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Boulder Dash 2600 for $1,399.99 ?


Thomas Jentzsch

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I never meant that the developer should be paid twice. When you or I or whoever buys a movie, album, game or whatever, the creator gets his agreed upon share for that copy and the buyer is free to do whatever after that (short of copying it and selling the copies of course). The point I was trying to make is that in the case of Boulder Dash and Princess Rescue, since they are no longer sold through regular retail or whatever the equivalent is, the creators can no longer make anything from their work while speculators and profiteers jack up the prices and make huge profits.

 

I think mostly my issue is that some of these ebay sellers are just that, speculators and profiteers, like the guys in the 80s and 90s who would buy up the entire stock of a comic book they thought would go up in price to sell at huge markups to actual fans who couldn't buy them at the regular price because some jerk came in and snatched them all up.

Quick story...

 

A few years ago my Daughter took an interest in Monster High dolls. Me being a natural collector, started picking them up on clearance/etc to help her "complete the set" I always had trouble finding the "boy" dolls so I went online and saw they were commanding huge prices on Ebay. With a little research I found that Mattel made a MUCH smaller run of the boy dolls because, well, boys don't really play with them, lol. With this new found information, every time I saw boy monster high dolls I would clean them out, give one to my daughter and put the rest in my closet. Once the Ebay prices hit a sizable profit, I would put them up for sale and the money would roll in.

 

I don't do this with Atari games even though I could, I don't....why you ask? I'm not here for profits, that takes the fun out of it. Monster High on the other hand I do not give two shits about the scene (and they do have a collecting scene for these things) and am only there for profits, nothing else. I go to Target about every 4 hours anyways it seems because my Wife and kids always seem to "need" something right away so I take a stroll down the toy isle and if I see them, I buy them and flip them and sleep just fine at night, lol.

 

On the Monster High forums (yes, they actually have these) they all complain about people like me buying all the boy dolls and flipping them, they say things like I'm stealing the toys out of the hands of children and fans but they forget that it's not "my" fault, it's the toy companies fault (in this case Mattel) even if I didn't go buy them all when I see them, they are still not producing enough dolls to meet demand, and even if they were casually purchased by fans they would still run out before everyone that wanted one got one, then the fans will start selling to other fans at inflated prices....and they do this on purpose! (comic books/etc did it too) No, why would somebody do this on purpose you ask? It's because collectors live for the HUNT. If everything was readily available for your collection at any given time you would not be the "serious" collector you are. You would put off purchases "Oh, I want this but I need this instead, I'll just pick it up next week or month or year" or possibly collect something entirely different that has things you can "hunt" for.

 

The only reason I started all this is because I was "hunting" for Dolls for my Daughter. Do you think she really cares if she has a first edition Claude Wolf? No she doesn't, I the adult, the one that actually spends the money, thought it was fun to hunt for them and it never would have happened if they were all just sitting there to purchase whenever I wanted. Mattel made me a "collector" of something I don't care about by limiting the supply of certain dolls and giving me something to hunt for.

 

The things like this that collectors complain about are the same things required for them to be serious collectors, lol. Once it is not available, people want it more. They buy everything currently available in fear of it not being available again, they don't want to miss it so they overspend and buy things they can't afford to have them all. It's no secret, collectables have been doing this for a looooong time. The publisher has made there projected money and even acquired new collectors and resellers because of it, it's a win win for them.

 

Now why would Atari games be any different? It's not...there are people doing the same thing I do with Monster High dolls for Atari games and they don't give two shits about the community. They are doing nothing wrong, the publishers can make more games to meet demand...but if every Atari homebrew had an unlimited run and was always available would we have the collecting scene we have for it today? I doubt it...so you can hate the reseller all you want but really, they are required to have the scene be what it is...

 

Lets think about this and Boulder Dash. Do you really think First Star said "yes, you can license it but only 200 can be made and no more!" No, I can almost assure they did not. I'm guessing Andrew picked just about the right amount to make sure pretty much everyone gets one, they sell in a timely manner (licensing deals usually have time stipulations) but it's still collectable and people down the road will want it (which a limited edition game should be collectable), and thats what the contract was made for...200 copies. In my opinion he picked the PERFECT amount. And why shouldn't he, a serious collection needs games like this, if you could buy any game anytime you wanted you wouldn't...how many Homebrews available in the store right now sold 200 copies as fast as Boulder Dash did? I don't know but I would bet money zero. This number also allowed those who supported it from the beginning to get one and they can now proudly play and display their badge of honor for supporting the scene. Those who put it off and want to join the party late....well, there is a late entry fee for that...and that makes this game a true limited edition collectable that will be sought after for years to come.

 

In closing, think back to when you were buying comics or whatever people were snatching up at the time. Didn't you get a rush, a blast of excitement, a giddy uncontrollable smile when you found what you were looking for? Didn't you meet new friends and connections in your quest for getting what you wanted? You maybe paid a little more for certain things but maybe appreciated finding other good priced things a little more? Didn't all of this ultimately make you more active and more supportive of the scene that you may have been a little more casual in if you didn't have to put any effort into finding what you wanted? In the end, looking back...didn't it make it more fun? maybe not but believe it or not, that is the reason a lot of people collect things and many are probably completely unaware of it. It adds excitement, and when the resellers come around and snag things up it just makes you that much more active in the scene to make sure you get whatever it is you want first :)

 

Boulder Dash and Princess Rescue were both available for ample amounts of time for the serious collectors to snag a copy before the "re sellers"

Edited by Crazy Climber
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Quick story...

 

A few years ago my Daughter took an interest in Amiibo. Me being a natural collector, started picking them up on clearance/etc to help her "complete the set" I always had trouble finding the 3rd party Amiibo so I went online and saw they were commanding huge prices on Ebay. With a little research I found that Nintendo made a MUCH smaller run of the 3rd party Amiibo because, well, Nintendo fans don't really play with them, lol. With this new found information, every time I saw 3rd party Amiibo I would clean them out, give one to my daughter and put the rest in my closet. Once the Ebay prices hit a sizable profit, I would put them up for sale and the money would roll in.

 

I don't do this with Atari games even though I could, I don't....why you ask? I'm not here for profits, that takes the fun out of it. Amiibo on the other hand I do not give two shits about the scene (and they do have a collecting scene for these things) and am only there for profits, nothing else. I go to Target about every 4 hours anyways it seems because my Wife and kids always seem to "need" something right away so I take a stroll down the video game isle and if I see them, I buy them and flip them and sleep just fine at night, lol.

 

On the Amiibo forums (yes, they actually have these) they all complain about people like me buying all the 3rd party characters and flipping them, they say things like I'm stealing the toys out of the hands of children and fans but they forget that it's not "my" fault, it's the toy companies fault (in this case Nintendo) even if I didn't go buy them all when I see them, they are still not producing enough Amiibo to meet demand, and even if they were casually purchased by fans they would still run out before everyone that wanted one got one, then the fans will start selling to other fans at inflated prices....and they do this on purpose! (comic books/etc did it too) No, why would somebody do this on purpose you ask? It's because collectors live for the HUNT. If everything was readily available for your collection at any given time you would not be the "serious" collector you are. You would put off purchases "Oh, I want this but I need this instead, I'll just pick it up next week or month or year" or possibly collect something entirely different that has things you can "hunt" for.

 

The only reason I started all this is because I was "hunting" for Amiibo for my Daughter. Do you think she really cares if she has a Marth? No she doesn't, I the adult, the one that actually spends the money, thought it was fun to hunt for them and it never would have happened if they were all just sitting there to purchase whenever I wanted. Nintendo made me a "collector" of something I don't care about by limiting the supply of certain Amiibo and giving me something to hunt for.

 

[...]

 

Boulder Dash and Princess Rescue were both available for ample amounts of time for the serious collectors to snag a copy before the "re sellers"

Replaced "Monster High" with "Amiibo". Exactly my sentiments... :P

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This just makes me glad I'm not a collector....for anything. :P I don't care about something being 'rare' or stuff like that. I just want to use it. :-D

 

The main drawback with limited runs of homebrews, as I've said many times before, is that it hurts those people who get into the hobby years later, long after the game is out of print (for no fault of their own, sometimes). They hear about it, want to get a copy, and then find it goes for ass-stupid prices online and that 90 percent of the copies being sold are by flippers and re-sellers.

 

It's why I've always said that the ROM's should be made availalble (either for free or for a charge) after the game's physical run is done and enough time has passed.

 

But as Thomas said, in this case that's not possible cause they were dealing with a still active company. Sad, but it happens sometimes. I just hate to see it happen outside of cases like this. I strongly believe flippers and re-sellers hurt the community in numerous ways.

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Quick story...

 

A few years ago my Daughter took an interest in Monster High dolls. Me being a natural collector, started picking them up on clearance/etc to help her "complete the set" I always had trouble finding the "boy" dolls so I went online and saw they were commanding huge prices on Ebay. With a little research I found that Mattel made a MUCH smaller run of the boy dolls because, well, boys don't really play with them, lol. With this new found information, every time I saw boy monster high dolls I would clean them out, give one to my daughter and put the rest in my closet. Once the Ebay prices hit a sizable profit, I would put them up for sale and the money would roll in.

 

I don't do this with Atari games even though I could, I don't....why you ask? I'm not here for profits, that takes the fun out of it. Monster High on the other hand I do not give two shits about the scene (and they do have a collecting scene for these things) and am only there for profits, nothing else. I go to Target about every 4 hours anyways it seems because my Wife and kids always seem to "need" something right away so I take a stroll down the toy isle and if I see them, I buy them and flip them and sleep just fine at night, lol.

 

On the Monster High forums (yes, they actually have these) they all complain about people like me buying all the boy dolls and flipping them, they say things like I'm stealing the toys out of the hands of children and fans but they forget that it's not "my" fault, it's the toy companies fault (in this case Mattel) even if I didn't go buy them all when I see them, they are still not producing enough dolls to meet demand, and even if they were casually purchased by fans they would still run out before everyone that wanted one got one, then the fans will start selling to other fans at inflated prices....and they do this on purpose! (comic books/etc did it too) No, why would somebody do this on purpose you ask? It's because collectors live for the HUNT. If everything was readily available for your collection at any given time you would not be the "serious" collector you are. You would put off purchases "Oh, I want this but I need this instead, I'll just pick it up next week or month or year" or possibly collect something entirely different that has things you can "hunt" for.

 

The only reason I started all this is because I was "hunting" for Dolls for my Daughter. Do you think she really cares if she has a first edition Claude Wolf? No she doesn't, I the adult, the one that actually spends the money, thought it was fun to hunt for them and it never would have happened if they were all just sitting there to purchase whenever I wanted. Mattel made me a "collector" of something I don't care about by limiting the supply of certain dolls and giving me something to hunt for.

 

The things like this that collectors complain about are the same things required for them to be serious collectors, lol. Once it is not available, people want it more. They buy everything currently available in fear of it not being available again, they don't want to miss it so they overspend and buy things they can't afford to have them all. It's no secret, collectables have been doing this for a looooong time. The publisher has made there projected money and even acquired new collectors and resellers because of it, it's a win win for them.

 

Now why would Atari games be any different? It's not...there are people doing the same thing I do with Monster High dolls for Atari games and they don't give two shits about the community. They are doing nothing wrong, the publishers can make more games to meet demand...but if every Atari homebrew had an unlimited run and was always available would we have the collecting scene we have for it today? I doubt it...so you can hate the reseller all you want but really, they are required to have the scene be what it is...

 

Lets think about this and Boulder Dash. Do you really think First Star said "yes, you can license it but only 200 can be made and no more!" No, I can almost assure they did not. I'm guessing Andrew picked just about the right amount to make sure pretty much everyone gets one, they sell in a timely manner (licensing deals usually have time stipulations) but it's still collectable and people down the road will want it (which a limited edition game should be collectable), and thats what the contract was made for...200 copies. In my opinion he picked the PERFECT amount. And why shouldn't he, a serious collection needs games like this, if you could buy any game anytime you wanted you wouldn't...how many Homebrews available in the store right now sold 200 copies as fast as Boulder Dash did? I don't know but I would bet money zero. This number also allowed those who supported it from the beginning to get one and they can now proudly play and display their badge of honor for supporting the scene. Those who put it off and want to join the party late....well, there is a late entry fee for that...and that makes this game a true limited edition collectable that will be sought after for years to come.

 

In closing, think back to when you were buying comics or whatever people were snatching up at the time. Didn't you get a rush, a blast of excitement, a giddy uncontrollable smile when you found what you were looking for? Didn't you meet new friends and connections in your quest for getting what you wanted? You maybe paid a little more for certain things but maybe appreciated finding other good priced things a little more? Didn't all of this ultimately make you more active and more supportive of the scene that you may have been a little more casual in if you didn't have to put any effort into finding what you wanted? In the end, looking back...didn't it make it more fun? maybe not but believe it or not, that is the reason a lot of people collect things and many are probably completely unaware of it. It adds excitement, and when the resellers come around and snag things up it just makes you that much more active in the scene to make sure you get whatever it is you want first :)

 

Boulder Dash and Princess Rescue were both available for ample amounts of time for the serious collectors to snag a copy before the "re sellers"

 

You awful, awful man.

 

Just kidding. While I personally don't like the practice of flipping and get a warm fuzzy feeling whenever I think of anyone with a closet full of copies of X-Force #1 that no one will ever, ever buy, I also realize that if there weren't buyers, flippers wouldn't exist. Whenever someone asks what something is worth, my first response is always "whatever someone is willing to pay for it." If someone is willing to pay the price asked, no matter how begrudgingly or how much they bitch and moan, on some level they've acknowledged that that's what it's worth. I'm a player first and a collector second, so to me no video game is worth two hundred dollars, but I certainly won't stop anyone from spending that much or more (although I reserve the right to make fun of them) if they can afford it.

Edited by KaeruYojimbo
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I really don't understand why RelliK111 hasn't been blacklisted by most homebrewers. It's well known that he's constantly buying copies of games specifically to flip at outrageous prices. As a lot of homebrew is limited in quantity, all he ends up doing is stopping someone who actually wanted a copy to play from being able to get one.

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I really don't understand why RelliK111 hasn't been blacklisted by most homebrewers. It's well known that he's constantly buying copies of games specifically to flip at outrageous prices. As a lot of homebrew is limited in quantity, all he ends up doing is stopping someone who actually wanted a copy to play from being able to get one.

And if the homebrewers blacklisted him, he would just choose a different alias, possibly with an alternate shipping address. Or worse, a legit fan that lives in the region might get denied...

Edited by stardust4ever
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  • 4 months later...

Seller's getting desperate to unload this paperweight. Relisted. Price reduced to $509...

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Boulder-Dash-Atari-2600-2012-Ultra-Rare-Game-Brand-New-Mint-Condition-R8-/271951521736?ul_ref=http%3A%2F%2Frover.ebay.com%2Frover%2F0%2Fe11011.m43.l1123%2F7%3Feuid%3D5e88b88425814529871e1723c83cc18b%26loc%3Dhttp%253A%252F%252Fcgi.ebay.com%252Fws%252FeBayISAPI.dll%253FViewItem%2526item%253D271951521736%26srcrot%3De11011.m43.l1123%26rvr_id%3D0

 

BTW, I'm not suggesting the game is a paperweight. Just that there's no way he'll unload it for the asking price...

Edited by stardust4ever
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Yeah, I still laugh at the fact that his reputation was so damaged that he changed his eBay name. Doesn't help though when your prices continue to be as ridiculous as his.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Back up to 849

SOLD for $849.99!? A fool and his money are soon parted... :???:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Boulder-Dash-Atari-2600-2012-Ultra-Rare-Game-Brand-New-Mint-Condition-R8-/271951521736

 

EDIT: Best offer accepted. Lord only knows for how much... :ponder:

Edited by stardust4ever
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Well I remember when Rellik bought the Boulderdash for about 200 last year . I can't believe he spent 200 considering he used the lame excuse one time that he sold some homebrews because he needed money for Christmas for his family . But yet he always has homebrews for sale . 200.00 would buy alot for your family for Christmas :ponder:

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