"Cheaper" Prototypes.

[Rick]

I was curious, I'm not as up on the world of Prototypes as you guys are, and as a life-long NES game collector, I would love to pick up an NES Prototype cart of pretty much any game as the capstone of my collection.

I know that these Protos run for quite a bit of money, but what protos tend to be the ones that are on the lower end of the expense spectrum? I don't really have $1000+ to shell out on a proto (yay, college!), but I still would like to nab one anyway.

Thanks for the help, and apologies if this has been discussed many, many times already.

[BeaglePuss]

Most NES prototypes should set you back less than $100. Think of how many terrible games were released for the NES. The less fun/famous the retail release, the cheaper the prototype (typically) is.

Games like Megaman and Castlevania might set you back $350-$1,500, while games like Championship Bowling would be lucky to bring in $60.

One other factor to consider is whether or not a prominent prototype collector owns that certain prototype or not. For instance:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=190352055815&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT

This Terra Cresta prototype would have only cost me $33, but instead cost me nearly $200. Why? Because DreamTR doesn't own a Terra Cesta prototype and a bidding war ensued. Had he already owned this game, it very well could have fallen short of the $50 mark. Just some food for thought.

[Zoltor]

Most NES prototypes should set you back less than $100. Think of how many terrible games were released for the NES. The less fun/famous the retail release, the cheaper the prototype (typically) is.

Games like Megaman and Castlevania might set you back $350-$1,500, while games like Championship Bowling would be lucky to bring in $60.

One other factor to consider is whether or not a prominent prototype collector owns that certain prototype or not. For instance:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=190352055815&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT

This Terra Cresta prototype would have only cost me $33, but instead cost me nearly $200. Why? Because DreamTR doesn't own a Terra Cesta prototype and a bidding war ensued. Had he already owned this game, it very well could have fallen short of the $50 mark. Just some food for thought.

^What he said.

Also the funny thing is, with some of the popular rarer games, a Factory sealed game is sometimes worth more then the actual Prototype(aka take Dragon Warrior 3 for instance, it was not only a rare game, but insanely good as well, so everyone opened/bought them to play. I've seen the Prototypes listed at like 150-200$, yet a Factory sealed one can bring upwards of 300$ or more, which these prices are like from a year ago, so who knows how much the price went up).