E3 promos, demos, etc... what are they worth?

[Charlie]

OK, my friends hooked me up with a ton of stuff from E3... the list is as follows.

A bunch of plastic bags. One with a PS logo, another with a X-Box logo, and some other assorted ones.

A Jak & Dextar 2 Demo Sealed in the package.

A Gamecube Demo that had pretty decent sized demos of Billy Hatcher & The Giant Egg, Soul Caliber 2 (!), Sonic DX, Viewtiful Joe, Splinter Cell, Warioware Inc (downloadable to the Gameboy Advance) and a full copy of Dr. Mario (NES version, downloadable to the GBA). It's got the same interface as a Gamecube Kiosk disc, and it also has a movie of F-Zero and Rebel Strike... very cool disc. Too bad they already opened it.

Half-Life 2 keychain.

E-3 Prima Guide

E-3 newsletters... a whole bunch of them

A PS2 Castlevania Postcard

A Knights of the Old Republic keychain

A Capcom Promotional Booklet.

Lots and lots of promotional booklets.

Lots more stuff. I just listed the good stuff. Soooo, what's the scoop?

Plus a bunch of magaizine that look no different from the store-bought versions, at least from what I can tell. Still, a nice haul from some

[zmeston]

Katz/Kunkel/Worley gave a lecture about videogame trade-show tchotchkes at the 2002 Classic Gaming Expo, if I'm not mistaken, discussing their relative rarity and, as of now, relative lack of worth. Heh. I have a few unique CES and E3 goodies, such as pins of the unreleased Sega VR visor and the PlayStation's short-lived original mascot (the "polygon-head"), but even those items receive mostly shrugs from the people I show 'em to.

-- Z.

[digitalpress]

I've never considered E3 stuff "collectible". Maybe because it's free or maybe because when you're there you can't ESCAPE getting the stuff, but if any of it turns out to be worth something let me know - I've got bags and bags and bags of the stuff dating back to the 90's CES shows. I'm a packrat - eventually I'll get around to sorting it all out!

[AB Positive]

you might be able to trade them someday to someone that's just interested but I don't know about ever getting 'collector' value. I have to admit though, I'm quite curious about what old school stuff digitalpress has in his basement....

-AG

[digitalpress]

you might be able to trade them someday to someone that's just interested but I don't know about ever getting 'collector' value. I have to admit though, I'm quite curious about what old school stuff digitalpress has in his basement....

-AG

There's some great stuff in there! I had a drawer crammed full of the stuff from 1991-93 so there's some pretty interesting Super NES and Genny goods. I have to do some photos this weekend, if I'm feeling motivated I'll dump some of it out and take a pc for everyone.

[AB Positive]

Neat, I have to admit I'd probably try and trade for anything related to the Street Fighter II wars back in the day. I remember being attracted like a moth to a flame on any news of SF2 possibly going to the Genny. I still have my EGM where Champion Edition graces the cover. Man that thing is beat up.

...what's the topic again? :D

-AG

[Oobgarm]

The Gamecube demo you speak of will be available for sale at retail soon, I've read. Viewtiful Joe looks killer.

[Charlie]

Viewtiful Joe... what can I say? What a tease this demo was... have to wait four months damn near for the real thing.

I thought the game was lame. Then I tried the special-powers (slow mode and fast forward)... holy fucking shit... this could be the best brawler ever.

Billy Hatcher wasn't bad either... somewhat dull, but oh well... they have three months to make it better.

Soul Caliber 2: I'm unimpressed... the Gamecube controller wasn't designed for this game and it shows.

[WiseSalesman]

I don't know what the value of any of those might be in dollars, but I'll bet that any of that stuff could probably help swing a trade in your favor. For instance, if you were trying to make a trade with me, and I wasn't sure about it, throwing in that Half-Life 2 keychain would probably seal the deal.

[IGotTheDot]

I use E3 swag to decorate my game room. I think it's fun stuff to have even if people are not clamoring over it. It's fun to get as well. I have boxes for stickers, temp tattoos, postcards, and what I call one sheets (they are basically a 81/2 by 11 inch ad for a game with print on both sides.)

Pins are cool too. I got a cool Megman 15th anniversary bobble head pin this year from Capcom.

[hydr0x]

Viewtiful Joe... what can I say? What a tease this demo was... have to wait four months damn near for the real thing.

I thought the game was lame. Then I tried the special-powers (slow mode and fast forward)... holy fucking shit... this could be the best brawler ever.

Billy Hatcher wasn't bad either... somewhat dull, but oh well... they have three months to make it better.

Soul Caliber 2: I'm unimpressed... the Gamecube controller wasn't designed for this game and it shows.

eh i know of several people from mags and others who say they prefered the gamecube controller for soul calibur 2

[zmeston]

I use E3 swag to decorate my game room. I think it's fun stuff to have even if people are not clamoring over it. It's fun to get as well. I have boxes for stickers, temp tattoos, postcards, and what I call one sheets (they are basically a 81/2 by 11 inch ad for a game with print on both sides.)

Pins are cool too. I got a cool Megman 15th anniversary bobble head pin this year from Capcom.

My favorite E3 swag items are T-shirts and pins, although the latter have become MUCH less common in recent years, and I'm not entirely sure why. Used to be I'd come home from a show with 15 to 20 pins, and now I'm lucky to find three or four.

This year's Nintendo T-shirt, with "I've got more SWAG than you" printed on the front, was very lame. We all know there's swag to be had at E3, but I don't need Nintendo making me feel greedy and dirty for collecting it. (My dismayed editors do a fine job of that already.)

-- Z.