Ever had seller’s remorse? I sure have. Most recently, I’m feeling remorseful that I sold both of the first two Nintendo arcade games ever made – Radar Scope and HeliFire. I was already kicking myself for letting go of them recently, but it really hit me a few weeks ago when I saw that a single used Radar Scope marquee sold on ebay for almost $80! I know, you’re thinking – what the hell?! You had a Radar Scope AND a Helifire and you SOLD THEM? Yup, I’m feelin’ ya. But the worst part is, I sold them together as a package deal for only $500!
Now, let me explain myself…I got both of those games in my last warehouse raid. I was completely covered with games (80+) and knew I had to move some of them fast to even make room to turn around. I also had to make some quick return on my investment so I could fill a gaping hole in my bank account. I’m not one of these guys who flips games for a living. This has been and always will be a hobby, but when an opportunity of this magnitude presents itself, you have to take it, but I don’t just have thousands of dollars lying around for this kind of stuff. I needed to replenish my funds – fast. Well, what could I do, but sell the most desireable games quickly. It turned out that there was a lot of interest, but none local. I ended up selling them both to a gentleman from Illinois who had them shipped NAVL.
My line of thinking at the time also included the fact that one of the other games in the warehouse lot was an early donkey kong cabinet that had been converted from a Radar Scope at the factory. I figured that even though I let the whole cabinet go, that I could eventually rebuild the Radar Scope from the DK conversion. My hopes were dashed with that ebay auction, however as there is no way in hell I’m going to spend anywhere close to that for a single marqee. If that’s the case, can you imagine what a fully working board set goes for? The worst part is that both of these games were partially working and only needed a little TLC to be 100%. One had graphics glitches and the other needed monitor repair.
I guess a positive spin on this would be the fact that I actually owned both of these games at one time. Never got to play them, but hell, they were MINE! How sweet would a Nintendo row be with both of these badboys side by side?
If you’re in the Atlanta area and have either of these games for sale or trade, let me know and maybe we can work something out!
June 2nd, 2009 at 2:49 pm
I have never seen either game in person or even played them, but I wouldn’t feel too bad about selling them. Games come and go. I’ve found that if you are patient, the game you are after always makes another appearance.
June 4th, 2009 at 11:58 am
Did you try playing them on Mame before you sold them? I mean….are they even fun? Or are they just more of a collectible item due to what they are? I haven’t tried either yet…hadn’t had a reason to.
June 5th, 2009 at 7:34 pm
Radarscope is kinda like a Galaga (which I like, of course), just a bit more primitive. Like I said elsewhere, the real inner turmoil is between collectabiliy (me owning something cool and rare) versus playability. Ultimately, I tend to lean toward playability, but that collector in me always whispers “Dude, you’ll be sorry…”