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People on ebay are going crazy!!!


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quote:

Originally posted by bergbros:

All right, am I the only person who believes this auction for Lochjaw is an exercise in ultimate insanity. I mean, come on, it is an Apollo game and a really crappy one at that. $600.00????!!!!!. I mean, I can buy a computer, a suit, a lynx game with all the games on Ebay, for the price of this game. And we're talking the 2600. We just got a thread talking how people got carts in the wild, you know, getting carts for .50 a pop and now you have Lochjaw.

 

Here we go again! Why on earth does it have to be one or the other?! Real thing vs emulation, collecting vs playing, finding vs buying. Why do we insist on calling people who happen to be in this hobby partly for others reasons than yourself insane?

 

FYI the current high bidder in the Lochjaw auction is a member of this board and probably one of the nicest guys around here. He happens to love the Atari 2600 and has devoted a part of his free time to it. His collection ranks in the top-5 of 2600 collections, only missing a couple of titles or boxes. The fact that it's a crappy Apollo game doesn't matter in this case. If you want to play, you can use an emulator. If you want to collect, you will have to lay out the cash.

 

Speaking for myself: I love to go out to fleamarkets and find stuff in the wild for 50 cents. Unfortunately, I don't have that much time on the weekends, so I don't go all that often. But when I go, I hope to find rare European PAL games that collectors in other parts of the world might be looking for. I used to be able to trade such games. Heck, I remember trading Bomb 2600 games and Odyssey2 Parker Brother games for 2600 prototypes about 8 years ago. But now my collection has grown to 1000+ it's getting more and more difficult to trade. So, from time to time, I sell on Ebay. Sometimes that makes some good money, that I can spend on buying the rare games I still want for my collection. Sometimes it goes like buy - trade - sell - buy - trade - sell - buy, before I actually get what I need. And let me assure you, there's a lot of fun in this way of collecting!

 

For games like Lochjaw, I have to resort to trading or buying. Like many other games, I won't find it in Europe as it was never released here. Trading for a game like this is almost impossible, considering its rarity. Ask any collector with an extensive collection, and he will confirm this situation. If you want to go beyond this point, good ole American capitalism appears to be the only road to go.

 

So, if you like the collecting part of this hobby, if you are into boxed games, if you realize you will most likely never find this game in the wild, if you believe old stuff can be worth more to you today than the original retail price, and if you have the money to spare - who are you to call such a person insane? What is with that urge to have your own partial preference confirmed by others? Is that what you need to feel good?

 

I guess we all need that kind of confirmation every now and then (otherwise I wouldn't be posting here). I just wish our preferences could be a little more inclusive rather than exclusive...

 

Take care,

 

Marco

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I would have to agree with what Marco said a post or so above. If this boxed game is one of a very few this collector needs and he/she has the money to spare, then by all means, go for it!

 

I am jealous that the bidder has an extra $600 to spend on a boxed game, but, I support his right to do that and I don't think he is crazy at all for doing so.

 

[ 02-13-2002: Message edited by: CosmicJoke ]

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yes marco, absolutely right. i also passed the 1000+ level .... and it's really hard to find new additions for your collection (without spending lots).

 

when you have that much carts, fleamarkets AND ebay-lists get terribly boring. so you have to think on a second level, about trading and selling.

 

@ bergbos

 

you have to go above your limits sometimes. who knows? maybe it was very reasonable to overbid for lockjaw at 610? can you predict how often it will reappear?

 

for me it was the first time i ever saw this cart on ebay (or in a tradelist), so i am sure i would have participated with a bid of at least 200-300$ if i had nuff money left. and that 3 people are above my limit (4 as i probably can include marco. lockjaw is a great tradebait if you want to get something you didn't hope to get before) just confirm marco's point.

 

your argument a ford T-modell is crap when compared to modern cars but still when "complete" it costs more than any regular car from the 90ies.

 

 

at the end, some of those high prices are actually even helping the gaming community, i think.

 

fist of all it grabs attention and make people think about these old game systems and games ....

 

then the money made is often reused to dig out more rare nice stuff. i.e. the 20 quelle carts i offered didn't just pop up like that, i ordered some of those 2-3 times before i had good copies. and of course getting the better copies on ebay always costs a few extra bucks in general (i noticed that on activision carts without actiplaque).

 

if i had to take money for the time i spend looking for carts, then any cart wouldn't start under 20$

 

 

it's the same with that best discussion: 5$ is still a reasonable price for a boxed game. if you were lucky to pick them for 0.80 then it's cool, but not a reason to make life harder for those who don't have the games yet. or for Bradley. do you think he's making any money when selling 10 games to someone for 8$?

 

you see, CosmicJoke is honest. he saying he's jealous. and honestly, i am a little too ... why shouldn't I? it's one of the few things i miss ... while a loose one would be enough for me (now flood me with trade offers for lockjaw)

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quote:

(now flood me with trade offers for lockjaw)


 

I'd be willing to trade my 1982, David Crane lunch sandwich for a boxed copy of Lochjaw. I believe it is bologna, unfortunately it has deteriorated over time and I can no longer be sure.

 

 

moycon-22.jpg

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quote:

Originally posted by liveinabin:

I can't believe the price of Lochjaw! I draw the line when the cost of an item gets comparable to the cost of perfectly manafacturing a new one

 

Hehehe!

 

Here's some info I got recently on producing a ROM:

 

"ROMs are much less expensive on a per chip basis, but in order to make a ROM for a game, a game-specific die must be made and once that die is made, it cannot be changed which means the game's code cannot be changed and ROMs cannot be erased and/or re-used. The price for a die can range from $10,000 to $25,000 PER GAME."

 

So, at $600+, it's still a steal

 

Cheers,

 

Marco

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quote:

Originally posted by Marco:

Hehehe!

 

Here's some info I got recently on producing a ROM:

 

"ROMs are much less expensive on a per chip basis, but in order to make a ROM for a game, a game-specific die must be made and once that die is made, it cannot be changed which means the game's code cannot be changed and ROMs cannot be erased and/or re-used. The price for a die can range from $10,000 to $25,000 PER GAME."

 

So, at $600+, it's still a steal

 

Cheers,

 

Marco

 

 

that should be the answer to the rarity of dukes of hazard an the others ...

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quote:

Originally posted by Horax:

Some Atari-Collectors seem to be Millionairs... I just

thought most Atari-Freax would be poor Pigs like me!

 

What do You think about that?!!

 

 

if there would be millionaires between us, the ET landfill would allready have been discovered!

 

if i had a million (or two) left for atari, i would go out in the desert to find that landfill!

 

alex, albert, rick, ian, marco, marc, matthias, stan, moycon, jerry, curt, jeff, michael, george, john, jon, joel, simon, andrew, thomas, junie and all the others i forgot ..... you're invited!

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quote:

Originally posted by moycon:

Do we need to re-vive that ET landfill thread?? If you win a million $$$ JahFish I'll be there.... Just bring lots of beer and video games.

 

We should revive that thread and let the new people that havent seen it read it

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don't worry, i'll pay the beer, the food, we'll rent large customized Hummers and stick big "fuji's" on them ....

 

you only have to get me some weed

(remember i don't drink)

 

can't bring that with me on the plane, or i'll get stuck and we'll have no expedition.

 

isn't the landfill in a state where smoking pot is allowed ....

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quote:

Originally posted by MoonlightKnight:

 

The point is that if someone want something bad enough they will bid high for it, but most people have a limit where they say "Hey, too rich for my blood." or "I'll find another one."

 

You've just got to be patient and the games you want will show up for a price you can afford.

 

Brian J Nelson

 

It's not about what you can AFFORD, it's about finding a rare game and getting it for 2 dollars. It's no fun spending hundreds of dollars on a lousy game just because its rare, its about not being ridiculous about it. I have let many ebay auctions go, not because I couldnt afford it but because I thought it was not worth it, it may be a gamble on my part, hoping to find it elsewhere for alot less, but its more fun to hunt a game down than to get it on ebay. Though before ebay it was really a challenge finding uncommon atari games here where I live.....I dunno. Montezuma's revenge is worth it because its a great game,but alot of the ultra rare games are pretty crappy. Whatever turns you on....

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How timely that someone would update my "have you ever paid too much" topic at the same time Lockjaw goes higher than I have ever seen 2600 games go. I know there was a Quadrun sometime back for 1000, but it did not sell (IIRC). This is even more than River Patrol went for over Christmas, and I think that is a much better "playing" game.

 

Couple of thoughts...

1. I used to be a Ford Tech, so if you guys go on the expedition, let me know. I will be the mechanic, and we will find those carts..

 

2. As for millionaires; I do not think whoever is bidding is loaded, he probably has been saving up or had some extra for this sort of thing. When my Computer Space looked like I had a shot at getting it, I took out a cash advance on my credit card for it, muscled through months of PB&J for breakfast, lunch and dinner, and had a holy grail. I can assure you it was more than any 800. Someone else might think that is nuts, but if you want it bad enough, get it.

 

We only live once.

 

Cassidy

 

BTW, Since I have been collecting, I have never seen a two player CS on ebay, I have never seen one in the US for public sale, nor have I seen one for under 4000. If I had not gone for it then, I would not have it now...

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Here we go again!!! I was trying to buy a sealed copy of Math grand prix and I had put down a bid of $38 thinking I would win, the game ended up going for over $65, now come on now is this game worth that much money, to some people I guess it is.

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If you ask me, there are far to many collectors and far to less programmers!

 

IMO collecting stops when you are just buying out. Then it's a bit like Michael Jackson's "collecting" the rights for all the Beatles songs.

 

But then: I'm not a collector.

 

[ 02-13-2002: Message edited by: Thomas Jentzsch ]

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quote:

BTW, Since I have been collecting, I have never seen a two player CS on ebay, I have never seen one in the US for public sale, nor have I seen one for under 4000. If I had not gone for it then, I would not have it now...

 


 

i've seen the empty arcade without monitor or board beiing sold on ebay.de for 15 DM, that's 7 dollars. unfortunately the auction was allready over when i found it!

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quote:


Originally posted by MoonlightKnight:

You have Spy Hunter listed as Label:Grip Case. I have a copy that is in a standard case like Tapper and Up N' Down. Did you know about this or did I find something new?


 

If you can send us a scan of your Spy Hunter (main and end labels please, 200dpi or better), we'll add it to the database. It would be nice to have a definitive list of which Sega games came in which styles. I see we only have two listed as coming in a standard case right now, but I imagine many of of these Sega titles came in a standard case. Would anyone else like to comment?

 

We should probably move this into a new thread.

 

..Al

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quote:

Originally posted by Thomas Jentzsch:

If you ask me, there are far to many collectors and far to less programmers!


 

There's actually only a handful of collectors in this must-check-mental-sanity league.

 

As for prices, it's nothing new. These have been paid ever since I got into this. I remember the Video Life and Magicard auction on r.g.v.c. in 1996 or so, where each went for $1400. The Alligator People proto went for well over $2k, afaik. Other rare protos, games and hardware, have gone for $1k and more. There have always been people who want their collection to stand out above others, and there probably always will be.

 

quote:

IMO collecting stops when you are just buying out. Then it's a bit like Michael Jackson's "collecting" the rights for all the Beatles songs.


 

So, those guys bidding on the boxed Lochjaw are no collectors? I'd say they're the creme-de-la-creme of Atari 2600 collecting. I know they work hard for their money. They sure aren't Michael Jackson. Enough people on this board probably have better incomes. And yet they decide to spend their money on something they see as something beautiful. I can see no harm whatsoever in that.

 

Some of us are programming gurus, others rule at finding rare stuff in the wild, some have to find every easter egg ever hidden, others make a living out of selling games on Ebay, some are on a quest of deciphering mysterious codes on prototypes, others roll scores on every game out there, and still others devote their spare time and (perhaps not so spare) money to getting their hands on every boxed Atari 2600 games out there. I don't find any of those people better or worse than the other. They're all enjoying different parts of this hobby - what a beautiful world, isn't it?

 

Cheers,

 

Marco

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