Top 10 rarest/hardest games to find for: NES

[orrimarrko]

PLEASE DO NOT LOCK THIS! I just spent 20 minutes searching for Top Ten Rare posts and could not find one. (By the way, if anyone know of a previous thread where a top ten list is mentioned, I would be grateful for pointing it out. )

Hoping that the collection of experts and veteran collectors can lend some insight into what the TOP TEN RAREST GAMES for this system.

US RELEASES ONLY!

I know that the guide is a helpful tool, and I also realize that the order would be somewhat subjective. However, there should be some concensus on what the games are (give or take one or two on the list).

This would be most helpful to us "newbies" or inexperienced collectors.

Price information (while nice to have) is not what I am looking to generate info about - just what the games are.

This is helpful to know, just because I want to know what games I will be pulling my hair out in trying to find!!

Thanks, Steve

[CrazyImpmon]

The Nintendo World Championship cart is by far the rarest non proto cart around. 4 years ago, you could still get either grey or gold one off eBay for less than $1000. 3 years ago, the gold one was about $1500. Last year the gold one hit $6000. At this rate, the gold one might sell for $9000 to $12,000 this year. This one is not on my list of game to collect as it's outta my range.


Next up would be the Caltron 6 in 1. It's the only NES cart (beside NWC) that I haven't seen in the wild. I don't know what they go for and I'm not going to search eBay.

Stadium Event is alo quite rare as very few were produced before Nintendo bought the rights to the game from Bandai and started producing them under it's own name (and different title)

The 3 Panesian games (Bubble Bath Babes, Hot Slot, and Peek A Boo Poker) are rare. They were only available through mail order in porn magazine and you're likely to only find them at a ma-and-pa type video rental stores. Expec tto pay around $300 each.

Next up is Maxi-15. Unlike those you see on eBay in black plastic clamshell, a true *complete* set of Maxi-15 also includes a yellow cardboard box the black clamshell case goes in. I have seen only 2 yellow boxed Max-15 on eBay in the last few years and I can't guess its value. Word is that when Nintendo sued the company out of business, their entire stock of Maxi-15 sat in a warehouse, flood hit it and ruined most of the yellow boxes but the clamshell protected its content. Then someone finally cleared out the warehouse and sold the games but few of them kept the yellow box. A complete Maxi-15 without the box is probably good for around $50.

Action 52 and Cheetahmen 2 are also quite rare. Fortunately they are not desireable because the game really sucks especially the 52 shitty games in one. Probably figure about $50 each for a CIB case although the Cheetahmen2 I got didn't have any manual (there never was any)

Lastly, there are the Aladdin Deck Enhancers and the 6 separate Aladdin games. Fairly hard to find but there are still plenety of sealed games so you should be able to get a complete set of ADE and 6 games for around $80 a set.

As for licensed games, there are a number of rare licensed games. The ones that come to mind is Pac Man (mostly green box, green manual, and green label) and Ms. Pac Man (pink theme) released under Namco name. While Tengen released a fair number of them, Namco didn't make as many so they are rarer. I don't know how much they go as I haven't checked eBay but last I checked, a CIB Pac Man was like $50.

Complete Dragon Warrior 2, 3 and 4 are quite hard to find mainly because so many liked the game and are relucant to sell theirs.

Oh yeah, I'm still looking for Ultima 5 for NES (Warrior of Destiny) I found a box and manual at one Funcoland but no game >

[digitalpress]

Stadium Events
Nintendo World Championships
Hot Slots
Bubble Bath Babes
Peek-a-Boo Poker
6-in-1 (Myriad)
6-in-1 (Caltron)
Cheetahmen II

... after that, several unlicensed games and a few toughies like Flintstones Dino Peak and the Namco Ms. Pac and Pac-Mans, but to me, that top group are the hardest to find, at least I never see 'em!

[orrimarrko]

Stellar input CrazyImpmon!

This is exactly the kind of input that you can't get anywhere else!! I knew about all of the games that you mentioned, but the information that you provided about the games was fantastic!! I had no idea about Stadium Events being bought by Nintendo, and the yellow box for the Maxi-15 - awesome!

I would definitely have to agree with the list for the most part, so let's work on a kind of order (plus some input of my own. )

Exemption 1 - Nintendo World Championships (gold):
Clearly the rarest US Release due to number of carts available, but not like the other carts which were mass produced. I would hardly say that your NES collection would be incomplete without one, but always a nice addition.

Exemption 2 - Nintendo World Championships (grey):
Clearly the 2nd rarest US Release due to number of carts available, but not like the other carts which were mass produced. Like the gold copy, this game was not for sale, which distinguishes it from all of the games available by retail (in one form or another - porn mags included.) I would hardly say that your NES collection would be incomplete without one, but if you can't afford a gold copy and the grey one presents itself - take it.

Exemptions 3 - 66 - The 64 Sachen games (Complete):
I think that enough discrepancies exist on whether these games were released in the US or not lends to the exemption. Finding a complete set with the boxes, trays, manuals, etc. is a daunting task all it own. Not that I wish to discourage anyone from trying (I am trying myself), but they seem to have enough mystery around their availability that I will identify them in their own category.

Exemption 67 - Game Action Replay (loose/complete):
This is not a game, it's an accessory - nuff said.

And onto the Top Ten... (my opinions, PLEASE feel free to comment!!)

1-3. Hot Slots/Bubble Bath Babes/Peek-a-Boo Poker - these "naughty" Panesian games are very very hard to find, in part due to their limited release, and in part because of the nudity. Finding a copy of one of them in the wild is cause to party it up big time, but finding one with the box and instruction sheet is near impossible on eBay. I have seen one auction for each of the 3 games in complete condition, and they each went for over $300.

4. Maxi-15 (Complete) - apparently, complete with the yellow outer box is extremely difficult to find. Please note that without the box, this title moves down the list several spots...

5. Stadium Events - truly one of the top ten, it can only be seen on eBay once in a great while, I have never seen one complete yet.

6. 6 in 1 (Myriad) - The Myriad version of this very bad 6 in 1 cart is much more difficult to find than it's Caltron counterpart. Easily a $100 purchase (especially with the box), I wish you luck. The label is damaged easily, and finding a great copy can prove very difficult, even if you have some coin to blow on it.

7. 6 in 1 (Caltron) - The Caltron version, though not very often, seems to pop up on places like eBay more often than the Myriad label version. Basically, they are the same, just different packaging.

8. Cheetahmen II - Yet another unlicensed piece of crap, Cheetahmen II is very hard to find. However, I have noticed that when they do pop up, they tend to be seen with the box (just my experience). No, there isn't a Cheetahmen I cart - Cheetamen is one of the really shitty 52 games that can be ignored in the Action 52 cart. Which brings us to...

9. Action 52 - Made by the same "company" (basically a guy in his garage) as Cheetahmen II, this collection of horrible pixels seems to be for sale with slightly more regularity than any of the titles listed thus far. Finding one complete however...

10. Stack-Up (Complete) - This game only qualifies because of the word "Complete". No box, no parts, no manual, etc...no dice. This game loose can be found for under a buck, but the key is to get one in the box with all of the R.O.B. parts. This one can be pricey - especially on eBay.

You'll note that the majority (8 out of 10) of these are unlicensed games. Typically the unlicensed games can be more difficult to find, but some more than others:

Secret Scout and Operation Secret Storm come to mind. If you care about getting them in each of their blue and black casings, then it gets much, much worse.

The Camerica released Aladdin Deck Enhancer and the games that can be used on it aren't that difficult to locate - and I almost always see them in Brand New/unopened boxes when they become available.

For other licensed games of note, of course the Namco Pac-Man and Ms. Pac-Man come to mind, as well as the second Flintstones release: Surprise at Dino Peak. My personal nemesis is Cowboy Kid, which I can never seem to locate (although there is a sealed one on eBay now ). Magician and Color A Dinosaur are also fairly difficult.

Hope this helps, and I would love to continue to get some more great input.

Thanks,
Steve

[Starcade]

I wonder If anyone has ever found a copy of World Championchip in like a flee market or something like that for only a few dollars? That would be the most awesome thing to ever happen to a collector, though if it ever happened to me, though I never sell games, if I could get 6000$ or more I would probably sell it.

[klimatron8]

Hillsfar (AD+D) has been my personal albatross over here. Crazyimpmon - Can you believe I had an Ultima5 (wod) cart and dumped it --yikes! The game does completely bite though. Bring back the Genny Top10 rarities!

[chrisballer]

NWC- gold
NWC- grey
hot slots
bubble bath babes-
peek-a-boo poker
myriad 6-1
stadium events
cheetahmen 2

In that order,I amsure there are many diff opinions on the order. I change my order each year. I will explain the order the nwc carts will always be at the top but the rest change once in awhile. i put the panesian games in order of which ones have popped up on auctions or forums etc.. As for the myriad 6-1 each of them are # the highest # i have seen or heard of is the one i have #888 and might move up my list in the future if i keep not seeing them hardly never. Stadium events slipped down my list a lil in the last couple of years because it was a good year for it last year on ebay showing up around 2 dozen times and i dont count the pal games. cheetahmen2 makes my list for a couple of reasons 1 i hardly see it 2. have been told by a few well know collectors that know alot more than me that there was only 2,000 copies made but that is just opinion i have nothing to back that up.


I know you asked for a top 10 but i think after the games listed above is just based on stricktly opinion or region. The games above i have seen on everybody's top 10.

I would also like to add a comment about the aladdin stuff just a year ago you could buy them through videogameconnections.com new for $80 i think. I am now glad i bought 2 sets They also where sold on homeshopping network awhile back. As I know there is no place to buy these anymore. I believe that in a year or 2 once all the harcore collectors scoop these up they will make my top 10.

I am sure there will be people who dissagree with my comments but just my opinion. I hope this helps some people out.


Chris

[nesman85]

I wonder If anyone has ever found a copy of World Championchip in like a flee market or something like that for only a few dollars? That would be the most awesome thing to ever happen to a collector, though if it ever happened to me, though I never sell games, if I could get 6000$ or more I would probably sell it.

a guy who runs a site that i *think* was called ataritrader found a gold nwc for $2.

@orrimarrko, i'm positive we've done this thread at least twice before. its probably in the classic discussions forum.

[leorange]

ironically, i can say i've bought more caltrons than any other nes game. of course, i'm the guy who picked up a box of 15 shrinkwrapped,1 complete and 1 loose of 'em at a thrift store for $30. this is in addition to finding a shrinkwrapped one and a loose one at the same swap meet years apart. ($5 and $3 respectively, and i found the shrinked one about a week after i first picked up an nes.) and in all that time i've seen nary a myriad.

now if i only had panesian magnetism...

[Britboy]

Stadium Events question: I see Stadium Events up for auction quite often, but it's always the PAL version. However, it inevitably ends up going for hundreds anyway. Is that just people being uninformed, or is the PAL version worth it?

[nesman85]

the pal version doesn't even compare to the rarity of the ntsc version. the bidders are uninformed.