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I have some rare TI-99/4A stuff that I can't seem to find values for......


obsoleteJACK

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I have a ton of TI-99 stuff, but some of the extremely rare cartridges are nearly impossible to find values for. Here are a couple. Neither of these have any history in Ebay completed listings, and I can't find a price guide anywhere for TI-99 carts.

 

Wordwriter (1987 DATABIOTICS)

 

Chicken Coop

 

 

Thanks!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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I've sold Chicken Coop's (plain white glossy address looking label sloppily tacked on to the top with title in red IIRC, no end label) before in the $25 range and that was on eBay. Zero interest here. Had at least 2 within the last 10 years. Myself, I prefer Hen Pecked. Much better game! :rolling:

 

I'm amazed at some of the prices people claim things are worth, but when you go to sell, you NEVER get anywhere near that in the forums.

 

What would you guys value these at and what would you pay? Because all too often, there's a HUGE gulf between the two figures. ;)

 

Computer War w/ manual

Rotor Raiders CIB

Anteater CIB

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Chicken Coop isn't worth a lot, as noted. This should be the Navarone release in a TI-style cartridge case with the stick-on glossy label on the top of the cartridge (and which looks like the glue is slowly eating its way through the paper), it is worth between $15 and $20.

 

Wordwriter turns up on eBay once or twice a year, and usually sells for between $20 and $30 as a loose cartridge, and about $25 to $35 if it also has the original manual. Most Wordwriter cartridges have the end label type of labels, although it is possible there are a few with the stick-on photocopy labels applied to the tops of some DaTaBioTics cartridges later in their production cycle for a given title (usually when they ran out of the end labels for that specific cartridge, so there was always a bit of a mix of label types going out the door at DBT).

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I'm my experience value is the child of demand and availability. Regardless of what others will tell you they're worth, at the end of the day it's the guy/girl buying it. An example, Wordwriter isn't worth anything to me. Not because it's 'not valuable'...just I simply do not have a need or desire for it. I play games and test code on my TI, I'm not a traditional collector. Chicken Coop on the other hand I'd likely pay the going market price for. It's not the most desirable to me. But one day that could change. Other collectors who like to round out their collections wouldn't probably be willing to shell out a bit more than the going price. Just have to find the right individual.

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I've sold Chicken Coop's (plain white glossy address looking label sloppily tacked on to the top with title in red IIRC, no end label) before in the $25 range. Had at least 2 within the last 10 years. Myself, I prefer Hen Pecked. Much better game! :rolling:

 

I'm amazed at some of the prices people claim things are worth, but when you go to sell, you NEVER get anywhere near that in the forums.

 

What would you guys value these at and what would you pay? Because all too often, there's a HUGE gulf between the two figures. ;)

 

Computer War w/ manual

Rotor Raiders CIB

Anteater CIB

Rotor Raiders CIB ($35)

Anteater CIB ($45)

 

But that is just what I can afford on payday. :D

 

 

I bet they'd go higher on the 'bay.

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I think the problem is, these items come up for sale so infrequently, there's no accurate sample size. I sold an unboxed Q*Bert for something like $70 once, because two people that week happened to both want it and decided to go toe-to-toe. Other times, you can't give things away. The buying pool is so small and the data so infrequent, you might as well throw a dart at a dartboard.

 

Even the "set it high and sit on it" approach doesn't give you an accurate number. If you put up an auction for a rare Moonbeam Software title I don't have, and I know it's ending in a week, there's more urgency. If you put it up with a Buy It Now price of $80, I am more inclined to play 'chicken' with a number of other unseen 99'ers who have their eye on it.

 

You also run into everyone's differing opinion of what our hobby "should" be. Even discussing high-dollar rare carts sets some people off.

 

You have to accept that there's a degree of randomness to the whole thing, and not pin your emotions on TI cartridge prices like they're the Dow Jones industrial average.

 

All that said.... what Owen offered, plus five bucks!!! ;)

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Cool. Thanks everybody. It really does seem like it's a case of both low supply, and low demand on a lot of this stuff, and there is too little sample size to judge price trends. I had the TI-99/4A set up in my room as a kid, and spent countless hours playing games on it. It's been boxed up in my mom's attic for 15 years or so, and I just found it again when I visited for the holidays. I've got it set up and running again, but I'll probably end up getting rid of all of it, because I already have too many computers and game systems set up in my small apartment that I am more attached to (Mac Plus, Atari 2600, NES, SNES, Genesis...).

 

I've got the aluminum body TI (with the dust cover), a good selection of games, manuals, some programming literature, a speech synthesizer with a manual, a program recorder with manual, and more. There should be a a printer and a modem at my mom's house somewhere, but I didn't find it on my last treasure hunt. I really hope she didn't toss them!!!

 

I really appreciate the help!

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