I mean like 50m copies of Super Mario Bros were sold for the NES. How is it in any way credible that it’s a legitimate “rarity”? Seems like everyone involved is a crook…sellers and buyer alike.
Few of those 50 million are in shrinkwrap in 2021. That’s a rarity.
That’s not to say it’s worth a million, but it is legitimately rare.
As far as I can find, there are no public population reports for video games like there are for every other collectible market. It might be legitimately rare, but no-one really knows. Guess they better hope no-one is sitting on a box of sealed Super Marios.
Exactly. It’s way too soon to be paying that kind of money for any sealed game. I guess it’s possible that all sealed copies of a particular game have been accounted for and are legitimately rare, but at this point, only 20 to 30 years after release, it would be a huge gamble to count on that being an actual fact.
Maybe a hundred years later, if no case lots have surfaced, maybe then. But right now, given my own personal example upthread, I’d be much more surprised if case lots of any particular game didn’t exist. Especially of the more popular games that seem to be the ones commanding the highest prices right now. I think there are going to be a lot of folks experiencing buyer’s remorse sometime during the next 10 or 20 years, possibly much sooner, when these lots begin to surface.
That was a great vid, thanks for posting it.
Thanks to the current insane prices of video games, people are restoring old video game boxes:
I actually first heard about this on a CU Podcast two weeks ago. About a week later, Kyle Orland of Ars Technica wrote a very good article updating the situation:
This was in my recommended stuff on YouTube, and I initially thought it was a new video, but it’s from September 2021.
In the past, the games I tried to buy from Limited Run Games have always been sold out, so after a while I just gave up on them, as it wasn’t worth the hassle, or the cost of buying them on eBay. Also, I already own most of the games from my personal Golden Age of gaming in physical form anyway, but there were a couple I was missing, and this seemed a good way to get a copy in nice condition.
This video points out that while Limited Run Games may or may not be doing anything illegal, their practices are certainly scummy. A good amount of research is apparent, and it’s well-written, well–edited, and well-voiced.
Tangentially related, but still quite relevant:
The Red Letter Media guys take a look at the new speculators’ market of VHS tapes and the grading thereof.
Done with humor of course, but still raises some very good points.