Magnavox Odyssey Interplanetary Voyage card number 12 Rare?

[high voltage]

Some YT'ers mention there's only two of card # 12 exist? Surely not?

My IV came with card # 12

Who here owns Card # 12 as well?

How many card 12s are out there?

[Mikebloke]

There's almost certainly more than 2. However, how many are known to be in collectors hands? I don't know. Would love for some AA'ers to out themselves as owners, I'd be surprised if there isn't at least two owners on here.

 

That said, it is certainly one of the rarer games for the console, so owning it is already impressive.

[+stupus]

There are alot more than 2....i have 2 lol i guess i own then all

 

Maybe late 90s there were 2 known....i think they are going off some old digital press list info with that number.....ah dem youtubers.

[+KylJoy]

I have a nice one in box.

[high voltage]

 

 

My Odyssey collection looks old and battered, but I love it. Few homebrews as well.

[Mikebloke]

Nice collection! I wish one day to get as many as you do but being uk based and late into the game is already a non start. 

 

Glad we've proved YouTube wrong, that's more than 2 copies in this thread alone XD

[Magmavision2000]

I wish I could get an odyssey, but it's one of those systems that's too old to be fun but too expensive to get and not play it.

 

 

On the topic of this card, I didn't know they made more expansions other than shooting gallery! This is news to me!

[high voltage]

5 hours ago, Mikebloke said:

Nice collection! I wish one day to get as many as you do but being uk based and late into the game is already a non start. 

 

Glad we've proved YouTube wrong, that's more than 2 copies in this thread alone XD

You wouldn't believe it, I used to live in UK, and I purchased my Odyssey approx. mid 90s from USA seller. I sent $1000 in cash (in a jiffy envelope) for Odyssey and the 6-pack of games. Month later everything arrived. Those were the days.

The other 4 pack of games, rifle, case, purchased separately and homebrews later

Edited June 6, 2020 by high voltage

[BuckeyeFan_4eva]

I also have interplanetary voyage with the card, i personally don’t think IPV is any rarer than the other 73 game’s, the card itself is by default more rare than the others due to the only occurrence being In these 73 games

[+stupus]

If i were to wager a guess of known interplanetary voyage games i would guess they are around known air raid cart numbers....in the 25ish range. Plus there must be some more out there unfound yet....but probably not alot....they must have made a pretty small batch of these unless there was unsold stock out there at a point. 

[+KylJoy]

8 minutes ago, stupus said:

...i would guess they are around known air raid cart numbers....

Really?  Geez...  I had no idea.

[+stupus]

9 hours ago, KylJoy said:

Really?  Geez...  I had no idea.

 

No idea its that rare or not that rare?

[Magmavision2000]

9 hours ago, stupus said:

If i were to wager a guess of known interplanetary voyage games i would guess they are around known air raid cart numbers....in the 25ish range. Plus there must be some more out there unfound yet....but probably not alot....they must have made a pretty small batch of these unless there was unsold stock out there at a point. 

Now, I'm not an Odyssey collector, but I think that number is a little too conservative. I would say something like cheetahmen 2 (around 1,500 to be exact) would be a better comparison, my only reasoning for this is because in 73 (when I'm assuming this came out) I'd assume Magnavox was still confident in the Odyssey. 

 

(Note, I'm 90% wrong on my speculation, I just wanted to get my stinky opinion out)

[+stupus]

I mean it took over 25 years for even a copy to be known.....to even know tgey existed. So i dont think there are many. 

I could believe 1500 were made maybe.... but still out there....no way.

The odyssey flopped pretty hard. They sold quite a few systems but most people tried it once and packed it up. It was too confusing and too much effort for most people. Pong came out just after and was much easier to use.

Even the 72 extra games are rare....by 73 i dont think anybody was buying more games.

Most copies found were still sitting in shelves of 40 year old electronics stores that finally closed and liquidated. 

If magnavox had not already worked up the games i dont think they would have even been released.

I dont think they even come up for sale once a year.

 

 

[Magmavision2000]

39 minutes ago, stupus said:

I mean it took over 25 years for even a copy to be known.....to even know tgey existed.

I had no idea it was unknown for 25 years... I have agree with your estimate now. 

 

42 minutes ago, stupus said:

Most copies found were still sitting in shelves of 40 year old electronics stores that finally closed and liquidated.

Imagine going to a going out of business sale and finding Odyssey games. 

[+stupus]

A few of mine are from electronics stores that closed. Some sealed including a sealed percepts.

[Blazing Lazers]

On ‎6‎/‎4‎/‎2020 at 9:10 AM, high voltage said:

Some YT'ers mention there's only two of card # 12 exist? Surely not?

My IV came with card # 12

Who here owns Card # 12 as well?

How many card 12s are out there?

Surely not, indeed. I can happily confirm that my complete copy of IPV also has the #12 card. There's more than "only 2" just among us collectors in this thread on this one Forum who are publicly acknowledging ownership of IPV. Can you send along the link to video where it was claimed that only 2 exist? Whoever was blabbering on about that needs to be sent this thread and given a chance to update their incorrect claim. Hopefully they will, and future Ebay listings won't be influenced by such a ridiculous falsehood. I'd also like to know who it is so that I can disregard any of their future videos.

22 hours ago, stupus said:

I mean it took over 25 years for even a copy to be known.....to even know tgey existed. So i dont think there are many. 

I could believe 1500 were made maybe.... but still out there....no way.

The odyssey flopped pretty hard. They sold quite a few systems but most people tried it once and packed it up. It was too confusing and too much effort for most people. Pong came out just after and was much easier to use.

Even the 72 extra games are rare....by 73 i dont think anybody was buying more games.

Most copies found were still sitting in shelves of 40 year old electronics stores that finally closed and liquidated. 

If magnavox had not already worked up the games i dont think they would have even been released.

I dont think they even come up for sale once a year.

 

 

I would love to know more about that bit of lore about IPV not being known for 25 years, which I'm assuming would be 1973 plus 25 to give us IPV not being known until 1998? I do recall a related bit of collector lore that Ralph Baer didn't even know about the 1973 games until many years later and was apparently amazed when shown them. No idea on how exaggerated that is.

 

Only 25 existing? Maybe complete copies, sure, but there must be more. I think I've seen at least that many in various states of completion on Ebay over the years. Surely at least as many are still "out there", stored away in peoples homes and closets where they've been for decades. Now, I could easily see them and the other Odyssey games being mistaken as board games given their boxes, and maybe having a saved search for just "Interplanetary Voyage" (and the same other '73 games) across all categories would inevitably turn up a few more copies. Somebody could also find an old list of Magnavox dealers that were active when this was offered and extrapolate from there. David Winter also has, according to Pong-Story, some Magnavox documents that state some of the sales numbers for the Odyssey, and that ultimately around 330,000 systems and over 80,000 Rifles were sold:

 

http://www.pong-story.com/odyssey.htm#P7

 

...extrapolating that only 1% of system owners back in the day bought the '73 games still gives a few hundred copies. Then we also have the NOS finds, and who knows if the one Ebay seller with all the Odyssey stock still has any. It's definitely a rare title, but to what degree?

 

One other thing: did anybody else notice on the back of the IPV box that the card depicted isn't #12 but is #2? Maybe some unrealized significance to that?

[+stupus]

Most youtubers just vomit up random info they know nothing about lol It seems the rarity they get something actually correct

 

I know back in late 90s the digital press guides had like 1 or 2 copies known.

Im sure there are more than 25 out there, but 25 is roughly what i have heard about/seen the last 20 years.

An owners list would be cool to start!

The games were made by Don Emery and i agree i dont think Ralph knew about them till later years. I almost bought Don Emerys original odyssey

I dont think i have seen that many on ebay over the years. And most that popped up were purchased by Dick aka robotkingnes/magnavoxodysseyspecialist and then relisted over and over....who by the way died a few months ago. His hoard is now gone and there are none on ebay and havent been for awhile (any 73 games)

So seeing Dicks copies might have made it seem like more were around.

I dont doubt a few hundred were made but i dont think they are still around. 

I believe the cart pic on the back of the box is just an error.

 

[+KylJoy]

On 6/13/2020 at 12:07 AM, stupus said:

 

No idea its that rare or not that rare?

I did not know it was rare at all!

[+KylJoy]

Here's my #12:

 

 

...here is my boxed console and the sets of '72 and '73 games:

 

 

...here is my Shooting Gallery:

 

 

...here is the carry case:

 

 

...and here is a boxed AC adapter:

 

 

I don't have any of the homebrew stuff but I'd like to.

 

 

[Blazing Lazers]

I've actually found Odyssey 1 stuff in the wild, but I know that's a rare occurrence, and even that was many years ago at an estate sale. Assuming that anyone who was able to buy these new almost 50 years ago had to be old enough and established enough to afford the systems, the very youngest original owners that are still with us are in their late 70s. Many probably don't still have their systems and games, and most that do won't have the 1973 games. If the one Ebay seller who had a lot has passed away (sad, but did he still have any old stock?) and no other hoards are likely to surface, and most of the original owners are deceased, there won't be many more copies of the 1973 games coming up for sale ever. I'll never part with my set, and few if any other collectors will. The ship has already sailed for those who didn't get a copy years ago, and with the well run dry, the rarity, and the historical significance now I can foresee stratospheric prices on the few future copies that turn up. 

[Mikebloke]

Another nice collection. I feel doomed to be wrong side of the pond and too late into the game, if I knew better I would have held off on some of the more common consoles and gone straight to odyssey. Oh well. 

[+stupus]

Nice shipping boxes kyljoy! Those are not easy to find....cant be many if those either! Especially the 73 carton.

I have both but they are not seen much. Only a handful of people i know have them.

There is a 72 set with carton on ebay i am surprised nobody has snagged yet.

[+KylJoy]

12 hours ago, Mikebloke said:

Another nice collection. I feel doomed to be wrong side of the pond and too late into the game, if I knew better I would have held off on some of the more common consoles and gone straight to odyssey. Oh well. 

You'll find them.  There is always someone selling in the future.

[Odysseus]

I think it would be cool to get an owners list. I have a set of 73 games now too. Bought from another collector. 

Edited February 9, 2021 by njb12287