2 odd looking NES carts - "Wacky Races" and "Search for Dr. Livingstone"

[VG_Maniac]

I just got these 2 strange looking carts in my possession. They came with a bunch of other NES games I bought. One is supposed to be "Wacky Races", and the other one is "Search for Dr. Livingston"...but you can see in the pictures that they are obviously not normal versions of the games. I have absolutely no idea what I've got here. Could someone please tell me what they are and what they are worth? I tried to test them in my NES, but they won't even fit in it because of how the chips stick out of the opening in the carts. My personal guess is that are some kind of early versions of the games that were meant to be played by testers...but I really have no idea.




Stanley: The Search for Dr. Livingston






Wacky Races

[scaryice]

Awesome find. Those are prototypes. How did you get them? Locally?

Here's a pic of another Wacky Races proto, looks the same as yours without the sticker:

http://www.nintendoage.com/forum/mes...threadid=33830

[mrmark0673]

Awesome find. Those are prototypes. How did you get them? Locally?

Here's a pic of another Wacky Races proto, looks the same as yours without the sticker:

http://www.nintendoage.com/forum/mes...threadid=33830

The ones you linked to look fake, I never trusted those guys...

Anyway, another pair of protos shows up in Washington State. No surprises there, seems to be the hub in the US where people find them.

If you're selling, I'm buying.

[theclaw]

Protos show up in Washington State, but not Infinite Space DS or a PAL Megadrive 1... Dang this redefines my view on rarity. haha

[Gameguy]

For Search for Dr. Livingston it appears that one of the windows is exposed, try to keep it out of the light or cover it up in some way. Assuming that it still works.

[VG_Maniac]

The ones you linked to look fake, I never trusted those guys...

Anyway, another pair of protos shows up in Washington State. No surprises there, seems to be the hub in the US where people find them.

If you're selling, I'm buying.

I got them in a game lot off of Ebay, although the seller was also from Washington State. Here is the auction:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/230718561711...84.m1439.l2649

I don't collect these kind of things, so I am going to sell them. Any idea what they are worth?

For Search for Dr. Livingston it appears that one of the windows is exposed, try to keep it out of the light or cover it up in some way. Assuming that it still works.

I've kept both games in dust sleeves except when I took the photos....but who knows what the previous owner did with them.

[Ryaan1234]

I don't collect these kind of things, so I am going to sell them. Any idea what they are worth?

Well, apparently the last prototype Wacky Races sold for $171.06, with a retail box and manual. Yours is probably worth $150, in my opinion. Stanley is probably worth $100-125 since it's not quite as desirable as Wacky Races.

[Balloon Fight]

Well, apparently the last prototype Wacky Races sold for $171.06, with a retail box and manual. Yours is probably worth $150, in my opinion. Stanley is probably worth $100-125 since it's not quite as desirable as Wacky Races.

The box and manual for the Wacky Races is worth quite a bit on it's own as the manual is one of the hardest to find in the library. Probably sold a tiny bit low for having a box/manual with it. Great find!

[mrmark0673]

Well, apparently the last prototype Wacky Races sold for $171.06, with a retail box and manual. Yours is probably worth $150, in my opinion.

I think you're really underestimating the value of the box and manual.

This manual sold for $59 shipped:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Wacky-Races-...item27c15e451e

And this CIB with rental stickers and damage to the cart and box sold for $150 shipped with just 5 page views:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Wacky-Races-...item5ae4379066

Anyway, the rarity of the title for a proto doesn't always influence the end price. A lot of it has to do with whether a prototype collector already owns a copy of the game. A perfect example of this is these two auctions:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/NES-Prototyp...item45ff67e14f

http://www.ebay.com/itm/NES-Prototyp...item45ff677411

Ran for their full course, clearly advertised, and from a solid seller. Why didn't they sell for $100 a piece? Well, for one, Matt and I already own copies of each (actually owned two copies of Bad News Baseball in the past). If we didn't already have them, they would have sold for their start price the first time they were listed.

This is why the past sales of identical protos don't often influence what a new copy would command. Panic Restaurant is in very high demand right now, and past protos of it have sold for $200 and $300. I can all but guarantee that another wouldn't sell in that range because not only do Matt and I already own a copy, but so does Dreamtr. There just aren't enough buyers out there to keep the price in that area.

On the whole, protos of licensed and released NTSC NES games typically sell between $75-$175 at open auction. A bit more for more desirable titles, and a bit more in private sales. I've paid more, and I've paid less, but that's a solid ballpark for those wondering.

Unlicensed protos of released games often sell for less because it's harder to determine the authenticity of the cart. Color Dreams was basically a basement operation where half of their carts used EPROMs to begin with, so it's harder to say what is pre-production and what is not. I'd put them closer to $50-$125 at both open auction and private sales.

Anyway, Stanley has been paid for, someone grab that Wacky Races