How do people track these things down? I've seen some crazy prototypes that people have. Do you have to have inside connections or something to get these "in the wild"?
Some are found in the wild. Those found in the wild usually are found in southern California where most of the US headquarters for developers were, but they've been found in all areas. The majority of protos are found through "connections" though such as people who worked for gaming magazines, or for the developers themselves.
I found my SCAT cart For $10 in a Mom N' Pop store in Maui. I found it in a stack of games that were piled up against a wall. He looked at it and said it looked special and he wasn't going to sell it. After some time talking to me he asked me how much I was willing to spend on it. I said $5 he countered with $10 and I said "Sold!!"
I got a legit one on eBay, the title just said unlicensed blue cart. Turned out to be an Escape from Atlantis proto that I've since foolishly traded away.
It's a combination of luck, connections, and cash/desire.
Luck: I purchased a lot of games with an odd looking cart off eBay. The cart ended up being a Mappy Land prototype, and it averaged out to costing around $5.
Connections: I've purchased over $2000 worth of prototypes from collectors who were well connected (having worked for video game related magazines). They knew the right people, and they knew what to ask for. Some of the most well known prototype collectors have ties/connections that date back over a decade.
Cash/Desire: I stumbled across two unreleased prototypes that people found in Washington/Oregon. One cost me $850, and the other nearly $2000. At this point in my collecting I'll pay whatever I can for an unreleased prototype. It's a matter of having the cash, and the willingness to spend it.
In just over a year of collecting protos I've managed to get my hands on 10 unreleased games, and around 50 other cart based prototypes. I'm not doing anything special, I just think I want them a little more than most (and I'm willing to spend stupid money).
I found one in the middle of nowhereville, North Carolina (Morganton, NC flea market). It was an Adventure Island II proto that I eventually sold to Parpunk (he's an Adventure Island freak).
I found one when a Dimple Records employee sold me his personal NES collection. He said it was just Ninja Gaiden 2 with a bad label... but I knew better!
Luckily with proto's most people don't know what they look like/are. Only seasoned collectors will know, and not even the average reseller.(Like the guy buying, and reselling out of Dimple for example.)
Comments
Luck: I purchased a lot of games with an odd looking cart off eBay. The cart ended up being a Mappy Land prototype, and it averaged out to costing around $5.
Connections: I've purchased over $2000 worth of prototypes from collectors who were well connected (having worked for video game related magazines). They knew the right people, and they knew what to ask for. Some of the most well known prototype collectors have ties/connections that date back over a decade.
Cash/Desire: I stumbled across two unreleased prototypes that people found in Washington/Oregon. One cost me $850, and the other nearly $2000. At this point in my collecting I'll pay whatever I can for an unreleased prototype. It's a matter of having the cash, and the willingness to spend it.
In just over a year of collecting protos I've managed to get my hands on 10 unreleased games, and around 50 other cart based prototypes. I'm not doing anything special, I just think I want them a little more than most (and I'm willing to spend stupid money).
Luckily with proto's most people don't know what they look like/are. Only seasoned collectors will know, and not even the average reseller.(Like the guy buying, and reselling out of Dimple for example.)