Chaos Control

While I primarily sell on another Forum, I wanted to post this rarity here given the Nintendo/CD-i crossover interest. Besides being one of the rarest CD-i titles, Flowers of Robert Mapplethorpe is also one of the most infamous. It only had a limited US release and sold poorly due to the controversial life of Mapplethorpe. This copy is still factory sealed. Shipping will be US only, via USPS Priority Mail, and with full Tracking and insurance. Payment via PayPal only. https://atariage.com/forums/topic/333179-flowers-of-robert-mapplethorpe-philips-cd-i-sealed/ ...and right as I go to upload the pictures it turns out that they're too large and hit a file size upload limit. Anyway, they're at the link above.

Neat find! I'm sure that I'll never get a copy with all the other Xbox and fighting game and Marvel collectors looking for it, but I'll keep an eye out in the wild for a copy.

If I might ask the more knowledgeable members here, at least those that collect for the 360, is F1 2013 really the rarest non-limited edition normal retail release? I would have thought that FIFA 19 would have that distinction, or possibly El Chavo Kart, but the following is really making me wonder: https://www.ebay.com/itm/F1-2013-Xbox-360-CIB-Complete-Rare-Tested-/275219790718?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&_trksid=p2349624.m2548.l6249&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0 ... it's the only open auction I can remember seeing in a long time, as every other copy has a BIN that sold quickly regardless of condition. I partly collect for the system but have never seen a copy in the wild, instead only online. There does seem to be some stealth awareness of the rarity of this version from across the years: https://www.trueachievements.com/forum/viewthread.aspx?tid=474757 and one guy who actually managed to get the full set says it's the rarest: ...to note, the listing is not mine and is already out of my price range, but this might well be a memorable one. Maybe the recent de-listing of several F1 titles has something to do with it? I look forward to the thoughts of the other modern collectors here!

Thank you very much for checking on that! I have quite a few rarer spares, though none of the Nintendo titles. Several of the longboxes we're re-released into the jewel-cases and those later versions can be very difficult to locate. You have something desirable and not even know it!

Thank you very much for doing that, and if possible could you take pictures of what they have? Quite a few variants exist that a visual observation to notice.

Are any of them US versions of the CD-i Movies titles, or any of the longbox titles? Please do let me know what you have!:)

Hello, all: I'm looking to buy or trade for some of the US versions of the Philips CD-i Movies titles, as well as the regular titles and games. If you have any available, please do let me know. I would trade other CDi titles, including very rare ones, or outright buy what you're willing to sell. There's quite a few poorly documented reprints and variants for the CD-i so I look forward to seeing what you might have!

https://www.ebay.com/itm/RCA-Studio-II-Game-TV-BINGO-Appears-New-in-Box-Complete-SUPER-RARE-Read-All-/294862232678?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&_trksid=p2349624.m2548.l6249&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0 ... it's actually rarer than the seller states, with only two other known copies, assuming that this one is genuine. Pat the NES Punk had a video on the previous copy a while back: The purpose of this post is to highlight what a REAL rarity looks like, that is, something which by itself makes an entire system collection almost impossible to complete and which only a few collectors will ever own. Only a few CD-i titles and the rarest 2600 games come close to TV Bingo.

Here's an attached screenshot of the offending message, just so others reading this know what to expect. The way it's phrased makes it really seem bogus, and it isn't even grammatically correct. It's also very vague, and fails to specify what else might be required and what the ominous "further restrictions" would entail.

I had what I thought were going to be my last listings ending tonight, and in between some of them I suddenly received another email from eBay claiming that they aren't able to verify me and that all my money will be held until I upload a Photo ID. I assumed it was a scam email, but then it also turned up in my eBay messages. Turns out that this is a real thing, even though it looks like a phishing email. I don't know if some invisible to me payment threshold was crossed and it triggered this in their system, but the timing couldn't have been worse. It's inexcusable for this to happen right in the middle of my listings ending. So, I had to cancel all the orders and refund a bunch of money and eat a good amount in fees, along with wasting my buyers time and having them wait several business days to get their money back. For them to require this out of the blue, and during the Holiday season, is unconscionable. Aside from the danger of uploading that kind of information, they don't actually need it, as just two days ago I got a payout from them without issue. And because I will never upload that kind of information to them, I will no longer be selling on eBay. I hope nobody else here will be screwed by this, but I post this to serve as a heads-up just in case. Googling it reveals that others have also been hit by this: https://community.ebay.com/t5/Selling/No-Ebay-you-will-not-get-a-copy-of-my-identity-card/td-p/31948818 https://community.ebay.com/t5/My-Account/requiring-photo-ID-despite-excellent-and-long-ebay-track-record/td-p/30931202 https://community.ebay.com/t5/Share-eBay-Technical-Issues/EBAY-UNABLE-TO-VERIFY-MY-IDENTITY-AFTER-22-YEARS-SO-KEEPS-MY/td-p/31335502

Just as a heads-up, the upcoming tax changes set to take effect this coming year have prompted me to put up open auctions for a few of my spare copies of a few CD-i rarities. Some have NEVER previously come up for open auction in the US. RetroPals highlighted Do You Remember the 1960s? a while back, and a copy is available here: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Do-You-Remember-the-1960s-Philips-CDi-CD-i-rarest-game-/224736632096?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&_trksid=p2349624.m2548.l6249&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0 ...to share a bit of collector lore, it's one of the 10 rarest actual games releases across all Countries. It was a UK exclusive quiz game based on historical and pop cultural trivia from those years. It was also only sold via mail order by XDRA/McNo, and possibly in a few independent software shops. Less than 10 copies are even known to exist among the CD-i collecting community, and I've owned three of them. I had hoped to trade it for other CD-i rarities but nothing happened there. Anyone going for a full set of CD-i games needs it, and this title and a few other horribly obscure and overlooked regional releases are why only about 5 people have ever managed to get every CD-i game. I also put up a few non-game CD-i rarities- The Weather Kitchen and Breast Self Examination. The Weather Kitchen is an infamous US exclusive and hilarious educational title that was a late release only sold out of the Philips catalogs and a few stores. Breast Self Examination is a YTP style of self-care professional title is exactly what it says on the tin. https://www.ebay.com/itm/Philips-CD-i-The-Weather-Kitchen-cdi-rare-/224736634825?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&_trksid=p2349624.m2548.l6249&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0 https://www.ebay.com/itm/Philips-CD-i-Breast-Examination-Auto-examen-Del-Seno-rare-professional-title-/224736633637?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&_trksid=p2349624.m2548.l6249&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0 ...I wouldn't normally hock my own listings in a general purpose collecting and discussion thread, but these titles that usually go years in between appearances and among the most obscure releases for any major platform, if one considers CD-i to be a major platform. No CD-i collector should miss out on these.

Just as a heads-up, I put my spare copy, which is still sealed, up: https://www.ebay.com/itm/NFL-Instant-Replay-Philips-CD-i-CDI-cdi-SEALED-UNOPENED-RAREST-GAME-interactive-/224736637504?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&_trksid=p2349624.m2548.l6249&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0 ... there have been a few listings for cheap BINs or incomplete copies but I wasn't able to find a record of a sealed copy at open auction.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/The-ACT-College-Search-92-Philips-CD-I-1992-New-In-Factory-Sealed-Long-Box-/224736170650?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&_trksid=p2349624.m2548.l6249&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0 ...I have never seen a sealed copy of this rarity come up for an open auction. It's the second rarest longbox release, a US exclusive, and a title that Philips actually stopped promoting in later catalogs as it had become outdated soon after release.

I'm not sure if it's a sign of prices for rare titles heating up, CD-i collecting in general becoming more popular, or just the result of a dedicated collector really wanting it, but a sealed copy of Sailing just sold for $150: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Sailing-Philips-CD-I-Interactive-1992-New-Old-Stock-Boating-Sail-/304234979967?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&_trksid=p2349624.m2548.l6249&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0 ...now, that price is definitely commensurate with the rarity of the title, as Sailing is one of the 10 rarest longbox releases and is a US exclusive that rarely ever shows up for sale, and much less often at an open auction. My congratulations to whoever won!

Given the Nintendo connection to the CD-i platform, perhaps it's worth noting that CD-i had a presence in the Middle East, at least in the form of at least 103 educational titles developed by the Knowlogy ChaosCon, which even went so far as to make a custom version of the DVS VE 200 CD-i player with a power cord appropriate for that part of the world. How do I know that? I know it because among other gems I've owned the only known surviving Knowlogy player, and the only known example of a Knowlogy CD-i disc. In addition to having a lot of quality DV segments, it also had at least two different mini-games on it. Here's some video of it: see more here if interested in CD-i in the Middle East: https://cdii.blogspot.com/2020/10/another-unknown-cd-i-player-this.html?m=1

I purchased both of the Kotor Master Editions, one of which will be a gift. There is one thing that doesn't seem to be mentioned anywhere, and that is the status of Yavin Station, and if it is included in any of the Limited Run versions. Does anyone here know if the LRG physical Kotor copies include Yavin Station?

The original game collectors are the few Odyssey owners who not only purchased the add-on Shooting Gallery and extra games but also the later 1973 releases. Some even mailed away for the bonus Percepts game. I got the bulk of my Odyssey collection from the estate sale of just such a person. Many years later I messaged with an eBay seller of some Odyssey titles that turned out to be their original owner from '72. Next year will therefore be the 50th Anniversary of home videogame collecting! Keep in mind that very, very few original Odyssey owners are still around. Even fewer (or their families) still have the systems and games. After all, consider that somebody had to have been old enough in '72/'73 to be financially established enough to afford them, so even the youngest owners in their mid-20s at the time are now elderly half a Century later. They are still out there, though, even though they don't even realize that they're among the first videogame collectors. At least some percentage of those who bought into other earlier systems such as the Channel F and Studio II also collected the full sets as they came out at the time. Many long-term collectors first really started collecting when The Crash happened in '83 and huge collections could easily be put together from deeply discounted inventory.

Thanks for sharing that!:) Philips made more Samplers and system Demos for the CD-i than any other any other company. Just in the US alone there's about 20 different discs meant to show off various technical capabilities and upcoming games. This Sampler in particular is neat because of how much it shows of Microcosm and Dead.

I don't recall ever hearing that, and don't remember that from back in the day, but come to think of it I can't recall off the top of my head just how were they given out or distributed? I rarely ever saw them in the wild.

Now that Kotor has been announced for the Switch, has there been any reliable word on a physical edition? Given how Limited already made hard copies of the other classic Star Wars titles, it seems inevitable that there will be a release.

When it comes to the Xbox Exhibition discs, does anyone here know why Volumes 6 and 7 are so much tougher to find than all the other five? It took me quite a while to acquire copies, and I only got 7 by a large bundle that had multiple sealed copies, which I do still have if anyone wants to trade. Also, does anyone here know the reason why the NTSC US version of F1 2013 for the 360 is so tough to find? It was by far the toughest regular retail release for me to find.

Just as a heads-up, a lot of the impossibly rare Japanese CDi games, including a Japan exclusive title, came up for auction ending this Sunday: https://www.ebay.com/itm/224633830808?hash=item344d383d98:g:FYAAAOSw2H1hWjdj ... there's also a sealed NFL Instant Replay and copies of Do You Remember the 1960s and The Weather Kitchen. To my knowledge, the Japanese titles have never previously come up for open auction in the US, and some of the other titles can go years in between appearances.

Do I get bonus points if I use my local Police station for safe in-person deals to avoid paying taxes? More seriously, I wouldn't be surprised to see if this gets repealed or indefinitely delayed. After all, this isn't the first time that very similar requirements were tried and successfully pushed back against. Ten years ago, the near-identical requirement from Obamacare that required businesses to report all $600 and higher transactions (it would have been a nightmare) was repealed: https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/2chambers/post/obama-signs-1099-repeal-into-law-marking-first-repeal-of-national-health-care-law-provision/2011/04/14/AFRhYjeD_blog.html ... history might not always repeat but it does rhyme, as the saying goes. There's reason for cautious optimism!

Item moved to eBay. No longer available here.

Much appreciated!:) Besides other copies of this bundle, I don't think I've ever seen a copy of Blue Thunder that was still sealed with the store tab. My reasoning on the price was normal price + sealed+ unique bundle. I really hope it goes to an appreciative Action Max collector!