Current status of Virtual Boy collecting?

[dbiersdorf]

I used to collect Virtual Boy games, systems, accessories, memorabilia, etc. years ago, and actually had a pretty solid collection. After I lost interest in collecting I sold all of it off for, what I remember, a pretty solid price. I had the entire US collection, and a handful of the Japanese collection. Randomly I decided to go through eBay today and look at some auctions and was sort of surprised at what I saw.

Games like Virtual Fishing, Space Squash, and Insmouse No Yakata are currently on auction with less than a day to go, with no bids, all at less than $100. Even Space Squash has a buy it now for $40! Years ago I remember these titles, especially Insmouse reaching upwards to $200. Sealed copies of US games like Teleroboxer, Wario Land and even complete Mario's Tennis are pretty cheap. $800 for Gundam seems even somewhat on the cheaper side, right? Hell Virtual League Baseball's, for complete copies, are over $10. You used to be able to buy these in packs of 6, all sealed for less than $5.

However at the very least it appears as if Water World, 3D Tetris, Nester's Funky Bowling and Jack Bros have all maintained there prices, if not gone higher.

But regardless I remember when I sold my collection, I sold a measly Nintendo Power Water World poster for $27... the same thing doesn't even go for a fraction of that price anymore (http://cgi.ebay.com/WATER-WORLD-POSTER-Nintendo-Virtual-Boy-WaterWorld-/360280251863?cmd=ViewItem&pt=Video_Games_Accessories&hash=item53e2605dd7).

So VB collectors out there, I just wanted to ask has the market changed or am I just seeing some rare instances on eBay at the very moment?

[Eduardo]

I hate to blame everything on the economy but I collect other things as well and the market is down accross the board.

[Scissors]

I haven't been following prices of Virtual Boy stuff too closely recently, but I can say that Virtual Fishing, Space Squash, and Insmouse have been selling for less than $100 for at at least 5 years now. I actually don't recall prices of Virtual Fishing ever reaching $100. Space Squash used to sell for $150 to $200, but I'm guessing some new old stock was discovered. I remember Play-Asia was selling them for around $60 several years ago (that's where I got my copy) and I believe a few eBay sellers had multiple new copies around that time.

The price of a Mario Tennis with a display box seems to fluctuate a lot. I've seen them sell for as little as $20 and as high as $80.

I know Gundam used to sell for over $1000, but I'm not sure what it typically sells for nowadays.

Jack Bros has definitely gone up in price though. I remember MIB copies going for $40 to $60, but now that's what loose carts go for.

[garagesaleking!!]

A couple months ago on ebay I got $30ish for nesters funky bowling loose. I found it in a mario clash box I paid .99 for so I was happy.

[Bojay1997]

The reality is that most of the Japanese exclusive "rare" games were not in fact that rare. When you were collecting VB, there were very few Japanese sellers on Ebay and probably little access to Yahoo.JP auctions. Nowadays, there are a number of Japanese sellers who specialize in exporting to the US and various services which allow US bidders to buy on Yahoo Japan auctions. As such, the availability of most (but not all) of the Japanese titles has become much more widespread.

[dbiersdorf]

I haven't been following prices of Virtual Boy stuff too closely recently, but I can say that Virtual Fishing, Space Squash, and Insmouse have been selling for less than $100 for at at least 5 years now. I actually don't recall prices of Virtual Fishing ever reaching $100. Space Squash used to sell for $150 to $200, but I'm guessing some new old stock was discovered. I remember Play-Asia was selling them for around $60 several years ago (that's where I got my copy) and I believe a few eBay sellers had multiple new copies around that time.

The price of a Mario Tennis with a display box seems to fluctuate a lot. I've seen them sell for as little as $20 and as high as $80.

I know Gundam used to sell for over $1000, but I'm not sure what it typically sells for nowadays.

Jack Bros has definitely gone up in price though. I remember MIB copies going for $40 to $60, but now that's what loose carts go for.

I was probably actively collecting in 2006, and Virtual Fishing definitely sat around $85 to $120 on a constant basis. Insmouse I distinctly remember was ~$200 because it was too expensive for me to purchase.

I think if anything surprised me the most was that games like Mario Clash, Wario Land, and Red Alarm, in good condition could still set you back each in a good condition form ($25-$35 each).

And I don't know about that Japanese seller theory... I remember easily picking up almost all of the "common" titles in their Japanese form without a problem and in most cases they were flooding the listings. Is it possible there were just more collectors a few years back then compared to now?

Also is there a confirmed number on how many actual copies of Virtual Bowling were actually made? That title was fascinating to me because no matter what, whenever I saw it on eBay it always seemed to be in perfect condition. No cart only or even just manuals... which always led me to believe the same couple dozen copies were just being traded and sold amongst die hard VB collectors.

[Scissors]

I was probably actively collecting in 2006, and Virtual Fishing definitely sat around $85 to $120 on a constant basis. Insmouse I distinctly remember was ~$200 because it was too expensive for me to purchase.

Are you sure about that? I bought a complete and in decent condition Virtual Fishing in 2004 for about $65. I then paid $53 for one in better shape in 2005. Although I don't recall these prices being unusually low, I believe there were occasionally some still selling for $80 to $90. I paid $78 for Insmouse around the same time, which I thought was a pretty good price. I'm pretty sure it was around that time that Insmouse started consistently selling for under $100.

[dbiersdorf]

Are you sure about that? I bought a complete and in decent condition Virtual Fishing in 2004 for about $65. I then paid $53 for one in better shape in 2005. Although I don't recall these prices being unusually low, I believe there were occasionally some still selling for $80 to $90. I paid $78 for Insmouse around the same time, which I thought was a pretty good price. I'm pretty sure it was around that time that Insmouse started consistently selling for under $100.

It's probably all relative. I mean the prices jump around a lot, but I remember Virtual Fishing was pretty rare to see go anywhere near a $65 price range. And I bit the bullet at $90 because I was impatient. It's interesting to analyze the market though because even though there's so few games for the system prices often times fluctuate to crazy levels. You can go years without seeing a Virtual Bowling on eBay and then all of a sudden two can pop up in the same month throwing off the perceived value of the game.

I just looked online at vr32.de, did the Bound High prototype (or finalized version maybe?) get discovered? If so, that's an incredibly rare find.

[dbiersdorf]

http://cgi.ebay.com/Nintendo-Virtual-Boy-TV-Boy-VIRTUAL-BOY-GAMES-TV-/110569292516?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0

Wow, has anyone seen this before? Obviously not worth $50k, but to play VB games on a TV set?

[jbjabroni]

That device has been on ebay for awhile now, I remember seeing it probably about 2-3 months ago. No one in their right minds would pay that.

[thegamezmaster]

I have one and love it complete in box and just a handful of games. The rarest being Waterworld cib. Haven't found anything around here in central il except a handful of tennis games. Other than that drought city!

[NintendoPower88]

I found one of those virtual boy hard plastic blockbuster cases at a garage sale for 5 bucks i heard those are worth something.

[SegaAges]

I lucked out with most of my VB collection. For awhile, way back when, the Blockbuster near my house was selling VB games for $1 a pop in the box.

[Clownzilla]

I loved my VB but after a month of ownership one of the vibrating mirror parts broke (common problem).

[geneshifter]

I got a pretty good lot recently on craigslist with virtual boy with charger in blockbuster case and 7 boxed games for $85. I also got Waterworld cib so I was happy.

[ReTrO-pLaYeR]

I've seen nothing Virtual Boy, aside from a VBoy controller selling for a couple bucks at my local thrift store.