Assistance with research on a YouTube video about the Vectrex

[teknohed]

Hi. I am making a series of videos on the value of classic video game libraries over the last 20 years.. 

 

I have already completed 3 and I have received some feedback from forum members that some of my data was not as accurate as it could have been. In the interest of improving this I wanted to share my current numbers here and get feedback from the collectors on the Vectrex Forum. My numbers are based on the Price Guide included in Billy Galaxy's book Collecting Classic video games. It was my belief that using these as my source of truth would avoid anyone arguing over the validity of these numbers, but that has not been the case. So, I'd like for you to take a look at what I have so far and, if you're interested, give me some feedback BEFORE I spend 20 hours making a Vectrex video. Here are the numbers.  This list is ranked by the games that had the largest change in value over time. It is not sorted by rarity. I want to include rarity for context, but it is not a list of "most rare games":

 

Title	CIB Price 2002	CIB Price August 2022	Percentage increase	Rarity
Melody Master	$75	$200	166.67%
Animaction	$75	$195	160.00%
Star Castle	$85	$196	130.73%
Spinball	$50	$113	126.04%
Polar Rescue	$115	$243	111.62%
Space Wars	$55	$114	107.16%
Fortress of Narzod	$75	$154	105.00%
Pole Position	$105	$200	90.48%
Star Trek: The Motion Picture	$38	$69	81.32%
Art Master	$215	$350	62.79%
Blitz!	$31	$50	61.29%
Starhawk	$39	$63	60.44%
Cosmic Chasm	$35	$56	60.06%
Bedlam	$45	$69	52.71%
Rip Off	$34	$50	47.06%
Scramble	$39	$52	32.05%
Armor Attack	$42	$54	28.55%
Clean Sweep	$40	$50	25.83%
Solar Quest	$44	$53	19.32%
Web Wars	$75	$89	18.41%
Hyperchase	$42	$49	16.67%
Berzerk	$45	$51	12.22%
Spike	$52	$52	0.35%
Heads-Up Action Soccer	$65	$60	-7.69%
3D Mine Storm	$500	$150	-70.04%

 

 

Here is a link to a google sheet with these numbers. If you're interested please leave me comments on any errors, discrepancies or inaccuracies and I will take that into consideration when working on the video. 

 

Thank you. 

[uczmeg]

I've no idea on values, hopefully someone more knowledgable will be along soon, but I do know there are plenty of homebrew and found games that are worth more than most in your list.

Edited August 27, 2022 by uczmeg

[teknohed]

8 hours ago, uczmeg said:

I've no idea on values, hopefully someone more knowledgable will be along soon, but I do know there are plenty of homebrew and found games that are worth more than most in your list.

for the moment i am trying to avoid too much conjecture, so i am using the 2002 pice guide as a source of truth.  I am worried that any price i include for home brew would be viewed as my opinion.  however, if someone has a resource that shows historical data for vectrex values I would love to take a look. 

Edited August 27, 2022 by teknohed

[fiddlepaddle]

I bought a Vectrex in 1982 and bought many of the games as they came out. Then I continued to buy other games I found at the flea market to add to my collection through out the 1980s and 1990s (and later). The year you are choosing for your baseline (2002) was about the time video game collecting seemed to start going "big time" for the early era of games...prices were very uneven at that time.

Even through the 1990s, second hand vectrex games were fairly easy to find (though not as common as Atari or Colecovision). I remember going to Classic Games Expo in 2002 and it was really the first time I met a solid collection of collectors of video games. I bought a few rare games at that show (I think I paid $25 for all 3 of the 3D games from a vendor there).

The point I'm making is that a price guide from that year is likely more wishful thinking than accurate as rarity (and value) were only just then being established, imo. Also, I do not recognize Galaxy as an authority on the subject either. "Price guides" have a history of being manipulated by a publisher wishing to sell their personal collection.

I commend you for what you are doing with this thread. It may help you get much better information on values, but it's going to be more subjective because it comes from people's memories, but it may still be the best method of establishing accurate values for 2002.

By the way, I would much rather read a report (or this thread) than watch a video about a report.

[Vectrexer]

On 8/26/2022 at 6:00 PM, teknohed said:

Hi. I am making a series of videos on the value of classic video game libraries over the last 20 years.. 

 

I have already completed 3 and I have received some feedback from forum members that some of my data was not as accurate as it could have been. In the interest of improving this I wanted to share my current numbers here and get feedback from the collectors on the Vectrex Forum. My numbers are based on the Price Guide

•••

Title	CIB Price 2002	CIB Price August 2022	Percentage increase	Rarity
3D Mine Storm	$500	$150	-70.04%

•••

 

3D Mine Storm is a pack-in game for the Vectrex 3D Imager. As such, does not have separate CIB price outside of the of the accessory box. Any pricing of this title as CIB will will be adversely affect by the price of the the 3D imager itself.

 

The same can be said for the title Art Master as it is a pack-in for the Vectrex Light Pen.

 

Of the original era titles you are missing...

 

The Bug Fixed Mine Storm cart that was sent out to people who noted the bug and queried GCE/MB about it. None of the original mailers for the cart survive AFAIK. No CIB for this title since there was no BOX AFAIK. The prices are huge for the cart. $600.00[USD] - $1300.00[USD].

 

Mr. Boston. This was a Clean Sweep modified as a promotional title advertising Mr. Boston Liquors. Mr. Boston has a separate box and overlay for it's own CIB. The prices are huge for the cart $500.00[USD]+. Much larger for the CIB $7,200.00[USD] - $12,500[USD].

 

[teknohed]

On 8/27/2022 at 6:39 PM, fiddlepaddle said:

I bought a Vectrex in 1982 and bought many of the games as they came out. Then I continued to buy other games I found at the flea market to add to my collection through out the 1980s and 1990s (and later). The year you are choosing for your baseline (2002) was about the time video game collecting seemed to start going "big time" for the early era of games...prices were very uneven at that time.

Even through the 1990s, second hand vectrex games were fairly easy to find (though not as common as Atari or Colecovision). I remember going to Classic Games Expo in 2002 and it was really the first time I met a solid collection of collectors of video games. I bought a few rare games at that show (I think I paid $25 for all 3 of the 3D games from a vendor there).

The point I'm making is that a price guide from that year is likely more wishful thinking than accurate as rarity (and value) were only just then being established, imo. Also, I do not recognize Galaxy as an authority on the subject either. "Price guides" have a history of being manipulated by a publisher wishing to sell their personal collection.

I commend you for what you are doing with this thread. It may help you get much better information on values, but it's going to be more subjective because it comes from people's memories, but it may still be the best method of establishing accurate values for 2002.

By the way, I would much rather read a report (or this thread) than watch a video about a report.

I totally understand that. When I finish the video I will post it along with the final spreadsheet of the values based on any additional comments or adjustments I have made thanks to this thread. 

[teknohed]

On 8/28/2022 at 9:56 AM, Vectrexer said:

 

3D Mine Storm is a pack-in game for the Vectrex 3D Imager. As such, does not have separate CIB price outside of the of the accessory box. Any pricing of this title as CIB will will be adversely affect by the price of the the 3D imager itself.

 

The same can be said for the title Art Master as it is a pack-in for the Vectrex Light Pen.

 

Of the original era titles you are missing...

 

The Bug Fixed Mine Storm cart that was sent out to people who noted the bug and queried GCE/MB about it. None of the original mailers for the cart survive AFAIK. No CIB for this title since there was no BOX AFAIK. The prices are huge for the cart. $600.00[USD] - $1300.00[USD].

 

Mr. Boston. This was a Clean Sweep modified as a promotional title advertising Mr. Boston Liquors. Mr. Boston has a separate box and overlay for it's own CIB. The prices are huge for the cart $500.00[USD]+. Much larger for the CIB $7,200.00[USD] - $12,500[USD].

 

I will update the script for the video to explain the fact that Art Master and 3D Mine Storm came with those peripherals and so the CIB price is actually the CIB price of the light pen and the 3D Imager (would love to get my hands on those items myself one day)

 

Do you have any sources for what the prices of the bug fixed Mine Storm and Mr Boston carts would have been 20 years ago?  I'd love to include them, but I'd want to have a 2002 price to show the games values over time. 

[Malban]

You can do some historic research by looking at old posts in rec.games.vectrex. Google has them about 30 years back.
E.g. a sales post from 1994:
(https://groups.google.com/g/rec.games.vectrex/c/FaJxXFKAu7E/m/wbx7Ub_sPmIJ)

 

Quote

I have these vectrex cartridges for sale. All are brand new in boxes
with overlays and instructions.

Armor..Attack $15
Berzerk $12
Blitz! $12
Cosmic Chasm $12
Rip Off $35
Scramble $12
Star Trek $12

It's more work than to "just" look at some guide - but might give you some diversity... and perhaps a continuation of different prices thru the years, instead of 20 years ago and now.

Just a thought...

 

Edited August 31, 2022 by Malban

[+jgkspsx]

Vectrex game prices are highly variable. For the persistent it is not a huge feat to find CIB games far far below the supposed going rate. Loose carts are still plenty affordable and with perfect repro overlays there is not much else you need.

[teknohed]

On 8/31/2022 at 5:49 AM, Malban said:

You can do some historic research by looking at old posts in rec.games.vectrex. Google has them about 30 years back.
E.g. a sales post from 1994:
(https://groups.google.com/g/rec.games.vectrex/c/FaJxXFKAu7E/m/wbx7Ub_sPmIJ)

 

It's more work than to "just" look at some guide - but might give you some diversity... and perhaps a continuation of different prices thru the years, instead of 20 years ago and now.

Just a thought...

 

I will take a look at this, that's a great idea. 

[teknohed]

On 8/31/2022 at 9:22 PM, jgkspsx said:

Vectrex game prices are highly variable. For the persistent it is not a huge feat to find CIB games far far below the supposed going rate. Loose carts are still plenty affordable and with perfect repro overlays there is not much else you need.

I am running into this on Odyssey 2 as well. Most of the super rare games are consistant, but for the sort of mid tier rarity games they flucuate pretty wildly and if you are patient you can get a game for half of what is listed on price charting. I will mention this as part of my intro, thank you for this idea. 

[+jgkspsx]

2 hours ago, teknohed said:

I am running into this on Odyssey 2 as well. Most of the super rare games are consistant, but for the sort of mid tier rarity games they flucuate pretty wildly and if you are patient you can get a game for half of what is listed on price charting. I will mention this as part of my intro, thank you for this idea. 

The only super rare commercial games on the Vectrex are the 3D ones. There are plenty of copies of the rarest or most in-demand normal games, Pole Position, Polar Rescue, and Star Castle. The Japanese releases are super rare and valuable but the games are identical.

 

Now, the mail-in-only Minestorm II cart and the promo-only Mr Boston Clean Sweep are really rare and valuable, and sell in the low thousands.

[teknohed]

I'm rendering out the video now. I'll post it here when it goes live tomorrow. 

[teknohed]

Just posted the finished video. Captured gameplay from my recently resurrected vectrex. Let me know what you think: 

 

25 Most Valuable Vectrex Games (From 2002 to 2022)
https://youtu.be/LD37ofQ5brM