Famicom Rarity/Value List... Does One Exist?

[Ze_ro]

I've recently gotten into collecting Famicom stuff, and while I have a decent list of games I intend to look for, I have absolutely no clue as the value of most of the games. It's difficult to know when I've found a good deal, and the only clue I have to prices is to search eBay... but even then the prices seem somewhat random. Is there any kind of reference so I can tell if I'm getting ripped off or not?

--Zero

[mobiusclimber]

Rising Stuff has a U.S. price guide for Famicom games here: http://www.risingstuff.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=241

I can't say how accurate the prices are, but at the least you can tell which games are worth more than others.

[Ed Oscuro]

RS also sells games, so. YMMV I guess? 'course I have a long and proud history of gettin' ripped off, starting with all my sealed FDS game purchases (way overpriced).

[portnoyd]

There isn't. You may want to ask DreamTr next time he pops into vbender.

[Kiddo]

The closest I've seen for a price guide is the edtimated values of the "holy grail" stuff. I don't really know how up-to-date any of it is, but yeah...

http://www.racketboy.com/retro/nintendo/nes/2008/03/the-rarest-and-most-valuable-nes-games.html

As for my own Famicom collecting, I've gotten Akumajou Densetsu, Mother, Super Mario Bros. 3 and a few misc. Loose carts, and a bunch of loose FDS discs, so what I've generally seen is that

1) Usually you can find a good first-party cart game at less than $15, unless it's Zelda no Densetsu.
2) Konami VRC series carts cost slightly more. Looking at eBay stuff, Rockman games might as well, but I didn't really consider purchasing them yet.
3) Do not pay eBay prices for FDS games. They're overpriced, and many times you don't even know for certain if the disk they're selling you has contents that match the label. You'll be nearly as likely to get the game you want getting an untested, "poor" condition lot. I got Zelda 2 and both YuuYuuKi discs in one such.

[mobiusclimber]

RS also sells games, so. YMMV I guess? 'course I have a long and proud history of gettin' ripped off, starting with all my sealed FDS game purchases (way overpriced).

And DigitPress also sells games yet maintains a price/rarity guide. Sadly, both seem to be as useful. RS' guides don't get updated, so I know at least one of them is too out-of-date to be useful (the WonderSwan one), but if you only want a general idea of rarity/desirability/which ones are going to be more expensive then the others, I think the RS is your best (and frankly ONLY) bet.

As I said, the values are generally what you'd pay in the US for the games.

Now what Kiddo was saying about FDS games might be accurate, but I think it has more to do with buying them from Ebay stores or people that obviously don't bother to use the games. I've been pleasantly surprised a few times and have won auctions for a few big box games that had all the packaging and were in stellar condition. The important thing is to make sure the seller has tested the games first. If you don't actually pop an FDS disk into your system and boot it up, you have NO way of knowing what's on the disk.

[rbudrick]

And DigitPress also sells games yet maintains a price/rarity guide. Sadly, both seem to be as useful. RS' guides don't get updated, so I know at least one of them is too out-of-date to be useful (the WonderSwan one), but if you only want a general idea of rarity/desirability/which ones are going to be more expensive then the others, I think the RS is your best (and frankly ONLY) bet.

As I said, the values are generally what you'd pay in the US for the games.

Now what Kiddo was saying about FDS games might be accurate, but I think it has more to do with buying them from Ebay stores or people that obviously don't bother to use the games. I've been pleasantly surprised a few times and have won auctions for a few big box games that had all the packaging and were in stellar condition. The important thing is to make sure the seller has tested the games first. If you don't actually pop an FDS disk into your system and boot it up, you have NO way of knowing what's on the disk.

True. The good news is, they can be rewritten.

-Rob