I agree with you to the extent that just being able to play the original proto is only part of the value. Having said that, all of the non-working proto sales I have seen over the years have gone for little or nothing unless there is some very remote hope that the proto can be made playable again or repaired. Generally, protos don't come with fancy labels or elaborate casings, so unless you really have to have a typewritten label or a Sharpie covered casing, I can't see why you would be that interested in a non-working proto. I think for most collectors, including sealed collectors, there is an assumption that whatever you own would work if you ever opened it or tried to play it regardless of whether you ever do so or not.


Quote Originally Posted by jonebone View Post
I disagree with almost all of this rant. If the only value of the NWC is in the data itself, then everyone would be content with the reproduction version for $70 and no one would care about the NWC.

As for protos, I would gladly pay to own a non-working proto from my favorite franchise. Not a ton of money because I'm cheap, but a considerable amount more than $0. On released games with no differences, protos still sell for several hundred dollars (or more) on fan-favorite franchises (and even more for 1st party stuff). People aren't buying it because of the data which is identical to the released version, they are buying it because it is actually a 1 of a kind rare collectible that separates them from the other Zelda / Mario / etc. collectors.

On unreleased stuff, yeah of course the data is the bulk of the purchase price. But unreleased protos are just a part of the prototype pool, and you can't make all of your assumptions off of those alone.