State of INTV collecting

[tyranthraxus]

Well I was digging through my INTV stuff in preparation to ebay it. I

stumbled across a rare game that had slipped through my radar.

Imagic's Fathom, one of the rarest games for the INTV. It appears I

finally manage to find a rare game at a garage sale

 

A bit of searching showed it worth about $25 loose, a good sum, but very

low in comparison to what a 2600 game would fetch of course but its low

even to the other also rans of the era - the 5200 & Colecovision. I

scanned ebay for what INTV stuff is going for and it looks like there are

many many box games that don't even sell for more than a buck or two

if at all. I always knew the INTV never garnered as much attention but

for a major system I was surprised at the general lack of interest. Good

news for boxed completists but surprising considering the surge of

interest the major systems have had. I was wondering what INTV

collectors had to say about the relative quietness.

 

Also one question for the experts: Are INTV Inc. boxed games a

collected variation over the Mattel ones? I'm wondering whether its

worth mentioning in my auction.

[sku_u]

Shhhhh...

 

 

 

 

 

 

I got a loose Fathom in a mislisted auction for about $4.00 shipped.

[Room 34]

I think it's a lot more common to find INTV games CIB than Atari games. With the overlays and all, it was more important for INTV owners to keep all parts of a game together. Plus, that whole George Plimpton ad campaign seemed to help cultivate this sort of "anal nerd" attitude in the owners of the system that would fit with keeping everything intact.

 

 

Another thing to note is that the rarity scale on the only Intellivision rarity guide I know of (http://www.intellivisionzone.com/intv_guide.asp) seems a lot more lenient than AtariAge. Games that would probably only be a 5 on AtariAge get an 8 on Intellivision Zone.

[joeybastard]

I'm surprised by the the INTV's low prices. I never see Intellivision stuff out in the wild. That's why I don't have any, I never come across it to pick up. I guess I'm going to have to go Ebay to get one. I assumed it was harder to find and more valuble because of it.

[RangerG]

I think it comes down to two facts. #1 is that the Intellivision just isn't that fun to play for many people. If you owned one as a kid, then that is one thing. Otherwise, the Intellivision pad is a pain to use and so far there is absolutely no alternative to it (add on sticks, Wico, etc. are all pretty poor). Many of the arcade games are also on the 2600 and there really isn't a huge difference in graphics (not like with the 5200 or Colecovision). The unique and/or good games for the INTV tend to be sports games and/or complicated games. These tend to not age well as they don't capture the simple joy ofa classic sysytem and its games (easy to learn but hard to master) -- too many INTV games are hard to learn. I'm presently considering selling my INTV stuff (not too much stuff and I seldon ever play it). Is it worth to me to have a system to just hope to find a few games (Dracula, Beauty and the Beast and Tower of Doom) and even then I'll play them with controllers I don't like. I think #2 is the fact that the INTV has no homebrew scene (because of the cart programming). This really hampers a community following. For example, I am glad to see the new Colecovision homebrews because that will stimulate and keep interest in the system. Just my thoughts . . .

[BassGuitari]

I have a boxed Sylvania Intellivision and a loose Mind Strike

 

In fact, I got the system with 12 boxed games (with manuals and overlays) for $40 from a friend of my little brother. The box still has the styrofoam packing, no manual though.

 

Strangely, I don't go out of my way to look for Intellivision stuff, I just find it here and there....Mind Strike actually came from Goodwill for a dollar, along with other white-labeled games and some boxed games.

[Video]

Other than the collection of games I have, and my three systems, I haven't been collecting for Intv at all. The first time I saw one was in 96, at a yardsale, with about 20 games (all boxed) I had no Idea what it was, and bought it thinking it would be like Atari, or Coleco. Unfortunately, the simple games suck, and often pale in comparison to the same game on the 2600 (check out Donkey Kong) And the games that do look good are a little (or lot) two complex, I could only imagine the torment of a gamer of the era, four fire buttons and a keypad? And a disc that's neither a pad, or a joystic? That thing was pretty harsh to use.

 

In 98, the guy I bought the original Intv from, had another one show up, with about 60 games, none boxxed. I bought it, and found a few surprisingly good games in that set, but the controllers as I said sucked (the worst controller poll, I only picked 5200 over Intv because the 5200 ones break all the time)

 

In 2000, I bought an Intv 2 off Ebay, after reading somewhere it had detachable controlers. I got the thing with a few games, all dupes of stuff I already had. I didn't care, I just wanted the detachable controllers so I could use alternates.

 

I built a controller for the thing, 12 key keypad, a modified 8 pos joystic(so it has 16 positions instead of And four fire buttons. I enjoyed playing the complex games a lot more, but the simpler games were still not very fun.

 

Over all, the games I enjoyed most, were B17 Bomber, Bomb Squad, and Burgertime. There wasn't very much else that held my interest long enough to justify looking for more games. I'm a gamer first, and if the games aren't very good, I stop presuing the system. there's still a few systems out there I'm trying to obtain, I've pretty much only bought intv stuff three times, and only one was an intentional go out and look for it case.

[SteveW]

Even though I always wanted one since they had come out, I didn't get an Intellivision until around 1988, when I bought my Intellivision II from a co-worker. And more importantly, I got the mail order form from INTV. I ordered some replacement controllers and games. I just kept buying more and more games. I've built up a nice collection. But most of my collection was bought in the late '80s while the games were still available in stores.

 

I think one of the things that knocks down the Intellivision's collectibility is that it was more widely available than a console like the Atari 5200, but has a much more limited library than the Atari 2600. It's not all that hard to find Inty games in the wild. A lot of collectors have probably already filled their collections by now, 20-something years later. And the fact that most Intellivisons don't have replaceable controllers, and they probably don't work all that well might contribute to the lack of people buying games.

[holygrailvideogames.com]

I have spent a lot of money over the last year trying to complete my Intellivision collection. I still need 3 original games. A lot of the games go for next to nothing, but the hard to find ones can sell for $50-$300. There are not any $1,000 titles for the Intellivision (well atleast not yet).

[SteveW]

I don't have anywhere close to a full collection, but I have the games that interest me. That's enough for me. Plus, I have my Intellicart, so I don't really need to hunt down any other games.

[bcostin]

I like the Intellivision. I never had one as a kid, but I bought one with a good selection of games at a church yard sale a couple years ago. I've since built up a collection with some good deal from here and ebay. (And a box o' duplicates that will probably go those same two places )

 

I'd like to get an Intellivision II so I can try some of the third party controllers. And I wouldn't pass up a Sears Super Video Arcade.

[MattG/Snyper2099]

Intellivision is so cool. I for one like it a lot. I can't get enough of these games:

 

Dracula

Pinball

Diner

Stadium Mud Buggies

Thin Ice

Thunder Castle

Microsurgeon

Hover Force

Dreadnaught Factor

Astrosmash

Demon Attack

 

I have about 90 games for the intellivision. I guess it just comes down to finding the ones that you find fun. If you don't like any at all from the above list, there is something wrong with you.

[Room 34]

And I wouldn't pass up a Sears Super Video Arcade.

That's what I own now and I'm quite pleased with it... it has the detachable controllers, but it's a little more "unique" than an Intellivision II!

 

[Flojomojo]

I loved the Imagic games on the Intellivision. I've removed the XBOX version of Intellivision Lives from my "buy" list because of the absence of those games. The (legal) emulator is fun, but the original hardware with the silly disc controller is better.

[Shannon]

MattG listed most of the good ones. I've always also liked

 

night stalker

discs of tron

 

maybe it's just me.

[Brad2600]

I never planned on owning an INTV but when an opportunity came to get one in a trade, I couldn't pass it up.

 

I have over 20 boxed games and over 20 loose games. I'd say, 45 total or something.

 

I like several games but the controllers do hamper the experience.

 

Dracula is quite funny.

 

Microsurgeon is quite complicated.

 

I really like the Imagic games though. I am 3 games away from completing Imagic on the INTV and they have to be boxed and or complete.

[tyranthraxus]

I think that is the one constant in INTY land that Imagic ruled. They

were far better than what Mattel could make. Mattel's boxes, cartridges

and overlays all look and feel cheap. Imagic's overlays are pretty nice

in comparison and of course their colourful labels embaress anything

Mattel did.

[CincYnoTi]

I have spent a lot of money over the last year trying to complete my Intellivision collection.  I still need 3 original games.  A lot of the games go for next to nothing, but the hard to find ones can sell for $50-$300.  There are not any $1,000 titles for the Intellivision (well atleast not yet).

 

i have not seen an intellivision T-card on ebay yet. so who knows, one of those might go for pretty high. not all T-cards are prototypes either if you consider the T-card test cart for the INTV II (similar to the MTE test card).

[dougy76]

Well I was digging through my INTV stuff in preparation to ebay it. I

stumbled across a rare game that had slipped through my radar.

Imagic's Fathom, one of the rarest games for the INTV. It appears I

finally manage to find a rare game at a garage sale  

 

A bit of searching showed it worth about $25 loose, a good sum, but very  

low in comparison to what a 2600 game would fetch of course but its low  

even to the other also rans of the era - the 5200 & Colecovision. I  

scanned ebay for what INTV stuff is going for and it looks like there are  

many many box games that don't even sell for more than a buck or two  

if at all. I always knew the INTV never garnered as much attention but  

for a major system I was surprised at the general lack of interest. Good  

news for boxed completists but surprising considering the surge of  

interest the major systems have had. I was wondering what INTV  

collectors had to say about the relative quietness.

 

Also one question for the experts: Are INTV Inc. boxed games a

collected variation over the Mattel ones? I'm wondering whether its

worth mentioning in my auction.

 

I've found that in general, loose Intellivision games are not worth much, unless they are super rare, and even then they don't fetch nearly as much as loose 2600 games as you already discovered. Boxed Intellivision games can go for quite a bit though. In particular, the later INTV releases like Diner and the Sports re-releases usually go for over $50 if they are complete. Also the computer module games and some of the third-parties can go for quite a bit boxed. Check this one out:

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...3&category=3550

 

But most of the common Intellivision games don't fetch much even if they're boxed. It's a good thing though, if you're a gamer, because alot of those games are really great and you can get them for cheap.

 

I don't think it's worth mentioning in your auction that your games have INTV or Mattel boxes. If anything, if they are INTV, it may hurt your auction, because the INTV boxes seems to be much lower in quality than the Mattel one's. They break and tear easily, because you have to open them from the top, whereas the Mattel boxes open up like a book. That's my take.