Remarkable Auctions: The great eBay videogame and computer catch-up post
[image error]Bruce LeeAs you probably know, I've been rather busy lately with various book projects, so I've fallen behind on my "Remarkable Auctions" postings. This post, discussing several recent eBay auctions, should make up a bit for that:
Bruce Lee (): Datasoft's 1984 action platformer classic, Bruce Lee, always goes for a decent price, but this particular auction ended at roughly double what a complete example usually goes for. The fact that this is a sealed Commodore 64 and Atari 8-bit flippy version no doubt helped the final sale price. The only complete version I personally own is for the Atari 8-bit. All other versions are loose or copies.
Starcross (): Infocom's 1982 text adventure classic, Starcross, always sells for north of $100 in its original plastic saucer packaging, but this particular Atari 8-bit version, even though it's yellowed, went for quite a bit more. (Regret using the Starcross saucer as a Frisbee as a kid yet?) I only own the standard box version of this for the TI-99/4a and also have it as part of several Infocom compilations.
CP/M-86 (): Though Microsoft's version of DOS gets all the glory, there were in fact two other operating system options for IBM's newly unveiled PC in 1981, including UCSD p-System and CP/M-86, the latter of which was the 16-bit 8086 version of what was the most popular 8-bit operating system standard of the day. DOS's low price and just good enough functionality won the war, and UCSD p-System and CP/M-86 are now historical footnotes and expensive collectibles. I have the boxed Digital Research version of CP/M-86, but no boxed versions of the UCSD p-System.
James Bond 007: A View to a Kill and James Bond 007: Goldfinger (): James Bond 007: A View to a Kill (1985) and James Bond 007: Goldfinger (1986) were Mindscape's attempts (via developer Angelsoft) to bring the James Bond mythos to life via the text adventure. Though far more logical as a text adventure than something like Rambo: First Blood Part II, which I own for the Apple II, the James Bond games garnered a lot less notice than expected.
Survival Adventure (): Though I don't know much about United Software of America's 1981 Apple II release, Survival Adventure, the fact that it's an early zip-loc baggie game is pretty much all any of us needs to know in relation to its value. Luckily, I have quite a few of those types of games in my collection, and, what they lack in polish and packaging, they make up for in historical importance.
