Help finding rarity of old PC Game

[ToxicBeGuile]

I'm a collector of consoles and games and I stumbled upon an interesting game and an expansion pack at the flea market, for a dollar.

The game was SimCity (IBM, Tandy, and Amiga compatible version), fully boxed, all papers and manuals. All manuals were in top condition and still having the offwhite coloring to them. Even had the inserts for advertisements of other Maxis games. The games were in top condition, and even the box is in mint condition.

I looked online and found prices ranging from 10 dollars to 50 dollars for that, depending on condition.

Stuck into the box was the part I can't find: "SimCity Graphics Set 2: Future Cities". I looked online, finding very little information on it, as well as "Set 1: Ancient Cities". I checked all the normal places (Amazon, eBay, and Google Marketplace, etc), to no avail on proper pricing or rarity.

I did happen to come across a couple eBay sales of "Set 1" for very high prices, as well as one on Amazon for 10.00 in "Very Good Condition" for 10.00, which I snagged immediately, to complete the set (if nothing else).

As for my copy of "Set 2", all games and packaging are in top condition, save for one slight tear on the bottom corner of the folder it comes in.

I asked a friend in the know on what I should do, and he sent me here to Digital Press, saying you guys are incredibly hard to stump.

which leads me to my question... What would be individual value and rarity, as well as having the main game and the two expansions as a set?

[Cornelius]

pictures would be a big help. There were many different releases of SimCity, and most are worthless.

Also, after 10 days you will be able to view a section of the forums called the Marketplace, which has a subforum called 'what's it worth'. This will likely be moved there (in case you can't find it later).

[ToxicBeGuile]

http://www.mobygames.com/game/simcity-graphics-set-2-future-cities
Here is the Set 2.

http://img.auctiva.com/imgdata/4/4/5/2/0/8/webimg/230576879_tp.jpg
There's a pic of the same SimCity I picked up, with the tornado in the screen of the boxart.


As soon as I find batteries in my camera, I'll upload actual pictures of the product in my collection.

I figured the SimCity game is pretty much null in price, but the Set 1 and 2 are my main concern.

(Thanks for the heads up of the marketplace moving possibility.)

[phreakindee]

Well, I'm actually a very serious collector of Maxis games (I have close to 80) so here's my take.

The version you have of SimCity, with the radio-style box and tornado is the 2nd edition of the IBM version of the game, released in later 1989 or 1990. It is not very valuable and is actually the most common version of the original game sold. It usually sells for $5 to $15 depending on condition and how complete it is.

The graphics sets are actually pretty uncommon. I have only stumbled on a few copies of sets 1 and 2 in the wild, for both PC and Macintosh in the past couple of years. They also come up on eBay from time to time, but each time it hasn't sold but for a few dollars at most. I assume this is because they are relatively unknown. They have a modicum of value to collectors though, there just aren't very many that are interested in such Maxis titles at all. And those that are, like me, got them years ago. I'd still like to see your actual pix though!

eBay prices are inflated like mad. I got sets 1 and 2 on eBay earlier last year for 99 cents. The ones that cost more are most likely "seller" prices, set by what a seller thinks they are worth. Worth is all in the eye of the collector, especially with low-profile titles such as these. Ten bucks for either Set 1 or 2 isn't a horrible price though, if in great condition (with untorn packaging and inserts).

The really, really rarest of the rare for PC SimCity are the original "Godzilla" box version, the updated "SimCity Classic Graphics" and the first SimCity Terrain Editor. I have only seen those once in over a decade of searching. Even still they aren't "worth" much since they aren't in high demand.

I would hold onto yours though, as their value is only going to increase to those that care. To put it directly at this point in time:

SimCity "tornado radio" boxed complete - $10-15
SimCity Graphics Set 1 and 2 complete - $5-10 ea.

[Jorpho]

(This should probably be in Classic Computing.)