"The $15,000 NES Cart"

[Trevelyan]

I just read about this guy on kotaku, linked here though
http://www.next-gen.biz/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=10231


"There is amassing a few shelves’ worth of tatty Dreamcast and Neo-Geo Pocket games and calling yourself a serious collector, and there is handing over the price of a small car for a single cartridge. James Baker falls into the latter camp, having recently spent $15,000 securing one of the 26 gold-colored NES carts originally manufactured for the Nintendo World Championships in 1990."

Hmm, well quite.

Has anyone heard of this guy? Apologies if this is old news but He's got one "serious"[sic] console collection!

(apologies if this is old news & In the wrong place... EDIT: Cheers for the move)

[ubikuberalles]

Moving this to classic gaming...

[udisi]

well...I know James.... mostly because it was my cart he bought.

[Darren870]

well...I know James.... mostly because it was my cart he bought.

Did he buy it from you on ebay?

[DreamTR]

And the guy who spent the most ever on an NES cart is finally revealed.

[DefaultGen]

.....

[Trevelyan]

well...I know James.... mostly because it was my cart he bought.

Wow, I thought someone in here might be involved. Good luck to all involved!

[udisi]

Did he buy it from you on ebay?


And the guy who spent the most ever on an NES cart is finally revealed.

1. Nope, we worked out a deal privately.

2. Yup :), I was pretty sure he'd come out on his own eventually, but at the time he wished not to have his name made public.

[DreamTR]

What did you pay for yours?


Which one? I had 7 gold NWCs.

[DefaultGen]

.....

[otaku]

wow that's nuts. Well at least he can make the money back if not more later if he decides to sell. No way would I buy it (well maybe if I was filthy rich) I can think of way more stuff I'd rather get with that $$$ hell I could pay off my car!

[DreamTR]

God dammit x.x

The one you have now. Well what was the most you payed for one as well?

I paid $50 for the one I have now.

Most I paid for one was $1877 on eBay 8-9 years ago.

[DefaultGen]

.....

[The 1 2 P]

I paid $50 for the one I have now.

Most I paid for one was $1877 on eBay 8-9 years ago.

$50????? How did you manage to pull that off?

[Frankie_Says_Relax]

Wow.

So, the guy who bought the one at last Saturday's NAVA for $10,000 got a real bargain!!!

*edit*

Joe corrected me today ... it was $12,000. Any chance that that was the same person who turned around and SOLD it for $15,000?

$3,000 doesn't seem THAT much of a profit when dealing with that much money ... but who knows.

Anybody have any info on that?

[udisi]

he paid 12k last week :), and actually that deal was finalized before my sale. that cart sold on a payment plan.

[GarrettCRW]

$50????? How did you manage to pull that off?

DreamTR has a team of rarity-seeking ninjas that work for $50/job.

[DreamTR]

$50????? How did you manage to pull that off?


I knew where to look ;)

[The 1 2 P]

I knew where to look ;)

Well teach me where to look:D.

[Slate]

Well teach me where to look:D.

I'm going to guess he will say "No!" :P

[Buyatari]

Wow.

So, the guy who bought the one at last Saturday's NAVA for $10,000 got a real bargain!!!

*edit*

Joe corrected me today ... it was $12,000. Any chance that that was the same person who turned around and SOLD it for $15,000?

$3,000 doesn't seem THAT much of a profit when dealing with that much money ... but who knows.

Anybody have any info on that?

No it wasn't a quick flip. I bought it from Jason in 2002 for 4k and sold for 12k. It was a pretty beat up copy compared to others I've seen.

[Frankie_Says_Relax]

No it wasn't a quick flip. I bought it from Jason in 2002 for 4k and sold for 12k. It was a pretty beat up copy compared to others I've seen.

Yeah, that would've seemed silly to me if it was flipped for such a small profit margin.

Which one was beat up? Yours looked to be in pretty awesome condition in that picture.

[The 1 2 P]

I'm going to guess he will say "No!" :P

No word yet but I'm going to side with you on this one.

[Bandicat]

Have all 26 carts been accounted for, or are there still some floating around in the wild?

Udisi: I see you are in St. Louis... Is the cart you sold the same one I saw in a picture (with Jason) at Trade N Games in Fenton?

[Terminusvitae]

A 25% profit is pretty dang good...

[DigitalSpace]

Good read.

Somewhat off-topic thought, but I was reading about the NWC gold cart one day and wondered what it'd be like if someone made a documentary talking to the owners of some of the carts (that is, if they found enough owners willing to appear in it) - how they got them, how they got into collecting, why they decided to collect NES games, what they do for a living, etc.

[rbudrick]

I am writing a book on the NWC and have been collecting interviews from the finalists and staff members. I am VERY close to finding out exactly how many carts were made, I think. I got a very good lead from a recent interview.

I found out who the lead electrician was, the tour manager, the floor manager, the lead truck driver of the tour (there were 11 trailers, reduced to 9 after 2 or 3 weeks/dates), and the guy/company who designed the stage, among others. Sorry to be a little secret right now, but with any luck I will have more info soon.

It turns out NOA was rather stingy in even supplying enough carts for the tour, as they tended to fail sometimes. Eventually, NOA gave in to their bitching and started regularly supplying enough carts. Plenty of staff members took huge advantage of this and took them for themselves, even putting in false requests just to get a few to take, as it was very indirectly hinted to me. The person I spoke to recently had 3, but one was very likely destroyed in a fire (son's cart), and two were given to nephews, and they are long gone to goodwill or a yard sale or something.

This is all from an interview I did just a few days ago. The interviewee should have some more info and/or contact info for me soon.

-Rob

[udisi]

Have all 26 carts been accounted for, or are there still some floating around in the wild?

Udisi: I see you are in St. Louis... Is the cart you sold the same one I saw in a picture (with Jason) at Trade N Games in Fenton?

Yes, That's my cart, er was my cart:) I took it done there and played it a bit with Jason

[heybtbm]

I knew where to look ;)

http://img155.imageshack.us/img155/3530/sgsp09hy9.jpg

+

http://img155.imageshack.us/img155/3640/nwc1ed5.jpg

= $$$

All joking aside, I'm sure there are individuals very capable of making phony carts for much less than $15K. Never underestimate the ingenuity of ambitious "entrepreneurs".

It's possible that "26" will be 100+ by next year.

[DigitalSpace]

rbudrick, I'm pretty sure that the documentary thing came to mind after reading something you posted. I'm looking forward to your book whenever it's done!

[ocdsteeldor]

All joking aside, I'm sure there are individuals very capable of making phony carts for much less than $15K. Never underestimate the ingenuity of ambitious "entrepreneurs".

It's possible that "26" will be 100+ by next year.

It has been done, this gold NWC is fake (but works): http://www.ocdsteeldor.com/images/2/12.jpg :)

[rick weis]

I am writing a book on the NWC and have been collecting interviews from the finalists and staff members. I am VERY close to finding out exactly how many carts were made, I think. I got a very good lead from a recent interview.

I found out who the lead electrician was, the tour manager, the floor manager, the lead truck driver of the tour (there were 11 trailers, reduced to 9 after 2 or 3 weeks/dates), and the guy/company who designed the stage, among others. Sorry to be a little secret right now, but with any luck I will have more info soon.

It turns out NOA was rather stingy in even supplying enough carts for the tour, as they tended to fail sometimes. Eventually, NOA gave in to their bitching and started regularly supplying enough carts. Plenty of staff members took huge advantage of this and took them for themselves, even putting in false requests just to get a few to take, as it was very indirectly hinted to me. The person I spoke to recently had 3, but one was very likely destroyed in a fire (son's cart), and two were given to nephews, and they are long gone to goodwill or a yard sale or something.

This is all from an interview I did just a few days ago. The interviewee should have some more info and/or contact info for me soon.

-Rob

SWEET! i'll buy one, can't wait!! :)

Rick

[Ed Oscuro]

You're my hero.
Agreed! :)

I'm not one for the incredible hype surrounding this game, but it's cool to hear about the book rbudrick is writing...gotta put that on my list of books to buy (along with Flack's, someday)!

[rbudrick]

I have pictures of all the known gold carts, which is about 10 or 11 or 12, I think. It is important to get these pics to note fine details of each cart to use as a fingerprint in determining which cart is which, since they aren't numbered. With a good enough close-up pic, you can tell if it's a fake or not, especially if you know exactly how the original labels were made. Wish I had pics of them all to protect every owner.

Only one known gold NWC cart is in that good of condition, by the way, and DreamTR still owns it.

-Rob