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Gameboy advance rarity


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Not super common...but not exceedingly rare either...I bought my "blue box" copy a couple years back for $15 Sealed I think?  I remember seeing a big lot that had like 20 games and 4 or 5 of them were sealed "blue box" copies, so they can't be THAT rare...I don't think the entry-level GBA collector knows much about variants like that, so when they do pop up on eBay, there generally isn't a scramble for everyone to get one...it wouldn't surprise me if it jumps in value someday...but I think the fact that the "yellow box" is so cheap/plentiful as a substitute will ultimately limit its value.  A similar situation to the AIA/Ignition box variants...people just don't notice/don't care for the most part.  Also, correct me if I'm wrong, but the cart label is EXACTLY the same as the "yellow box" label (yellow) - if the cart label were different, I feel that might have added to the collectability.

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9 hours ago, Naked Warrior said:

Not super common...but not exceedingly rare either...I bought my "blue box" copy a couple years back for $15 Sealed I think?  I remember seeing a big lot that had like 20 games and 4 or 5 of them were sealed "blue box" copies, so they can't be THAT rare...I don't think the entry-level GBA collector knows much about variants like that, so when they do pop up on eBay, there generally isn't a scramble for everyone to get one...it wouldn't surprise me if it jumps in value someday...but I think the fact that the "yellow box" is so cheap/plentiful as a substitute will ultimately limit its value.  A similar situation to the AIA/Ignition box variants...people just don't notice/don't care for the most part.  Also, correct me if I'm wrong, but the cart label is EXACTLY the same as the "yellow box" label (yellow) - if the cart label were different, I feel that might have added to the collectability.

The cart and manual are orange on this one, only the box is blue. All of the ones I’ve ever seen had the same orange cart.

However I do remember seeing a picture of manual one time that had the blue design on it. I wonder if it was legit, can’t see why anyone would fake it.

I bet they will be worth significantly more in the future when they are sealed. Not so special when they are opened

Edited by phart010
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On 6/17/2021 at 8:37 PM, Naked Warrior said:

Ultimate Beach Soccer - Mentioned above...I have the only North American manual I've ever seen, and like I said, never even seen the box...one did pop up on eBay a year or two ago, and it sold in about 4 seconds...

Well, this guy (from Greg's discord) got one:

 

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6 hours ago, Driftwood said:

 

lego star wars (yoda figure variant)

Nicktoons volume 3

the proud family vol. 1

Army men operation green

Colin mcrae rally 2.0

David beckham soccer

Spirits & spells 

 

All of these are exceedingly difficult to find as well

Except for Star Wars the rest are hard to find even in cart only form let alone CIB right?

But Ultimate Beach Soccer has tons of carts on eBay. I guess it's the CIB that's tough to find.

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Sega Rally was definitely the hardest one for me to find. I assume due to how much I paid there, that a couple people decided to boot their copies and cash out ☺ Top Gear GT was kind of annoying as well, racing games in general seem annoying to find. 

20210224_164558.jpg

Edited by goldenpp72
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9 hours ago, Driftwood said:

Goldenpp72–

is that by chance the copy that popped up in Australia a while back?

I think so, I recall it being imported anyways. I'm not a full set collector but as I suspected most of the people who want that one only want it because of wanting a full set. I just wanted it because I'm a big Sega guy so I went in pretty hard 🙃

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Personally deep down, I hate that I had Sega Rally and sold it a long long time ago, you could find copies all over.

SO it makes me wonder...what really is the deal?  Is it rare, or did they fall into some weird micro singularity, or the twilight zone?

What makes this game, 10 years ago you could find easy, stupid cheap too, suddenly become like unicorn horn?  I know I can't get an answer to this, but it makes you wonder...how and why?  Can an answer even be found?

 

The sad (or maybe saving) thing about it, the game is downright coded and designed weird.  Ever play it on GBA?  The game is actually kind of disorienting.  I can't quite explain it well, but I'll try.  In a racing game(standard) the terrain goes on a set locked path (especially non full 3D) and it moves along, you turn the car, see angles of it, and you either make the turn or crash...right?  Sega Rally GBA though is like the opposite, the car the way it feels like it's moving, is that it's not, it's like one of those old late 70s early 80s handheld/desk toys TOMY or someone did where the car never moves, but the terrain moves itself around it.  The game is just weird, the land moves, not the car, or at least it comes off that way.  It's why I never kept it, it's not bad persay, it just screws with you someone would design it that way.  A real shame as V-Rally 3 on GBA is 3D engine and all just how it works, spiritually Sega Rally Saturn, yet Sega Rally shows up...and throws up.

Edited by Tanooki
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On 8/13/2021 at 8:40 PM, Tanooki said:

What makes this game, 10 years ago you could find easy, stupid cheap too, suddenly become like unicorn horn?  I know I can't get an answer to this, but it makes you wonder...how and why?  Can an answer even be found?

I bought this game in 2005-2006 and even then it was almost impossible to find, with usually none in eBay or in stores at the time.

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6 hours ago, AlternatorDelux said:

I bought this game in 2005-2006 and even then it was almost impossible to find, with usually none in eBay or in stores at the time.

Huh really?  I never had a problem bumping into it during that decade.  Then again I usually saw it in person, didn't really feel a need to online track it.  I've probably owned it 3 times, definitely twice the first being new at retail.

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On 8/13/2021 at 8:40 PM, Tanooki said:

Personally deep down, I hate that I had Sega Rally and sold it a long long time ago, you could find copies all over.

SO it makes me wonder...what really is the deal?  Is it rare, or did they fall into some weird micro singularity, or the twilight zone?

What makes this game, 10 years ago you could find easy, stupid cheap too, suddenly become like unicorn horn?  I know I can't get an answer to this, but it makes you wonder...how and why?  Can an answer even be found?

 

The sad (or maybe saving) thing about it, the game is downright coded and designed weird.  Ever play it on GBA?  The game is actually kind of disorienting.  I can't quite explain it well, but I'll try.  In a racing game(standard) the terrain goes on a set locked path (especially non full 3D) and it moves along, you turn the car, see angles of it, and you either make the turn or crash...right?  Sega Rally GBA though is like the opposite, the car the way it feels like it's moving, is that it's not, it's like one of those old late 70s early 80s handheld/desk toys TOMY or someone did where the car never moves, but the terrain moves itself around it.  The game is just weird, the land moves, not the car, or at least it comes off that way.  It's why I never kept it, it's not bad persay, it just screws with you someone would design it that way.  A real shame as V-Rally 3 on GBA is 3D engine and all just how it works, spiritually Sega Rally Saturn, yet Sega Rally shows up...and throws up.

Ummm,

been collecting gba since 2005 

and i never remember this game being common to any degree

i have through the years seen a number of boxed copies, but thats been over nearly 20 years and I’m talking less than 20 

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On 8/16/2021 at 11:40 PM, Driftwood said:

Ummm,

been collecting gba since 2005 

and i never remember this game being common to any degree

i have through the years seen a number of boxed copies, but thats been over nearly 20 years and I’m talking less than 20 

Yeah my understanding is that it barely ever existed anywhere ever, most people don't seem to be aware that it's not really around. I know I assumed it would be a common cheap game at some point. 

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On 6/17/2021 at 8:37 PM, Naked Warrior said:

And @Sir Centroid is the winner (well, close enough anyway)!  I have been actively seeking out boxed GBA games since late 2016 and I have never seen a boxed copy of Ultimate Beach Soccer on eBay or in real life...

For some context, I think I'm about 20 boxed games short of a full GBA set (but most of these are just commons that I refuse to pay $15 for...) There are 3 (kind of 4) that I'm having a hard time finding...

Yeah, I'm sure there are rarer variants - like that Dexter's Lab/Power Puff thing, but that isn't a game, it is just a box with two cartridges and two manuals in it...there are like 4 or 5 of those "double pack" things and they are all pretty rare.  There are also Big Box variants that were sold at Costco I think - (there are pics of them on the site here - @RpgCollector has a couple of them), and games with toys/collectables that are rare...but as for your "run-of-the-mill", standard issue GBA games, the winners are...
Little League Baseball 2002 - I've seen one for sale once...it was sealed and it was $400...wish I would have bought it now...
Ultimate Beach Soccer - Mentioned above...I have the only North American manual I've ever seen, and like I said, never even seen the box...one did pop up on eBay a year or two ago, and it sold in about 4 seconds...
And the #1 Rarest game: Nicktoons 4-pack (Spongebob Squarepants: The Movie/Hey Arnold!: The Movie/Wild Thornberrys Movie/Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius) - Finding just a cart of this is actually pretty tough...interestingly this eBay auction had one thrown in, and I almost bought it just to get the cart...

https://www.ebay.com/itm/154486141855?hash=item23f817739f%3Ag%3AgXQAAOSwt21gwBS~&nma=true&si=aIbWKF99McchAr9r%2BTDfZ3SuAyw%3D&orig_cvip=true&nordt=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

Some of the other games listed by other posters are either pretty rare (Several of the GBA Videos- especially Nicktoons Vol 3, Word Safari, Ice Nine, Bee Game (there used to be a guy on eBay named dextersjerky who only sold homemade jerky and sealed copies of The Bee Game...for $300 - I bet he lives an amazing life...that's where I got mine...but I have seen that for sale CIB maybe twice otherwise...) or just expensive (Demikids, Ninja Five-0, Pocky&Rocky) - I actually have multiple copies of all those, some sealed...but of course to buy them you're forking over $600-$1200 nowadays.

Here are a few more exceedingly rare ones:

Army Men: Turf Wars - Only ever seen 1 for sale, it was in terrible condition, bought it anyway
Tweety & The Magic Gems - Never seen it for sale on eBay or Amazon...got my copy from a local gamestore somehow (and pieced together a second copy from lot of boxes only where I also got the box for...
Sega Rally Championship - I've actually seen this for sale 3 or 4 times now, it is borderline common at this point 🙂 
Ozzy & Drix - Go ahead and find one...seriously try to find one.
Top Gear GT Championship - I think I've seen this for sale twice now...the first time the guy had 3 of them...now I have 3 of them.
MLB Slugfest 2004 - This is kind of turning into the "expensive" category as you can get them off eBay right now (and for only $280)...but I think I went my first 2 years without seeing one for sale.
Spirits & Spells, Tiny Toon Adventures Scary Dreams, David Beckham Soccer, Soccer Kid...I could name probably 30 games that you'd have a tough time finding over a 6 month period even if you were searching every day like it was your job.  There are probably another 50 that are really tough, but not "ultra-rare".

Hey man, good list! I'm currently 15 complete-in-box games away from the full North American GBA set. If anyone wants to know the last 15 I need, send me a private message and I would be happy to share that info with you that way.

I would also add these ones which are pretty uncommon to find as well:

  • 2-In-1 Fun Pack: Madagascar / Shrek 2 (not "Operation Penguin")
  • 4 Great Games! Paperboy / Rampage / Marble Madness / Klax
  • 6 Great Games! Pong / Asteroids / Yars' Revenge & Millipede / Super Breakout / Lunar Lander
  • 6 Great Games! Risk / Battleship / Clue & Connect Four / Perfection / Trouble
  • Cubix: Robots For Everyone
  • Driven (Without Toy Car - Standard Release)
  • Driven (With Toy Car - Variation) (Yes, both Drivens are a pain in the butt to find)
  • Freekstyle
  • Gekido Advance
  • Magical Quest 3
  • Sabre Wulf (REALLY cool title too)
  • Soccer Kid
  • The Mummy
  • Tom & Jerry Tales

I'm sure I could make a more comprehensive list of uncommon/pain-in-the-butt GBA titles, but these ones come to mind for now.

Also, I have nice condition CIB copies of these 2 available currently:

  • Tweety & The Magic Gems
  • Ozzy & Drix

Both are pains in the butt to find as you indicated. However, at the moment, I am interested in trading only for other GBA titles I still need (not selling). Send a DM if interested. Thank you!!

Nick

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On 6/25/2021 at 11:55 AM, phart010 said:

@Naked Warrior

How common are these?

image.thumb.jpg.39d12e610ffdcbc6a36a43e5d135b63f.jpg

It is uncommon for sure. When I was looking for it, I didn't see any available of this rare box art design variation for a while, and then I saw one and I bought it for like $25. However like a few months after that I was looking and there were 3 of it available all for cheap. It's a type of item that can sometimes be a pain to find if there's a draught of it, or can be easy to pick up. I think the supply (albeit low) is much larger than the demand of people that want it, and it is still a pretty cheap item, but yeah it can still be a pain to find sometimes.

Nick

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