Final Fantasy games suddenly rare???

[Gemini-Phoenix]

I have noticed that for some reason PAL copies of FF7, 8, and 9 have gone up in value (On eBay) in the last few weeks...


Just like their American cousins, the original black label games with picture discs (Not platinum ones) seem to have crept up towards the £30 mark...


I have also noticed that FF6 has started to creep up in value too...


And as with the US versions, the cheaper re-releases (Platinum ones) can be snapped up for less than half the price in sealed condition.


This is a very bizarre occurance. Will we also see a lot of other PlayStation games suddenly rise in value?


What kills me is - A few weeks ago, my local Toys R Us was kicking brand new copies of FF8 and FF9 for a fiver each! :roll:

[The_EniGma]

Yea thats weird, my local comet stocked FF9 for £40, now its at £20.. Cheap bastards cant they drop it any lower so i can snap one up :/

Well at least im lucky i have my FF7

But this is a weird thing, maybe its just a one off period of time, since usually ff7s go for about £7 on ebay although FF9 has always been expensive, the original i once saw go for £30

[anagrama]

No, they are not, and never will be.

[mkg12]

yes they can be rare, so dont say they never will be. you just have to go out and destroy a couple million copies of the game.

[digitalpress]

Using eBay over the course of a few weeks is something I'd advise against if you're serious about collecting.

[The_EniGma]

Yeah, ebay can be pretty stupid for prices sometimes, although werent the final fantasy produced in mass numbers? I doubt they could be rare especially following their platinum re-releases.

[Kejoriv]

Not rare. Just highly in demand

[kainemaxwell]

Ebay prices skyrocketing this time of the year again?

[Gemini-Phoenix]

But it's the original copies which seem to be going mental. Especially FF9.

A few weeks back it was around a tenner. Now it's between £20 and £30...


But you have to consider this: Out of the countless millions (In this case, maybe 8,000,000 + copies sold) only one million of those will be the original black label ones with the picture discs...

All the rest will be platinum versions.

[AtariBuff]

there are *many* copies of the FF series out there BUT FF is a very steady and recognised franchise. so there is always demand for it. many people just begin to collect PS1 games and many more will start to hunt down games for maybe their first system. the FF games are 3 cd's and more and to get them in decent condition could be a great factor for collectors in the future. also don't forget FF anthology and chronicles which also bring some hefty prices on eBay these days.

[calthaer]

The only copies of FF I've ever heard about being "rare" are possibly the SNES ones and the FF7 / 8 that came out for the PC. If anything else is jacked up in price it's probably a rip-off.

[Nature Boy]

Rare Item = High Price

but

High Price <> Rare Item

[GaijinPunch]

Rare Item = High Price

Not always. There are games that are pretty rare but are either so obscure or bad that they're not that expensive. PC-Engine Bonanza Brothers took me over a year to find, and it still only ran 3,000 yen. I try to make note of these on Japanese Gaming. They're not common, but I wouldn't say they're few and far between either. When you get down to the REALLY RARE (like print run of 2000 or less) then they're usually really expensive, no matter how much of a turd it is.

Back on the main topic -- anyone think it's the upcoming FFXII that's got people wanting to catch up?

[Ed Oscuro]

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=62053&item=8183733839&rd=1

Does that look sealed to you? Same here.

[Ed Oscuro]

PC-Engine Bonanza Brothers took me over a year to find, and it still only ran 3,000 yen.
There's three on eBay right now, and while they're a bit expensive it's not like Tenchi wo Kurau or Kaze Kiri expensive (...all eBay-wise that is).

[Fuyukaze]

Final Fantasy a "rare" game? Thats like saying Sonic was rare for the genesis. Prices flux due to precieved demand sometimes. A sealed copy of Final Fantasy 7, 8, or 9 is at best somewhat rare because with each opening of them, they eliminated one more sealed copy. Thats about it though. Heck, I'd say buy it used if your wanting it for play.

[Promophile]

Rare Item = High Price


Not really. Picked up a complete R7 at a gamestop the other day (yay!) and according to DP its only worth 5 dollars. (zoop for PS).

[kainemaxwell]

They're not rare, just highly sought after my collectors and gamers.

[vulcanjedi]

Hmm

There is some real complex formula of supply vs. demand with a twist of competition to "win" an auction on eBay. The more determined bidders the higher the prices. If you average things out in the history you can see the ebb and flow.

Personally I have been on eBay for 8 years now and seen some things go up and others go down. One thing that is sure is that great games or collectible franchises trend higher.

Rare is a description of quantity and really has nothing to do with value.

VJ

[robotriot]

Our local EB carries a lot of used PS1 games, and they are all priced at 9.99 - except for the Final Fantasy games, which are marked at 14.99. It's just a matter of high demand that drives the prices up, as has been mentioned before. Popular games will always fetch higher prices.

[om3ga]

My bet is that its cause of the new "Advent Children" movie comming out soon , some people are pretty pumped about it.

[Gemini-Phoenix]

Rare Item = High Price

Not always. There are games that are pretty rare but are either so obscure or bad that they're not that expensive.

I'll second that. There are a slew of PlayStation and Mega Drive games out there which are hard to find, but are either really crap, or obscure that they don't command such a high price.

Even Suikoden is fairly obscure to most people. Many of the rarest games are. Which is why they are so rare. Probably.


I also agree that it is probably the impending release of FFXII that has people wanting to catch up, or get back into playing FF games. And especially seeing as how FFXIII is said to be going back to it's roots the same as IX did... FFX and X2 can't exactly what i'd call classic FF games - The last "Classic" style FF game was IX...

And XI is something else completely!

[esquire]

Another thing to consider is the "NOW" factor. Sure sometime items on eBay may be higher than what the rarity guide states they are worth, or are higher than what you may find it for at a pawn, resale, thrift or garage sale. But with eBay, you are getting the item pretty much right away, so you are going to pay a little more. When I say "right away" I mean this: It avoids having to search on end for certain games that you want, in that mint condition that you hope for. Sure, I can go search daily/weekly/monthly for a certain game at those locations, but there is no guarantee that I will ever find that game in the condition that I want. Now on ebay it's much easier to find those items, and without the hassle of digging through dirty Genesis carts of Mortal Kombat, NBA Jam and Sonic hoping that you'll find a R7 that you need. Not to mention the time you can save. Some of us don't have the time to go on the "hunt" everyday, even every week, in hopes to find that diamond in the rough. And as the saying goes, time is money. Another consideration is that not everyone has access to pawns, thrifts, resales etc.

People need to take these factors into consideration before they bash eBay and the prices items go for. As long as your careful and know what you're doing, eBay can be a good way to find games for your collection that you would not normally be able to find locally.

[Ed Oscuro]

Another thing to consider is the "NOW" factor. ... It avoids having to search on end for certain games that you want, in that mint condition that you hope for. Sure, I can go search daily/weekly/monthly for a certain game at those locations, but there is no guarantee that I will ever find that game in the condition that I want.
Well, that would account for the premium on the game, sure, I can see that. The general pattern of bidding is like this:

1 - six days left or more) Die hard fans spot the game and BIN it if the price is right, or put it in their watch folder.

2. - six to two/three days left) n00bs or those who can't spend lots of time on eBay/don't have a bid sniping program put in their bids.

3. - two/three days left to the final fifteen minutes) n00bs, those who can't spend time, or those who follow rigid rules about putting in a maximum amount to avoid getting caught up in a bidding frenzy put in their top bids.

4. - final minutes to the last twenty seconds) Bid sniping happens here if the item is desireable and has stayed at a low price; only the foolhardy, those who want to brag, and the impatient will play in these waters.

My apologies if I've insulted anybody, but if it's at all possible to hold out on bidding on an item, do so. It saves lots of money on a regular basis.

[Sothy]

Dont even try to understand Final Fantasy games prices. its in its own little world like the heroin market ot Neo Geo collectors.

[Ed Oscuro]

Dont even try to understand Final Fantasy games prices. its in its own little world like the heroin market ot Neo Geo collectors.
Hey, that's not right - our games actually ARE rare, we aren't trying to cover our butts for inflation on the games since they originally came out! I'd still readily beat anybody who'd buy a $10K Kizuna, though.

[Bronty-2]

errmm... from some of the threads on here lately there's a few people who'd return the favor! :angel: Any comment on the 'bad trades'? If you already have apologies, I have not seen it if so.

[mkg12]

any game that becomes a greatest hits title is not "rare". rare games should be hard to find, and have low numbers. or maybe i am taking the definition of "rare" to literal. to become a greatest hits you need to sell at least 400,000 copies of the game, for people who might have not known.

[Cthulhu]

Rare and expensive aren't necessarily related. Blast Wind for the SS is much, much harder to find than Radiant Silvergun but it costs far less. Chrono Trigger for the SNES was produced in extremely large quantities but it remains an expensive game; the PS1 release of the game didn't bring the price down any.

That said, I have a hard time envisioning the prices of the PS1 FF games going up much ever, as they've all had multiple re-releases in many countries...[/i]