sp1nz

Here are some of my thoughts on the original print run / lost copies / desirability between the releases / retro re-prints. The Shantae GBC Wikipedia article states "It is rumored that the game had only one run of 20–25,000 copies". Hard to say how many have been lost. In any case Shantae GBC was released in the last year of American retail GBC releases (this would add credence to a low print run). 2002 wasn't yet a year when video games were considered collectible by the masses and the game was a new IP too. For argument's sake let's say about 60% or less survived with cart, instructions and box. That's 12-15,000 copies max of the original vs. 12,000 copies of the re-print. Then we consider original having true organic collectability and the re-print being made to demand - not that everyone who would like to own the original Shantae knew about the re-print or ordered one but many did and also many speculators and random collectors not after the original Shantae did. Speculators and non-hardcore collectors will sell a re-print copy easier in future than someone who owns authentic original. So there's unknown % of re-prints that are being speculated with and kept on lock or sold off instantly for a small easy profit, unknown % that are not in long term collector homes and unknown % that are in long term collector homes. So while the re-print is official, the hardcore collectors aren't as interested in getting one in second hand market for inflated prices as much as the original and less hardcore collectors might not create a high enough demand to propel the re-print into crazy money territory. In any case the supply that will be willingly sold should be a decent chunk of the overall %. Same thing with any other LRG retro re-print or Retro-Bit re-prints - they are a nice substitute for the real thing or a variant for a fan of the game or a series/developer/publisher collector but they don't quite replace the want for originals in the long run for most serious collectors- at least they wouldn't do that for me. Retro re-prints can even be undesirable with high enough starting prices or second hand listing prices - the iam8bit Mega Man X re-print still hasn't even sold out at its 100$ retail price but the print was "insanely" large to begin with at 8500. Still that's a bad showing over almost 3 years especially when 1000 of the games were even made with alternate color cart shells, so you had the lucky chance to double dib on the artificial scarcity department. Ironically the iam8bit Mega Man 2 was more expensive on launch than an original CIB and still pretty much is, yet it has sold out. The only retro re-print I have bought is the Shantae CE, even though I own the original CIB too. Also since I don't really care for the practice of re-prints I guess I see more value/collectability in Shantae than the other re-prints at least by the virtue of putting the money in for it or I just wanted to own it as an addition to my Shantae collection more than re-prints in other series. And here we have a nice sheet by someone that tracks LRG distributed and released games (I got the Shantae re-print numbers from here). It shows how much people care for most of the retro re-prints via LRG: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1ko7iYqZDcr5Leq6I_1byupsVcyFjFZDYItTK5qhOwxk/edit#gid=1152645682

Apparently LRG GBC Shantae got 7000 Standard Editions and 5000 Collector's Editions printed. I can't see the re-print getting even to even a 3rd of the price of the original (whatever the original is worth at the same time) considering virtually none of them will get junked. Color me surprised if it does. And for a random prediction in 1 year SE is maybe worth 200$ and CE 300$, in 5 years maybe double that if the market keeps climbing. In case of Limited Run ceasing their operations in future I could see a surge in prices across the board just because.

Japanese Mega Drive games don't come sealed, the ones graded by VGA are not sealed, yet they are not called "qualified". What gives? How do they determine that a JP MD game hasn't been opened? Also just look at that Fantasia inlay edgewear, how is that a 85+?: If the answer is it comes from a shipping box and it combines the external and internal elements into the score then who cares if it's technically new when it's worse than a mint CIB on the only parts that you can visually see inside a grading case. EDIT: from VGA's site: "Do you grade packaged video games that are not sealed? If your item came sealed originally, then it must be sealed to be graded. The only exception to this rule applies to certain systems and accessories which never came with tape sealing the box shut. In instances where no tape was ever present, VGA will inspect the contents and will issue a grade only if the contents appear to be complete, original, and new." On Certified Link the games are called NS as in No Seal. For Fantasia it would mean that the 85+ counts the inner contents as new but the inlay is not even nearly mint, so it's confusing. By their rules "qualified" wouldn't apply, since originally there was no seal.

O.D.T. for PlayStation. I rarely rented games but there was this candy shop near me that rented out games. Only other rental I remember is Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee but I beat it during the rental period. I can't remember much more of O.D.T. than it being frustrating and boring. Definitely didn't play for a full hour and never touched it afterwards.

Welp, being a hair late + creating an account and doing bot-check cost me too much time for Razion Ex, didn't expect it to sell out that fast. They mentioned in tweet about 1st batch that it sold out in 3 minutes but didn't have unit limits, now with 1 of each max per person I think it was 2-ish minutes for Limited and 3-ish for Standard. Well I have to let the Switch fanatics fight over it Demand is severely underestimated when you can flip a fresh release for 2-4x~ price.

Wew, I remember buying buying the Amiibo bundle big box at a local super market for somewhere between 29.99 to 49.99 euros I believe, it was on sale, they weren't moving at all for months on end before that for full price anyway - just my Finnish perspective, not applicable to the US of A. I can only imagine how many people buy random cLaSsIc ViDeO gAmE cHaRaCtEr modern plastic case million prints by the case load and grade them for endless 9.6-10 speculation fodder.

Yeah, I put the Heart Locket Collector's Edition in quotation marks because it's not really that collectible - maybe it'll hit $200+ in 5-10+ years for couple of the release platforms, nothing too big by my estimation in any case. Also I know PC collecting is more niche - even with an indie megahit like Undertale. I wouldn't bet on it being valuable into far future, but if some modern PC title will be, then the Kickstarter edition definitely fits the bill better than most. Still original platform release doesn't always mean much for future collectability either - we can look to Arcade PCBs or Famicom Disk System Zelda - people will put their stock on American NES first appearances over many originals. Speculating on any Kickstarter rewards overall would be a huge gamble in my opinion though. I was more presenting the case that such limited editions exist but that may not mean much into the future. There are definitely valuable computer games and I imagine it goes beyond functionality of the copy too but games beyond a thousand dollars are definitely few and far between for non-sealed especially. As for contents between Undertale CEs, they're not too different, one could argue the common CE is more enticing content wise and platform wise too but looking at retro collecting behavior I would say that content being almost the same is not a deterrent for potential value. Something being NFR or 5-screw or hang-tab box or cover variant or -1 print run etc. doesn't mean much of the package or its contents changes but it means a lot for demand and potential value. In any case it'll be fun to see how things develop for modern games, PC games, weird Kickstarter editions and beyond even when I'm not one to let go of my non dupes.

I'm all for the change. Bidding with no intention to pay is just shilling / testing the waters, it has no place in a legitimate auction. Still if joke bid wins the auction, the buyer can still weasel their way out of it, but probably not without some consequences.

I had Atelier Ryza 2 CE in my eBay saved searches for a long while, since noticing that NISA Europe didn't have a release for it. I saw US version after US version, so I just assumed there wasn't European CE version and I was waiting for one with a good price, if I was going to import it. Well recently someone posted European version for 199.99 £ and I thought; "oh shit, is this some small print too this side of the pond". Quick google search and voilá (still in stock btw) https://shop.koeitecmoeu.com/products/atelier-ryza-2-limited-edition-pre-order A new store, no wonder I missed it even if I didn't dig too deep, maybe it came to be after me saving my search too. They're partnered with Reef Entertainment like NISA and Idea Factory are in Europe. NISA used to release Gust / Koei-Tecmo stuff but I guess going forward they'll be through that store.

For Undertale there was a limited original print of 200 through Kickstarter rewards - numbered non-sealed slipcover with sealed game, soundtrack and artbook (dunno why I took pics on some dusty foam matt back in the day but hey): Fangamer also has the "Collector's Editions" with the Heart Locket that are still being sold or maybe even re-printed for some systems. Would people covet the original PC Kickstarter CEs now or in 30 years? I don't know and definitely not for what kind of price. How many people even know about this version to begin with?

Looks like a sweet little game in a sweet little package. Ordered.

What? You're not gonna invest in future grails like ? When the future breed takes over you'll be sorry for not investing early on!!! Keep pumping money boyz! To the moon!

When I finished it I had the knee-jerk reaction to think of it as a 9/10 game due to the story impact (for video game standards) but at the same time I don't think I'd jump from joy to replay it. The game's approach to design is more grounded than grandiose or "fun". The gameplay is serviceable but nothing to write home about; you explore, you sneak, you fight, you loot, you craft. My immersion was constantly broken when sneaking because enemies don't react to your partner(s) being in plain sight or making noise but obviously this choice was made to not piss of people with AI babysitting. Most design areas beyond the gameplay were done really well and they really carry the overall package. It's a bleak journey worth experiencing once for most people, so I'll be in the 8/10 camp.

I never really thought about favorites but here are a couple I have screenshotted. Philosophy deep cuts right there. This game is a quote central. Does a bear shit in the woods? Maybe, but he also kindly asks you not to.

The top middle is: Choujikuu Yousai Macross: Scrambled Valkyrie

Yeah that was it. I guess they were promotional display cards in Toys R Us only? It means there's advertisement with the Monsterhead cover in "official" capacity at least, so maybe it can be part of the answer for the variant - heck maybe the variant is a Toys R Us display box or something but not sure why they would have been pieced together with other contents, if it were to be just a display or promotional box. The size difference of the box also doesn't seem like it would be official quality assured product but there's some minor / major variety in official Nintendo releases too of course, like GB Beavis and Butt-Head having different style of plastic tray (at least in Europe).

I have a copy and I am curious about this too. I feel like some were imported and sold in Europe as is but not sure. The blank flaps are interesting and the box is larger than standard GB boxes iirc. There's also this thing that I don't own personally. What were these called again? I think they related to certain American retailer(s) but again I'm not savvy enough:

Smooth rider gets all the apples for a flowery finish. The Witness.

Most consoles have maximum of 10-25% of games worth playing, so I don't think it's good argument to rate a console for its good to bad games ratio. More games released means a more successful console and a more successful console can carry its dirt with the gems just fine. Look at any PlayStation, Wii, DS and 3DS for example, very successful consoles with amazing amount of shovelware. I wouldn't rate any of them based on the crap they got but the gems they got. Anyway you can rate a console 1/10 for it having a bad name for all I care, they're just internet polls. No one can be a paragon of objectivity when it comes to the actual games on a console; maybe you don't like strategy games, maybe you don't like platforming games, maybe you don't like pixel graphic games - rating media is an extension of taste and we all have differing one.

Sorry for continuing the console sound warzzzz!!11 When people poopoo on the Genesis sound I have to share some stuff, but yes many games are robot farts too, mostly western developed ones that took the easy way of using GEMS. Not that I dislike them, but this stuff I shared is miles better. SNES is a super tight console though and the 16-bit generation was hands down my favorite. Playing on the SNES gives the good vibes with the colorful, polished and fun design that many of its games share. I fully understand anyone rating SNES as their G.O.A.T. I think compared to the Genesis it's apples to oranges, different strengths for different tastes. 9/10

You're right, the price makes sense with that charity cause. Even though celebrities autographs can add value - it's still not on every piece by any celebrity, like Bruce Willis signing Die Hard Trilogy or something would add value I think, if Michael Jackson had signed Sonic the Hedgehog 3 during his lifetime then that would be wow-factor for many potential buyers - but let's say Will Smith signs a sealed Super Mario Bros. then that's just random and will most likely hurt the value a lot instead but I guess that too depends.

What even is this? The winner is 0 feedback user but 5 different users bid 10k or more, so maybe it's real sale or maybe not: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Nintendo-Switch-Mario-Tennis-Aces-VGA-100-GEM-MT-Montana-BLACK-OVP-NEW-/114735579078 So the 100 grade is cool and all but the game is not too special and the signature is from some German e-celeb streamer. This video was posted before but this is the guy whose signature it is (don't know if it's his channel though): How much some nutter would pay, if PewDiePie's signature was plastered on some sealed game? Some autographs can be cool or even valuable but who cares when it's from some person with no association with the product and even with association it can be a bummer on the value. The seller has really stocked up on graded stuff too - I bet there is a good amount of speculators with similar hoards to his or even bigger: https://www.ebay.com/sch/m.html?item=114735579078&nma=true&nordt=true&orig_cvip=true&si=tBA2%2Fi%2FbjVxom9h8ruF0GqtQiSo%3D&hash=item1ab6c5ffc6%3Ag%3AT2cAAOSw-HBgV1Wp&_ssn=besonders4youeser&_sop=3 It's a funny contrast with people paying high prices while not being able to know how much supply there roughly is.

I argued your "10k is still 10k." -point. Someone's rarity list and terminology doesn't necessarily offer much insight into anything. Some people and circles use the word rare exclusively for things that exist in quantity of 10 or less in modern times, some use it for something they can't ever see locally, it's all semantics. With definition of rare being "it's not on eBay right now or even once in a year", then that's fine, it'll make 99% of most systems' libraries not rare - which can be true in global marketplaces. Also what would I call something you can't see in 10 years, well it's just "extremely rare" or "ultra rare" or "rare", doesn't really matter, use what word you want to use - but if something sells once in a blue moon and suddenly there's insane amount of supply after 10 years, it will be perceived as more common, but after the potentially limited supply dries out again, it might not appear again for ages, or maybe it will be permanently common due to some new old stock discovery, speculators dumping their wares or the attention to sales pulling out extra copies. There are games made in the 100s that are on eBay many times a year, so they're low print but not "rare", cause people are willing to sell (or that they bought only to sell) or they're not items people yearn after, it's all relative like Sumez said. You can see some game year in and year out sitting on eBay but, if they price is not right then it's likely not getting sold, even if it's the only copy knocking around for ages, doesn't make it non-rare even though it's "available". On the other hand something that never appears could still be quite numerous in collectors hands or is exchanged in places you can't access or don't know about.

Print amount is "absolute rarity" but how much of that will survive sealed, complete in box, boxed or cart/disc only and in what condition? Demand affects the survival rate a lot but for modern games the survival rate will be extremely high anyway. How many are for sale is "supply rarity". There are great differences in demand, survival rate etc. between games that were printed in same quantities, so the current rarities and values don't stem from print run sizes alone.

The Super Spy (1990) Arcade?