Things of surprising value

"jminer" (jminer)
08/05/2020 at 13:45 • Filed to: None

Over the last year Mrs Miner and I have been cleaning out our house as we’re planning on making a big move when everything works out. We’d have already moved but Covid-19 decided to throw a giant wrench in that plan.

We have way too much stuff as we bought a big house 10 years ago and have lots of hobbies so we had rooms full of shit. Some of it went to friends, some to goodwill, a good deal of it was sold and some into dumpsters. I have rented three (THREE!!!!) 20 yard dumpsters in the last year and filled them all.

At any rate the point of this post is to check ebay/CL/FB marketplace when you’re going through things and find something that seems like it might be worth something. When cleaning I’ll usually do this real time with my phone and make that decision right there whether or not it is worth it to me to sell. Sometimes things are worth a lot more than you would think.

Right before Christmas I found a box of Nintendo 64 carts and while going through it popped them into a N64 to test and play a bit, then one caught my eye as unusual when I started to play it.

The front is non-descript enough but on the back it had this sticker.

So it send me down a google rabbit hole and apparently I have in my possession a very rare cartridge. It was created to go in a N64 demo console in a retail store and give people a taste of Donkey Kong 64 before it had been released. It’s unusual because carts used in those consoles were mostly the full game and this one is just a video of the Monkeys rapping (yes it is as bad as you think) then 3 simple games followed by this screen.

These were supposed to be sent back to Nintendo once the real game was released so they could be destroyed. Of course anyone who’s worked in retail knows this doesn’t always happen. I worked at a Circuit City in 2004 and stuff like this walked off all the time.

So after google not telling me much other than it’s uncommon and a single ebay listing of the cart for ~$500 I turned to the N64 sub on reddit. They were quite helpful and immediately sent me !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! which had all the information I was looking for.

It turned out this random cartridge which I have zero recollection of buying is rare enough only 2-3 come up for sale on ebay every year and frequently command north of $500 if in good shape. Jackpot! I kept it for a while but as I keep going through my keep pile I find things I’d rather sell than keep so it moved into the sell pile.

I listed it on eBay earlier today with a price of 575 OBO which I though was high and likely would settle for $450 but it sold at full price less than 6 hours after the listing started!

So the moral of the story is when going through things give anything slightly odd a closer look as you never know when it’s strange enough to be rare and valuable.

DISCUSSION (29)

PowderHound > jminer
08/05/2020 at 13:50

That’s a wild amount of money for a portion of a game! It makes me want to go to my parents to dig through Pokemon cards , Magic the gathering cards , PS1 games, and hotwheels to see if anything is worth selling.

BaconSandwich is tasty. > jminer
08/05/2020 at 13:51

Dang! Nice find!

I don’t suppose you’d be willing to sell some of the other N64 games you’ve come across? I’m slowly looking at adding to my collection (which is currently quite small).

Rex Sheldon > jminer
08/05/2020 at 13:54

Last year I popped into one of my local used record stores that also carries movies and occasionally video games. On the shelf was a black label copy of Final Fantasy VII (as opposed to the green label “greatest hits” edition) for $8. I have a few copies in storage already of green label editions, but I grabbed it on a whim since it was only $8 and later in the day threw it up on eBay. Most copies I researched were selling for $40-$60 but in the last seconds of the auction it sold for a solid $100. Made me start going through my immense collection and start prepping it for sale, it’s not doing me any good in storage. Nice find!

3 Jeeps and a Mazda wants a Fiata > jminer
08/05/2020 at 13:54

That would go great

Kinja'd!!!

with my DK64 edition N64!

3 Jeeps and a Mazda wants a Fiata > BaconSandwich is tasty.
08/05/2020 at 13:56

I’ll sell you my Turok64, it’s the only game I’ve ever bought that I’ve been willing to sell, it’s that bad.

BaconSandwich is tasty. > 3 Jeeps and a Mazda wants a Fiata
08/05/2020 at 14:02

What’s the matter, you don’t mind staring at nothing but very close fog?

I’ve heard that used as a verb for when someone has to scale back the graphics and use fog to hide it. “Man, that game was totally Turok’ed”.

That said, I still wouldn’t mind owning it...

facw > jminer
08/05/2020 at 14:05

Nice! I just tossed a bunch of old video game things from my parent’s house (note: not actually tossed, just left out with a free sign, they went quickly) , but I’m pretty sure none were especially valuable (certainly nothing worth the added stress during a stressful time), and I did stuff my brother’s N64 stuff (which I’m sure is similarly non-valuable) into a storage locker for him to sort through. The holdout is the 360, which currently has a big stack of games (plus some PC games) stacked on my dining table, while I figure out if I should toss them, sell them for next to nothing, shove all the discs in a CD binder, or just pack them back up and hope I don’t need the closet space.

jminer > PowderHound
08/05/2020 at 14:05

I’d do it, if you have some older magic cards those definitely can bring in some serious change.

jminer > Rex Sheldon
08/05/2020 at 14:06

Nice find!

jminer > 3 Jeeps and a Mazda wants a Fiata
08/05/2020 at 14:07

Ooh the green one - I've always loved the look of them.

jminer > facw
08/05/2020 at 14:08

I got rid of my 360 stuff but I never liked it that much to begin with.

For the N64 games basically any of the first part Nintendo games are worth $30 and up on eBay. It’s not bad and can add up if you’ve got a decent collection you’re willing to part with.

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > jminer
08/05/2020 at 14:14

I remember spending hours playing multiplayer in the full game with my brother and friends when we rented it! We never bought it though.

Still have my N64 and am in the middle of repairing the floppy control sticks with some Steelsticks64 replacement polished-metal-lined bowls, transparent replacement joysticks and Kitch -Bent replacement gears!

3 Jeeps and a Mazda wants a Fiata > jminer
08/05/2020 at 14:14

Bought it from Sears(!) Back in 1999, it came with the graphics booster cartridge so it could play DK64. Sad thing is I've lost the game moving so much :(

3 Jeeps and a Mazda wants a Fiata > BaconSandwich is tasty.
08/05/2020 at 14:17

I bought it Easter Sunday 2001 I think. I remember because it came from Kmart and it was the only place open. I've got a larger SNES collection but ill never part with any of it.

3 Jeeps and a Mazda wants a Fiata > Rex Sheldon
08/05/2020 at 14:18

Ive got two green label FFVII and one black. Even the green ones were going for good money not too long ago.

facw > jminer
08/05/2020 at 14:24

Hmm, well I can tell that to my brother for when he goes through his n64 stuff.

Saracen > jminer
08/05/2020 at 14:37

I’ve got a D reamcast and a bunch of games for it, including some japanese market games. I was shocked to find out how much some of them are worth.

jminer > RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars
08/05/2020 at 15:00

Very nice - those should be some sweet controllers when done!

jminer > Saracen
08/05/2020 at 15:01

Nostalgia for the 90's is one hell of a drug. I had a friend that had a dreamcast and it was a fun system!

Dr_Watson > jminer
08/05/2020 at 15:23

Hmm... I wonder if it’s time to sell the SNES in my attic.

GoodIdeaAtTheTime > Saracen
08/05/2020 at 15:38

My wife’s video game collection, that I have loathed moving for years, now takes up 3 rooms and all the closets in the house. Apparently it n ow requires its own insurance policy. I t was appraised at well over 6 figures , definitely was not expecting that. Since we needed more space for her stuff, my Lego collection has been moved to storage units, 3 of them to be exact . My Lego s are still worth more...

jminer > Dr_Watson
08/05/2020 at 15:50

Quarantine has definitely spiked value on a lot of things gaming.

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > jminer
08/05/2020 at 17:06

I have one done already, works really great! :D

VW Max > jminer
08/05/2020 at 18:08

Wow, that’s special.

That reminds me that I have copy of Diddy Kong Racing I need to sell.

Danny Korecki > jminer
08/05/2020 at 22:05

I used to be big in gaming like many people are in their younger years, I parlayed that after college getting my first job working in the video game industry.

During that time I would check eBay daily for certain items. Since your post is about N64, look up the N64 DD, if you don’t know it was a N64 add on that was only in Japan after it failed, well games are rare as they pulled the plug early. Once I bid and won Mario Artist for like $14.99, all the scalpers must have taken the week off or something . I reposted it weeks later for $150. They go for like $300 now, but 10+ years later.

Danny Korecki > Saracen
08/05/2020 at 22:06

Dreamcast is my favorite system of all time. It was before its time. People hated it for things they praise current consoles for.

Danny Korecki > jminer
08/05/2020 at 22:06

Def my fav system, the only flaw was sounded like a lawn mower when you played it.

Spoon II > jminer
08/06/2020 at 00:21

That’s awesome ! I love learning about stuff like this

Saracen > Danny Korecki
08/06/2020 at 02:17

Yup, great system. I think the biggest flaw was that it ran Windows CE.

Also, did you know that it’s water cooled?