Anyone know why the prices are what they are for these games? Collectard pieces or cult following?
Yeah, the usual reasons I guess. Something just happens in those auctions where 2 or more knuckleheads are competing against each other, it gets bid up high in the process cause neither want to quit below <$50, everybody sees the eBay history and that somebody just paid $80 bucks for that old thing, so BINs start appearing around the range of where such auctions ended which are held on to for a while, etc.
A combination of big "MUST-COMPLETE-MY-COLLECTION-NOW" spenders , impatience, maybe some gamer channel giving it great reviews creating many more interested buyers, the eBay trending price feature, and then supply of the particular product going down, etc. It's all of that. Even when somebody does start an auction low, you see it get bid up again back around to where it was, so that shows you have too many big-spenders around willing to go that high and not enough of the item to go around.
Of course there's some shenanigans with professional resellers in the mix, but I think ultimately it's big-spenders who are setting the ranges and in turn tempting everybody else who might own the item if they ever see this... Like, I have "Bonk III: Bonk's Big Adventure" in very good condition CIB and I just saw an auction where somebody paid $700 bucks for the thing, that shit is tempting for me to throw it up on eBay some day hoping to catch 2 or more knuckleheads like that who think it's worth that much should they compete for it! But then if more of that history is created, when you wanna buy something, everything is long gone out of your price range and only those same big-spending nuts will ever get to own real copies...
It's crazy, I mean, it's a boring ass game, I think mostly cause of the music, but $700 ? Why didn't they give up at $100 during the auction process ? No no, I'll try $150, oh no, the other guy still wants it, OK, $200, damn, that other f--ker STILL wants it, OK, I'll throw $300 at this thing, shit, he outbid me again, f--k this guy, I'm gonna make sure he doesn't get it, OK, I'll throw $400 at this thing, holy f*ck, he outbid me to $450... What to do, OK, f--k it, I'm ALL IN BABY, $500!!! NO ? $600 then!!!! BEAT THAT BUDDY!!! On and on and on and on and on! Till we get the madness that is Magical Chase where we've seen auctions end at $2000 to $3000 to $4000, etc.
