Hey guys,

Been a site lurker for a long time but only recently decided to join you all.

Recently I’ve got back from Japan where my main goal was to get the remaining VB games that I needed. Thanks to the Mandrakes in Akihabara and Nakano Broadway I managed to pick up the stragglers, Virtual Bowling, SD Gundam and Virtual Labs. They were not cheap but I knew I needed to get them.

However what I did notice is that VB stuff is getting rare in Japan. Super Potato only had about 3-4 titles which were all the cheap largely available titles, they didn’t even have any in a glass cases. When I was there two years ago loads of rare VB games were in stores.

Both Mandrakes also mostly had the cheaper stuff. But they did have some games in glass cases. The ones I picked up, Space Invaders and Virtual Fishing.

So I got thinking. 2 years back I picked up loads of VB games for so really low prices. The best price was Space Squash (complete and great condition) from Gamers in Akihabara for ¥300 which at the time was about $2.

So what it your guys best value buy for your VB collection?

The best value that I have ever got on a Virtual Boy game was for a complete-in-box copy of the North American version of Mario’s Tennis. Some seller on Amazon.com had listed a Mario’s Tennis, saying that it came “in its original box.” As most people already know, the little description is all you ever get on Amazon.com, so if you want to know more or see pictures, you always have to contact the seller, who many times may not be willing to send you pictures, probably due to laziness most of the time. Well, the brief description instantly made me think that the seller did not know what he had, since he surely would not have said that if he knew the history behind the game, namely that Mario’s Tennis never came with a game box but was packed in with the system and was only sold with Blockbuster’s “For Display Only” boxes after the retail life of the Virtual Boy. Just to be safe, I sent the seller a message, asking him if the “original box” had the label in the lower right corner of the front of the box that said “FOR DISPLAY ONLY,” and I also asked him about the condition of the box. Not very long after the seller got back to me, saying that the box did in fact have the “FOR DISPLAY ONLY” label in the lower right corner on the front and that the box was in very good condition with hardly any marks on it, I then clicked on the “Add to Cart” button and purchased his CIB Mario’s Tennis for 20 US Dollars. This was only about 2 years ago, when the average selling price for a North American CIB Mario’s Tennis on Ebay was about 120 to 140 US Dollars. The prices seem to keep slowly rising since then.

GauBan wrote:
Recently I’ve got back from Japan where my main goal was to get the remaining VB games that I needed. Thanks to the Mandrakes in Akihabara and Nakano Broadway I managed to pick up the stragglers, Virtual Bowling, SD Gundam and Virtual Labs. They were not cheap but I knew I needed to get them.

So are those the names of the stores you scored the games at? If you don’t mind me asking I have a friend out there now and she Is looking for VB games for me on Wednesday; If you could suggest some shops that would be great (if you had addresses that would be amazing). I’m trying to get Virtual Bowling, Gundam, and Virtual Lab for under $300 each (multiple copies if possible so I can make back the money here in the states and pay her for her trouble).

Additionally, What prices did you see on the Big four (when you saw them)?

Did you see any Copies of Insmouse by any chance? if so, was the price under 10,000¥?

wow, lot of questions, but I am very curious!

ectoglow wrote:
So are those the names of the stores you scored the games at? If you don’t mind me asking I have a friend out there now and she Is looking for VB games for me on Wednesday; If you could suggest some shops that would be great (if you had addresses that would be amazing). I’m trying to get Virtual Bowling, Gundam, and Virtual Lab for under $300 each (multiple copies if possible so I can make back the money here in the states and pay her for her trouble).

Additionally, What prices did you see on the Big four (when you saw them)?

Did you see any Copies of Insmouse by any chance? if so, was the price under 10,000¥?

wow, lot of questions, but I am very curious!

To be honest you won’t be able to find complete copies of Virtual Bowling or Virtual Lab for less than $300. SD Gundam on the other hand I managed to pick up for about $320 again complete and in great condition. The copies I picked up were the only ones that I was able to find at the time. But as these stores are all secondhand stores then you never know what is if stock when you walk in.

You can get a translated version of the location details for all the Super Potato stores from their own site

There main page

Their Aki address is
１丁目-１１−２ Sotokanda
Chiyoda, Tokyo 101-0021, Japan

Google map

Mandrake which was my favorite place this trip as I got all my VB games from them.
Currently are selling Space Invaders at their Nagoya store and online for 18,000.

Also their store details

I did see a copy of Insmouse at the Nakano Broadway Mandrake which I think was priced at around the ¥10,000 mark. It was in their glass cabinet next to Virtual Bowling.

As for the games prices.
SD-Gundam was about $320 as mentioned
Virtual Lab was about $400
Virtual Bowling was about $1,200 But it is as good as new so worth it. 😀

Mario Tennis (cart only, great shape) for $2.

American VB box (box only, no inserts or paperwork, great shape) for $5.

is your friend still in japan ectoglow ?
i know that you get nice deals for videogames in nipponbashi ( Osaka ) also calt dendentown
You wilt find allot shops here like superpatato / trader / softmap and allot more
so if he is goining to there he will find good deals
i have buy me my self there in the past space squash brand new for 2250 yen
i dont know the adress but a taxi driver understand nipponbashi :)an its also easy to get there by metro

Here a view off nipponbashi :

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