Hi, I’m a VB collector who had his collecting put on ice a few years back and since I’ve been ‘out of the loop’ for a while I don’t really have an up to date knowledge of the values anymore.

The more common games are easy to derive the value from a multitude of auctions but the ‘big four’ in particular are very hard to find a lot about since there are no recent auctions that I can find.

The ones that I have are Space Invaders virtual collection (nm)and Virtual lab (as new, pretty much).

So can anyone help me with the price ranges for these two? I’ve been thinking about selling them, but I need to know what I might be able to get if I decide to do so, if it’s even worth the hassle.

/Hebbe

If one goes from what’s on ebay, it’s 300$ for Space Invaders and 800-1000 for Virtual Lab…

Only $300 for Space Invaders in near mint condition? Wow, that seems incredibly low 😮

After about 8 years of owning them, I would pretty much break even if selling them at least haha 🙂

Hebbe_84 wrote:
Only $300 for Space Invaders in near mint condition? Wow, that seems incredibly low 😮

After about 8 years of owning them, I would pretty much break even if selling them at least haha 🙂

I would hope that a true collector who enjoys the hobby would expect no more than to break even, and if a true collector decided that the time had come to sell the collection for whatever reason and then attempted to break even, but the current bidding market happened to bid it up more, resulting in a profit for him, then he should count it as a blessing.

I don’t think collecting virtual boy games for a profit is going to work. The prices have been pretty stable for the last few years, even after the roms for the super rare games were released.

Now, I find it really odd that you spent that much for virtual lab so long ago. I picked up mine..4 years ago or so..and it was 500. This game I think SHOULD be worth in the 1k range because I think the rarity is close too (if not more then) bowling. I base this just on what I’ve read and seen for sale. But, the market doesn’t support that price..so..*shrugs*.

Most vb enthusiasts just love the system and are picking up a flashboy and some of the more fun games/repros..and are HOPEFULLY developing (or supporting) the vb homebrew scene :). The main collectors that are picking up these rare games are Nintendo collectors that are trying to complete sets. The vboy didn’t come out with many games and it’s considered one of the more easier sets to complete (if 4-5 games are more expensive). These are the people that would have to drive up the prices. But, there doesn’t seem enough of them to do so..but enough to keep the prices stable.

So, in summary: do not try to make money collecting vboy games 🙂

-Eric

Yea, I agree with bigmak. I don’t buy Virtual Boy stuff because I think I can sell it later for profit, I know I’ll never see profit but that doesn’t matter to me. I enjoy owning and playing Virtual Boy, because it’s a fantastic gaming experience.

@Benjamin Stevens:

Well since I’m thinking about selling and explicitly say that the collecting have been on ice for the past few years it would indicate that my collecting days are most likely over. Not that it matters, but when I bought the games I never expected to sell them ever. The same goes for my SNES collection which was once one of the biggest in Sweden. And even if that wouldn’t have been the case, I would prefer you would refrain from judging who is and who isn’t a “true collector”. I don’t see how that kind of comment has any place in this kind of thread at all.

@bigmak

Yeah, as I said above, my goal collecting was never to make a profit and it was never the expectation either since I didn’t really reflect on it at all at the time. I was just surprised that the price of Space Invaders hadn’t gone up since I bought it. I have way more experience with PAL SNES games than VB and the rarer games there have gone up somewhere between 200% and 1000% in the last 10 years. So that’s probably why I expected VB games to have appreciated somewhat in value as well. But I guess the market simply isn’t big enough for VB.

I didn’t spend that much on Virtual lab back then, the reason it wouldn’t be a big profit is mainly the conversion rate between the swedish currency and the US dollar. I think I spent $470 on Virtual lab and somewhere north of $350 on Space invaders, both of which were kind of expensive back then. But yeah, break even was a slight exaggeration. I would probably stand to make like a $100 profit in the end.

Hebbe_84 wrote:
@Benjamin Stevens:

Well since I’m thinking about selling and explicitly say that the collecting have been on ice for the past few years it would indicate that my collecting days are most likely over. Not that it matters, but when I bought the games I never expected to sell them ever. The same goes for my SNES collection which was once one of the biggest in Sweden. And even if that wouldn’t have been the case, I would prefer you would refrain from judging who is and who isn’t a “true collector”. I don’t see how that kind of comment has any place in this kind of thread at all.

Well, in your first two posts, you revealed that you have known about and collected for the Virtual Boy for over 8 years, and yet in all that time, you never made an attempt to post on this site or get to know the community at all, which has been around since the year 2000. Then, when you finally decided to make your appearance to us, it was solely for the purpose of seeing how much money you might be able to get from somebody for two of your games, to see if it would even be “worth the hassle” to you, which strongly indicates that there is no financial burden in your life right now that is forcing you into this decision to sell your games. Not only that, but this strongly indicates that after having these two gems in your collection for over 8 years and after all the joy that you may have received from playing them and/or cherishing the fact that they were yours for all this time, you now feel some sort of entitlement to receive a profit from them, so you will not only have enjoyed that collection time for free but at the expense of someone else. Thus, you may have well just introduced yourself by saying, “Hey everyone, I’ve been holding onto these Virtual Boy games for 8 years now and never in that time wanted to get to know any one of you folks until now, since I now want to sell these games to someone or ones of you but only if I can make a nice profit in the end, in order for it to be worth my time.”

This wasn’t exactly the best approach to take.

I think that’s being a bit harsh (my opinion). He asked for a value..we gave our opinion..he was a bit disappointed. Totally understandable *shrugs*.

Hopefully things will work out..he’ll either keep collecting, stand pat, or sell for what he can get :). If he keeps collecting, I’ll give him the advice I give every new person to the site: get the flashboy and enjoy all the new stuff that has come out in the last few years…bound high, fishbone, space squash, faceball….this might be the first time he can actually play gundam :)..space pinball..vb racing..hunter..hyper fighter…the list goes on and on.

Maybe he has info he can contribute to the site. That long ago, things were being sold and never seen again…(no..i’m not suggesting he has dragon hopper :P).

With the new releases and upcoming releases..we might get a bunch of old guys coming back..or new members. I just want to make sure we’re keeping a positive tone and opening up to have a bigger and better community.

-Eric

Rule 1 of collecting anything: If you’re buying it for resale reasons, you’re doing it wrong. I’m a collector/collectibles store owner, so believe me I see this sort of thing everyday. People coming in with their collections trying to get full price for their stuff for what they paid for it years ago. It doesn’t work that way at all. Buy it for the love of the product not the dollars it could make. Your gonna take a hit, accept it.

Benjamin Stevens wrote:

Hebbe_84 wrote:
@Benjamin Stevens:

Well since I’m thinking about selling and explicitly say that the collecting have been on ice for the past few years it would indicate that my collecting days are most likely over. Not that it matters, but when I bought the games I never expected to sell them ever. The same goes for my SNES collection which was once one of the biggest in Sweden. And even if that wouldn’t have been the case, I would prefer you would refrain from judging who is and who isn’t a “true collector”. I don’t see how that kind of comment has any place in this kind of thread at all.

Well, in your first two posts, you revealed that you have known about and collected for the Virtual Boy for over 8 years, and yet in all that time, you never made an attempt to post on this site or get to know the community at all, which has been around since the year 2000. Then, when you finally decided to make your appearance to us, it was solely for the purpose of seeing how much money you might be able to get from somebody for two of your games, to see if it would even be “worth the hassle” to you, which strongly indicates that there is no financial burden in your life right now that is forcing you into this decision to sell your games. Not only that, but this strongly indicates that after having these two gems in your collection for over 8 years and after all the joy that you may have received from playing them and/or cherishing the fact that they were yours for all this time, you now feel some sort of entitlement to receive a profit from them, so you will not only have enjoyed that collection time for free but at the expense of someone else. Thus, you may have well just introduced yourself by saying, “Hey everyone, I’ve been holding onto these Virtual Boy games for 8 years now and never in that time wanted to get to know any one of you folks until now, since I now want to sell these games to someone or ones of you but only if I can make a nice profit in the end, in order for it to be worth my time.”

This wasn’t exactly the best approach to take.

Actually I have made an attempt in the past to join the site, I tried to register a couple of years ago, but I never received the activation mail. I tried a couple of times and then gave up. But even if I hadn’t, so what? Are you more of a collector than anybody who isn’t a member of this site?

No there’s no financial burden in my life right now, which was pretty obvious from my phrasing and yes it actually is a hazzle to sell games in my opinion. I know because I have sold several hundred in the past.

There’s no entitlement, I just don’t feel it’s worth selling if I don’t get enough money, then I’ll just keep them. Simple as that.

The last little rant I don’t really understand at all. The same could be said about anyone selling anything pretty much anywhere.

I’m not that easily offended but I would think that a lot of people are disheartened if this is the way you treat new members. While browsing the forum the other day I happened upon another thread where a newcomer asked if there were roms on the site and people basically called him an idiot. I was polite and so was he, so there’s really no reason for people like you to come into to thread, not actually trying to contribute to the thread, but basically to spread an aura of elitism. Maybe you should take a good look at yourself instead of berating me.

bigmak wrote:
I think that’s being a bit harsh (my opinion). He asked for a value..we gave our opinion..he was a bit disappointed. Totally understandable *shrugs*.

Hopefully things will work out..he’ll either keep collecting, stand pat, or sell for what he can get :). If he keeps collecting, I’ll give him the advice I give every new person to the site: get the flashboy and enjoy all the new stuff that has come out in the last few years…bound high, fishbone, space squash, faceball….this might be the first time he can actually play gundam :)..space pinball..vb racing..hunter..hyper fighter…the list goes on and on.

Maybe he has info he can contribute to the site. That long ago, things were being sold and never seen again…(no..i’m not suggesting he has dragon hopper :P).

With the new releases and upcoming releases..we might get a bunch of old guys coming back..or new members. I just want to make sure we’re keeping a positive tone and opening up to have a bigger and better community.

-Eric

I actually wasn’t even disappointed, it was more of a surprise. I have pretty much already decided to let go of, at least, the more expensive games. When I was still collecting for both VB and SNES, I never played the more expensive games, I just liked owning them. And since I don’t get the same feeling collecting anymore, there’s no loss really. I’ve been thinking about getting a flashboy for years, I just haven’t gotten around to it. I just have to fix a broken eye in my VB unit first 😛

I don’t think I know enough about VB to contribute anything not already known, but I’d be happy to help if I can of course.

Hebbe_84 wrote:

Benjamin Stevens wrote:

Hebbe_84 wrote:
@Benjamin Stevens:

Well since I’m thinking about selling and explicitly say that the collecting have been on ice for the past few years it would indicate that my collecting days are most likely over. Not that it matters, but when I bought the games I never expected to sell them ever. The same goes for my SNES collection which was once one of the biggest in Sweden. And even if that wouldn’t have been the case, I would prefer you would refrain from judging who is and who isn’t a “true collector”. I don’t see how that kind of comment has any place in this kind of thread at all.

Well, in your first two posts, you revealed that you have known about and collected for the Virtual Boy for over 8 years, and yet in all that time, you never made an attempt to post on this site or get to know the community at all, which has been around since the year 2000. Then, when you finally decided to make your appearance to us, it was solely for the purpose of seeing how much money you might be able to get from somebody for two of your games, to see if it would even be “worth the hassle” to you, which strongly indicates that there is no financial burden in your life right now that is forcing you into this decision to sell your games. Not only that, but this strongly indicates that after having these two gems in your collection for over 8 years and after all the joy that you may have received from playing them and/or cherishing the fact that they were yours for all this time, you now feel some sort of entitlement to receive a profit from them, so you will not only have enjoyed that collection time for free but at the expense of someone else. Thus, you may have well just introduced yourself by saying, “Hey everyone, I’ve been holding onto these Virtual Boy games for 8 years now and never in that time wanted to get to know any one of you folks until now, since I now want to sell these games to someone or ones of you but only if I can make a nice profit in the end, in order for it to be worth my time.”

This wasn’t exactly the best approach to take.

Actually I have made an attempt in the past to join the site, I tried to register a couple of years ago, but I never received the activation mail. I tried a couple of times and then gave up. But even if I hadn’t, so what? Are you more of a collector than anybody who isn’t a member of this site?

No there’s no financial burden in my life right now, which was pretty obvious from my phrasing and yes it actually is a hazzle to sell games in my opinion. I know because I have sold several hundred in the past.

There’s no entitlement, I just don’t feel it’s worth selling if I don’t get enough money, then I’ll just keep them. Simple as that.

The last little rant I don’t really understand at all. The same could be said about anyone selling anything pretty much anywhere.

I’m not that easily offended but I would think that a lot of people are disheartened if this is the way you treat new members. While browsing the forum the other day I happened upon another thread where a newcomer asked if there were roms on the site and people basically called him an idiot. I was polite and so was he, so there’s really no reason for people like you to come into to thread, not actually trying to contribute to the thread, but basically to spread an aura of elitism. Maybe you should take a good look at yourself instead of berating me.

I imagine that you already understand the importance of making a good first impression, and if you analyze your first two posts again, you should understand why they gave the impression that you were a video game profiteer, as your first two posts were all that anyone had to look at concerning you. If you are not a video game profiteer, then that is very good and I have no beef with you. You should also understand why just about nobody who is into video game collecting likes video game profiteers. All of my comments were directed at video game profiteers in general.

Benjamin Stevens wrote:

Hebbe_84 wrote:

Benjamin Stevens wrote:

Hebbe_84 wrote:
@Benjamin Stevens:

Well since I’m thinking about selling and explicitly say that the collecting have been on ice for the past few years it would indicate that my collecting days are most likely over. Not that it matters, but when I bought the games I never expected to sell them ever. The same goes for my SNES collection which was once one of the biggest in Sweden. And even if that wouldn’t have been the case, I would prefer you would refrain from judging who is and who isn’t a “true collector”. I don’t see how that kind of comment has any place in this kind of thread at all.

Well, in your first two posts, you revealed that you have known about and collected for the Virtual Boy for over 8 years, and yet in all that time, you never made an attempt to post on this site or get to know the community at all, which has been around since the year 2000. Then, when you finally decided to make your appearance to us, it was solely for the purpose of seeing how much money you might be able to get from somebody for two of your games, to see if it would even be “worth the hassle” to you, which strongly indicates that there is no financial burden in your life right now that is forcing you into this decision to sell your games. Not only that, but this strongly indicates that after having these two gems in your collection for over 8 years and after all the joy that you may have received from playing them and/or cherishing the fact that they were yours for all this time, you now feel some sort of entitlement to receive a profit from them, so you will not only have enjoyed that collection time for free but at the expense of someone else. Thus, you may have well just introduced yourself by saying, “Hey everyone, I’ve been holding onto these Virtual Boy games for 8 years now and never in that time wanted to get to know any one of you folks until now, since I now want to sell these games to someone or ones of you but only if I can make a nice profit in the end, in order for it to be worth my time.”

This wasn’t exactly the best approach to take.

Actually I have made an attempt in the past to join the site, I tried to register a couple of years ago, but I never received the activation mail. I tried a couple of times and then gave up. But even if I hadn’t, so what? Are you more of a collector than anybody who isn’t a member of this site?

No there’s no financial burden in my life right now, which was pretty obvious from my phrasing and yes it actually is a hazzle to sell games in my opinion. I know because I have sold several hundred in the past.

There’s no entitlement, I just don’t feel it’s worth selling if I don’t get enough money, then I’ll just keep them. Simple as that.

The last little rant I don’t really understand at all. The same could be said about anyone selling anything pretty much anywhere.

I’m not that easily offended but I would think that a lot of people are disheartened if this is the way you treat new members. While browsing the forum the other day I happened upon another thread where a newcomer asked if there were roms on the site and people basically called him an idiot. I was polite and so was he, so there’s really no reason for people like you to come into to thread, not actually trying to contribute to the thread, but basically to spread an aura of elitism. Maybe you should take a good look at yourself instead of berating me.

I imagine that you already understand the importance of making a good first impression, and if you analyze your first two posts again, you should understand why they gave the impression that you were a video game profiteer, as your first two posts were all that anyone had to look at concerning you. If you are not a video game profiteer, then that is very good and I have no beef with you. You should also understand why just about nobody who is into video game collecting likes video game profiteers. All of my comments were directed at video game profiteers in general.

Judging me by my first two posts alone may result in me being a “video game profiteer”, yes, not that I understand the need for judging people at all. I have never been into collecting for profit. I don’t mind making a profit once I’ve decided to sell something, but that has never been the goal. But if it had been, I would still not see the problem. Are people that buy and sell games for profit morally bankrupt? Can the same thing be said about people who deal in collectible cars? I really don’t understand the hostility towards so called “video game profiteers”. They’re not forcing anyone to buy, it’s entirely up to you whether you want to deal with them or not. If the market didn’t approve of them, they clearly wouldn’t exist. It just seems like a complete non-issue and a case of ‘none of my buisness’.

Hebbe_84 wrote:

… Judging me by my first two posts alone may result in me being a “video game profiteer” …

Actually, assessing you by all of your posts now definitely proves that you are a profiteer. If that is what you want to be, then own up to it, and don’t get so defensive when one instantly recognizes who you are.

Based on my knowledge of, and close following of, the Virtual Boy market for the past 3 years, I can inform you of this:

If you would list your near mint, complete-in-box copy of Space Invaders: Virtual Collection on Ebay, making it available to international bidders and providing detailed pictures from all angles of each item, at an amount equivalent to 550.00 U.S. Dollars, it will probably sell within 3 months, and almost definitely within 4. It will be purchased by a relatively new Virtual Boy collector, who does not want to try and get involved with Japanese auction and selling sites, where he would be able to find one for much less on a somewhat regular basis. It certainly will not be purchased by a reseller, who will no doubt know that he won’t be able to sell it for any more than that.

If you would list your complete in box copy of Virtual Lab on Ebay, again making it available to international bidders and providing detailed pictures from all angles of each item, at a price equivalent to 850.00 U.S. Dollars, it will probably sell within 1 month, and almost definitely within 2. For some reason, trying to list it any higher just won’t get anyone to bite.

In both cases, your games will, in all probability, be purchased by collectors who will not have read this thread and who, therefore, will not know of, and will not care about, what you originally paid for those 2 games. These are your upper selling limits for these two games, if you want them to sell at all, and they will only do so if you sell them in the manner described.

If these potential profits are acceptable to you, then go ahead and have at it.

“You should also understand why just about nobody who is into video game collecting likes video game profiteers…”

Honestly I collect video games for many years and I even didn´t know that “profiteers” are a big issue. There are resellers yes and if one of them is asking too much money nobody will buy from them anyway. But maybe that´s just me and maybe I am not an expert in what a real collector should be or do.

In case one day I have to sell my VirtualBoy collection because there is an emergency and I need some money for my family and I make a profit then, I would not really care if that makes me then a profiteer or not.

And even only in case I lost interest in collecting Virtual Boy stuff (which will not really happen) why should anybody sell it below the market value then? Just my personal opinion.

BTW: Even you seem to be a dirty profiteer, welcome to the forum Hebbe_84 😉

[Hebbe_84]

Benjamin Stevens wrote:

Hebbe_84 wrote:

… Judging me by my first two posts alone may result in me being a “video game profiteer” …

Actually, assessing you by all of your posts now definitely proves that you are a profiteer. If that is what you want to be, then own up to it, and don’t get so defensive when one instantly recognizes who you are.

You have probably come to this conclusion yourself by now, but your opinion of me is not something that concerns me. I honestly couldn’t care less how you label me.

I did not buy any game I own or have owned with the intent of profiting from it. If I did I would have no problem admitting to it, because I don’t see the problem with people who do. As long as the buyer and seller are both honest straightforward people, I couldn’t care less about either person’s intent for selling or buying.

When selling games I would rather make a profit than not, If that makes me a profiteer in your eyes then so be it, I’m a profiteer.

You don’t have to worry too much about it though. Since I wouldn’t sell you anything for twice the asking price, you’re not going to be affected 🙂

Thank you for the post on the values though. I would rather sell a little cheaper with no hazzle than having auctions out for months though. I never ask a price on the high end of the spectrum, partly because of that.

Edit:

I missed this on my first readthrough, but you’re suggesting that people care about what I originally paid for the games. I can assure you that collectors in general, or any other people, don’t care what the seller paid. People aren’t that petty and jelous. What is interesting when buying is the asking price compared to the current market price, nothing else.

• This reply was modified 10 years, 4 months ago by Hebbe_84.

Wow the replies in here are kinda crazy. In all honesty, I do not understand what is wrong with profiting from anything. I personally buy big lots of stuff for inexpensive prices and resell the items I dont want or already have. I then use that profit to purchase other gaming related things that I want. The first rule of business is to buy low and sell high. Selling games is literally a seller doing “business” with a buyer. If you feel the prices are too high, then move on to the next person. I own 26 systems and just over 3,000 games. Appropriately 75% of that came from doing the process above. Had it not been for that, I might not have gotten the chance to experience and enjoy alot of the games I own.

P.S.
Ben, if you ever decide you need or want to sell your collection, please let me know. I would love to fill holes in my collection at 4-5 year old prices ;).

@VectrexRoli2 & HoMenace

I have hung around gaming forums since the early 2000’s and I have honestly never seen such hostility towards people who buy and sell games for profit. The fact that I don’t even do it makes it even more ridiculous that I’m the target of it.

You seem to have a more reasonable approach to selling though. Being angry at people for nothing more than making a profit when selling games just seems incredibly petty and jelous.

Hebbe_84 wrote:

…

Thank you for the post on the values …

You’re welcome.