The following video-game-related
items are so rare, you probably haven't heard of any of them.
They are all real, there is only a handful in the world
of each, and you can NEVER HAVE THEM, because of the
wallet-stopping combination of being both expensive AND totally
useless. You can look, though. But you can't ever touch.
Especially that car. You know the one.
HI, SATURN
The Sega Saturn was a joint project
between Sega, JVC and Hitachi. The contracts for
the latter two allowed them to manufacture their
own versions of the Saturn console
At first they played it
straight, but one year after the Saturn's
release, Hitachi massively upgraded their
version. The extremely rare HiSaturn Navi
contains the guts of a Saturn, plus a karaoke
machine, the ability to pick up TV signals, and a
GPS navigator
The price you see below is
actually less than it originally cost
eBay Price: $1035.00
HI, DREAMCAST
A TV made by Fuji with a Dreamcast built
into the top. It came packed with all the
machine's accessories, including a keyboard,
Internet and teleconference software, a headset,
and a remote (for you could also watch TV with
it)
This combo, manufactured by Sharp, was
actually sold in the US
Comes with ten games, including
Alfred Chicken
eBay Price: $202.50 (plus $75
shipping)
PERMA-SEALED PANZER DRAGOON
SAGA
You'll be seeing
several games that look like this today, so let
me explain a recent trend among video game
collectors: having their most valued items
laminated and graded by the "Video
Game Authority,"
or the VGA. They are sealed in these plastic
cases and their condition is given a grade on a
strict numerical scale. 80 or above is Silver
quality, 90 or above is Gold
In my opinion, the only worse
thing you can do to a game like this is stomp on
it or microwave it. There are only 30,000 copies
of Panzer Dragoon Saga in North America, and
permanent lamination means one less copy people
can actually play
eBay Price: $700
SEGA DREAM CATCHER CRANE
Perfect for catching the dreams the
Dreamcast casts
eBay Price: $2,500
HALF-LIFE DREAMCAST BOX
Half-Life for Dreamcast was cancelled at
the eleventh hour due to the console itself
facing an early retirement. It's many a gamer's
opinion (including mine) that if Sierra had just
sold the thing, it would have become one of the
console's top sellers and even helped the
Dreamcast last a bit longer
This promotional box was used
by game stores to get customers to reserve a game
that never came out
Lasts three hours on one battery charge.
Both your 3DS and your Vita will poop out before
then
eBay Price: $300
FORTY SEALED NES GAMES
Some lemons, but also a few valuable
ones. The Battletoads one alone would sell for
not much more than the entire lot did
eBay Price: $6,300
"BUBSY PARTY"
INVITATION SANDAL
Accolade
celebrated the completion and release of their
first Bubsy game with a beach party that you
could only attend if you had in your possession a
styrofoam sandal like this one
"More later, dude!"
What could possibly go right?
eBay Price: $77.00
THWOMP PILLOW
Pleasant dreams
eBay Price: $47.99
THE FIRST WIDEBOY
Awhile back, you saw the N64 version of
the Wideboy. This was the original Japanese
version for the original Game Boy
You use the wired-in Game Boy
to control it
The results looked
like this. Thanks to
their ugly choice of color palette, I saw a lot
of magazine screenshots that looked like mud
eBay Price: $500
DONKEY KONG 64 DEMO CART
Very few NFR carts have differing
content. The DK64 one, however, was a demo -- the
only time Nintendo ever created a demo version of
an N64 game
eBay Price: $316.81
VGA-GRADED AND SEALED ZELDA
COLLECTOR'S EDITION
This
typically eBays for about $40 open, $120 wrapped.
I don't know who he thinks he can fool with that
price
Mine cost me $0
eBay Price: $1,099.99
"EARTHBOUND
ANTHOLOGY" ART BOOK
Was created by Starmen.net as one last, loud, grandiose effort to
amass support for an official translation of
Mother 3. It didn't work
Only a few dozen were ever
made, and sent to the Nintendo brass, plus
members of the press
eBay Price: $810.99
RAREST SONIC UMBRELLA EVER
The seller claims it's from 1991, but if
that were true, then why's Tails on it? All I
know is it's not available at Target
eBay Price: $80.00
SEGA GENESIS/MEGA DRIVE
"SMASH" CONTROLLER
And you'd thought you'd seen them all.
This rare peripheral was meant for playing an
unlicensed Whack-A-Mole game
"Has been sitting in
storage so bax has wear on it," said the
seller. That's the first time I've seen someone
misspell "box"
eBay Price: $199.00
CASTLEVANIA: SYMPHONY OF THE
NIGHT: THE TIGER HANDHELD VERSION
I'm just as surprised as you. How would
this work?
eBay Price: $310.00
COMPLETE NINTENDO 64 DISK
DRIVE COLLECTION
Even
before the N64 was released, we were promised
this Disk Drive add-on that would make up for
some of the disadvantages the cartridge format
had against CDs. One year after release, there
was no drive. Two years, no drive. It never
appeared, except in Japan, where it bombed so
badly it stayed there. Look at that, only ten
games in all (technically, six games and four
graphics software titles). Even the Virtual Boy
had more than this
Ocarina of Time was once going
to be a Disk Drive title. It was moved to a
cartridge when the drive was delayed, and the
plan changed into making an
"enhancement" disk that would rearrange
the dungeons. That ended up being released as the
Master Quest
eBay Price: $900
N64 CONTROLLER WITH A SMALL
LION ON IT
eBay Price:
$828.10
Sold in limited quantities by
the Japanese merchant Hello Mac. Even more
valuable than the Game Boy with the small purple
cow on it
If this doesn't make sense to
you, you will never be a true collector
CD-I LINK ON A TOWEL
"When you make me crouch, I CAN DO
THE DUCK WALK! COOL, HUH?!?!?"
eBay Price: $14.99
SONIC THE HEDGEHOG FOR SEGA
MASTER SYSTEM
The Master
System was a failure in the US, and Sega wanted
to use Sonic as the main selling point of the
Genesis. However, there might have been
some stubborn people who wanted the game on SMS,
so they put together an inferior port for their
older console
The Master System was still
going strong in Europe, and they had plenty of
Sonic copies to go around. Sega just took the
European version and pasted a new UPC sticker on
the box. The European version is nearly
worthless. But guess how much that one little
sticker makes the same package worth in the US?
eBay Price: $981.33
ALBINO TAILS PLUSH
It's not some freaky error, it was made
this way on purpose...but your guess is as good
as mine as to the reason
eBay Price: $79.53
METAL GEAR SOLID SHRINKWRAPPED
MEDIA CD
Given out to
attendees of E3 1998
eBay Price: $50.01
STAR FOX ADVENTURES SURVIVAL
KIT
So what is it,
really....a kit to stave off boredom?
Given out by Circuit City to
those with preorders. It contains Jones Soda
apple-flavored "Fox Fuel," a doorknob
hanger to ward any interrupters away while you're
on your latest INTENSE fetch-quest....and the
piece de resistance, a roll of toilet paper with
tips for the game printed all over it. Perfect
metaphor, right?
eBay Price: $48.99
Note: if you liked this game,
I'm sorry
For you
DESIGN DOCUMENTS FOR
UNRELEASED CALIFORNIA RAISINS GAME
"The Grape Escape" was
eventually leaked and you can buy a reproduction
version. To be fair, it wasn't as much of a hot
property by 1991
eBay Price: $799.99
COUGAR BOY
Produces "SUPER STEREO SOUND"
and "SCROLLING BACKGROUND OPTION FOR GREAT
VISUAL EFFECT."
The name could've been worse.
In other areas, it was called the "Mega
Duck."
eBay Price: $161.50
THE DEBUG PS2
(fat)
It's the Japanese
one, but it looked the same in other regions
eBay Price: $131.10
THE SONIC BIBLE
I wish this was actually a version of
the Bible using the Sonic license, but here they
mean "bible" as in a document stating
the rules of an imaginary world and what can and
can't happen, for freelance writers and
merchandisers to rely on
Whoever made that "Dr.
Kintobor" comic around this time evidently
never bothered to read this