Blazing Lazers

Found

Still looking.

I'm starting this Feedback thread on behalf of Eddie, as he's been a wonderful buyer and an absolutely dedicated enthusiast for the VIS. His communication has always been quick and detailed, and payments prompt and in full. If you're working a deal with him rest assured that it will go well. I hope to have more deals with him!

Two Years later, it turns out that there are indeed a few US longbox CD-i releases that I had overlooked: the bi-lingual versions of How the Camel Got His Hump and How the Rhinoceros Got His Skin. They have different disc content, different titles, and most importantly different Catalog Numbers. Philips sold them as distinct titles back in the day, per every single Catalog and brochure/booklet included with most retail CDititles. They count as separate titles. They are a bit easy to overlook, as their covers are very similar, but look closely and you will see the differences. It should also be noted that while the bilingual version of Rhino Skin is not terribly difficult to find, it took me almost two years to find a complete with the outer slipcover copy of the bi-lingual Camel Hump. I just this week took delivery of a complete copy, the first one I had seen since putting together this longbox guide. It is a true rarity, and now that I've been able to finally get a copy to verify it and coupled with an additional year or so of data from Ebay and my fellow CDi collectors, an updated version of the longbox guide is in order. In version 2.0, the big changes are the addition of the two US bi-lingual titles mentioned above, the addition to the end of the list of the European exclusive Lenting van Etten (which, mercifully for collectors, does NOT count towards the US longbox set), and an expanded listing of the rarest longbox titles. Pictures will follow soon, and the initial posts will be updated. US CDi Longbox Collecting Guide and Checklist Version 2.0 A National Parks Tour A Revolution in Color A Visit to Sesame Street: Letters A Visit to Sesame Street: Numbers A Visit to the Valley of the Pueblo and the Amparo Museum Alice In Wonderland Anne Willan Presents the Food of France Backgammon Battleship Beauty and the Beast Brer Rabbit and the Wonderful Tar Baby Caesar’s World of Gambling Cartoon Jukebox CD Shoot CD-I Music Book: Classical Guitar Volume 1 Children’s Musical Theater Classical Guitar Classical Jukebox Compton’s Interactive Encyclopedia Connect Four Cool Oldies Jukebox Dark Castle David and Goliath Defender of the Crown Dutch Masters of the 17th Century Earth Rhythms Escape From the Cyber City Gardening By Choice: Flowers and Foliage Gifts to Behold Girl’s Club Golden Oldies Jukebox Harvest of the Sun How the Camel Got His Hump How the Camel Got His Hump Bi-lingual How the Rhinoceros Got His Skin How the Rhinoceros Got His Skin Bi-lingual How to Photograph Nature International Tennis Open James Brown Nonstop Hit Machine Jazz Giants Jazz Guitar Jigsaw Laser Lords Lords of the Rising Sun Louis Armstrong More Dark Fables from Aesop Moses: Bound for the Promised Land Moses: The Exodus Mother Goose Hidden Pictures Mother Goose Rhymes to Color Mozart: A Musical Biography Mystic Midway Rest in Pieces NFL Football Trivia Challenge Noah’s Ark Paint School I Paint School II Pavarotti Pecos Bill Pegasus Pinball Power Hitter Prelude Rand McNally’s America: U.S. Atlas Rembrandt: His Art and the Music of His Era Rhythm Maker Richard Scarry’s Best Neighborhood Disc Richard Scarry’s Busiest Neighborhood Disc Rock Guitar Sailing: A Guide to Sailing and Seamanship Sandy’s Circus Adventure Sargon Chess Stamps: Windows on the World Stickybear Reading Story Machine: Magic Tales Story Machine: Star Dreams Tell Me Why I Tell Me Why II Tetris Text Tiles The ACT College Search ‘92 The Art of the Czars The Berenstain Bears: On Their Own and You On Your Own The Best of Draw 50 The Dark Fables of Aesop The Emperor’s New Clothes The Flowers of Robert Mapplethorpe The French Impressionists The Palm Springs Open The Renaissance Gallery The Renaissance of Florence The Riches of Coins The Story of Jonah The Story of Samson The World of Impressionism Time Life Photography Treasures of the Smithsonian Video Speedway You Sing Christmas Favorites Zombie Dinos from the Planet Zeltoid European exclusive: Lenting van Etten Notes, and the 25 Rarest longbox releases: Anne Willan Presents the Food of France and 2) ACT College Search ’92 were among a few titles that were “de-emphasized” in later Catalogs by Philips. A former Philips VP that helped me with my collection even mentioned that ACT was soon considered outdated. Anne Willan Food of France did receive a release in the UK and Europe in the original “eurocase” format and is slightly easier to find in that overseas version. ACT is a US longbox exclusive. It took me almost two years to find a complete copy of the bi-lingual version of How the Camel Got His Hump once I realized that it existed. It, and the more common Rhino Skin bi-lingual version, is a US longbox exclusive. They have unique content, different titles, different Catalog Numbers, and were advertised as separate titles. CD-i Music Book Volume 1 (there were no other Volumes) is another US longbox exclusive. It’s a real stealth rarity, and many collectors had been unaware that it existed for a long time. Sailing is another US longbox exclusive. Amazon had unsold stock until recently, but that is now all gone. It should not be confused with the similar sailing Cdi title Sail to Win by XDRA, which was also available in the US. The generic name doesn’t help when searching for a copy, so get ready for a lot of motor parts results. You can probably guess how much there was in the way of overlap between sailing enthusiasts and Cdi owners back in the day, which with the passage of time has made it very difficult to locate all these Decades later. More Dark Fables from Aesop was actually sold at the same time as the first Dark Fables from Aesop, and both also received overseas releases. The first Dark Fables title is quite common, and will throw off your search results. Somehow the US version of More Dark Fables just never seems to show up. Earth Rhythms is not actually a US longbox exclusive, as it also had a release as part of the Japanese Cdi set. Unlike most of the music related Cdi titles, it is not believed to have had a UK or European release, though I’d love to be proven wrong on that. It also isn’t just anybody’s cup of tea, but is a very relaxing and pleasant title to just sit back and watch on a proper CRT set with good speakers. I just happened to get my copy in a large lot, and have only seen it about 3 times in the past few Years. David and Goliath is the rarest of several biblically-themed storybook titles aimed at children. All of them are fairly tough to find, but David and Goliath is the toughest. It is possibly a US longbox exclusive, though some of its companion titles did get overseas releases. This particular bit of information is subject to change pending additional research. James Brown Non-Stop Hit Machine. This had releases outside the US, but is still very tough to find. There are many more James Brown fans than there are Cdi collectors, and most of the copies that come up draw their attention. Due to Copyright issues, this is one collection that will never, ever see any sort of re-release. The Flowers of Robert Mapplethorpe is not NSFW in the slightest bit, and is possibly the very tamest Cdi of them all in terms of the on-disc content. It’s just a slideshow of pictures of flowers. “Oh, what a nice man the artist must be! I should look up his other works…” Don’t. Just don’t. Absolutely do not ever look up anything about this title or Robert Mapplethorpe in general on anything other than your personal device with safe search settings enabled. You have been warned. Flowers of R.M. is another US longbox exclusive, and one that sold very poorly. Like a lot of other expensive Cdi titles, it draws attention from non-Cdi interest groups, in this case the gay art community. I had two extra copies that I put up for sale once and got some very generous offers from some very unusual sources that had been looking long and hard for copies of this particular title. You can expect the next copies that pop up on Ebay to go for large amounts. This is also one of the hybrid Cdi/PhotoCD longbox titles, all three of which are very rare nowadays. A Revolution in Color had releases outside the US, but the US longbox version is still difficult to find anywhere. It doesn’t help that the title will lead to a lot of results that have nothing to do with the Philips Cdi at all. How the Rhinoceros Got His Skin bi-lingual version seems to be much more common than the equivalent Camel Hump, but is still a very rare title. I’ve seen it less than ten times ever. As with the bi-lingual Camel Hump, check your copy of the normal version, as you might already have this one and not realize it. Berenstain Bears had a re-release in the later jewel-case with slipcover format, and is fairly common to find that way. It is the earlier longbox version that you will rarely ever see. It was one of the last longbox releases before Philips switched case formats, and few copies of the longbox version were ever printed. Moses: The Exodus and Moses: Bound for The Promised Land are about equally rare, though both also had releases outside the US. They are often also found together in the same lot, so unless you find a lone copy for a really good price you can probably wait for a lot with both of them in it. How to Photograph Nature is another hybrid PhotoCD/Cdi longbox title, and also a US longbox exclusive as far as anyone knows. There’s absolutely no demand for it besides from fullset collectors, most of whom already have it. Gifts to Behold had releases outside the US (even in Japan!) but the US longbox version is tough to find and does not show up very often outside of random lots. If you see a copy in decent shape buy it! Amparo Museum (full name: A Visit to the Valley of Peubla and the Amparo Museum) was one of the early titles to be developed for the Cdi, and did get a release outside the US. While much more common than a lot of the other titles on this list, it is still very rare compared to other Cdi titles and games in general. There was only one early print run that did not sell well, and nowadays only shows up in a random lot or so. The low numbers that were made make it rare by default, and you won’t have a convenient time finding a copy. You Sing Christmas Favorites- ever hook up a mic to your Cdi? Me neither, but that was the intent behind this title. It was re-named for the equally limited overseas Euro release, and nowadays hardly ever shows up for sale. Girl’s Club did have a fairly large print run and had overseas releases, but a lot of the copies of the US longbox version went to Blockbuster Video stores for rental (see above post) and now complete copies are tough to find, though there’s usally an overpriced BIN on Ebay. There aren’t many other girls dating “games” in general, and it has very much become an unintentional time capsule all these years later. A National Parks Tour is the third and most common of the longbox PhotoCD/Cdi hybrid titles, and while a US exclusive it did get a later jewel-case re-release. Neither version is particularly common, nor will it be an easy challenge to try and find a nice complete longbox copy. Rhythm Maker is an obscure title that seems to have been a US longbox exclusive and which only had a small print run. It tends to only show up in lots and almost never as a lone BIN or open auction. Numbers alone make it rare, but this one is particularly difficult to get by itself. Prelude is a title that had releases in all regions, but the US longbox version is a stealth rarity compared to most of the rest of the set. The complete lack of demand for it apart from dedicated Cdi collectors makes it look deceptively common when it really is not. Gardening: Flowers and Foliage is not a common title to begin with, and is even tougher to find outside of a large lot. The longbox version only had the one print run, though there was an overseas release in the “eurocase” format. While it remains quite a useful and easy to use program to use in planning your garden, nowadays only the most die-hard Cdi collector would want a copy. Rock Guitar is one of several guitar titles for the Cdi, and is by far the toughest of them to find. Part of this is due to the generic title, and also because very few people bought it back in the day by itself.

https://www.videogamesage.com/forums/topic/2688-post-your-holy-grail-item/?do=findComment&comment=265374 ... there's now a 4th known copy of Bingo! It was posted back in February but I just saw it now. So, updating the registry of Bingo copies as follows: 1) PC2K1/Philly Classic/Dan McIntyre copy: discovered by an owner of the Studio 2 Demonstration Cartridge at the Circle 40 flea-market on the way back home from the previous Philly Classic. This was the infamous copy exhibited at PC2K1 that everyone got excited about and which became a minor videogame urban legend. It re-surfaced in 2018 and I now own it. Does not have a manual but does have two very old photocopied manuals from RCA, and a red inner tray instead of a blue one. The original owner is unknown. 2) the 2016 Joseph Santone copy: Joseph Santone worked in Finance for RCA and this copy was discovered by NJ house cleanout company A W Cleanout and put up on eBay, initially in a lot. Multiple collectors flooded the seller with offers and it was relisted separately and eventually sold to a very established and reputable collector who still has it. This was the copy from which the ROM dump was made by Ed Keefe. This copy is complete. 3) The Harry Callahan copy: recently listed complete copy on eBay and is apparently from the estate of the late RCA employee Harry Callahan. Still available and has been relisted multiple times: https://www.ebay.com/itm/294976981033?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=RzdQMI4wT8W&sssrc=2349624&ssuid=cssq4zlBQMK&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY 4) the videogamesage/VGCollectaholic copy: https://www.videogamesage.com/forums/topic/2688-post-your-holy-grail-item/?do=findComment&comment=265374 ...not only complete but with extra sets of cards and an extra manual! And apparently also found, again at the home of a former RCA employee in NJ, by the same company that found the Santone copy! So, 4 confirmed copies, and old online posts hint at other potential copies, and the extra card sets known to exist suggest that at least a few more were made. I guess if anyone wants a copy they just have to shell out on eBay or just move to NJ and go work for A W Cleanout.

Yes, PM will be sent to you.

I've also had that same feeling, and five years ago there were still a few new games getting physical releases for the system. Or at least it seems that way. Out of curiosity, I just looked it up and apparently 2018 saw the last two releases in FIFA 19 and Just Dance. I have a FIFA (it's apparently rare in NTSC form) but not Just Dance. I'd overlooked that one, but it looks like in the years preceding that there were only a few new titles each year.

I still regularly play in my 360, though a lot of that is simply finishing off games from my extensive backlog and Achievements that I should've done years ago. The online servers for quite a few games are still up and have some action, arguably better now that only serious fans are still playing the games. For example, I still enjoy World at War online multiplayer and have become very familiar with a lot of the other players still on it. It should also be noted that while the 360 first came out 17 years ago, the last retail game for it (FIFA 19) was released just barely 4 years ago. The 360 was still getting a few physical games well past the 10 year mark, and it certainly doesn't feel like it was very long ago that I still saw them on store shelves.It really hasn't been gone from retail environments long enough to be considered retro, and with good backwards compatibility on the successor systems the games themselves are still a long way from being considered retro.

Still looking.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/294976981033?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=RzdQMI4wT8W&sssrc=2349624&ssuid=cssq4zlBQMK&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY ...it looks like we now know the upper limits of a copy of TV Bingo. Given the rarity and lore behind it, I must say that I'm a bit surprised that it hasn't yet sold.

Same here. The new saying is that "friends don't tell friends that 1980 was 40 years ago". 1998 was when I started collecting and there was still a lot of "first wave" 70's stuff at yard sales, thrift stores and estate sales for years afterwards. I even turned up Odyssey 1 stuff from a local estate sale that seemed to have been in a closet for about 30 years, and that was about 20 years ago now. Coming up on 50 years, I can only wonder just what percentage of original Odyssey 1 owners are even still alive, and what fraction of them still have the systems and games.

2022 will be the 50th year since the release of the Magnavox Odyssey, and it's a bit remarkable that home videogame consoles, and collecting for them, is something that has been around for half a Century. I wonder if there will be any big events at game Museums or conventions to celebrate this milestone, or if there's about to be a huge price spike in Odyssey 1 stuff. I haven't heard too much about anything like that. I also can't help but imagine but imagine that someone, now elderly, somewhere has actually been collecting videogames for 50 years. They would have been old enough and established enough to buy the Odyssey when it was new, were among few that kept up with the additional releases from 1973, and kept buying subsequent generations of game systems. Odds are that at least a few such people are out there, maybe even belong to a few communities like on here.

Still looking.

What I've been doing lately is transferring off all my old saves from the HDD to the cloud for titles that are backwards compatible and for games that aren't backwards compatible simply downloading the digital versions where they're still available. Where they aren't, I've been trying to finish the games and their Achievements whenever the disc drive does decide to work. Maybe the systems that we're using are starting to reach their MTBF points. I've also noticed that the online services are sometimes having troubles connecting to Live, and that quite a few games have been delisted from the 360 online marketplace, like the Soul Calibur ones besides V, and Raiden Fighters Aces.

I'm having the same issue with my main 360, which is an Arcade model that I've had for over a decade now. It's seen such heavy use that the disc drive doesn't always open and more often than not won't even read discs. This has been happening for just under a year now. The only reason I haven't swapped it out with another model is that it still reads discs just often enough. To note, this system has been in a horizontal position pretty much un-moved for about a decade now. It was never vertical. I don't know if either orientation would have a bad long-term effect or if just because I've managed to wear out the laser.

I'm creating this thread with great pleasure, as Tony proved to be a fine buyer! He communicated clearly and quickly, paid immediately, provided the correct information, and confirmed delivery. Ours was an absolutely flawless transaction, and I hope to sell to him again!:)

Thank you very much for the help and info! $150 more or less isn't too bad of a price.

I'm in the market for one or two spare Xbox One consoles in working order with the power cords and ideally a controller. The prices at GameStop and a few local shops seem really high compared to how last-gen systems were priced in the past, and I'm not sure I can trust ones on eBay. So if anyone here can give insight on what fair prices are for a basic Xbox One console, I appreciate it.

April bump. Still looking.

I know it's a long shot but if you have any CD-i titles in there please do let me know. There's quite a few hard to find releases that have only been seen a few times in the past 20 or so years.

Dave is a great guy to sell to! He communicated clearly, was very friendly, paid immediately and without issue, provided correct information, and confirmed delivery if the purchase upon arrival. I look forward to more deals with him!:)

For hardware, the Ultravision comes to mind. Although, I've heard rumors that a secretive collector does have one. Who really knows, though.

Turbo Express SOLD!

Well, I'll wish you good luck, since you'll need it. There is a remote chance for GST. Go and look up the 2017 hoard of GST copies that turned up in the farm barn in rural Kansas. That find at least doubled the number of known copies. If you can get in touch with the seller she might still have a few.