Which Strategy Guides Are Rare?

[jonjandran]

I remember a few topics about rare guides that are always worth a lot. Could someone refresh my memory ?
I know ones like Super Metroid , etc. But aren't some newer ones rare to? Like Suikoden and such.....

[Achika]

IIRC Harvest Moon 64 & Harvest Moon: Back to Nature are. Possibly the original printing of Final Fantasy Tactics, not sure though.

[Ed Oscuro]

What do ya mean Super Metroid is rare? I just got a copy along with Super Metroid itself (complete + shrinkwrap around box) $45 or so.

Rare? o_O

Oh, and one other thing...this guide is UGLY. I don't think it ever had a poster, either (unless somebody stole the one from this copy and I can't see where it was ripped out, I think that poster was just in NP magazine).

[jonjandran]

What do ya mean Super Metroid is rare? I just got a copy along with Super Metroid itself (complete + shrinkwrap around box) $45 or so.

Rare? o_O

Oh, and one other thing...this guide is UGLY. I don't think it ever had a poster, either (unless somebody stole the one from this copy and I can't see where it was ripped out, I think that poster was just in NP magazine).
I guess it would depend on WHICH guide , you think ?
I sold a Super Metroid Guide for $50 last year.

[Ed Oscuro]

I guess it would depend on WHICH guide , you think ?
I sold a Super Metroid Guide for $50 last year.

The Nintendo Power one.

[jonjandran]

Which raises an interesting question.
Why in the world would you sell a game with the guide ?
You ALWAYS get more selling them seperate . x_x
Anyway could someone please tell me what the guides are that I'm thinking about. They are out of print and I think Prima's.

[SoulBlazer]

Well, the Harvest Moon guides were mentioned. Suikoden 1 and 2 both seem to be rare guides, from Prima. (But I bought my Suikoden 2 book with the game when it came out). Curiously, the book for Alone in the Dark: The New Nightmare always seems to fetch high prices as well. So do the guides covering all of the King Quest and Quest for Glory series.

[zmeston]

The Lunar 2 hardcover guide from Working Designs is rare -- tiny print run, sold out immediately. Seems to go for roughly $50 on eBay.

-- Z.

[dave2236]

Final Fantasy Tactic guides don't go for much anymore ever since they rereleased the game and did a special GH guide for $9.99 new

[Queen Of The Felines]

I picked up a Final Fantasy III strategy guide around the time the game was released. It was callled something like "The Unauthorized Guide to Final Fantasy III" or similar. It was huge, having a couple hundred pages. I have no idea who the publisher was, but everything in the book was based on the Japanese version, using the Japanese names for the monsters, characters, etc. The book was pretty worthless (well, to me at the time, anyway), with not only a ton of typos and errors, but it was difficult to match up the monsters/items with their Japanese counterparts. I ended up selling it in a garage sale for a quarter.

I spotted it on ebay a few months ago for about $125. :roll:

Kristine

[petewhitley]

I'll chime in with the guide to Xenogears. I'd love to get my hands on one of these, and I saw one at Gamestop a few months ago for $1.99, not really registering what it was until I got home. I haven't finished the game yet, and for an RPG I don't like printing out 100 pages of image-less text from GameFAQs. Anywho, bastards on Ebay sell 'em for $40 at times. Though that certainly doesn't mean they're "rare"...

[hezeuschrist]

I'll chime in with the guide to Xenogears. I'd love to get my hands on one of these, and I saw one at Gamestop a few months ago for $1.99, not really registering what it was until I got home. I haven't finished the game yet, and for an RPG I don't like printing out 100 pages of image-less text from GameFAQs. Anywho, bastards on Ebay sell 'em for $40 at times. Though that certainly doesn't mean they're "rare"...

Up until a week ago you could buy it for retail off Amazon.com. Check it out, they'll probably have more back in soon. I got mine 2 weeks ago for $8 shipped.

Lunar 2 guide is amazingly expensive, as is the SSSC guide. Final Fantasy III (NP), Chrono Trigger (NP), and the Final Fantasy Anthology (Brady) guides all fetch a price.

[petewhitley]

Up until a week ago you could buy it for retail off Amazon.com. Check it out, they'll probably have more back in soon. I got mine 2 weeks ago for $8 shipped.


I'll be checking in regularly, thanks...!

[Strato]

I picked up a Final Fantasy III strategy guide around the time the game was released. It was callled something like "The Unauthorized Guide to Final Fantasy III" or similar. It was huge, having a couple hundred pages. I have no idea who the publisher was, but everything in the book was based on the Japanese version, using the Japanese names for the monsters, characters, etc. The book was pretty worthless (well, to me at the time, anyway), with not only a ton of typos and errors, but it was difficult to match up the monsters/items with their Japanese counterparts. I ended up selling it in a garage sale for a quarter.

I spotted it on ebay a few months ago for about $125.

Wow, I didn't realize that guide was actually sought after. I definitely remember that guide mostly from it being the worst of the 3 Final Fantasy guides that came out at the game release (I was obsessed and bought all 3 when the game came out). I just looked on my game bookshelf, and for some reason I have two of them there. The full title is 'Complete Final Fantasy III Forbidden Game Secrets' by Hayaku Kaku (Prima published). Anyway, thanks for posting about it as I think I will track these guides on eBay for a while.

[DDCecil]

The KONIP Lufia 2 guide went over $150... Though the one I sold only ended at $6.50...

I liked the Prima FF3 guide, I loved going through the guide and correcting it and drawing little pictures of the items and spells. :-D

[kevincure]

Yeah, the Xenogears guide must have been reprinted or something, because I see it pretty often for in the 10 dollar range, and the guide goes on ebay for a similar price.

[The Unknown Gamer]

Has anyone checked the Prima Games site. Last time I checked they
still had many old guide availible including one for Gex 1 for the
Playstation which I bought 2 weeks ago

[Captain Wrong]

Yeah, I got a good price for my FFA guide, more than the game IIRC.

[Anonymous]

The Nintendo Power FFIII guide might not be rare, but it fetches around 30 dollars on the bay on a regular basis. It's also filled with lots of rad art from whatsisface who does the conceptual sketches.

[SoulBlazer]

Add another book to the 'rare' list --

I just sold my Star Ocean: The Second Story Official Guide from Prima on Amazon for $55!

:o :o :o :D :D :D

[Mayhem]

//checks Chrono Trigger guide tonight... I got it when I bought the game from someone recently, they threw it in for free. Bit beaten up, but still in reasonably condition...

[Jorpho]

Yeah, I got a good price for my FFA guide, more than the game IIRC.

FFA? Final Fantasy Adventure, the Game Boy game?

The NP FF1 guide (Issue 13 or so, I think) is still worth something.
________
Weed (http://wwweed.com/)

[maxlords]

Wow...I have nearly every "rare" guide that's been listed. The Suikoden 1 guide was hitting around $70+ for a while, and Xenogears dropped from around $90 to around $10 in the last 6 months or so. Guides are REALLY random for prices...one week hitting next to nothing, the next going for obscene prices, and when you think about selling yours, they're already back down again. For example, the hardcover Lunar 2 guide was at $20 when I bought mine from Working Designs.....and the day I placed my order for it, their site said "out of stock" and the guide was already going for upwards of $80.00 a copy on eBay. By the time I had it in hand and and finished playing through the game, the price was down to $60, and now it's down to around $50. Same with the Suikoden guides, which all skyrocketed when Suikoden 2 "suddenly" became rare. My best advice to those speculating on the strategy guide market is... don't. It's TOO violent in it's fluctuations....buy the guides you want, and if you happen to have them and they're high and you don't want em, sell em. I've just kept all mine, high priced or low...I just ignore it and keep em. I'm still looking for a bunch of RPG guides, but I'm sure as hell not gonna pay premium collectors prices for em...that's just silly. $10, $15, sure...$40+ for a guide when the game rarely costs that? Forget it.

I'd be really cool to start a guide trading/selling thread on the Buying and Selling forum so we can all avoid the ridiculous eBay demand for the damned things though! :)

And if anyone has guides they're looking to swap off or sell for reasonable prices (I usually pay around $10 a guide tops), I'm looking for these (some may not exist):
Phantasy Star 3, Phantasy Star 4, Vandal Hearts, Suikoden, Hoshigami: Ruining Blue Earth, Popful Mail, Vay, Lunar: Silver Star Story (Sega CD guide), Lunar Eternal Blue (Sega CD guide), Breath of Fire 3, Breath of Fire 4, Silent Hill 2, Vandal Hearts 2, Breath of Fire, Breath of Fire 2, Chrono Trigger, Alundra (WD guide), Wild Arms 2, Grandia (PSX), Grandia 2 (Vs. Guide), koudelka, Legend of Dragoon, Saiyuki: Journey West, Shadow Madness, Ogre Battle (SNES and PSX guides), Ogre Battle 64, Tales of Destiny, Tales of Destiny 2, Earthbound, Shining Force 3, Dragon Force, Skies of Arcadia, Dark Wizard, Shadow Hearts, Dynasty Warriors 3, Okage Shadow King, Metroid Prime (Nintendo guide), X-Com: UFO Defense (PC), The Thing, Final Fantasy 3 (US, Square guide), Breath of Fire: Dragon Quarter, .hack, Robotech: Battlecry

[hezeuschrist]

Hey Max, you can still get the Lunar 2 Sega CD guide off Amazon. Must have overprinted that one a shitload for it to still be around. You can also get the Alundra guide direct from WD, just go to their page and give them a call.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1884364071/qid=1057014330/sr=8-3/ref=sr_8_3/102-0886873-9504969?v=glance&s=books&n=507846

EDIT: Amusing comment by some random retard about the Lunar 2 guide:

WOW! Pretty colors!!, May 7, 2001
Reviewer: A reader from Boone, NC USA
I live in a box! The pictures amused me, but I sold the shiny part to a group of passing sherpas. BROMIDES ARE NEAT! STAY OUT OF THE SUN! BEWARE THE SPORK OF DESTINY!

[dr mario kart]

One of the versions of the Final Fantasy I guide is probably rare

[zmeston]

Hey Max, you can still get the Lunar 2 Sega CD guide off Amazon. Must have overprinted that one a shitload for it to still be around. You can also get the Alundra guide direct from WD, just go to their page and give them a call.

The Lunar 2: EB guide didn't have an especially large print run; it shipped late because my co-author/publisher foolishly handed off map-making duties to a couple of kids who needed three months to piece together thousands of screenshots into maps. I should've been involved with the maps from the beginning, but c'est la vie.

I forget the print run on the Alundra guide, but it WAS too high, and I vaguely recall that it also shipped well after the game.

-- Z.

[RichD]

For those interested in getting Lunar, Lunar 2, Vay or Popful Mail Strategy Guides for Sega Cd you can still get them through www.gamebooks.com.
I believe this is Sandwich Islands Publishing site for selling old stock.

They also sell new guides from other publishers.

[maxlords]

I know that all the old WD Sega CD guides are still easily available.....uber-high print runs and all. Just haven't bothered to spend the money....I'll get em sooner or later :) As for the rest, some of those guides are REALLY hard to find...others are way too spendy....ridiculous to spend heavy money on a guide, especially with sites like gamefaqs around.

[hezeuschrist]

Hey Max, you can still get the Lunar 2 Sega CD guide off Amazon. Must have overprinted that one a shitload for it to still be around. You can also get the Alundra guide direct from WD, just go to their page and give them a call.

The Lunar 2: EB guide didn't have an especially large print run; it shipped late because my co-author/publisher foolishly handed off map-making duties to a couple of kids who needed three months to piece together thousands of screenshots into maps. I should've been involved with the maps from the beginning, but c'est la vie.

I forget the print run on the Alundra guide, but it WAS too high, and I vaguely recall that it also shipped well after the game.

-- Z.

So, you worked on both the Sega CD and PSX Lunar games/guides?

[zmeston]

Hey Max, you can still get the Lunar 2 Sega CD guide off Amazon. Must have overprinted that one a shitload for it to still be around. You can also get the Alundra guide direct from WD, just go to their page and give them a call.

The Lunar 2: EB guide didn't have an especially large print run; it shipped late because my co-author/publisher foolishly handed off map-making duties to a couple of kids who needed three months to piece together thousands of screenshots into maps. I should've been involved with the maps from the beginning, but c'est la vie.

I forget the print run on the Alundra guide, but it WAS too high, and I vaguely recall that it also shipped well after the game.

-- Z.

So, you worked on both the Sega CD and PSX Lunar games/guides?

I wrote the guides for the Sega CD versions of Lunar and Lunar 2, but didn't work on the games themselves. (My first work on a WD game was Albert Odyssey for the Saturn.) I was the lead text localizer for the PS1 versions of Lunar and Lunar 2, and also wrote Working Designs' official guides for both.

I even tried to get involved with Ubi Soft's localization of Lunar Legend, seeing as I've spent an unhealthy portion of my life in the world of Lunar, but never heard back from anyone there. Bastards.

-- Z.

[l_lamb]

If you want to see something really ridiculous, check this out:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/stores/offering/list/-/0761510680/all/ref=dp_pb_a/002-8087563-1561607

$974.55!!!!! @_@ There are several systems with a complete collection of games that can be had for less. It's not even authorized! This idiot is also trying to sell an official Suikoden II guide for the same price.

[Bighab]

Here are a few guides that are hard to find that no one mentioned:
Dragon Warrior 4 nes
Phantasy Star 4 geensis
Might and Magic nes
Shining Force battle guide genesis

[norkusa]

If you want to see something really ridiculous, check this out:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/stores/offering/list/-/0761510680/all/ref=dp_pb_a/002-8087563-1561607

$974.55!!!!! @_@ There are several systems with a complete collection of games that can be had for less. It's not even authorized! This idiot is also trying to sell an official Suikoden II guide for the same price.

Thats twisted, but just because the guy is asking almost a grand for it doesn't mean anyone will pay that much for it, does it? What do these guides usually sell for?

[Ed Oscuro]

Well, the lowest price listed is about $148.

I personally say screw it...get the Dracula X: Rondo of Blood guide AND Akumajo Dracula (SFC variant) before that o_O

Back in those days import guides were much better than the US versions, though that started evening out in the PSX days (especially N64 stuff; Zelda TOoT has a beautifully done NP guide...need to find myself a copy)

[Eternal Champion]

Over the years I never paid attention to guides, as I never had any RPGs except store-bought Phantasy Star II. Over 2 years ago I got FFIII complete with ratty guide for 70 bucks! I thought that was high. Chrono Trigger guide is rare and in high demand. Expect to pay at least 30 bucks.

For me, the Holy Fuckin' Grail is Phantasy Star IV. Rare. High demand. I saw one listed on Amazon for 60 bucks, and it's gone now, so someone bought it. @_@ I've seen PSIV guides in good condition go for well over 30 bucks on Ebay.
For that price, I'll take the time looking at websites and piece together my own.

EDIT: For all 3 I'm talking about "the Official Player's Guide", for FFIII and CT I'm guessing published by Nintendo. Yep, the FFIII guide has art by the Japanese artist who illustrated Gaiman's "The Dream Hunters" and "Elektra & Wolverine" written by Greg Rucka.

[j1e]

I'm up to nearly 40 strats right now. I see some mention of the Phantasy Star IV guide. I got lucky and got this guide for $10 w/ free shipping from eBay last year.

One guide I'm looking for now is Skies of Arcadia Legends for the GCN. It seems to be fetching $40+.

[backguard]

Some of the most rare guides are those that you had to special order after purchasing the game. Shadowgate for the NES had such a guide.

[SegaAges]

What about the Half Life Guide for Dreamcast?

[j1e]

Someone mentioned a guide for Harvest Moon 64 on the N64. Can someone confirm that this guide is out there somewhere??? I didn't find anything on eBay or Amazon.

Also, the Lufia II guide for SNES. Does anyone happen to have this? I remember one selling on eBay a few years ago for around $80-$90.

[LaughingMAN.S9]

i saw this price out in the wild 2 years ago and is at best an educated guess on my part as to the true value of this guide today, but i remember trying to buy the original silent hill guide from game traders here in florida, i think they either wanted 70 or 90 dollars for it.



needless to say, his face and shirt were both stained grape flavored gatorade purple after he finished that sentence, up until that point in my life, i had no idea there even WAS a market for strategy guides anymore, especially considering you can usually go to gamefaqs to get the same info. but to find out that there were actually guides that went for more than the actual game was quite literally shocking to me.


can anyone confirm the value of this guide for me? im not sure who published it tho, it was 2 years back afterall

[tom]

The VCS strategy guides, because as a pack-in they are usually missing from the game.

Also the Gold boxes strategy guides, they were the best

[coreys429]

Earthbound Guide anyone?

[A Black Falcon]

I don't have too many guides, but of the few I have I have no idea if any are worth anything, I've never checked. Never made a list of the ones I have either, actually... hmm, let's see what I come up with from memory. Just talking about full book guides here.

Metroid Fusion (Nintendo Power guide)
Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie's Double Trouble (Nintendo Power guide)
Donkey Kong Country (Nintendo Power guide)
SimCity 2000 (PC version guide, forget which guide it is specifically)
Caesar II (PC game, again I forget who made this guide... don't have these here to check at the moment. Invaluable book, that game was great but incredibly hard!)
Homeworld (PC, the guide that was packed in with the Game of the Year edition so I imagine it's quite common)
San Francisco Rush: Extreme Racing (Prima's N64 version guide. It's a really good guide, has an interview with some of the developers in it and everything.)

Also, there are some smaller ones, pamphlet-size stuff... for intance I have the guide that you got for registering Hugo's House of Horrors (PC) that gives solutions to all the puzzles.

I remember seeing a few guides not too long ago for pretty cheap, but I didn't care about Tekken 3 or Ridge Racer V, which were two of them (I have Tekken 3, but don't think it's that great...), the Final Fantasy Tactics guide I saw was falling apart (a bunch of the pages had come out of the binding), and there was some Final Fantasy guide I think but I'm not sure which one it was for. No idea if those are still there, though.

[scottw182]

The Mario All-Stars guide is somewhat rare. It used to sell pretty high, like 30-50 in most cases, haven't followed it since I got my own copy.

[heybtbm]

Continuing an almost 7 year old thread? What the heck...

Final Fantasy VII Perfect Guide (Versus) still commands top dollar on ebay. Not necessarily rare, but still in demand.

A new one to watch is the Brady Guide for Star Ocean: 2nd Evolution (PSP). Getting upwards of $30-40 right now. I'm assuming a tiny print run. Amazon ran out of stock a few months after the game released...which is saying something.

[j1e]

Continuing an almost 7 year old thread? What the heck....

Why the hell not? Strats are still relevant to some of us :)

[maxlords]

There's a whole new generation of rare guides now. Since most stores aren't even bothering to stock em, it's only gonna get worse too. Very frustrating for those of us that buy em, especially for small releases. Stuff like Tales of Vesperia, Tales of the Abyss, Star Ocean: Second Evolution, and a bunch more are all shooting up. Other guides are staying consistently high, like Valkyrie Profile, Suikoden I and II, and a few others. It's a rapidly fluctuating market though.

IMO, don't expect any given guide to hold it's value for more than 6-12 months in general.

[GarrettCRW]

No Nintendo Power guide, save Mario Mania, which was pulled for the equally rare Mario All-Stars guide, and the Earthbound guide (which was packed in with the game), are not rare, as they were sold for ages directly by Nintendo. Some of the Super NES-era guides (Chrono Trigger and the Donkey Kong Country sequels, for instance) were even drastically reduced in price during the N64 era.

[Purkeynator]

A couple I have not seen mentioned that were high on my want list for a while were the Secret of Mana guide and the Arc the Lad Collection Vol 1 guides. I was able to snag a Mana guide in an auction for around $30 with some other random guides (which I turned around and resold again on ebay to cut my losses). I was able to get the Arc the Lad guide for around $30 as well in a lucky auction which nobody else bid on. The Arc guide was awesome, its a small hard bound book with very pretty and colorful pages. They were very limited in print run. The EB games I used to work at in 2002 only got one copy in and it sat forever without any buyers. Sadly Vol 2 which was to have Arc 3 in it was planned but never published. Cheapassgamer forums has a pretty lively trading guide thread which I have used numerous times. I have probably traded over 100 guides there over the past 5 years or so.

[Natty Bumppo]

This thread makes me glad I am somewhat of a packrat. I have a pretty large collection of guides (up until the gamecube) - including most of the rpgs mentioned in this thread. Most of these I picked up new when the games came out - just to have them (I tend to be a completist on this stuff) since I generally don't use them. I have dupes for some too since I would/will pick them up in thrift stores or used in game stores (back when you still could find cheaply priced stuff in them).

(Another nice one that I didn't see mentioned was for Vanguard Bandits.)

[backguard]

most of the guides people are citing were mass produced and available in stores. i haven't seen a single mention of an actually rare guide.

the truly rare guides are from the very early era of guides (nes and before) and that you had to special order from the manufacturer. again shadowgate comes to mind.

[maxlords]

Even some of the mail order guides are fairly easy to come by. I didn't have any trouble picking up the Phantasy Star III and IV guides, or the Dragon Warrior 1 guide myself.

There are some even more obscure ones out there too, D&D Warriors of the Eternal Flame (I think that's the title) for the Genesis had a guide for example. One I just picked up the other day I had NO idea had a guide - Brainlord for SNES. Anything 16 Bit or earlier, sure the guides were mail order or whatnot, and they're probably technically rarer, but the demand isn't there for a lot of em either.

The stuff I mentioned, I specifically related to demand, not actual print quantities. No one knows those. And for that matter, if you know much about the book market currently, print runs are dropping like crazy and bookstores are going out of business left and right. There are all kinds of huge problems with the book industry which are leading to smaller printings of a lot of things. Same for comics...print runs are the lowest they've been in 30 years there. Just cause it's new doesn't necessarily mean they printed half a million copies...

[Natty Bumppo]

Rarity is one of those rather slippery terms. For the purposes in this thread I suspect it translates to desirability - which in turn relates to the prices that something commands on ebay (or wherever). (This will also be related to how much disposable income a person has - so if Bill Gates decided to start collecting video game stuff virtually nothing would be rare (unless there were so few made that copies never came up for sale) from his perspective.

Once something stops being made (and the remaining retail/wholesale stock has been sold off) it perforce becomes more scarce (or a increase in degree of rarity if you will) since one can't go into a store and buy it. And this scarcity can only increase with time unless other factors intervene.

I suspect print runs of most rpg guides (like the runs of the games themselves) was smaller to begin with than more popular game guides - which is why rpgs and rpg guides often command higher prices than their non-rpg cousins (obviously there are going to be exceptions either way).

And not every guide printed is going to survive - and if they do they are going to likely suffer damage - which will push the better condition ones up in value as they will be more scarce than what a book collector would call "reading copies". (A guide that is expensive to begin with - such as the Lunar 2 hardbound will likely be treated by the owner more carefully than other cheaper guides - with the result that the cheaper guide in mint condition might well be equal to or greater than the value of the nicer guide -even if many more of the cheaper guide were produced originally.)

Even if something is fairly common it may still be desirable enough to command a fair price - for example there always seem to be copies of Brigandine (for the ps) available on ebay - yet a more or less intact copy will still command a good prce.



.

[RASK1904]

I have 4 or 5 of the ones mentioned in my fs/ft thread as we speak for a couple bucks under what they go for. Check them out.

[calistarwind]

Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne guide goes for a pretty decent price as well.

[wingzrow]

I'm going to go and say there's no such thing as a harvest moon 64 guide. I bought the game on release and haven't seen a copy in all these years.

[The 1 2 P]

The majority of PS1 rpg strategy guides are worth a decent amount($20+). Also, the Dreamcast strategy guide for Half-Life is worth alittle bit of coin because the game never was released for it.

[Gameguy]

Add this to the list of strategy guides I previously didn't know existed but now want. A Lolo 3 strategy guide. I don't remember this guide being mentioned before anywhere on this site.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/ws/280946347316

[tom]

The SSI gold box games Strategy guides are very rare and collectable now.
Same with the Infocom guides

[jmjohnson85]

The rarest ones I know of (most rare to least rare):

Milon's Secret Castle (NO ISBN)
Killer Instinct 2 (0761505512)
Arena Codex Scientia (0929843304)
The Battlespire Athenaeum (0929843290)
Boogerman (1559587962)
Ultima Collection (0761514856)
Warcraft: Orcs & Humans (0761501436)
Final Fantasy Mystic Quest (NO ISBN)


Honorable mentions (most rare to least rare):

Koudelka (0761531025)
Mega Man (0874552419)
Lufia II: Rise of the Sinistrals (UPC: 032020718092)
Mortal Kombat 4 Arcade (0761510761)
Revelations: Persona [GAMEFANS] (NO ISBN)
Lufia & the Fortress of Doom (1572800364)
Fallout (1566867134)
Mana Khemia 2 (1449560725)
Dragon Warrior II Unveiled Secrets (NO ISBN)
NiGHTS into Dreams... (076150866X)
Dragon Warrior Monsters (0761527303)
Dragon Quest V (0744010985)
Castlevania: Legacy of Darkness (0761525009)

[BlastProcessing402]

Final Fantasy Mystic Quest (NO ISBN)

Was that ever actually sold? Or just given away in some offer included in the MQ box? That's how I got mine.

[jmjohnson85]

Was that ever actually sold? Or just given away in some offer included in the MQ box? That's how I got mine.

You are correct that it was never sold at retail (which is why it is so uncommon). I got mine on the bay.

[SparTonberry]

Didn't Lagoon for SNES also have a mail-in strategy guide offer?

I'd imagine that has to also be uncommon due to the game's unpopularity.

[jmjohnson85]

Didn't Lagoon for SNES also have a mail-in strategy guide offer?

I'd imagine that has to also be uncommon due to the game's unpopularity.

Ah, nice. Didn't know about that one. It does seem likely quite rare.... Might have to add that to my wish list.

[SparTonberry]

Too bad about the Lufia guide being rare/uncommon. I actually remember considering at one point to buy it or not back when GameStop (or FuncoLand) sold used guides. :(

[jonebone]

And here's the Lagoon "guide" you were talking about... it's a Hint Book though. There's several hard-to-find / rare Hint Books across NES / SNES, or even the Crystalis Clue Book.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/LAGOON-SNES-SUPER-NINTENDO-complete-with-hint-book-/281210970294

[VACRMH]

There was also a guide for the SNES version of Wizardry V.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Wizardry-V-Super-Nintendo-Official-Clue-Book-Snes-Strategy-Hints-Tips-Secrets-/121173226013?pt=Video_Games_Games&hash=item1c367cb21d#ht_130wt_1365

[jmjohnson85]

Too bad about the Lufia guide being rare/uncommon.

Hmph. Tell me about it. Both of the Lufia guides are at the bottom of my wanted list because I am NOT willing to spend that kind of cash on a guide.


I actually remember considering at one point to buy it or not back when GameStop (or FuncoLand) sold used guides. :(

Waahhh! Why didn't you get it!! :p


Well anyways, I couldn't take it anymore and I had to know if the MK Special Forces guide actually existed or not so I sent Prima an email (also asked about a Star Wars guide that also seems to not exist). I am posting Prima's response in case anyone else wants to know the answer.

Original inquiry email:


From: Jeremy Johnson [mailto:xxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxx]
Sent: Tuesday, November 19, 2013 4:47 PM
To: Feedback (PrimaGames)
Subject: RE: [eguides] Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Special Forces and X-Wing Vs. Tie Fighter Guides

To: Feedback (PrimaGames)

Subject: [eguides] Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Special Forces and X-Wing Vs. Tie Fighter Guides

Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Special Forces (076152326X)
Star Wars X-Wing vs. Tie Fighter (0761509380)

Hi, I have been patiently trying to find copies of these guides for about a year now but I have not once seen a single one pop up anywhere. Starting to wonder if these were ever even available for purchase...
If someone could let me know the scoop on these guides I would be very appreciative. I am around 30 guides away from completing a collection of about 500 guides so I am getting very serious about finding the stragglers. :)

Thanks so much and take care!!

--------------------------

Sent from primagames.com contact form by: Jeremy Johnson


First response:



On 2013-11-19 18:35, Feedback (PrimaGames) wrote:

Hi Jeremy,

Thank you for your interest in our guides. Unfortunately, these guides are no longer available.

Veronika


Second inquiry:



Veronika,

Thank you so much for getting back to me!! Based on your response I am not quite sure if you fully understood my
question. I wasn't actually wondering if these guides were still available but was unsure if these guides ever even
existed to begin with. Is there any way you can confirm that these guides were *for sure* printed at one time?

Thanks again and take care!

--
Jeremy Johnson


Second response:



Hi Jeremy, I checked into this and found that both titles were not released.

I hope this information helps,

Veronika

[jmjohnson85]

There was also a guide for the SNES version of Wizardry V.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Wizardry-V-Super-Nintendo-Official-Clue-Book-Snes-Strategy-Hints-Tips-Secrets-/121173226013?pt=Video_Games_Games&hash=item1c367cb21d#ht_130wt_1365

Oh, very nice!

[xelement5x]

Props for the very nice sleuthing!