A few questions from a relative newbie in NES collecting
Hey guys, I'm just getting my feet wet in this hobby, and have a few questions. K, sooo.....
1) I've heard about different versions of games. The terms "black label", "gold label", etc. What do these mean? For example, I've heard of different versions of SMB1, Zelda, and Metroid. How do I tell the difference and which one is more desirable? I just bought a sealed copy of Metroid and was curious about this. I'm assuming whichever is the earliest version, in general, is more desirable. Is there some sort of database which list different versions of games and their release dates?
2) Is there a database which lists approximately how many sealed copies of each game are thought to exist? It seems obvious that the fewer sealed copies are out there, the more desirable and valuable that games will be. I'm sure there are certain games that were expected to sell better than they did, and thence ended up with a surplus.
3) I know about the lists which compile sales data for CIB ciopies. Does such a list exist for sealed games?
Hmm, I'm sure i have other questions, but that's all I can think of for now.
Thanks guys!
1) I've heard about different versions of games. The terms "black label", "gold label", etc. What do these mean? For example, I've heard of different versions of SMB1, Zelda, and Metroid. How do I tell the difference and which one is more desirable? I just bought a sealed copy of Metroid and was curious about this. I'm assuming whichever is the earliest version, in general, is more desirable. Is there some sort of database which list different versions of games and their release dates?
2) Is there a database which lists approximately how many sealed copies of each game are thought to exist? It seems obvious that the fewer sealed copies are out there, the more desirable and valuable that games will be. I'm sure there are certain games that were expected to sell better than they did, and thence ended up with a surplus.
3) I know about the lists which compile sales data for CIB ciopies. Does such a list exist for sealed games?
Hmm, I'm sure i have other questions, but that's all I can think of for now.
Thanks guys!
Comments
2) Original releases are usually marked by a Gold Seal, where a White Seal is a later release. Expect to pay a premium for original release stuff since hardcore collectors always want the first one.
3) No database will list the known quantities of Sealed copies. Games that tend to be absurdly difficult to find sealed are Black Boxes and other early releases. The thinking is that a popular game from 1985 is much less likely to be found sealed than a game from 1992. Of course, just a rule of thumb and not applicable to all games.
4) There's no sales data for CIBs or sealed, only the cartridge price guide found in the eZine. Several members here track sales of particular games, but there is no all encompassing list where you can just type Cntl+F and find the price of a game. That's why we have the Price Check forum.
5) Purple Ganon in an inside joke, I'll let someone else explain that one.
the label thing people are generally talking about the nintendo seal of approval. The white with gold trim and slightly oval label is on all games produced after a certain date. I forget off the top of my head but I want to say its March 88.
Before then the seals were perfectly round instead of slightly oval just showed the box color rather than white on the inside. your metroids a white seal but don't feel bad the round (and gold, when it comes to metroid) seals are tough to come by.
typically its thought that the progression was somethign like this on early titles
hangtab copies
non hangtab non rev a, round seal
round seal rev a
white seal
2) no. even if there were it wouldn't be accurate. vga was going to put out a census at some point but that will just show graded copies not all copies. just have to trust experience and common sense here.
3) well there was a recent sealed sales thread but it hasn't been updated much lately. you could update the thread if you like with recent ebay sales and read it over for some of the past numbers.
If you have doubts, just do a eBay search of "Super Mario complete" and you'll see plenty of pictures of each seal.
You can use RarityGuide.com to find values of games CIB loose and sealed. They are usually overpriced however it seems that the sealed prices listed are usually underpriced.
Oooh cool site. So you think the sealed prices there are undervalued? Meaning, the prices should be higher?
You can use RarityGuide.com to find values of games CIB loose and sealed. They are usually overpriced however it seems that the sealed prices listed are usually underpriced.
Oooh cool site. So you think the sealed prices there are undervalued? Meaning, the prices should be higher?
Rarity guide is awful. Dont use it. Consult NA on any big purchases to be safe. Just my 2 cents.
So this is the original version of SMB1, correct?
yep, thats right.
You can use RarityGuide.com to find values of games CIB loose and sealed. They are usually overpriced however it seems that the sealed prices listed are usually underpriced.
Oooh cool site. So you think the sealed prices there are undervalued? Meaning, the prices should be higher?
Rarity guide is awful. Dont use it. Consult NA on any big purchases to be safe. Just my 2 cents.
Indeed. Loose prices are listed in the ezine we put out every month. CIB and sealed will typically be much higher. Keep in mind that it's an average price, not a set-in-stone biblical price...a poor condition copy of a game will sell for less, a dead mint copy can easily sell higher.
You can use RarityGuide.com to find values of games CIB loose and sealed. They are usually overpriced however it seems that the sealed prices listed are usually underpriced.
Oooh cool site. So you think the sealed prices there are undervalued? Meaning, the prices should be higher?
Rarity guide is awful. Dont use it. Consult NA on any big purchases to be safe. Just my 2 cents.
Video Game Collector (print magazine) provides CIB prices for most systems. Their cart-only prices seem reasonably on par with NA's, but I'm not sure of their exact methods. VGC claims to gather pricing info from retail sales, brick-and-mortar stores, online auctions, and even private transactions (?)... but I don't know how they synthesize all this data. Plus, I'm still a bit dubious of their CIB prices. I have a strong suspicion VGC might be estimating CIB value by simply marking up the cart-only price by a certain percentage across the board. On the other hand, VGC's CIB prices do seem pretty reasonable (meaning, relatively low compared to other price lists) and seem to line up fairly well with the ebay prices of certain games that I've been tracking myself. So, who knows. I personally use VGC as a quick CIB price reference just as a means of ensuring I don't egregiously overpay on something... but like I said, you could probably just mark up the cart-only price by 50-100% and acheive the same result.
I've never used rarityguide personally, but recently I won an auction on some CIBs in which the seller had listed rarityguide.com prices to demonstrate the value of the collection. The prices seemed pretty outrageous to me and I won the auction for nearly a third of what rarityguide listed, so there you go. By the way, VGC's CIB prices are listed at one-half to one-third of the rarityguide.com price.
Anyway, to sum up: I'd recommend NA's ezine for cart-only prices, as I think their methods are solid... and asking NA forum members for CIB prices, if you can't figure it out yourself after checking eBay's completed listings.
If it's hard to find and it's sealed, your guess and what you are willing to pay, and what they are willing to sell it for are the factors that will play a role.
Another good way, for sealed games that aren't listed in auctions, and only 1 or 2 BINs, take the average BIN, and divide by 2 or 3, that would be fair price probably, but not always. Sometimes you'll have to find a similar game that sold and try to hit that price. Example, I was trying to figure out what a fair price to pay for 1942 sealed, I couldn't find any examples, but I remembered what Gunsmoke had sold for sealed at auction. I used that amount to talk down the BIN seller to 50% of the BIN listing to around what the Gunsmoke sold for. This person had a wide range of things for sale, and this was their only video game item for sale. I doubt you will have much luck with people that buy up sealed auctions and relist them as BINs.
Occassionaly you will find a BIN price that's a good deal on a sealed game, but those are hard to come by, usually the seller has very little nintendo items for sale, for any that i've bought and have been BINs.
Hope that helps.