of the NES library:

Excluding Stadium Events which is the only 10, there are 15 licensed titles that were given a 9 for rarity. So choose any 10 of those 15

I'm wondering what are some rare games that are obtainable for a regular joe. Loose cart is fine. I'm thinking like snow brothers since it's 9 on the list or maybe duck tales 2. What's some top rare games of regular licenses games not variants etc. So like 1.stadium event 2. Little samson? 3. Etc all loose cartridge. Give me your guys list.

 

[the_wizard_666 | 1,325]

You mean what might you find at a random garage sale?  Damn near anything, but more likely nothing.

[Code Monkey | 2,006]

1 hour ago, the_wizard_666 said:

Then all we need is a handy-dandy database...

Already working on it.

[Code Monkey | 2,006]

52 minutes ago, ThadMyster said:

I'm wondering what are some rare games that are obtainable for a regular joe. Loose cart is fine. I'm thinking like snow brothers since it's 9 on the list or maybe duck tales 2. What's some top rare games of regular licenses games not variants etc. So like 1.stadium event 2. Little samson? 3. Etc all loose cartridge. Give me your guys list.

 

Your question doesn't make sense. Look up "Jolly Rancher Find" and check out that story. Someone found multiple Nintendo World Championships, the only (or is it?) known copy of Nintendo Campus Challenge and many prototypes at a single garage sale.

So, I guess the answer is everything. I found a press sample of Ultimate Stuntman in a random booth at a farmer's market so anything is possible.

[the_wizard_666 | 1,325]

4 minutes ago, Code Monkey said:

So, I guess the answer is everything. I found a press sample of Ultimate Stuntman in a random booth at a farmer's market so anything is possible.

That's how @Dr. Morbis found his Big Nose & The Witch Doctor proto.  Probably the same seller

[guitarzombie | 924]

1 hour ago, ThadMyster said:

I'm wondering what are some rare games that are obtainable for a regular joe. Loose cart is fine. I'm thinking like snow brothers since it's 9 on the list or maybe duck tales 2. What's some top rare games of regular licenses games not variants etc. So like 1.stadium event 2. Little samson? 3. Etc all loose cartridge. Give me your guys list.

 

A rare game for a regular joe?  Super Cars.  Else be prepared to shell out a good amount of coin locally or on ebay.

 

EDIT: Lets throw in Motor City Patrol too

Edited April 30, 2021 by guitarzombie

[DefaultGen | 5,401]

1 hour ago, ThadMyster said:

I'm wondering what are some rare games that are obtainable for a regular joe. Loose cart is fine. I'm thinking like snow brothers since it's 9 on the list or maybe duck tales 2. What's some top rare games of regular licenses games not variants etc. So like 1.stadium event 2. Little samson? 3. Etc all loose cartridge. Give me your guys list.

You're not going to find a better list than ThePhleo's. Other than that, just search Ebay and see how many are for sale and recently sold compared to everything else. Your only easy option to get a Cowboy Kid right now is a $3000 CIB. Probably pretty rare game.

Edited April 30, 2021 by DefaultGen

[ThadMyster | 3]

13 hours ago, Strikezone1 said:

There's a blog thread on this site that ranks the rarity of the NES library:

Excluding Stadium Events which is the only 10, there are 15 licensed titles that were given a 9 for rarity. So choose any 10 of thos

I have seen duck tales 2 , snow brothers and casino kids at my local shop.  I'm thinking about getting one anyone think which out of the 3 would be rarest. According to the list it's snow brothers.

Edited April 30, 2021 by ThadMyster

[the_wizard_666 | 1,325]

Casino Kid is super common.  Casino Kid II is rare.  I've only seen it in the wild a couple times in 20+ years of collecting.  The other two are pretty common by comparison.  I wouldn't put them higher than around an R6 or so based on my own experience. 

[LifeGame | 760]

Ubisoft Indy is pretty hard to find imo

[NESfiend | 1,515]

9 minutes ago, the_wizard_666 said:

Casino Kid is super common.  Casino Kid II is rare.  I've only seen it in the wild a couple times in 20+ years of collecting.  The other two are pretty common by comparison.  I wouldn't put them higher than around an R6 or so based on my own experience. 

Casino Kid 2 would be my vote from that list also, assuming its that. Snow bros is more money though and more well regarded, so Im sure it gets majority vote. I have no info to back it up, but casino kid 2 has always seemed way more rare than its price tag. And more scarce than snow bros.

Casino Kid 2 is surprisingly fun too. The poker games are perfect background to a slow familiar movie 

Edited April 30, 2021 by NESfiend

[ThadMyster | 3]

8 minutes ago, the_wizard_666 said:

Casino Kid is super common.  Casino Kid II is rare.  I've only seen it in the wild a couple times in 20+ years of collecting.  The other two are pretty common by comparison.  I wouldn't put them higher than around an R6 or so based on my own experience. 

Sorry I meant casino kids 2 ahaha what would you rate this game? R8? But duck tales 2 and snow brothers u would say is r6?

[the_wizard_666 | 1,325]

7 minutes ago, ThadMyster said:

Sorry I meant casino kids 2 ahaha what would you rate this game? R8? But duck tales 2 and snow brothers u would say is r6?

That's right, although the two Capcom games are highly regarded, and fetch a high cost because of that.  But cost and rarity are two different things.  Myriad 6-in-1 is significantly rarer than Stadium Events, but goes for a fraction of the price because few people know/care about it.  Little Samson on the other hand is legitimately rare AND a high quality game in it's own right.  I've only seen it twice in the wild, once being the copy in my collection.  Flintstones 2 I've seen twice as well, although neither of those ended up on my shelf (I bought mine online).  SE I've never seen in person.  I've seen both NWCs, although that was at a convention so shouldn't be considered as "the wild"   The reason some games go for more than others is because of that magical mix of "uncommon" and "good."

[Code Monkey | 2,006]

10 minutes ago, ThadMyster said:

Sorry I meant casino kids 2 ahaha what would you rate this game? R8? But duck tales 2 and snow brothers u would say is r6?

1. Bonk's Adventure
2. Panic Restaurant
3. Chip And Dale: Rescue Rangers 2
4. Swamp Thing
5. Casino Kid II
6. Snow Brothers
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30.  Ducktales 2

[Code Monkey | 2,006]

23 minutes ago, the_wizard_666 said:

Casino Kid is super common.  Casino Kid II is rare.  I've only seen it in the wild a couple times in 20+ years of collecting. 

I was browsing Dave's $5 game bin at Hillhurst / Sunnyside Flea Market and found one in there. Then I found a boxed copy on eBay for $100, the days when people had never heard of this game. I'm still looking for a manual.

[ThadMyster | 3]

11 minutes ago, Code Monkey said:

1. Bonk's Adventure
2. Panic Restaurant
3. Chip And Dale: Rescue Rangers 2
4. Swamp Thing
5. Casino Kid II
6. Snow Brothers
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30.  Ducktales 2

Love it!!!! I just found someone on my fb market with kickmaster what would you say about that game?

[the_wizard_666 | 1,325]

@Code Monkey There is soooooo much wrong with your list, I don't even know where to start...

Bonk is rare, but top of that list?  Not even close.  I've owned multiple Panic Restaurants that were found in bargain bins.  I wouldn't even put that in the top 50.  Swamp Thing I'd probably drop significantly as well...it's in R6-R7 territory at best.  Snow Bros and Duck Tales should be off that list entirely.  Casino Kid 2 I'd put either slightly above or slightly below C&D2.  Probably just below...I've seen them roughly the same number of times in the wild, but C&D2 turns up far less often online in my experience. 

@ThadMyster Kick Master is another solid R6 that's extremely playable.  But again, I've owned multiples that I bought in the wild...including a sealed one that I opened.  It's a great game, and worth a bit, but I wouldn't call it rare, not by a long shot.

[GetTheGreg | 105]

Understanding the games by a rarity list works to some degree, but it's not constant.  Games like DT2, Snow Bros, RR2 are lifted up the charts by massive demand, where as if Casino Kid 2 had that same demand, it would have a much higher price tag.

Rather than focusing too much on which game might have the highest rarity ranking, buy the one you'll actually enjoy owning if there happens to be a downswing in price.  If Casino Kid 2 doesn't interest you, I wouldn't bother buying it for the sake of it being "slightly" harder to find than Snow Bros.  You can increase the "rarity" by chasing after NM/M cartridges.  That will likely matter more than their absolute rarity.

If you want to start getting into actual relative rarity for NES, you should do CIB at minimum and chase after condition rarity.  Carts will always be available if you pop on to eBay.

I'm just curious what your collecting goal is?  

Oh, and if I had to shoot at a top 10 it would be (don't worry about the order too much)

Little Samson

Flintstones 2

Power Blade 2

Panic Restaurant

Bonks Adventure

Dragon Fighter

Sword Master

Bubble Bobble 2

Then really you can insert: Kid Klown, Wacky Races, Cowboy Kid, color a dinosaur, etc - all games that you will likely never see in person at a local store, command a premium, but will be available in varying quantities on eBay.

Unless I missed a really obvious one, I think I feel decent about my list haha.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited April 30, 2021 by Maertens29