TimsterAA Posted June 21, 2008 Share Posted June 21, 2008 Hey gang, In my collecting for nearly everything, I'd started awhile back picking up handheld games, and by chance a bunch of them were Entex. Because of this, I put an eBay search in for Entex handhelds so if any ones I didn't have popped up, I'd know about it. Well this interesting one popped up this week and I put it on my watch list. It's from 1981, and it's called the Entex Select-a-Game Machine. It looks like you can swap out screens and carts to play different games. This one comes with Basketball, Space Invaders, and Pac-Man 2. I figured I might be willing to bid up to $20-$25 dollars for this one, but this morning when I saw it in my watch list, I did a triple take! Take a look. Is this some ultra-rare, one-of-a-kind prototype or something, or are there some bizarre bidding shenanigans going on? Bizarro! --Timster-- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crazy Climber Posted June 21, 2008 Share Posted June 21, 2008 I have seen these before. The recent issue of Video Game collector covers them briefly, sounds like they are pretty generic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jetset Posted June 21, 2008 Share Posted June 21, 2008 DUDE! What up? Where ya been?!?!?! I think that game is officially out of your price range. Looks to be some bs bidding going on too! I'm wondering if whoever asked for the BIN and didn't get it got pissed off, and decided to screw the seller.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TimsterAA Posted June 21, 2008 Author Share Posted June 21, 2008 (edited) DUDE! What up? Where ya been?!?!?! I think that game is officially out of your price range. Looks to be some bs bidding going on too! I'm wondering if whoever asked for the BIN and didn't get it got pissed off, and decided to screw the seller.... Dude... Where've I been? I e-mailed you at work like 2 weeks ago!!! LOL I was just wondering if this was a legit rarity, or a bizarre bidding war. It definitely appears to be the latter, given the bidding pattern. There is an exorbitant amount of views of this listing though, much higher than an item like this would normally command. This is just weird. Later man - surprised to see you here actually, I thought you'd retired from AA! Take care - keep in touch! --Timster-- Edited June 21, 2008 by TimsterAA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crazy Climber Posted June 21, 2008 Share Posted June 21, 2008 Woah, I didn't notice it was going for $800+ Holy Crap Batman! Something seems weird but I am no entex expert. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EricDeLee Posted June 21, 2008 Share Posted June 21, 2008 (edited) I never thought it was that rare. But I recently read about them and wanted one. Of course... not at that price. Pacman 2 was a very fun game though! As a matter of fact, most of the entex handhelds are pretty cool. I think I need to grab a few more, I forgot about some of them. Edited June 21, 2008 by EricDeLee Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
video game addict Posted June 21, 2008 Share Posted June 21, 2008 I thought they were pretty rare. Not $800 loose, but I'd say $200+ easily. That price seems high for only the three games, but not total bs could be a real bid. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ianoid Posted June 21, 2008 Share Posted June 21, 2008 $820 is either representative of shills or total idiots. Loose Select-A-Games have traditionally been $50-$125 items, depending on condition, etc. The carts are pretty uncommon esp with the overlays. Even boxed units have fetched only a 50%-100% premium. Boxed carts I'd anticipate having a wilder price variance just because you almost never see them. But thinking you'll get one for $25? That's pure optimism. I'd expect to pay $75 at least, and probably closer to $100. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TimsterAA Posted June 21, 2008 Author Share Posted June 21, 2008 $820 is either representative of shills or total idiots. Loose Select-A-Games have traditionally been $50-$125 items, depending on condition, etc. The carts are pretty uncommon esp with the overlays. Even boxed units have fetched only a 50%-100% premium. Boxed carts I'd anticipate having a wilder price variance just because you almost never see them. But thinking you'll get one for $25? That's pure optimism. I'd expect to pay $75 at least, and probably closer to $100. Maybe pure optimism - but moreso pure naivety. These aren't a main part of my collection, just an interesting side-niche. I've picked up maybe a dozen Entex games over the last year or so, and never bid more than $10 or so. It has nothing to do with what it's actual/perceived worth is, it's what I'm willing to spend to add something to my stuff. If I'm lowballing, it's not on purpose - that's what *I'M* willing to spend on it. If I don't win (which I won't/don't a lot of the time), that's absolutely fine by me. Every now and then, lightning strikes. I had no idea the rarity of this particular Entex item - especially why I raised the topic here. That's pretty cool that it's rare, and could normally fetch up to $100 or more. I won't pay that much, but if it's worth it, then I hope the seller can get that much. The overall concensus so far is that this current price is way out of line with the norm. Wonder if the seller will ever see this amount of cash for his game. --Timster-- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parrothead Posted June 21, 2008 Share Posted June 21, 2008 $820 is either representative of shills or total idiots. Loose Select-A-Games have traditionally been $50-$125 items, depending on condition, etc. The carts are pretty uncommon esp with the overlays. Even boxed units have fetched only a 50%-100% premium. Boxed carts I'd anticipate having a wilder price variance just because you almost never see them. But thinking you'll get one for $25? That's pure optimism. I'd expect to pay $75 at least, and probably closer to $100. Agreed. I found a boxed mint on a couple years ago and it sold for around $150 on eBay. It is a very disappointing system in my opinion. Def not worth what these people are paying. Something is fishy here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lemoncurry Posted June 21, 2008 Share Posted June 21, 2008 The PacMan2 cart is the rarity here. From the Handheld Museum: Pac Man 2 is by far the rarest game for this system since Entex had to stop selling it after reaching a settlement with Coleco (the company that officially licensed the Pac Man game/name from Namco for handheld game use). Still, $800+ is crazy, especially as one of the bidders looks like a shill (0 feedback, no bids on anything else)... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NE146 Posted June 21, 2008 Share Posted June 21, 2008 The PacMan2 cart is the rarity here. From the Handheld Museum: And there's a discussion there about this as well.. http://www.handheldmuseum.com/forum/viewto...c&start=763 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jetset Posted June 21, 2008 Share Posted June 21, 2008 DUDE! What up? Where ya been?!?!?! I think that game is officially out of your price range. Looks to be some bs bidding going on too! I'm wondering if whoever asked for the BIN and didn't get it got pissed off, and decided to screw the seller.... Dude... Where've I been? I e-mailed you at work like 2 weeks ago!!! LOL I emailed you back didn't I? Maybe not. It's been dead lately. I must have been too busy goofing off! Later man - surprised to see you here actually, I thought you'd retired from AA! Take care - keep in touch! --Timster-- Meh, sort of. I've scaled back on posting. Having a new baby again completely screws with your free time! I mostly keep an eye on the marketplace anymore. Speaking of scaling back, I thought you were slowing down the collecting? Great avatar btw. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lemoncurry Posted June 22, 2008 Share Posted June 22, 2008 The PacMan2 cart is the rarity here. From the Handheld Museum: And there's a discussion there about this as well.. http://www.handheldmuseum.com/forum/viewto...c&start=763 Oh yeah, sounds like the Basketball cart is rare as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EricDeLee Posted June 22, 2008 Share Posted June 22, 2008 Last magazine I read about this system mentioned there was only half a dozen known to exist. It sh=ounds like that is a false statement. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lemoncurry Posted June 22, 2008 Share Posted June 22, 2008 Last magazine I read about this system mentioned there was only half a dozen known to exist. It sounds like that is a false statement. What mag? That is true of the Entex Black Knight pinball (even truer, the community only knows of TWO!), but certainly not the Select-a-Game. If these bidders read that same article, that might explain the nuttiness... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SEgamer Posted June 22, 2008 Share Posted June 22, 2008 Still, $800+ is crazy, especially as one of the bidders looks like a shill (0 feedback, no bids on anything else)... I was about to say the same thing, especially since he's the only other one bidding on it... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EricDeLee Posted June 22, 2008 Share Posted June 22, 2008 Last magazine I read about this system mentioned there was only half a dozen known to exist. It sounds like that is a false statement. What mag? That is true of the Entex Black Knight pinball (even truer, the community only knows of TWO!), but certainly not the Select-a-Game. If these bidders read that same article, that might explain the nuttiness... Video Game Collector Issue #9 Re-read it and it states that there are only half a dozen Pacman 2 carts known to exist. Not the system. It also mentioned that Space Invaders 2 was the pack-in game. The Pacman 2 played like the pacman 2 handheld... but with the cool intermissions between levels. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lemoncurry Posted June 22, 2008 Share Posted June 22, 2008 Video Game Collector Issue #9 Re-read it and it states that there are only half a dozen Pacman 2 carts known to exist. Not the system. Ah. Although Rik at the HHM states he's seen at least four sell over the last few years... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EricDeLee Posted June 22, 2008 Share Posted June 22, 2008 That's what I was wondering. Quite a bit of movement for such a rare cart. You don't see Atlantis 2 selling that much all in one year. Or Air Raid Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ianoid Posted June 29, 2008 Share Posted June 29, 2008 Boring thread, but I don't think Pacman 2 is such a rarity for the system. I've seen fewer Space Invaders personally. I don't think any single cart is more rare than the next. Black Knight is a confirmed rarity that is almost never seen. Select A Game is rare, but at least an order of magnitude more common, with regular sitings and exchanges. I point to shills or uneducated (or ill-educated) insanity for an overpriced SAG auction. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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