Top 5 rarest American Systems Of All Time! [Archive]

vintagegamecrazy

05-20-2004, 10:56 AM

Call it! What are the top 5 in order from rarest to least rarest?
Here's what I think.

1 Halcyon
2 Adventurevision
3 Select A Game
4/5 APF M1000
5/4 Pippin

Are there others that should be there first?

Also what are the rarest cart computers
and import game systems?

sisko

05-20-2004, 11:12 AM

The Pippin was released stateside? I didn't think any of Bandai's consoles were... How many US titles are there?

I've never even heard of the Halcyon :embarrassed:

hydr0x

05-20-2004, 11:14 AM

The Pippin was released stateside? I didn't think any of Bandai's consoles were... How many US titles are there?

I've never even heard of the Halcyon :embarrassed:

neither have i!

i guess the Pippin release was as huge as the PC-Engine release in Europe >> nearly not existent ;)

vintagegamecrazy

05-20-2004, 11:22 AM

There is under 20 games stateside for the pippin, and VGB stated that tihere is between 2000 and 10000 us consoles released.

hydr0x

05-20-2004, 11:25 AM

There is under 20 games stateside for the pippin, and VGB stated that tihere is between 2000 and 10000 us consoles released.

mh that's not that rare after all imho, the PC-Engine had only 1 pal game ;)

vintagegamecrazy

05-20-2004, 11:32 AM

PC Engine was very rare in europe what else is extremely rare over there? Probably the Colorvision by Bazin. Lets compose a top 5 in US and one Separately for Euro.

anagrama

05-20-2004, 12:02 PM

All the pre-crash Euro stuff is a bit of a headache - a lot of systems were licensed by different companies in different countries, and there's often 4 or more different Euro versions of some machines [for example, the Channel F was released as the Grandstand Channel F (UK), SABA Videoplay & Nordmende Teleplay (Germany) and Luxor Video Entertainment (Sweden)]. I'd guess that a lot of these kind of variations are among the rarest, but I don't know enough about most of them to make a qualified judgement. Some of the Videopac variations are probably up there aswell.

I'm not sure if the PC Engine would really count either - was it ever properly released? Or were they just semi-authorised imports?
There was the PAL Turbografx (France/Spain only?) aswell, but that's not as rare.

hydr0x - what's the PAL PC Engine game? I had just assumed that US Turbo games were imported instead of any proper Euro releases.

Kid Ice

05-20-2004, 12:15 PM

I believe the Ultravision would take the title if any were actually ever produced. IIRC the ads that ran in the early 80s had photographs and not artist's renditions, so it's possible there's at least one out there.

Sega Neptune could be on the list too.

Captain J

05-20-2004, 12:20 PM

The Pippin was released stateside? I didn't think any of Bandai's consoles were... How many US titles are there?

I've never even heard of the Halcyon :embarrassed:

The Halcyon was the laserdisc system made by Rick Dyer, the man who along with Don Bluth, created Dragons Lair, Space Ace, Etc. It was designed to play all the arcade laserdisc games but sadly only released Thayers Quest (Kingdoms) and NFL Football before fading into obscurity. It was $2000 when it came out and did not catch on. It is so rare that about 2 years ago i was at a conference with Rick and asked him if he had a Halcyon and he replied, "I wish!"

vintagegamecrazy

05-20-2004, 12:20 PM

Sorry I forgot to specify. What are the rarest original consoles not clones or variations? If variations were counted all of the 2600 clones would be no 1. Lets not cound protos either.

Captain J

05-20-2004, 12:27 PM

The Pippin was released stateside? I didn't think any of Bandai's consoles were... How many US titles are there?

I've never even heard of the Halcyon :embarrassed:

the pippen in japan is know as the atmark and the pippen in the us is known as the atworld

tholly

05-20-2004, 01:04 PM

tholly

05-20-2004, 01:07 PM

...and heres what the set up looked like

http://darkwatcher.psxfanatics.com/console/halcyon.htm

Darkness X

05-20-2004, 01:08 PM

I feel like such a n00b, I don't know what half of these systems are! :embarrassed: :(

Anyway, as far as the rarest consoles here in the USA, I'm not sure. Even though I know it's not one of the top 5(or even near it), the Sega Saturn seems really REALLY rare in my town. I'm the only one that even owns a Saturn or knows what it is, And my town isn't really even that small(around 35,000)

Note: Sorry for being slightly off topic

le geek

05-20-2004, 02:25 PM

Would the CDTV and/or CD32 be in the running?

Ben

Ze_ro

05-20-2004, 02:28 PM

I feel like such a n00b, I don't know what half of these systems are! :embarrassed: :(

That's not surprising... this thread is (by definition) focusing on the most obscure stuff out there.

Anyways... how about the Amiga CD32 and the Laseractive?

--Zero

sisko

05-20-2004, 02:54 PM

The Laseractive is uncommon. It can be found if you know what youre looking for, but thats about it. From my personal experience, I would rate the unit an R5/6

No where near as rare as an Adventurevision =)

Escape�From�Jenny�Island

05-20-2004, 02:55 PM

YEah PiPPiN was released, only about 600 sold though. All I have for it are the pack in "games" and a Gundam game which is surprisingly good.

But the DragonBall GT game thats worth 300 on PSX, is worth 600 on this nasty machine :-P

vintagegamecrazy

05-20-2004, 03:36 PM

The CD 32 and Laseractive are Definately hard to find but with patience and cash they are easy and especially on Ebay. One of my good friends has a laseractive he wants to sell to me when i get the money. I'd venture to say that the CD 32 is a bit rarer than the Laseractive. Neither are as rare as the for mentioned though. Another one in the running that I forgot to mention is the Gamate. That thing was barely released in the states. I have never seen one even on Ebay. Anyone own one of these things?

Ze_ro

05-21-2004, 01:58 AM

Keep in mind that the CD32 was much less of a failure in Europe, so if you're going by eBay sightings, then you may be under a false impression of it's popularity.

Besides, I think the CDTV is less common than the CD32 anyways. I'd never say that either was ever as rare as the Halcyon or the Adventurevision... but they might be comparable to the APF MP-1000.

--Zero

Phosphor Dot Fossils

05-21-2004, 02:53 AM

One word for you: Cosmos. There's at least one working prototype out there - is that that one in the CGE museum?

Ze_ro

05-21-2004, 11:55 AM

I think we're limiting things to consoles that were actually released in some way or form.

--Zero

norkusa

05-21-2004, 12:19 PM

Has anyone here even seen a Halcyon in person? I've been trying to find one for years. I did see one on Ebay 3 years ago, but it was just the laserdisc player and didn't come with the CPU add-on and big control pad. Didn't someone at the CGE a couple years ago have a complete and fully functioning Halycon set up for play?

Also, isn't Thayers Quest available as a DVD game (like Time Traveler and Johnny Rock)? I know it's on the 3DO under the name Kingdom: The Far Reaches.

Zap!

12-06-2008, 12:25 AM

I'll put the Halcyon over the Adventurevision by quite a bit. While it is very rare, at least people have heard of it. It saw a fairly mainstream release, and was advertised in gaming mags. However, even many hardcore video gaming historians have never heard of the Halcyon. I can't think of anything rarer. I have no memory of it being advertised anywhere.

MASTERWEEDO

12-06-2008, 12:38 AM

many people debtate the release of the Halcyon, claiming its only a proto or that it never was sold in stores.

norkusa

12-06-2008, 01:29 AM

Gameguy

12-06-2008, 01:49 AM

Also, isn't Thayers Quest available as a DVD game (like Time Traveler and Johnny Rock)? I know it's on the 3DO under the name Kingdom: The Far Reaches.
I've seen Thayer's Quest in stores, it's available on DVD.

I'm pretty sure I saw a pippin on my local craigslist or Kijiji awhile back, but it was an import version. It was too expensive for me but was interesting to see pictures of.

tom

12-06-2008, 01:51 AM

Chainclaw

12-06-2008, 02:46 AM

Anyone have a Phantom? They actually showed them off at E3 one year, so there have to be some floating around.

TurboGenesis

12-06-2008, 01:38 PM

I'm pretty sure I saw a pippin on my local craigslist or Kijiji awhile back, but it was an import version. It was too expensive for me but was interesting to see pictures of.

I just sold my Pippin @world here on these forums recently :bawling:
Times are real bad for me (I work in automotive manufacturing) and I had to let it go as it wasn't really doing much but sitting in a box. It was a nice piece of history though and would make for good conversation�

Zap!

12-06-2008, 02:19 PM

I just sold my Pippin @world here on these forums recently :bawling:
Times are real bad for me (I work in automotive manufacturing) and I had to let it go as it wasn't really doing much but sitting in a box. It was a nice piece of history though and would make for good conversation�

How much do they go for these days if I might ask?

Ze_ro

12-06-2008, 03:17 PM

Wow, two year old thread bump... why did this come back up?

I've seen Thayer's Quest in stores, it's available on DVD.
It was also ported to some other systems... There's definitely a CD-i release (though it's renamed to "Kingdom: The Far Reaches"), and I believe a 3DO release (might also have been renamed).

I don't think any other versions of the football game ever came out... wasn't really a good idea in the first place.

I never see much talk about the Select-A-Game... does anyone here have one?

--Zero

Zap!

12-06-2008, 03:25 PM

Wow, two year old thread bump... why did this come back up?

Why not? My view is, if it's a good thread and there is something of value to add to it, by all means bring it back! :)

scooterb23

12-06-2008, 04:10 PM

How about a working XBox 360?? Hahaha, oh look at me taking a dig at Micro$oft, see? Even got the dollar sign in there. Oh I kill me. I'm so witty and original.

Tempest

12-06-2008, 05:10 PM

The APF isn't all that rare, they pop up several times a year on ebay. If you want to include computers in the mix there are quite a few rarities:

Exidy Sorcerer
Spectravision SV-316/328
Videobrain

Tempest

98PaceCar

12-06-2008, 07:16 PM

Someone here has a complete Halcyon set-up (98PaceCar I think?). I think he said he got his from someone associated with the company back in the day.

But yeah, I remember hearing stories that they were never officially sold in stores and the only people that got them were investors in the company. On the Digital Leisure Dragon's Lair dvd, there's some old news footage of Dyer in a warehouse with a stacks of Halcyon's, so they are definitely out there.

Yea, I'm one of the two folks here that have a Halcyon (that I know of anyway). Mine came to me indirectly from the son of one of the original investors. I believe the other member that has one got his directly from an investor.

I've heard that they were never released as well as that they saw limited release to try to appease the investors. I'm not sure which is true but I do know it's easily one of the top 5 hardest to get.

Incidentally, I now have all 5 of the systems on the original list. I agree with Tempest that the APF line (M1000 and MP1000) is not all that hard to find, but I'm not sure what I would put in it's place. Everything else gets to be very easy to locate after number 5 or so.

Tempest

12-06-2008, 07:27 PM

Well the APF isn't hard to find, but the Imagination Machine add-on is nearly impossible to get.

Tempest

Zap!

12-06-2008, 09:53 PM

YEah PiPPiN was released, only about 600 sold though.

I heard multiple times the US number is 42,000.

swlovinist

12-06-2008, 10:09 PM

pending if vintage computers count, I would agree the videobrain is a hard one to find and belong on the list. The APF is very uncommon, but is not oober rare.

Bojay1997

12-06-2008, 10:23 PM

I heard multiple times the US number is 42,000.

There is absolutely no way that's correct. There were a total of three mail order places that sold the US Pippin and some quantity that went to a hotel chain for in-room entertainment/internet. I heard the total sold from all three retailers and including the hotel units was more like 12,000. I guess that's why it almost never shows up on Ebay or elsewhere in the US version and when it does, it's usually just the unit and a loose disc or two.

y-bot

12-06-2008, 10:26 PM

A rare handheld in USA is for sure the programmable (sort of like 'microvision')
Palmtex Home-Computer Software Super Micro Cartridge System from 1983:

http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c173/thomasholzer/59a7_1.jpg

I've never heard of this one. Not sure if the original poster specifically meant the APF M1000 or the APF MP-1000 as well. The M-1000 is pretty tough to find. The MP-1000 pops up on Ebay fairly regularly. The Chase The Chuckwagon guy was selling a Select-A-Game recently on Ebay. I've never owned one but I did find 3 sealed carts for it once. I feel pretty lucky after reading this list. I've owned an Adventurevision, Spectravideo (it's the one in the CGE museum), and I'm getting a Videobrain from Tempest as we speak.

y-bot

Zap!

12-06-2008, 10:35 PM

There is absolutely no way that's correct. There were a total of three mail order places that sold the US Pippin and some quantity that went to a hotel chain for in-room entertainment/internet. I heard the total sold from all three retailers and including the hotel units was more like 12,000. I guess that's why it almost never shows up on Ebay or elsewhere in the US version and when it does, it's usually just the unit and a loose disc or two.

Not saying who's right or wrong, but here are two links, both putting the number at 42,000.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bandai_Pippin

By the time the Apple Bandai Pippin was released (1995 in Japan; 1996 in the United States), the market was dominated by the Sega Saturn, Sony PlayStation, and soon Nintendo 64. In addition there was little ready-to-use software for Pippin, the only major publisher being Bandai itself. It cost US$599 on launch,[1] and touted as a cheap computer, the system, in reality, was commonly identified as a video game console. As such, its price was considered too expensive in comparison to its contemporaries.

Bandai manufactured some tens of thousand Pippins (reported sales were 42,000) before discontinuing the system; production was so limited that there were more keyboard and modem accessories produced than actual systems.

http://www.nationmaster.com/encyclopedia/Apple-Bandai-Pippin

Scroll down to units sold. That is two examples, I can give more if requested.

Bojay1997

12-06-2008, 10:36 PM

Someone here has a complete Halcyon set-up (98PaceCar I think?). I think he said he got his from someone associated with the company back in the day.

But yeah, I remember hearing stories that they were never officially sold in stores and the only people that got them were investors in the company. On the Digital Leisure Dragon's Lair dvd, there's some old news footage of Dyer in a warehouse with a stacks of Halcyon's, so they are definitely out there.

Those stacks in the picture were of Halcyon branded Pioneer LD-700 laserdisc players. I have the purchase docs between RDI and Pioneer and they had to commit to buy 1,000 of them to get a good price, so that's why they had stacks of them. That's also why a number of people have found them over the years and mistakenly thought they had found a Halcyon when in fact it's just a standard LD-700 with a different face plate.

Tempest

12-06-2008, 11:29 PM

I've never heard of this one. Not sure if the original poster specifically meant the APF M1000 or the APF MP-1000 as well. The M-1000 is pretty tough to find. The MP-1000 pops up on Ebay fairly regularly.

That's true, I have an MP-1000 but not an M-1000 (the difference being a built in game). I don't think I've ever seen an M-1000 for sale the more I think about it.

Tempest

98PaceCar

12-07-2008, 12:17 AM

That's true, I have an MP-1000 but not an M-1000 (the difference being a built in game). I don't think I've ever seen an M-1000 for sale the more I think about it.

Tempest

Have the differences ever been fully figured out? I thought the only thing was the power led.

The odd thing about my M-1000 is that the box shows a pic of the MP-1000, but I have no reason to think it was pieced together at a later date. I'd like to know if there was a box for the M-1000 specifically.

swlovinist

12-07-2008, 12:21 AM

Y-bot youll have to show me the gamebrain up and running some time. Congrats!

Bojay1997

12-07-2008, 03:03 AM

Not saying who's right or wrong, but here are two links, both putting the number at 42,000.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bandai_Pippin

http://www.nationmaster.com/encyclopedia/Apple-Bandai-Pippin

Scroll down to units sold. That is two examples, I can give more if requested.

Not to be critical, but in the Wiki article, the source is Assemblergames.com which doesn't even have the info they are citing with regard to sales numbers. The second article has no source either. I suspect all of these articles may just be citing the same speculation since Bandai never released specific sales numbers as far as I know. It also appears that they are giving 42,000 as the total sold for the US and Japan which I would not take issue with. The Japanese Pippin is not at all rare and is regularly available on Ebay for relatively low cost, new and complete. I suspect that the Pippin sold 30,000 in Japan and 12,000 in the US which would be consistent with the 42K number.

Volcanon

12-07-2008, 03:40 AM

The pippin at least had Marathon 2, a decent fps.

HaggarCodyGuy123

12-07-2008, 04:38 AM

Maybe I shouldn't have passed up a loose broken American Pippin@World for $10 when I saw it at a thrift store.

ProgrammingAce

12-07-2008, 09:30 AM

Anyone have a Phantom? They actually showed them off at E3 one year, so there have to be some floating around.

We threw the guys from Phantom out of our building a few years back (2005ish). At the time, they didn't even have a working idea of what their console should be. I have no idea what were in those boxes they showed off at E3.