The Valis series - any idea what caused these titles to spike in price?

[Emperor Megas]

So, I've mentioned before that I'm a big fan of the Valis series, but I'm really the only one I know who is. I'm sure a lot of older gamers know about the series and have maybe played one or two of the titles at some point or another, but I've never known a lot of people to hold it in high regard. With that said, I recently saw an eBay listing for one of the Valis titles that was in the triple digits. It was a Valis II, CIB, for the TG-16 CD. I figured this was an over eager seller, or that maybe there was a weird spike for this version of the game...then I searched other games in the series.

ALL OF THESE GAMES are selling for INSANE prices now. The Genesis ones, the TG-16 ones, part IV on the SNES, all of them. o_0

It's not uncommon for random classic games to spike in price, but I never see whole series doing it. Does anyone know if there's some reason this series is going for crazy money now? They can't be rare, so did some popular youtuber hype the series up or something? I understand that causes a spike in price sometimes.

[Edmond Dantes]

I just looked at this on ebay (though I know that's not the only place where games are sold). To be honest I'm not sure what the prices used to be so I can't comment on a "spike," but I have noticed the usual descrepancy: that the official English-language versions tend to be more expensive than the Japanese versions... though I've noticed the four PC Engine games vary in price. One seller had them all for $10 apiece shipped, while others had them in the $30-$50 range, seemingly not at all affected by condition or completeness.

My best guess is just a lot of people saw the anime graphics and thought "oh, all the nerds love this anime stuff!" Or else this really is just a fluke.

[Emperor Megas]

I searched the completed listings for Valis on eBay and filtered the results to show the ones that sold for the highest price first to see which were going for the most. The results were all over the map (Gen, TG16, SNES) with several different ones selling for over $100. I believe they were all U.S. versions.

[Aussie2B]

I'd say it's mostly a matter of the platforms rather than people being interested in the series as a whole. Practically everything TG-16/Turbo CD is ridiculous these days, and if they're complete, forget about it. The PC Engine versions are the way to go for fans of the system. I picked up Valis IV for PC Engine (which didn't have a US release, anyway) for something like 10-15 bucks several months ago.

And then it's the same kind of deal with SNES. Anything that isn't known for being abysmal sells for way more than it honestly should. I mean, look at what the Valis-ish Kendo Rage sells for these days. It's nuts.

The Genesis ones, that's a little more surprising, since prices haven't gotten quite as stupid on that platform, but as people get priced out of collecting for the other 16-bit systems, it's been picking up too.

[Emperor Megas]

There was a complete copy of Valis I for Genesis that sold for 120 bucks on April 28th, then another that sold for just 62 bucks, HALF THAT, like 2 days ago. o_0

I'm SO glad I already own most of the classic games I want in my collection.

[Melf]

A complete copy of Syd of Valis on Genesis is pretty expensive now, and it's been steadily increasing in price. I have NO idea why that is.

[bb_hood]

A complete copy of Syd of Valis on Genesis is pretty expensive now, and it's been steadily increasing in price. I have NO idea why that is.

Yeah I was just going to post about this.
Valis SD (the us version) is a pretty rare game actually. That game is understandably worth something, the japanese version isnt as rare. I guesss more people just want to seek out the Japanese version. Over time more people will want Mega Drive games and they will probably all go up. The Genesis was more popular in the US than the Mega Drive was in Japan.

[celerystalker]

The Turbo ones had been on the rise for quite awhile alongside the ridiculous Turbo collection spike in the last few years. As for the Genesis ones, it's a little more confusing. Only thing I can think of that might have increased awareness was Game Sack's video about it awhile back, but they don't get the kind of viewership that the AVGN does, so who knows.

I do love the hell out of Valis III especially. They're all pretty fun, but the Genesis version of III is the one that really made me a fan of the franchise. I was late to the party, not playing it until probably 1999 or so, but it really got me at that point.

[Emperor Megas]

A complete copy of Syd of Valis on Genesis is pretty expensive now, and it's been steadily increasing in price. I have NO idea why that is.

I remember that being the case last year, but in my search yesterday of completed Valis listings, Syd of Valis were among the CHEAPEST ones. o_0

[Gameguy]

Just seek out the last game in the series, Valis X. It will fill all of your lesbian/tentacle porn needs.

I really don't know why the series became so expensive, it makes me wish I had complete copies of the games. I think I only had Valis III years ago but I sold it off as it was loose in poor condition, I really thought I would have found complete copies by now.

[Emperor Megas]

Just seek out the last game in the series, Valis X. It will fill all of your lesbian/tentacle porn needs.

If all of the hundreds of Valis doujinshi doesn't give you your fill already.