Intellivision Rarity List/Price Guide
Disclaimer and Background
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This section is to explain the background of the rarity list and give some insight into how I compiled it. I am not an expert and this rarity list/price guide should not be taken as a concrete price guide. It is just a guide based on research that I have done over the last few years. The best way to get a complete sense of what carts are worth is to check out as many different sources as possible. The Digital Press guide and the upcoming price guide from Jerry G are both excellent sources for prices.
History of the Price Guide
I have been selling classic carts on the internet from this site for
over three years and through eBay and newsgroups for almost five. Up until recently,
there wasn't any price guide to go by. Being a seller, this led to a dilemma.
Early on, I had sold quite a few items way below their value and others I put at a much
higher price. I would get my prices by going around other sites and collecting
prices. I would then average them out to get a good idea of what stuff sold for.
But the problem always was that there were always games that weren't on there.
Alas came eBay! While it is a much hated place, it does give you alot of information on game prices. I have compiled thousands of auctions from eBay on all kinds of carts, systems and more. But since eBay is a place of extremes, I would toss out the highest and lowest bids and use the middle ones. As anyone who spends any amount of time knows, every so often a game will sell for alot more than it is worth and occasionally a game will sell for alot less than it is worth. Many factors will make for these extreme prices including:
1. How much demand there is for the item.
2. How many of the same item are up for auction at a given time.
3. Feedback rating of the seller.
4. How long it has been since an item has been on eBay.
5. What time the auction ends.
Lastly, I compiled lists of completed auctions on the newsgroups and used this information. While eBay prices tend to be a little higher, the newsgroups tend to be the opposite. This helps to give a better perspective to the prices. Between these three sources, I have compiled almost three disks of information per system. With it I have seen many trends in classic gaming (one of the most interesting was how two years ago Chase the Chuckwagon was selling for over $200.00, only to drop down to about $125.00 and now it is getting back near the $200.00).
Reason for Rarity List/Price Guide
While I have had this compiled information for quite some time, I
really didn't have any plans to do anything with it, other than use it to accurately price
my carts. But then one day, I was putting up the Intellivision rarity list that is
found on the internet. As I was putting it up, I decided to put the information into
columns for easier viewing. As I was doing this, I decided to put them in
alphabetical order. The rarity guide right now is in order of product number and
while this is fine for hardcore collectors, it is confusing for the average consumer.
Since the majority of people to my site are average consumers (I know this because
75% of the feedback I get from Retrogaming Times are from people who I have never seen in
the newsgroups). As I was doing this, I noticed many carts that were in my opinion,
inaccurately rated. Many obvious commons given uncommon rating, etc... So I
started to go back and redo the ratings. As I was doing this, I decided to start
using a rating system I had created. One thing that always bugged me about the
rarity system is that some common carts are much easier to find than others, same for
uncommon and rare. I thought a more precise method for rating would be better.
So I decided to add in the 1-3 after the rating to give it a more precise rating.
After I went through and rated all the games, I decided that maybe I will add some prices. While Digital Press does a great job of pricing games, I found that there wasn't enough information. So I decided to include both a boxed and a loose price for a cart. I also decided to add information on the value of a loose manual and overlays. Since I sell these at my site separately, I know how much of a demand there is for these and how they can go for some pretty high prices. Also, some manuals and overlays are worth more because of they are necessary to the game. The overlays for Intellivision baseball are worth twice the price of other common overlays because of how much they help the game and because they get worn out quickly. Same for the manual and map for Truckin'. Most manuals tend to be worth about one fifth of the boxed price, but the Truckin' one is worth closer to one third.
So that is the basic history of the rarity list and price guide. If enough people like it and want to use it, I will keep it and try to update it monthly or bi-monthly depending on how often I see price changes. If there is enough negative feedback, I will remove the prices and just go with the revised rarity list. Below is some tips to help you use the guide.
Tips for using the Rarity List/Price Guide
1. Whenever you see "???" that means that either I am not sure
if overlays were included with the game or that there isn't enough data to make an
accurate price. Some of the really rare games are sold so infrequently, that it will
be awhile before I get prices for them. I like to have at least five prices to use
to accurately evaluate an item. A few items that are like this are the overseas
games. I will be adding games like Super Cobra and Tutankham, but it may take awhile
before I get an accurate price on them.
2. A boxed game price is for the complete game, with manual and both overlays.
3. All prices are considered for very good to excellent shaped items. If the
item looks brand new, you can add between 10-20%. Also, if there is wear, you can
deduct 10-20% for each drop in condition. I will give a better description of
condition later.
4. Shrinkwrapped games are not worth anything more, unless the shrinkwrap has either
a price sticker from a store or a rebate/bonus item sticker. This will add about 10%
to the value. Since games can be easily reshrinkwrapped, it doesn't add to the
value. If a shrinkwrap has a price sticker from a defunct chain store (aka:
Children's Palace, Kiddie City, Uncle Bill's, Gold Circle, etc...) then it can add up
to an additional 5%. This is mainly due to the fact that this helps to
legitimize
the shrinkwrapping.
5. Remember that shrinkwrapping doesn't guarantee the game is mint. Look
carefully at the box to ensure it looks in good shape and not tampered with.
6. Prices do change and I will try to reflect that.
7. While rarity does play the biggest part in the value of a game, the quality of a
game also reflects the value. Diner is a good example as it is worth more than other
similarly rated games because it is a good game and very much in demand.
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