~~~ Help Needed -- N-Sider.com staff

[echo_machine]

Hey, Digital Press -

My name is Ryan Cooper -- News Editor/Staff Writer at N-Sider.com

I'm in the process of writing an article entitled: Top Ten Most Valuable Nintendo Collectibles, and would like some assistance from anyone who's willing. My expections are reasonable -- I'm only asking for round-about price ranges for the items I've already thought of, and maybe a few more ideas from you guys, if you're willing to contribute. I'll gladly award credit where credit is due -- you guys are the experts, after all.

So, without further ado, here are the candidates so far:

Virtual Boy retail Kiosk
Gameboy Color demo cartridge
Nintendo World Championships 1990 cartridge
SNES Earthbound (100% complete and mint)
Game&Watch -- Super Mario Bros. (special coin-op version)
NDS Best Friends Bundle
E3 05 Twilight Princess DS Trailer
Virtual Boy -- SD Gundam Dimension War
Game Boy Light
StarFox Super Weekend Cartridge
Final Fight Guy (with box)
GBA SP Limited Edition NES version
N64 Limited Gold 007 Edition (Toys R' Us)
NES California Raisins
SFC Far East of Eden Zero (Shounen Jump)
NES Stadium Events (I know... cliche)
NES Cheetahmen (same)
SNES Ogre Battle
SNES Final Fantasy III (100% complete and Mint)

I know some values are listed in your rarity guide, but I'm looking for a general consensus in terms of realistic street value from several sources. Feel free to offer up any suggestions in regards to items not on this list.

Thanks a million to anyone who helps out in advance. If you'd like your name included in the "Thanks to" section at the end of this article, please PM or email me (ryan@n-sider.com -or- sleek0079@yahoo.com) with your name.

-Ryan

*** EDIT: I forgot to mention that any original photos of these items would be greatly appreciated.

[InsaneDavid]

SNES Earthbound (100% complete and mint)

Remember that this was never sealed. I sold mine for $180 not too long ago (just before Christmas) Boxed that's around what they run, $160 - $200 on average if people are serious. Oh, and what about these...

http://www.startoursinfo.com/junk/pics-zeldaclock08.jpg

Yeah, I know they were in the 1990 World of Nintendo catalog but I still only know of three (including mine) that exist to this day.

[§ Gideon §]

Since this is a value-based list, there are some recent items you might have overlooked. Don't forget the UK's 6 golden GBA SP's! Also, there are the sequin-embroidered DS units done by a New York fashion company; a board member here recently purchased quite a few at Nintendo's World Store. You might enjoy talking to him. Since you're mentioning retail kiosks, pretty much all of those could make the cut--but that wouldn't make for a very fun list.

NES California Raisins is a rare prototype, and those are more like "priceless" than "valuable." There are tons more prototypes you could add along with that one.


Nintendo World Championships 1990 cartridge
Game&Watch -- Super Mario Bros. (special coin-op version)
Virtual Boy -- SD Gundam Dimension War
StarFox Super Weekend Cartridge
Final Fight Guy (with box)
NES Stadium Events (I know... cliche)
These are all very solid choices, and I doubt anyone here would put up much of an argument. Good luck with the article; N-Sider's one of my favorite sites, and I look forward to seeing your work!

[§ Gideon §]

DKC Championship edition probably deserves a mention as well. It would look nice alongside Star Fox Super Weekend and the NWC cart.

[Flack]

I have an NES that blinks purple instead of the common red color. I also have a Powerglove that's a little sticky from overuse ... in the bedroom.

Thou may covet.

[Mayhem]

GBA SP Limited Edition NES version

This really should be the Japanese limited version... the one with the actual Famicom deco on it. 1000 made? And yes, don't forget the 7 solid gold Zelda SPs in Europe ;)

[Blitzwing256]

complete stack-up and big boxed gyromite are up there as well.

you may wish to mention the gold nwc cart being much harder to get then the already impossible to find grey version.

the 3 panasian pr0n games for the nes are honourable (and amusing) ones to mention as they tend to go for 400$+ each nowadays

prototypes are a hard thing to put on a top 10 rariities list, as they are mostly one of a kind. whereas a Zelda proto is going to be more desired then a hydlide proto..they are both just as "rare" so yeah i'm rambling so i'll stop ;-)

[Iron Draggon]

I think that SNES Aero Fighters (R8) should be on the list. We've been discussing it recently in another thread here.

[echo_machine]

Awesome guys. All this feedback is useful -- sometimes you just miss so many things, you know? I'll take all these suggestions into account. Feel free to keep adding or elaborate. I'm pretty deep into the article... could be up within the next 3-5 days.

ALSO: if anyone has photos (like the fellow who posted the Zelda clock above), then I'd very much appreciate it. One thing that makes an article stand out is original images, agreed?

Thanks again.

~Ryan

[calthaer]

I agree with Mayhem - the GBA SP colored like the NES that was released in America is certainly EXTREMELY cool (so much so that I bought one to use and one to collect NIB), but the eBay prices on that thing haven't really increased THAT much yet. Maybe $10-20 over the original $100 I paid for it. It's not that rare at this point - maybe in 5 years.

Speaking of, you should convince them to release a Nintendo DS along the same lines.

And speaking of the DS, there are also those three extremely-limited-edition (one-of-a-kind) Nintendo DSes that were sold at the Sundance Film Festival auction to Alan Cummings, Jay Mohr, and Poppy Montgomery:

http://www.engadget.com/2005/01/26/extremely-limited-edition-nintendo-ds-consoles/

which were all in the $1500-3000 range, I believe. I'd wager that they're actually worth far more than that, if they're one-of-a-kind.

EDIT: I also suppose you can't really call them "collectible" if nobody can ever collect it, because these may never even be sold. Knowing movie stars, they might just give it to their kids, who will then destroy it.

[echo_machine]

Hmmm... interesting.

What I may end up doing is just adding a piece to the end of the article for things that can't really be collected rationally -- should make for an entertaining conclusion. That way I can focus on realistic collectibles for the meat of the feature.

[Mayhem]

Admitedly MOST of the cool, rare, valuable shit is stuff you're not gonna be able to get from a shop. It's stuff that's limited in production, and either available if you have the money, or the time, or the luck of the draw to win it.

These include:

- the real gold Zelda GBA SP in Europe (7 units)
- the Japanese Famicom GBA SP (1000 units)
- the Japanese Summer Hot DS units with wireframe etchings of one of 5 Nintendo characters on the lid (200 each)
- NWC carts grey or gold (however many still exist!)
- Starfox and DKC competition carts (2500 each)
- Starwing competiton cart (Europe, no estimate on units, way less than the US though)
- Zelda: Twilight Princess DS demo cart (1000 units)
- Doshin 2 and Nippon World Tour Golf 64 for the N64DD that were available mail order only (3000 each)

[echo_machine]

Good stuff, Mayhem. 8-)

[calthaer]

I would also say that the gold-colored Zelda GBA SP and the red Mario GBA SP with the "M" on it that were sold in Europe / UK are much more collectible than the NES GBA SP, because they were never released in the U.S. and were only sold, I believe, at the Nintendo World Store in limited quantities after its grand re-opening.

[echo_machine]

I would also say that the gold-colored Zelda GBA SP and the red Mario GBA SP with the "M" on it that were sold in Europe / UK are much more collectible than the NES GBA SP, because they were never released in the U.S. and were only sold, I believe, at the Nintendo World Store in limited quantities after its grand re-opening.

Excellent. Thanks alot.

[Iron Draggon]

I agree with Mayhem - the GBA SP colored like the NES that was released in America is certainly EXTREMELY cool (so much so that I bought one to use and one to collect NIB), but the eBay prices on that thing haven't really increased THAT much yet. Maybe $10-20 over the original $100 I paid for it. It's not that rare at this point - maybe in 5 years.

The last sealed GBA SP NES edition that I saw on ebay just a month or two ago sold for $200 BIN. It's gone up alot.

[echo_machine]

I agree with Mayhem - the GBA SP colored like the NES that was released in America is certainly EXTREMELY cool (so much so that I bought one to use and one to collect NIB), but the eBay prices on that thing haven't really increased THAT much yet. Maybe $10-20 over the original $100 I paid for it. It's not that rare at this point - maybe in 5 years.

The last sealed GBA SP NES edition that I saw on ebay just a month or two ago sold for $200 BIN. It's gone up alot.

Yeah I was just thinking that. I mean the SP complete in the box is one thing, but sealed and mint? People are paying serious cash these days. And they're getting harder and harder to find, right?

[echo_machine]

Just wanted to thank everyone who has contributed.

:)

[Mayhem]

Yeah I was just thinking that. I mean the SP complete in the box is one thing, but sealed and mint? People are paying serious cash these days. And they're getting harder and harder to find, right?

True, but the real collectable is the Famicom decal GBA SP (not the normal retail one) as I mentioned above ;)

And no probs about helping out... gotta use my knowledge for something heh.

[echo_machine]

Does anyone have an estimate on how many Mario VS Donkey Kong GBAs (red with the "M" on the top/gray bottom) were released? They were European-exclusive, correct?

Thanks.

[MrRoboto19XX]

I would add the US version of the Super Game Boy 2 to your list. Only released in the united states via Qvc if memory serves me right. Ive never even heard of someone claiming to own one.

Oh, and Im not sure about the Best Friends Bundle, I get the impression those aren't nearly as hard to come by as people percieve, nor will they be.

But Ive been wrong in the past...

"Dude, it comes with a modem built in! Theres no way the dreamcast wont be the leading console."

Oh 1999...

[InsaneDavid]

I would add the US version of the Super Game Boy 2 to your list. Only released in the united states via Qvc if memory serves me right. Ive never even heard of someone claiming to own one.

There's information saying that QVC offered them in the US but I don't think they were actually ever delivered.

[smork]

- the Japanese Famicom GBA SP (1000 units)

Sheesh, had no idea those were so limited. I've seen more than one....



- the Japanese Summer Hot DS units with wireframe etchings of one of 5 Nintendo characters on the lid (200 each)

Anybody have any pictures of these? I don't think i've ever seen them before.....[/quote]

[echo_machine]

- the Japanese Famicom GBA SP (1000 units)

Sheesh, had no idea those were so limited. I've seen more than one....



- the Japanese Summer Hot DS units with wireframe etchings of one of 5 Nintendo characters on the lid (200 each)

Anybody have any pictures of these? I don't think i've ever seen them before.....[/quote]

Exactly. Does anyone have original pics of their games/etc we could use for this article? That would really help it stand out.

[njiska]

Gold Rockman 4 cart that goes for about $7000 USD in Akihabara, i think.

[Mayhem]

This is the normal Famicom GBA SP available in shops...

http://www.play-asia.com/paOS-13-71-1b-49-en-70-3jq.html

However this is the limited one I'm refering to above...

http://www.ncsx.org/2004/ncs011904/ncs0119m.htm

The yellow Donkey Kong GBA SP was 1000 units only as well.

The Summer Hot DS units... I've seen four of them on eBay in the last few months...

http://www.lik-sang.com/news.php?artc=3647

[smork]

Oh, OK -- I've seen the normal SP several times, not the LE... Will have to keep an eye out for that!

Those wireframe DSs look pretty nice, too!