NOS Vectrex dust cover and other rare Vec items

[BeaglePuss]

I managed to find another insane Vectrex lot locally. Once again, the seller had ties to Milton Bradley. Both he and his wife worked for the company for thirty+ years. Included in the lot was a system, 25 boxed games, 3 loose games, a boxed controller, a boxed 3D imager, boxed light pen, two dust covers, a pin, and a bunch of brochures. There are a number of fine items in the lot, but a few that stand out:

NOS Vectrex Dust cover



This is the most interesting find in the lot for me. I would have to imagine that a NOS mail away item would be worth a fair amount considering a loose one just sold on eBay for over $130. This one comes with the manila envelope, but it doesn't have any address as it never left MB. The cover itself is still sealed in the plastic bag it came in.

3D imager




The seller told me that it was never used, and it does appear that way. With that said, it only came with that single slip of paper. Where there any other papers/slips/manuals included? I also have all the 3D titles CIB in the lot.


Vectrex Pin


He told me that it sat on some guys desk for years, so he just put it in his pocket one day.


Any idea what any of the above items are worth? I will likely keep the majority of things, but I plan on selling off the imager and NOS dust cover at the very least. I don't know what the 3D games sell for either as I haven't seen any on eBay lately.

[Mayhem]

The imager should come with another small booklet for operating the imager itself, and a manual for 3D Minestorm. Despite missing those two things, I've seen boxed hardware go up in value over the last 2-3 years, so that's probably a $500 item at minimum.

In terms of value, the standard games, if complete, are probably worth $15-20 each. Star Castle is about $50, Pole Position is $75 and Polar Rescue is around $150. I can see you probably have at least two of those three in shot. Higher prices because they were the last three releases and are harder to find. The lightpen programs are probably $30-40 each, and the other 3D titles about the same. The lightpen itself, if complete, is probably around $100.

I'd be interested in the pin btw if you chose to let it go. Always after new promo material for the Vectrex to add to my collection

[BeaglePuss]

The imager should come with another small booklet for operating the imager itself, and a manual for 3D Minestorm. Despite missing those two things, I've seen boxed hardware go up in value over the last 2-3 years, so that's probably a $500 item at minimum.

In terms of value, the standard games, if complete, are probably worth $15-20 each. Star Castle is about $50, Pole Position is $75 and Polar Rescue is around $150. I can see you probably have at least two of those three in shot. Higher prices because they were the last three releases and are harder to find. The lightpen programs are probably $30-40 each, and the other 3D titles about the same. The lightpen itself, if complete, is probably around $100.

I'd be interested in the pin btw if you chose to let it go. Always after new promo material for the Vectrex to add to my collection

Thanks for the help. I agree with most of your prices, but Star Castle has went up a great deal as of late and has been slelling well over $100 at open auction every time out. I was also hoping the imager would pull some more cash, but I don't mind hanging onto it at $500 or so.

The item that I'm the most interested in hearing estimates on would be the new dust cover. Have you ever heard of a NOS example? It has got to worth a pretty penny.

As for the pin, shoot me an offer in a PM and I'll send it out your way.

Thanks again!

[Mayhem]

Well, I said $500 minimum. It depends on who's interested, and if they mind it isn't complete. It has the box and the colour wheel, and those are the two important bits, and it does look in very good condition. Prices vary all the time and who spots your auction, I've seen a couple of boxed examples shoot up towards four figures.

I've not seen a shipping cover for the dust cover before. Shipping box for the console every so often (I have one) but not that, so hard to judge what it might add to the value.

As for the pin, PM sent

[Bojay1997]

The imager should come with another small booklet for operating the imager itself, and a manual for 3D Minestorm. Despite missing those two things, I've seen boxed hardware go up in value over the last 2-3 years, so that's probably a $500 item at minimum.

In terms of value, the standard games, if complete, are probably worth $15-20 each. Star Castle is about $50, Pole Position is $75 and Polar Rescue is around $150. I can see you probably have at least two of those three in shot. Higher prices because they were the last three releases and are harder to find. The lightpen programs are probably $30-40 each, and the other 3D titles about the same. The lightpen itself, if complete, is probably around $100.

I'd be interested in the pin btw if you chose to let it go. Always after new promo material for the Vectrex to add to my collection

All of the NOS imagers I have seen also come with a subscription card/ad for Electronic Games Magazine and a Vectrex catalog in addition to the two additional manuals you listed. I believe NOS imagers also have a plastic bag/wrap around the glasses themselves. In any event, while this unit may not be used, it's also not a complete nor factory packaged example of the 3D Imager. I think the last few in similar condition have gone for $500-$600 with a few slipping into the high $400 range. The last truly mint NOS stock one I saw sold a couple of years ago (i.e. at the height of the recession) went for over $1K and would probably bring $1500 today.

[BeaglePuss]

All of the NOS imagers I have seen also come with a subscription card/ad for Electronic Games Magazine and a Vectrex catalog in addition to the two additional manuals you listed. I believe NOS imagers also have a plastic bag/wrap around the glasses themselves. In any event, while this unit may not be used, it's also not a complete nor factory packaged example of the 3D Imager. I think the last few in similar condition have gone for $500-$600 with a few slipping into the high $400 range. The last truly mint NOS stock one I saw sold a couple of years ago (i.e. at the height of the recession) went for over $1K and would probably bring $1500 today.

The lot I purchased came with some paperwork including multiple (four) copies of the following two:




I'll have to look if I can find more, but it might take a while to weed through everything the guy gave me. I'm assuming that the above two manuals/pamphlets are at least part of the puzzle, right?

[Bojay1997]

The lot I purchased came with some paperwork including multiple (four) copies of the following two:


I'll have to look if I can find more, but it might take a while to weed through everything the guy gave me. I'm assuming that the above two manuals/pamphlets are at least part of the puzzle, right?

Yep, those are the two brochures/flyers I was talking about. Now all you're missing are the two manuals.

[mrmark0673]

Finally got to see a recent comparable sale: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...vip=true&rt=nc

Very similar condition, open auction starting at $700 with a reserve, sold for $1,298.90 . Just posting for posterity if someone does a search down the road for an imager price check.

[Bojay1997]

Finally got to see a recent comparable sale: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...vip=true&rt=nc

Very similar condition, open auction starting at $700 with a reserve, sold for $1,298.90 . Just posting for posterity if someone does a search down the road for an imager price check.

I don't know, that bidding history looks kind of suspicious. It's two bidders with roughly 35 feedback each (similar to the seller) and one guy with 7. It could be legit, but I am skeptical.

[mrmark0673]

I don't know, that bidding history looks kind of suspicious. It's two bidders with roughly 35 feedback each (similar to the seller) and one guy with 7. It could be legit, but I am skeptical.

Did you click on each of the buyers? Their bid history isn't suspicious at all to me. 2 of the 3 have recent bids from 2 seperate sellers, which is certainly not common of shill bidders. I don't see any red flags at all to be honest.

[mrmark0673]

Yeah, just confirmed with the seller over on AtariAge. Legit sale, already paid for.

[BeaglePuss]

Bumping it up with another point of reference.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...vip=true&rt=nc

I was able to successfully sell my 3D Imager (minus the Minestorm manual) for $950 on eBay. The winner of the auction was the 7 feedback bidder from the previous Imager that recently sold further validating the previous sale. The item has already been paid for and will be making it's way over to France shortly.