Chaos Control

It's a very fun and unique multimedia system to collect and experience. Almost all of the retail releases are still fairly cheap and affordable, unlike pretty much every other system. It's only a few that command high prices. There's also a tremendous amount of titles available for burning courtesy of recent preservation efforts:

I'm glad to help!:) Stuff like Lamb Chop, The Best of Baby Songs, Wings Over the Gulf, ACT College Search, Weather Kitchen, etc- those are the actual rarities from the US set of the jewel-cases. If you do try to go for a US collection it's those edu/multimedia/ reference titles that'll be the hardest to find, but usually don't cost much. Rarity definitely doesn't always equal price.

Just as a heads-up, some of the very rarest and toughest non-longbox Titles are every bit as tough to find as the rare longboxes. For example, a copy of Lamb Chop Action Songs complete with the slipcover is one you might only see once per year, but there's one available right now: https://www.ebay.com/itm/155385013266?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=6H3aOq6rQqW&sssrc=2349624&ssuid=cssq4zlBQMK&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

It's my pleasure to help!:) The very best source is the contemporary Philips CDi Catalog, the last big one that they put out: https://www.ebay.com/itm/134182511191?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=O5nICg2rT7i&sssrc=2349624&ssuid=cssq4zlBQMK&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY ...those don't show up very often but 95% of the US retail available to the public titles, games, movies, and multimedia, are all right there with pictures. If you're a CD-i collector I HIGHLY recommend that Catalog. The one thing it won't show are packaging variants, such as longbox and jewel-case, and which jewel-case releases did or not have slipcovers. Most did, but not all. That Catalog also has most of the European releases that Philips sold in the US, but just didn't create US style packaging for. What the Catalog won't have are a few titles that were already de-emphasized by that point, such as ACT College Search and Anne Willan Presents the Food of France; a few extremely rare regional releases (such as the very rarest US CD-i title available to the public: Bell Atlantic Info-Active); and professional titles that were never available to the general public in the first place (such as employee training programs and unreleased titles). I don't know if you're familiar with the ongoing CD-i preservation efforts that I'm a part of: https://preserve-cdi.blogspot.com/?m=1 ...but among the bigger tasks that we're working towards are full and complete checklists by Country, with pictures and details of the packaging styles. In the interim, the most extensive CD-i site has the majority of titles listed and excellently organized: https://www.theworldofcdi.com/

Huh?

Very nice haul indeed, and it's especially good that you've got all of the really expensive US titles out of the way! Pace yourself with the rest of your acquisitions, and you'll find CD-i to be a very affordable system to collect for!

Anne Willan Presents the Food of France was indeed released at retail in the US (and in Europe), but only seems to have had the one print run. It wasn't given a jewel-case re-release like a lot of other longboxes. It also, like ACT College Search '92, wasn't sold in the later big Catalog that came out in 1995. A former Philips VP told me that ACT became outdated pretty quickly but didn't know why Anne Willan was left out of the later Catalog. But it was definitely available at retail and through Philips for a short while. Low sales, niche topic on an obscure system, low print run, early discontinuation, and the passage of time (30 plus years now!) all combine to make it rare nowadays.

That's awesome to hear, and rest assured that CD-i is a platform like no other. Almost all of the really interesting and rare titles are readily available through the Internet Archive, so just burn them and you're good to go. The longbox set has exactly 99 titles in it, and most aren't too hard to find and are very affordable, unlike pretty much any other system nowadays. Only a truly rough, as noted above, but you've got the toughest one out of the way already.

My apologies for the delayed response, as I never saw any email notifications for it. YES! You do indeed have the rarest of the US CDi longboxes in that copy of Anne Willan Presents the Food of France! Now, I have no idea what it might sell for, but it's definitely something to treasure. If it's still sealed, keep it that way. If it's not wrapped, make sure the included cookbook is still present. You also look to have the Bernstein Bears longbox, which is tough to find in that format. It's also a bit unusual to see BOTH of the NFL Trivia Challenge versions, the original jewel-case re-release and the later updated version. The US version of Dimo's Quest is also not easy to find with the slipcover, as is the jewel-case version of Compton's Encyclopedia. Overall, you've got an above average CD-i lot, a very good one in fact. It's very nice to see that almost all the slipcovers are still present, which is unusual. They're usually missing over half the time any CD-i titles show up. In terms of variety, you've got a solid mix of actual good games, multimedia, and decent Movies. Whoever the original owner was made some good choices! I'd keep it if I were you, but I'm sure there'll be interest in your copy of Anne Willan. No more than a dozen copies of that US longbox are known to exist, though most of the hardcore CD-i collectors have it. Some speculator will probably want it. Depending on whether or not you sell everything together or piece it all out, you're looking at around $500 for everything after the shipping expenses and presumably the eBay fees. And because it always needs to be said, rarity does not always mean a high price. Don't get your expectations up too much.

Another view. It certainly seems to be something that was mass produced.

I just acquired a CD-i controller that I've only seen a few times over the years. I don't think it was ever actually released to retail, but it certainly looks like a finished product. Does anyone here have any knowledge on it, or have a CD-i IR receiver that they'd be willing to sell or borrow to me so I can test it out?

Quite a lot of the CD-i library is like this in that not only are prices all over the place but also some titles might only show up for sale once or twice a year if at all, and often with BINs that sell instantly. Consider the BP game Making the Grade: https://www.ebay.com/itm/195282299417?hash=item2d77bb6a19:g:eVUAAOSwUIli1r4T&amdata=enc%3AAQAHAAAAoEGsZiqUnMOZQzBL6v8nj65V3dz6vTUE%2FTA6%2FwxyaYQz%2BXztttUaklqV2J1rBPUzKcuAEI27hBKN07KPj70rq1Od2MITqKE7JWeIQ8yBrCyGIA7EsrsF3xaJFBt8THT%2B%2BT%2F%2FnNCb%2BAmSwTAa9paS6PLkllHdxZqzgO4%2FLOadlZifSV05bp1ygZWmQSsHEByJ0%2BLidlFrZM%2B9rD48NzvGM88%3D|tkp%3ABk9SR4TC_vzbYA#vi__app-cvip-panel ...over $400 with shipping to the US, and it was listed and sold almost immediately. I can only guess at what price an open auction would fetch.

On a rarity scale of 1 to 10, an R10 is something has 10 or less known copies but is indeed part of the full set. Using the Spinal Tap theory of collecting, some titles are so rare that the scale goes to 11. Those are usually ones that have only one known copy, or only one known complete copy yet which still count towards the full set. CD-i has quite a few obscure retail releases that fit the R11 description.

I've got a few full sets from my decades of collecting: Odyssey 1, Channel F, Studio 2, Emerson Arcadia 2001, Telstar Arcade, Action Max, Memorex VIS, Nuon US, and quite a few CD-i subsets. For sheer impossibility to complete: Atari 2600 (due to Birthday Mania, Extra Terrestrials, Gamma Attack, and a few of their like) and the cost of some titles; RCA Studio 2 due to Bingo (otherwise it'd be the easiest set to complete); Memorex VIS because of Video Movie Guide 1993 (only a hundred copies or so made it to retail); and the Philips CD-i above all others due to the sheer number of impossible R9/R10/R11 rarities. AES could be done with the right amount of money. Odyssey 1 is very difficult nowadays because of the passage of time and the limited amount of the later 1973 releases that were made. Studio 2 is probably the easiest system to complete even with all variants, and can even be had for less than the original retail prices. Or, it's one of the absolute hardest if Bingo really did see store shelves somewhere, as only 4 copies are known to still exist. Channel F is just a matter of waiting for copies of the Democart and Checkers to come up for sale, and having the money for them. Everything else is fairly easy to obtain. Arcadia 2001 US set is easy except for three R9s: Red Clash, Spiders, and Grand Slam Tennis. They only show up maybe once a year.

...I just updated the US longbox to account for two titles that I had previously overlooked, and to elaborate a bit upon the rarest titles in the set. I hope it will be of interest to CDi collectors!

https://atariage.com/forums/topic/301340-i-completed-the-entire-philips-cdi-us-longbox-set-or-did-i-plus-general-cdi-collecting-gems/?do=findComment&comment=5093809 Two Years later, it turns out that there are indeed a few US longbox CD-i releases that I had overlooked: the bi-lingual versions of How the Camel Got His Hump and How the Rhinoceros Got His Skin. They have different disc content, different titles, and most importantly different Catalog Numbers. Philips sold them as distinct titles back in the day, per every single Catalog and brochure/booklet included with most retail CDititles. They count as separate titles. They are a bit easy to overlook, as their covers are very similar, but look closely and you will see the differences. It should also be noted that while the bilingual version of Rhino Skin is not terribly difficult to find, it took me almost two years to find a complete with the outer slipcover copy of the bi-lingual Camel Hump. I just this week took delivery of a complete copy, the first one I had seen since putting together this longbox guide. It is a true rarity, and now that I've been able to finally get a copy to verify it and coupled with an additional year or so of data from Ebay and my fellow CDi collectors, an updated version of the longbox guide is in order. In version 2.0, the big changes are the addition of the two US bi-lingual titles mentioned above, the addition to the end of the list of the European exclusive Lenting van Etten (which, mercifully for collectors, does NOT count towards the US longbox set), and an expanded listing of the rarest longbox titles. Pictures will follow soon, and the initial posts will be updated. US CDi Longbox Collecting Guide and Checklist Version 2.0 A National Parks Tour A Revolution in Color A Visit to Sesame Street: Letters A Visit to Sesame Street: Numbers A Visit to the Valley of the Pueblo and the Amparo Museum Alice In Wonderland Anne Willan Presents the Food of France Backgammon Battleship Beauty and the Beast Brer Rabbit and the Wonderful Tar Baby Caesar’s World of Gambling Cartoon Jukebox CD Shoot CD-I Music Book: Classical Guitar Volume 1 Children’s Musical Theater Classical Guitar Classical Jukebox Compton’s Interactive Encyclopedia Connect Four Cool Oldies Jukebox Dark Castle David and Goliath Defender of the Crown Dutch Masters of the 17th Century Earth Rhythms Escape From the Cyber City Gardening By Choice: Flowers and Foliage Gifts to Behold Girl’s Club Golden Oldies Jukebox Harvest of the Sun How the Camel Got His Hump How the Camel Got His Hump Bi-lingual How the Rhinoceros Got His Skin How the Rhinoceros Got His Skin Bi-lingual How to Photograph Nature International Tennis Open James Brown Nonstop Hit Machine Jazz Giants Jazz Guitar Jigsaw Laser Lords Lords of the Rising Sun Louis Armstrong More Dark Fables from Aesop Moses: Bound for the Promised Land Moses: The Exodus Mother Goose Hidden Pictures Mother Goose Rhymes to Color Mozart: A Musical Biography Mystic Midway Rest in Pieces NFL Football Trivia Challenge Noah’s Ark Paint School I Paint School II Pavarotti Pecos Bill Pegasus Pinball Power Hitter Prelude Rand McNally’s America: U.S. Atlas Rembrandt: His Art and the Music of His Era Rhythm Maker Richard Scarry’s Best Neighborhood Disc Richard Scarry’s Busiest Neighborhood Disc Rock Guitar Sailing: A Guide to Sailing and Seamanship Sandy’s Circus Adventure Sargon Chess Stamps: Windows on the World Stickybear Reading Story Machine: Magic Tales Story Machine: Star Dreams Tell Me Why I Tell Me Why II Tetris Text Tiles The ACT College Search ‘92 The Art of the Czars The Berenstain Bears: On Their Own and You On Your Own The Best of Draw 50 The Dark Fables of Aesop The Emperor’s New Clothes The Flowers of Robert Mapplethorpe The French Impressionists The Palm Springs Open The Renaissance Gallery The Renaissance of Florence The Riches of Coins The Story of Jonah The Story of Samson The World of Impressionism Time Life Photography Treasures of the Smithsonian Video Speedway You Sing Christmas Favorites Zombie Dinos from the Planet Zeltoid European exclusive: Lenting van Etten Notes, and the 25 Rarest longbox releases: 1)Anne Willan Presents the Food of France and 2) ACT College Search ’92 were among a few titles that were “de-emphasized” in later Catalogs by Philips. A former Philips VP that helped me with my collection even mentioned that ACT was soon considered outdated. Anne Willan Food of France did receive a release in the UK and Europe in the original “eurocase” format and is slightly easier to find in that overseas version. ACT is a US longbox exclusive. 3)It took me almost two years to find a complete copy of the bi-lingual version of How the Camel Got His Hump once I realized that it existed. It, and the more common Rhino Skin bi-lingual version, is a US longbox exclusive. They have unique content, different titles, different Catalog Numbers, and were advertised as separate titles. 4)CD-i Music Book Volume 1 (there were no other Volumes) is another US longbox exclusive. It’s a real stealth rarity, and many collectors had been unaware that it existed for a long time. 5)Sailing is another US longbox exclusive. Amazon had unsold stock until recently, but that is now all gone. It should not be confused with the similar sailing Cdi title Sail to Win by XDRA, which was also available in the US. The generic name doesn’t help when searching for a copy, so get ready for a lot of motor parts results. You can probably guess how much there was in the way of overlap between sailing enthusiasts and Cdi owners back in the day, which with the passage of time has made it very difficult to locate all these Decades later. 6)More Dark Fables from Aesop was actually sold at the same time as the first Dark Fables from Aesop, and both also received overseas releases. The first Dark Fables title is quite common, and will throw off your search results. Somehow the US version of More Dark Fables just never seems to show up. 7)Earth Rhythms is not actually a US longbox exclusive, as it also had a release as part of the Japanese Cdi set. Unlike most of the music related Cdi titles, it is not believed to have had a UK or European release, though I’d love to be proven wrong on that. It also isn’t just anybody’s cup of tea, but is a very relaxing and pleasant title to just sit back and watch on a proper CRT set with good speakers. I just happened to get my copy in a large lot, and have only seen it about 3 times in the past few Years. 8)David and Goliath is the rarest of several biblically-themed storybook titles aimed at children. All of them are fairly tough to find, but David and Goliath is the toughest. It is possibly a US longbox exclusive, though some of its companion titles did get overseas releases. This particular bit of information is subject to change pending additional research. 9)James Brown Non-Stop Hit Machine. This had releases outside the US, but is still very tough to find. There are many more James Brown fans than there are Cdi collectors, and most of the copies that come up draw their attention. Due to Copyright issues, this is one collection that will never, ever see any sort of re-release. 10)The Flowers of Robert Mapplethorpe is not NSFW in the slightest bit, and is possibly the very tamest Cdi of them all in terms of the on-disc content. It’s just a slideshow of pictures of flowers. “Oh, what a nice man the artist must be! I should look up his other works…” Don’t. Just don’t. Absolutely do not ever look up anything about this title or Robert Mapplethorpe in general on anything other than your personal device with safe search settings enabled. You have been warned. Flowers of R.M. is another US longbox exclusive, and one that sold very poorly. Like a lot of other expensive Cdi titles, it draws attention from non-Cdi interest groups, in this case the gay art community. I had two extra copies that I put up for sale once and got some very generous offers from some very unusual sources that had been looking long and hard for copies of this particular title. You can expect the next copies that pop up on Ebay to go for large amounts. This is also one of the hybrid Cdi/PhotoCD longbox titles, all three of which are very rare nowadays. 11)A Revolution in Color had releases outside the US, but the US longbox version is still difficult to find anywhere. It doesn’t help that the title will lead to a lot of results that have nothing to do with the Philips Cdi at all. 12)How the Rhinoceros Got His Skin bi-lingual version seems to be much more common than the equivalent Camel Hump, but is still a very rare title. I’ve seen it less than ten times ever. As with the bi-lingual Camel Hump, check your copy of the normal version, as you might already have this one and not realize it. 13)Berenstain Bears had a re-release in the later jewel-case with slipcover format, and is fairly common to find that way. It is the earlier longbox version that you will rarely ever see. It was one of the last longbox releases before Philips switched case formats, and few copies of the longbox version were ever printed. 14)Moses: The Exodus and 15)Moses: Bound for The Promised Land are about equally rare, though both also had releases outside the US. They are often also found together in the same lot, so unless you find a lone copy for a really good price you can probably wait for a lot with both of them in it. 16)How to Photograph Nature is another hybrid PhotoCD/Cdi longbox title, and also a US longbox exclusive as far as anyone knows. There’s absolutely no demand for it besides from fullset collectors, most of whom already have it. 17)Gifts to Behold had releases outside the US (even in Japan!) but the US longbox version is tough to find and does not show up very often outside of random lots. If you see a copy in decent shape buy it! 18)Amparo Museum (full name: A Visit to the Valley of Peubla and the Amparo Museum) was one of the early titles to be developed for the Cdi, and did get a release outside the US. While much more common than a lot of the other titles on this list, it is still very rare compared to other Cdi titles and games in general. There was only one early print run that did not sell well, and nowadays only shows up in a random lot or so. The low numbers that were made make it rare by default, and you won’t have a convenient time finding a copy. 19)You Sing Christmas Favorites- ever hook up a mic to your Cdi? Me neither, but that was the intent behind this title. It was re-named for the equally limited overseas Euro release, and nowadays hardly ever shows up for sale. 20)Girl’s Club did have a fairly large print run and had overseas releases, but a lot of the copies of the US longbox version went to Blockbuster Video stores for rental (see above post) and now complete copies are tough to find, though there’s usally an overpriced BIN on Ebay. There aren’t many other girls dating “games” in general, and it has very much become an unintentional time capsule all these years later. 21)A National Parks Tour is the third and most common of the longbox PhotoCD/Cdi hybrid titles, and while a US exclusive it did get a later jewel-case re-release. Neither version is particularly common, nor will it be an easy challenge to try and find a nice complete longbox copy. 22)Rhythm Maker is an obscure title that seems to have been a US longbox exclusive and which only had a small print run. It tends to only show up in lots and almost never as a lone BIN or open auction. Numbers alone make it rare, but this one is particularly difficult to get by itself. 23)Prelude is a title that had releases in all regions, but the US longbox version is a stealth rarity compared to most of the rest of the set. The complete lack of demand for it apart from dedicated Cdi collectors makes it look deceptively common when it really is not. 24)Gardening: Flowers and Foliage is not a common title to begin with, and is even tougher to find outside of a large lot. The longbox version only had the one print run, though there was an overseas release in the “eurocase” format. While it remains quite a useful and easy to use program to use in planning your garden, nowadays only the most die-hard Cdi collector would want a copy. 25)Rock Guitar is one of several guitar titles for the Cdi, and is by far the toughest of them to find. Part of this is due to the generic title.

4 Known copies exist: 1) PC2K1/Philly Classic/Dan McIntyre copy: discovered by an owner of the Studio 2 Demonstration Cartridge at the Circle 40 flea-market on the way back home from the previous Philly Classic. This was the infamous copy exhibited at PC2K1 that everyone got excited about and which became a minor videogame urban legend. It re-surfaced in 2018 and I now own it. Does not have a manual but does have two very old photocopied manuals from RCA, and a red inner tray instead of a blue one. The original owner is unknown. 2) the 2016 Joseph Santone copy: Joseph Santone worked in Finance for RCA and this copy was discovered by NJ house cleanout company A W Cleanout and put up on eBay, initially in a lot. Multiple collectors flooded the seller with offers and it was relisted separately and eventually sold to a very established and reputable collector who still has it. This was the copy from which the ROM dump was made by Ed Keefe. This copy is complete. 3) The Harry Callahan copy: recently listed complete copy on eBay and is apparently from the estate of the late RCA employee Harry Callahan. Still available and has been relisted multiple times: https://www.ebay.com/itm/294976981033?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=RzdQMI4wT8W&sssrc=2349624&ssuid=cssq4zlBQMK&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY 4) the videogamesage/VGCollectaholic copy: https://www.videogamesage.com/forums/topic/2688-post-your-holy-grail-item/?do=findComment&comment=265374 ...not only complete but with extra sets of cards and an extra manual! Bingo technically does count as a retail release as at least one former RCA employee familiar with the title mentioned it being sold at the Deptford store, that is, that location of the RCA Family Stores. More than 50 copies were made, probably around a hundred. At least a few hundred, and probably a few thousand, copies were made of the various overseas releases of Bingo on all the "clone" systems. The ROM itself is identical. Your extra manual and card sets suggest that at least a few other copies existed. It wouldn't be a huge surprise if some older collectors from back in the day have copies. I remember exchanging messages with A W Cleanout back in 2016 when the Santone copy came up. Everyone went gaga over it as the Philly Classic copy had vanished and wouldn't re-emerge for another two years. It was a really exciting time!

I have several Grails but one of mine is very similar to yours! That is, if you count the CD-i version of the Washington area phone book as a game. Bell Atlantic Info-Active for the Philips CD-i was a regional exclusive to the area that was available to the general public for purchase and as such is one of the most difficult US releases to obtain nowadays. I remember seeing it back in the day, and also in a kiosk. Beyond it being a true rarity, the Grail part for me is that not only am I mentioned in it but so is my house and a lot of my family. Pretty much everyone in the Capitol area at the time are in a CD-i!

I'm one of the few collectors that has a full set for the original Magnavox Odyssey 1, and even have a lot of the homebrews, but even back in the 90's and early 2000's I rarely ever saw it in the wild. The very first videogame collectors were the people who purchased the system back in 1972 and kept up with the additional releases, though few if any of them are still around and still collecting. Nonetheless, videogame collecting has been a thing for half a Century as of the upcoming Odyssey 1 anniversary. An Odyssey 1 was recently on an episode of Pawn Stars, but I haven't seen much other mention of this upcoming cultural milestone. Does anyone here think that there's about to be any renewed attention towards the system, complete with price spikes? Additionally, I'd like to ask if anyone here has ever found Odyssey 1 stuff in the wild, at house sales or thrift stores and the like.

Huh- I wonder if we know the same person! Probably not, as at least a dozen copies in various states of completion are known of the PS3 version. I know two very private collectors that do have copies, though one is disc only. I only know of one person who's even seen the 360 version, and it was someone from ReDump who ripped it. I'm assuming that the servers, if they ever even were up, no longer are.

Because it never reached store shelves, and in all likelihood never even saw mass production. True achievements, the real best source of data on what's ACTUALLY been played, has it as cancelled and has all of one person having played it: https://www.trueachievements.com/game/NBA-ELITE-11/gamers ...the recent Racketboy article on 360 rarities not only is missing F1 2013 (even though it was pointed out to him) and other rarities but does include nonsense like NBA Elite 11. As an aside, it's curios that exactly one person can even be identified as having played a cancelled game. Something doesn't smell right about that...

CD-i lot has been SOLD!

Up for sale is a large lot of my spare copies of quality Philips CD-i games and Multimedia titles. Most are uncommon and several are very rare. This lot will be very easy to piece out and sell on eBay for a decent profit for anyone so inclined. PM me if interested. Payments via PayPal only, shipping only to the US.

Uploaded pictures. Don't miss out on this one!