What
is the AtariAge rarity guide? How do we arrive at the values? This page
will attempt to explain some of that, and give further detail to each
of the numbers we assign.
First of all, this guide reflects the availability of cartridges from
all sources: thrift stores, flea markets, retailers, and online auctions.
In some cases, the games may be extremely difficult to find "in the
wild", but they may be readily available online. For example, Telegames
(not Sears
Tele-Games) cartridges are quite hard to find at the local thrift
store or flea market, but you can simply go to their store online and
purchase them with ease. They may be more expensive than other games of
a similar rarity, but not necessarily more rare.
Another thing to consider is that rarity does not explicitly dictate
value. Popularity/notoriety of a game has much to do with it. For example,
Chase
the Chuckwagon and Guardian
are both rated 8, but Chase the Chuckwagon consistently sells for more
on the collector market. Why is this? Chase the Chuckwagon has a colorful
history and has earned a certain degree of notoriety. Guardian on the
other hand has no really interesting story behind it and is not as well
known. On the low end, games like Pitfall!
and Frogger
may sell for more than others of a similar rarity because they are so
much fun and are often the first games that new collectors seek because
of their fond memories about the games.
We arrived at the ascribed values after much consideration and input
from a great number of collectors. While we have been collecting for many
years ourselves, we could not have put this together without input from
others in the hobby. We realize there is always room for improvement,
and if you feel that a particular rarity is inaccurate, we encourage to
post about it in the Rarity
Guide message board where others may discuss it as well. If the consensus
is that a value needs to be changed, we will take that into serious consideration.
Here are some further details about the Rarity Guide numbers:
# |
Title |
Description |
 |
Common |
The most common of all games. These are the
titles that you almost always find when you buy a stack of games
at a flea market or thrift store. Any longtime collector probably
has stacks of these. |
 |
Common+ |
Almost as ubiquitous as Common, but may vary
slightly from collector to collector. Even beginning collectors
can find almost all of these without much difficulty. |
 |
Scarce |
Scarce cartridges are those that you don't
find in every pile, but you will find them often enough. Although
you may have trouble tracking down every Scarce cartridge initially,
you can eventually get them all. |
 |
Scarce+ |
Getting harder to find, it may be difficult
to track down all the Scarce+ cartridges if you are only hunting
locally. For that reason, you may have to resort to online resources
to track down all of these, although you should be able to pick
them up inexpensively. |
 |
Rare |
You don't see these everyday, unless you're
really lucky. We're just getting into the rare territory, and
you will probably have to do some trading or online buying to
acquire all these cartridges. Expect to pay in the $10-$20 range
on the collector market for these titles. |
 |
Rare+ |
Ah, now we're talking. Dedicated cartridge
hunters can find these in the wild with perseverance, but it
will take considerable effort. If you must resort to Ebay, expect
to give up $20-$30 each. |
 |
Very Rare |
Very rare, cartridges you will rarely run
across in the wild.. You might even have a hard time finding
these on Ebay, but they show up often enough that you should
wait for a good deal. |
 |
Very Rare+ |
Worth bragging about if you find it in the
wild. If you buy one of these on Ebay, expect to pay well for
it. |
 |
Extremely Rare |
Extremely difficult to find, although these
are attainable. Even veteran collectors of many years are excited
by finding one of these babies in the wild. Consider yourself
lucky for any Extremely Rare+ cartridge that you find. |
 |
Unbelievably Rare |
These games are almost impossible to find
in the wild. Even collectors who have been at it for years may
never run across one of these, and they often make up the showcase
of an individual's collection. These rarely show up even on
Ebay, and if they do there will most likely be a bidding war. |
 |
Prototype |
Prototypes are games that were not released
commercially, and they range from demos to fully working versions.
Prototypes are generally very rare, although in some cases there
may be dozens floating around. Beware of fakes. |
 |
Modern |
Modern games are cartridges produced after
the standard life of the system. Games are still being created
today for the 2600, 5200, and other classic systems. Many of
these are still available directly from the publishers. |
 |
Undetermined |
These games have not been assigned a rarity
yet due to insufficient information. This does not necessarily
mean that they're rare. If you'd like to help us determine rarity
for these games, please feel free to participate in our Rarity
Guide Forum. |
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AtariAge Rarity Key
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