What makes a rare game valuable?

jehuie

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I understand that being rare does not equate to being valuable. Just wondering what you guys' thoughts are on what it is about certain games actually having a higher value. This game I just picked up "Astro Attack" with the Star Wars X-Wing's on them got me thinking about it. I don't think it will ever be a particularly valuable game. In fact I'll probably end up just about giving it away.

So what criteria do people use when judging these things that catapults them into that lofty desirable area that makes folks long to own one?

Off the top of my head I'd say:
- If the game is actually fun that helps a lot (but many are not fun).
- If it's an early game by a well known manufacturer.
- Vector games in this category have a high premium on them.
- Historical significance such as being in used in a movie or designed by a well regarded game developer.

What else?
 
Generally speaking, I think that the rare games that are worth the most are the ones that _are_ fun to play. For instance, Black Widow. It's difficult, but it is a fantastic game. Or Quantum - a lot of fun, bit of a learning curve, challenging, fun.

Games are generally rare for a few reasons:

Obscure, unknown, low production. This would be your Astro Attack game here - Not necessarily a bad game, just a game that wasn't made in great numbers - or by an obscure company. Rare, but not valuable, because it just isn't desirable. People don't remember them, so they aren't sought out.

Complicated, difficult, steep learning curve. This would be games like Quantum, Crazy Climber or Reactor - a bit different than most games, big name company, decent production, but not popular - didn't earn well. Got converted. Rare to find now. Sought after and desirable because they are fun to play - especially once you get past the learning curve.

Failure prone/flakey - games that broke a lot. Things like Q*Bert. True arcade classics that weren't practical to keep running back in the day. Got converted/trashed. Valuable because they are well known, great games - and hard to find working parts for.

Games that just sucked. See Robby Roto or Warp Warp. Not a fun game. Poor sellers. Got converted. Nobody seeks them out now, because they aren't fun to play, and they don't have any good memories for most people.

-Ian
 
When you think of it in terms of supply and demand, with a special focus on the "demand" part of the equation, some obvious patterns emerge. Well-known rare games tend to go for a lot while little-known games you have to practically give away, even if there's only 50 in the world or some such. The quality of the game itself has a huge effect too.
 
I think Retro summed it up pretty well. Just being rare doesn't make it collectable. It needs to be rare and fun and put out in large enough numbers that people outside of the arcade afficianodos recognize the title immediately.

The exceptions being when it is soooooo rare that people are willing to buy it just because it is rare or because it is notorious for some reason. Or if it has historical significance as in owned by someone or was a prototype. I would think a Defender or Robotron owned by Eugene Jarvis or Larry Demar would have significance enough to bump the value. Especially if they signed it. A High Speed owned and signed by Steve Richie would be more valuable. One of the Donkey Kong machines used in the Kong Off or featured in the King of Kong movie would be more valuable.

Rarity by itself is not enough to drive the value of a game. Rarety + fun (which generally equates to fond memories) or collectability = valuable game.

ken
 
When you think of it in terms of supply and demand, with a special focus on the "demand" part of the equation, some obvious patterns emerge. Well-known rare games tend to go for a lot while little-known games you have to practically give away, even if there's only 50 in the world or some such. The quality of the game itself has a huge effect too.

Agreed, it is simple supply and demand, demand being the element that adds the true value.
 
This same question comes up in the Transformers community a lot. Someone finds something rare, but can't seem to sell it. Sometimes a rare item in any hobby only appeals to specific collectors, and that group can be really small. Its also odd that even these types of rare items can be had for really cheap only because it isn't in enough of a demand to be able to sell it at a high price.
 
So why the premium for old Cinematronics games for instance that pretty much nobody remembers from back in the day and that by most accounts aren't very fun? Aside from being primarily vector games, what else do they have going for them?
 
Simple:

If you want to buy it - it's rare and valuable.

If you want to sell it - it's common and not worth much...
 
So why the premium for old Cinematronics games for instance that pretty much nobody remembers from back in the day and that by most accounts aren't very fun? Aside from being primarily vector games, what else do they have going for them?

Yeah, that brings up another category of rare games entirely - games that are rare and infamous or historically significant. This would include games from Cinematronics, a legendary company that made a lot of unique vector games - that are desirable because people seek them out by brand and rarity alone. Or something like I, Robot - a rare game that's important for being the first 3d polygon coin op game. It's also flakey, and had a small production run, and was confusing to play... kind of the rarity trifecta. Or the original Atari Pong - rare and valuable because of it's historical significance, where a normal Pong clone by an obscure company - even if technically rarer - isn't worth much of anything. Or Computer Space, arguably the first coin op video game. It's weird, it's not a lot of fun, but it's rare and very historically significant.

-Ian
 
In that case, does anyone want to by an arcade game with X-Wing fighters on it?

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I consider rare a game produced in numbers less than 100 and still desirable.
Consider a few things:
#1 how many active collectors are actually out there? a few thousand world wide.
#2 how many want the game? probably only a few of the overall population of collectors.
#3 how many have the game and are willing to part with it? same as above.

With a few exceptions, there are enough of any title to meet the demand of active collectors especially considering many get into the hobby only to abandon it after a few years.

Paying more than a few hundred bucks for any game is dumb because regardless of title,
there is one sitting unused and unappreciated somewhere.
 
Ill tell you what makes a game rare...

Asking someone if they think I can find a new control panel and them laughing at me in a way that reminds me of Jr High School.



What makes a game not valuable...

Your wife telling you she sold your game at the garage sale for 10 bucks and you did NOT go into cardiac arrest.




As far at the star wars ripoff art goes that was fairly common in those days. The one instance I could see it adding to the value was Excity's "Star Fire" which was star wars the videogame in my opinion.


I just got a look at that cab though.. Not too common for them to steel the actual photo's of xwings for the marquee though. Not a doubt in their mind what they were doing huh. I also like that single coin slot and that fire button and start buttons that are uncommon.
 
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As far at the star wars ripoff art goes that was fairly common in those days. The one instance I could see it adding to the value was Excity's "Star Fire" which was star wars the videogame in my opinion.

Heh. Just look at the side art on GORF and tell me that's not a Star Wars ripoff.

-Ian
 
Even if gameplay is so-so, it can be valuable...i.e., Journey. However, Journey has a clear 80s theme to it, much like movie-related games. Albeit, even movie-related games aren't always big winners (see Willow).
 
IMHO, whales affect a board's price more than a board's print run.

Whales are buyers who are willing to pay any price for a game board that they want to play.

I've seen some buyers (whales) pay some crazy money just to get one game--like 2x, 3x, or 4x F.M.V.

I'm telling you--all nuts and no brain. In any event, their large wad of cash creates a price outlier or a price spike for the board next to all the usual sales for the board.

And that big splash of cash seems to causes everyone else to assume that all the other boards are worth a small fortune too. :D

Recent example: SUPER TURBO.
Past example: Oil Futures.
 
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