vectrex retail display

[daniel courchesne]

i was recently asked to try and sell a buddie's old video game system
for him. he is arguably one the most computer illiterate people under
the age of 40 i've ever met. he told me about this old game system he
had and i was happy to help. so for the last day or so i've been doin
homework on what turned out to be a vectrex system. he has 21 games,
the console with original controller, and a second controller with the
box. the items vary from some games in mint condition, that appear to
have never even been opened, to some which clearly got lots of love.
what was unique and has caused me some additional headaches is the
"stand" he had the whole thing set up on in his house. the story
goes...his aunt worked for MB and was given the whole package, but
what she gave him was what i'd describe as a retail display kiosk.
its a glass case about 4 feet tall with a "half moon" shield on top
displaying the various games that were available at that time. the
case holds the games and has a lock to close the cabinet. i would
guess this is how the games were displayed and sold in stores. so
through my research it appears every little bit of these systems gets
a couple bucks on ebay. eg: an owners manual was going for just under
20 bucks. it would seem like he has +/- $1500 worth of "stuff". i'm
hoping this group can give me some idea what demand is for the
"display" case since it seems very unique. any feedback would be
great.
lastly, i've noticed some people advertising their auctions for the
console as having low serial numbers, which would be logical for
collectors wanting early units. the console has a serial number of
0097678, which to me seemed high, but then the "advertised low serial
number" was in the 140000's. again, i'm hopin this group can help

thank you,

daniel

[Havok]

Most people aren't so interested in kiosks; I've seen them get tossed,
or picked up for free on many occasions. You might get a couple
hundred for that if you're lucky and find the right collector; I know
I would be interested, however I wouldn't pay much for one personally.
As far as the games, you would have to list them, but I would say a
general rule of thumb is the games go for on average of $30 each,
depending on condition, full packaging, etc. The actual unit itself
seems to average around $100, or more depending on condition.

Sounds like you have around a $1,000 package deal if you can find the
right collector.

[cnlmoore]

It also really depends on where you are located and where you are
willing to ship to. The market in the US is depressed because of the
economy and many deals can be had. I wouldn't pay $30 for a complete
game unless it was mint in the box and I could get a few at once to
save on shipping or could pick it up in the Chicago area. I average
$10-$20 for my complete game buys. Of course the conversion rate of
the dollar vs the pound/euro has made the European collectors more
aggressive for stuff in the US market. If you want top dollar put it
all on eBay with worldwide shipping and hope for the best. If you
want to move it quick without hassle, put it on craigslist for a price
your buddy is happy with and have someone local pick it up. I can't
imagine that shipping the kiosk would be fun. Good luck.

[mostlyharmless]

I can just say that if you put the displaystand on ebay with a world
wide shipping, I think quite a few ppl would be in line.. including me

[hcmffm]

> It also really depends on where you are located and where you are
> willing to ship to. The market in the US is depressed because of the
> economy and many deals can be had. I wouldn't pay $30 for a complete
> game unless it was mint in the box and I could get a few at once to
> save on shipping or could pick it up in the Chicago area. I average
> $10-$20 for my complete game buys. Of course the conversion rate of
> the dollar vs the pound/euro has made the European collectors more
> aggressive for stuff in the US market. If you want top dollar put it
> all on eBay with worldwide shipping and hope for the best. If you
> want to move it quick without hassle, put it on craigslist for a price
> your buddy is happy with and have someone local pick it up. I can't
> imagine that shipping the kiosk would be fun. Good luck.

Good info which I can confirm. Yes, the exchange rate from EUR to USD makes
things sold in the U.S. attractive, but shipping larger items can be
expensive and packaging complicated. European buyers have to pay custom
charges which are about 13%, FAIK, but most people forget about these
charges and are surprised when receiving the item. (Actually the item is not
delivered home, instead you will have to pick the item up at the customs
office).

== Rare kiosk
The kiosk is definetely a rare item and interesting for some collectors (I
would like to have one, too). If you are lucky, there are two collectors
bidding a lot. But it can also happen that there's only one collector or
even no collector at all who bids on your kiosk and thus the bids will be
low. Very hard to say and predict...