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Finding the stuff so rare, that it isn't to be found even on eBay, how is it most commonly done?


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I imagine most of us have run into this over our collecting careers, we all have our venues to hunt stuff down ranging from garage sales, forums, social media groups and of course eBay. In my experience though, eBay tends to have the supply almost no matter what, it might be overpriced, but you can at least see existing inventory or get some read on if it's actually rare or simply valuable. 

As I get further towards completing my personal sets, I'm finding more and more that there are some games that simply have little traces of existing. They may not be worth much, or worth a fortune, it's hard to get the read because the supply simply isn't there to gauge the demand. This leads me to wonder, are there other avenues that exist that are maybe less commonly known? I read someone talking about dealings with private collectors but.. How does that even come to pass? Conventions? Super secret super villain round tables? 

As I approach the final years of my collecting hobby in terms of older titles, I've come to accept some games are simply out of my price range and will likely not be obtained, but for these less known titles it makes me wonder if I should be expanding my searching criteria to obtain the more elusive titles, or throw in the towel entirely?

For people who go for full sets, I imagine they hit this barrier quite a bit, just curious about the musings or insights others may have.

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Not sure what you’re looking for but try small game stores. I mean 6th page of Google type stuff. Also if you have a local game store, give them the word on what you’re looking for, because then they can look for it when they’re out on the convention circuit so you don’t have to. That’s how I got my All-Star Baseball 97 and Battlesport when both were dry on Ebay for a long time.

If you mean like the Shrek Super Party toy watch which is just stupidly rare and dumb, I think you join the huddle of nerds with perpetual saved searches for years and whoever gets it first becomes king of the nerds.

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The last place that I lived had zero retro game stores within two hours, so that wasn't an option while I was closing out the NES set. A lot of people say Facebook is a viable option nowadays, but I try to avoid it if at all possible. Honestly, the only success I've had outside of eBay is here on this site. I've routinely bought and sold stuff here and had a great experience with common and uncommon stuff.

As for the truly rare stuff, I've been successful here with bounties. A couple items I needed had only been on eBay a few times a year, so I put out a bounty at double the going rate. I received a hit and was able to get the items. You have to be willing to spend big bucks to go that route though.

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When you want to keep it private you can only widen your search or have more patience. I tend to have eBay saved searches and sometimes after years of notifications the actual item emerges - not that the saved search is always reliable in showing items as they appear, so you can miss the buying window when you go the automated route but you save so much time also.

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1 hour ago, goldenpp72 said:

I try not to share some of the stuff I hunt just because people who don't care, suddenly care and I don't need that kind of drama lol. It's still just normal stuff though. 

I understand this thought process, but if no one knows you're buying, they can't sell to you. Bringing it out in the open may drive up the price through competition, but that's still better than the current price of unobtainable.

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I definitely have my secret items that I you might see maybe once a year.  There’s also that one that I’ve never seen for sale and there’s also no records of any sales so I wouldn’t even have a clue what to offer a bounty of.  Never even see it mentioned outside of a few old digit press posts.  I’ve yet to come up with a wider net than ebay gives.  Any thing else other than that seems too much of a shotgun pure luck approach.  Just the thought of searching Facebook for it makes me want to kill myself.  

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One thing comes to mind: Patience. Patience is the key, and persistence. Which makes it two things.

Lets start again. Patience and persistence are the two things you need, along with analytical thinking. Which makes it three things.

Once again... You need patience, persistence, analytical thinking... And luck. Meaning that you need FOUR things!

Ugh! You need patience, persistence, analytical thinking, luck, and... Good communication skills for those who might help. Which makes it FIVE things!

Ugh... They make it look easy when it came to the Sega Inquisition. 😩

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I got my Mega Man 3 prototype by simply messaging the largest prototype collector I knew at the time. I knew the Nolans had a Mega Man 2 prototype so I messaged them asking what it would take to buy it and Mark told me it wasn't for sale but he did have a Mega Man 3 I could buy. He sent me a price and I transferred him the money from my phone while waiting in line at a gaming convention.

I got my 1 of 10 Ducktales silver cartridge by just browsing eBay and loading the page just minutes after the owner listed it. I could tell by looking at it that it was made with quality and not just some bootleg so I took the change and purchased it, knowing I could get my money back through PayPal if required. Before finalizing the purchase, I contacted the owner to get more information and it turned out he was an employee and the cartridge was licensed and legitimate.

My Atari prototypes came from a sales list on Atari Age in a larger list of games from other systems. People either didn't care about them or lost them in the midst of other games in the list. This includes a Malagai and Gauntlet, both R9 and R10 rarities.

 

You'll never find copies of these games for sale anywhere else, there just aren't enough in existence. When they do come up for sale you have to have enough experience collecting to know what similar items have sold for and that can help you decide if the price you're given is a reasonable one.

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You gotta network, plain and simple. A good buddy of mine once said that he's happy if an item is available, even if he doesn't like the price. Situations change and prices wax and wane, but if the item isn't available then it doesn't matter how deep your pockets are. And that's the point I'm at with a lot of the stuff on my mental want list.

At that point, you almost need to network with *someone* to help you find the stuff, otherwise you just won't find it.

I have contacts all over the globe, collector friends, and we help each other extensively, without any need for profiteering, as we consider ourselves friends. Then I have a local buddy who isn't interested in this stuff, but he helps keep a look out for it if I want it.

Even the greedy resellers and some asshole collectors, I keep a few close to me as well, as sometimes getting first dibs helps you to obtain what you are looking for, even if you know that you are getting "fleeced". (If the reseller bought the game for $5, then sells to you for $50, it sucks but if it's worth $200, then it's not worth worrying about too much)

After a point you have to stop flying solo, or some items will elude you forever. You just need to be careful how you approach it though, if one or two people know you are looking for something, you might pay a bit more than initially, but if everyone and their uncle is looking...well expect to pay a mint.

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  • 2 months later...

Lurk on Heritage Auctions and bid crazy 7 digit numbers. There! That should teach all the other collectors to mess with you! 🤪

But on a serious note, the extremely rare items that don’t even show up on eBay..most likely are already in the hands of long-term collectors. So either you’re gonna have to wait for them to sell out, or be prepared to pay extreme prices. I can’t really see any other way in the current market. 

I mean, when was the last time a truly rare and desirable item was purchased for $10 in a local find?

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When it comes to my personal collection I already got everything years ago. Came down to swap meets and Ebay for me. Nowadays it's different. There really isn't anymore hidden secrets cause you have more people interested in the same stuff you are looking for. The chances of finding stuff locally now has declined especially various areas. I agree with the one comment about patience. It's going to take awhile.

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7 hours ago, attakid101 said:

Kind of a necro-bump here but I’ve had luck with searching hashtags on Instagram. I purchased an item there that I’ve literally never seen on eBay.
 

I searched the hashtag, found a pic, messaged the poster, made the purchase.

Never used Instagram before. Just signed up and searched for something I'm looking for but have never seen. Found one and messaged the photo taker. Hopefully it pans out. Thanks for the tip!

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On 1/27/2021 at 1:38 AM, Code Monkey said:

I got my Mega Man 3 prototype by simply messaging the largest prototype collector I knew at the time. I knew the Nolans had a Mega Man 2 prototype so I messaged them asking what it would take to buy it and Mark told me it wasn't for sale but he did have a Mega Man 3 I could buy. He sent me a price and I transferred him the money from my phone while waiting in line at a gaming convention.

I got my 1 of 10 Ducktales silver cartridge by just browsing eBay and loading the page just minutes after the owner listed it. I could tell by looking at it that it was made with quality and not just some bootleg so I took the change and purchased it, knowing I could get my money back through PayPal if required. Before finalizing the purchase, I contacted the owner to get more information and it turned out he was an employee and the cartridge was licensed and legitimate.

My Atari prototypes came from a sales list on Atari Age in a larger list of games from other systems. People either didn't care about them or lost them in the midst of other games in the list. This includes a Malagai and Gauntlet, both R9 and R10 rarities.

 

You'll never find copies of these games for sale anywhere else, there just aren't enough in existence. When they do come up for sale you have to have enough experience collecting to know what similar items have sold for and that can help you decide if the price you're given is a reasonable one.

That ducktales is amazing. 

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Homebrew Team · Posted

Networking and helping friends with their goals.  When you are looking for something and you are hitting dead-ends, putting out the word you are in search of item X can work.  Your friends may not have it, but you may be 2 - 3 degrees of separation.  Your friends, friends, colleague will be in your in box eventually.  Or they may be able to point you in the right direction.   

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Just to note, the following ended auction:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Philips-Cd-i-Four-Interactive-Guides-Plus-games-Sampler-Rock-Food-Flowers/154395982577#vi__app-cvip-panel

...is one of the sorts of items that just never comes up on Ebay and didn't even have photographs online until a year or so ago. Only the most dedicated CDi collectors had even heard of it. That auction was likely the first ever open auction of a complete copy, ever, in spite of it being a 30-year old title. There's actually about 6 copies known of that US version, but only two, that one and my own, are still sealed. Obtaining it involved all the methods mentioned in this thread just to verify that it did indeed exist was sold publicly, as well as negotiating a detailed trade with a collector from back in the day and a tidy sum of money (though not as much as the $447 the new copy just sold for).

 

 

Edited by Chaos Control
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Administrator · Posted
23 minutes ago, Code Monkey said:

A once in a lifetime listing was made in the sales forum here last week and nobody seemed to want it. It should be arriving in my mailbox tomorrow.

If it's the post I think you're referring to I'm not sure it's exactly a once in a lifetime listing.

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