Selling off most of my Spectrum games

[Sokurah]

I just posted this over at WoS. I hadn't considered posting here as well, but then it ocurred to me: "why not"

I've decided to sell off most of my Spectrum games and some hardware, but for now here's the games I want to get rid off.
Ideally I would like to sell as a lot, if possible. Is anyone interrested, or can anyone tell my what it would be worth as a lot? ... then I may stick it on Facebook or eBay instead.

There are 98 games. I'll list as text first, then followed by pictures.

3D Starstrike (Realtime Software)
Airwolf (Elite)
Ant Attack (Quicksilva)
Arc Of Yesod, The (Thor)
Avalon (Hewson)
Barbarian (Palace Software)
Bat Man (Ritman&Drummond) (Ocean)
Bobby Bearing (The Edge)
Bombjack (Elite)
Brian Bloodaxe (The Edge)
Commando (Elite)
Con-Quest (Mastertronic)
Cosmic Wartoad (Ocean)
Crack Down (U.S. Gold)
Crimebusters (Strobe)
Critical Mass (Durell)
Cylu (without cover) (Firebird)
Dam Busters, The (U.S. Gold)
Dark Sceptre (Firebird)
Dragon Breed (Activision)
Driller (Incentive Software)
Elite (Firebird)
Elite (Firebird)
Equinox (Miko-Gen)
Everyone's A Wally (Miko-Gen)
Exolon (Hewson)
Fairlight (The Edge)
Forbidden Planet (Design Design)
Ghost'n'Goblins (Elite)
Gift From The Gods (Ocean)
Glider Rider (Quicksilva)
Green Beret (Imagine)
Gunrunner (Hewson)
Gyron (Firebird)
Gyroscope (Melbourne House)
H.U.R.G. (*2) (Melbourne House)
Head Over Heels (Ocean)
Jasper (Micromega)
Jet Set Willy 2 (Software Projects)
Knight Tyme 128k (Mastertronic)
Knight Tyme 48k (Mastertronic)
Kong Strikes Back (Ocean)
Kung-Fu Master (U.S. Gold)
Legend Of The Amazon Women (U.S. Gold)
Lord Of The Rings (Melbourne House)
Lords Of Midnight (Beyond)
Megabasic + SpriteDesigner (Your Spectrum)
Microdrive One (Lerm)
Mikie (Imagine)
Molecule Man (Mastertronic)
Monty On The Run (Gremlin Graphics)
Monty's Innocent (Gremlin Graphics)
Movie (Imagine)
Mugsy's Revenge (Melbourne House)
MUP (Microdrive Utility program) (JC Jumbo Data)
N.O.M.A.D. (Ocean)
Paperboy (Elite)
Parabola (Firebird)
Psytron (Beyond)
Rasputin (Firebird)
Red L.E.D. (Starlight)
Riddler's Den (Mastertronic)
Robin Of The Wood (Odin)
Rockford's Riot & Boulderdash (Monolith)
Rock'n'Wrestle (Melbourne House)
Saboteur (Durell)
Shadow Of The Beast (Gremlin Graphics)
Shadows Of Mordor (Melbourne House)
Sherlock (Melbourne House)
Spectrum Toolkit (Horizon Computers)
Spellbound 128k (Mastertronic)
Spellbound 48k (Mastertronic)
ST Dragon (Storm)
Starglider (Rainbird)
Starquake (Bubble Bus)
Starstrike 2 (Realtime Software)
Storm Bringer 128k (Mastertronic)
Storm Bringer 48k (Mastertronic)
Street Hawk (Ocean)
Strike Force Harrier (Mirrorsoft)
Sweevo's World (Gargoyle Software)
T.L.L. (Tornado Low Level) (Vortex)
Tapper (Sega)
The Way Of The Tiger (Gremlin Graphics)
The Witch's Cauldron (Miko-Gen)
Tir Na Nog (Gargoyle Software)
Tomahawk (Digital Integration)
Transformers (Ocean)
Travel With Trashman (New generation Software)
TT Racer (Digital Integration)
Turbo Esprit (Durell)
Uridium (Hewson)
V (Ocean)
West Bank (Gremlin Graphics)
Wham! The Music Box (Melbourne House)
Where Time Stood Still (Ocean)
White Lightning (Oasis Software)
Yie Ar Kung-Fu (Imagine)

[clebin]

I'd list the a few of the rarer ones on eBay individually and maybe split the rest up into bundles of 10-20, say, with a reserve that you can stomach. The problem with selling them in one block is that only the dealers will commit to that kind of purchase, but they'll be looking for a bargain or at the very least a tidy profit. I couldn't hazard a guess how much that might be.

If you listed the copies of Elite individually, you'll probably get £15-30 each depending on condition. You've got some other nice games there - Head Over Heels, Where Time Stood Still will fetch £15 each, Exolon £10-20. Forbidden Planet is quite rare I think. That Everyone's A Wally box usually gets battered to hell, so a nice copy like yours might get a lot of interest. I could go on, but have a look at the sold prices on eBay for some of them.

It all depends on how much you can be arsed with splitting them up... I'm really lazy which is why I hang on to everything!

[Vampyre]

I recently sold some C64 games on eBay (I got them from a charity shop about 15 years ago - never owned a C64) and would like to share how that went. These were quite old games too - 90% were 1983 to 1985. Nothing rare or amazing but you would think of interest to collectors:

Summer Games, International Tennis, International Basketball, Kick Off (Bubble Bus), Graham Gooches Test Cricket, Frank Bruno's Boxing, Manic Miner, Skramble (Anirog), Raid Over Moscow, FA Cup Football, Hustler, Everest Ascent, Bogies Pick 2, Ship of the Line, Kikstart 2, The Thinker.

16 games in total and my initial thought was to sell them all separately to maximise profit. In hindsight I really wish I'd done this. As I'm lazy I decided to sell them all as a job-lot thinking there's got to be someone interested, right?

Put them on for £30 thinking there would be a bidding war and I might get £40-50. It had a few views, a couple of watchers, no bids. As I had eBay's smart pricing enabled it would reduce the Starting Bid by 10% each time the auction ended and relist automatically. This went on for weeks until it eventually sold for £10. If I'd sold them separately I'm convinced I would have got £2-3 for each rather than 50 pence.

My advice is to put them on separately even though it's a PITA. People just don't seem to be interested in buying bulk videogames on eBay.

For instance - I have this bulk set of old PC CD-ROM games currently on auction: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/124482823216

I know there's nothing amazing there - but that's an original release of The 7th Guest and Outcast isn't exactly a common title either. It's been on for about 3 months and had zero interest. If they haven't gone by Xmas I'm putting them on separately. They'll probably go straight away.

[akeley]

I love buying lots, but I'm also a cheapskate so you don't want to hear my offer

[jdanddiet]

If they were mine, I'd take the higher value games and sell them as BINs on ebay or facebook.
The collect the rest, anything worth less than £2.00, and do a bundle on ebay with 0.99p start and
see what they go for. You can't really put a value on some of them because they're so common they
don't really have value.

Having said that, you don't seem to have much bundle fodder there so listing them mostly individually is probably the way forward if you want to get decent money for them.

[Nitrowing]

Don't go 'bundle'
I bought nearly 200 games for roughly £1 each
There's no way that seller made a profit

[akeley]

Don't go 'bundle'
I bought nearly 200 games for roughly £1 each
There's no way that seller made a profit

That depends what games. There are plenty of tiltles which are well below 1 pound value because market is saturated with them.

Some people also buy bundles, keep some interesting games, and later on make bundles which are all filler.

[Nitrowing]

I didn't get a dozen copies of Chequered Flag

[cmal]

I'd be interested in buying some of them if you want to sell in bundles. Trying to fatten up my collection a bit.

[Magic Knight]

Presumably you're not going to try selling these a week before Christmas?

I'd certainly be interested in roughly 30 of these games, as I'm looking to get a hold of numerous games I sold a few years ago again, and to get more copies of games I own which either don't load or are missing instructions.

I bought 398 games over three years (2017-2019), but only once did I buy a big bundle on Ebay (99 games and 37 cover tapes for £295). I think smaller bundles or individual sales are better, especially if you're listing for the first time. Most of what you have is really good stuff. I paid £6.78 for the 128K version of Spellbound last year, so even a budget game like that can go for a reasonable amount.

Certainly you could sell the whole lot in one go to online shops or whatnot, but you won't get anything like good money for them.

[Sokurah]

From the bottom of my heart, thanks for the answers, guys <3

(interestingly enough, I haven't received ANY replies to the same post on WoS, but that kinda just confirms what I've know for a long time; WoS is dead).

Anyway, I've had a PM about purchasing some games (before Magic Knight answered ... but you're still in my thoughts) and I would like some suggestions on what the 20 games below are worth.

I asked the inquirer, if it was okay to ask for prices openly on the forum - and it was. My reasoning here is, that I (honestly) can't be arsed to do the "eBay-research" to find out what things are worth, so I'd rather save myself some trouble and make it easier and faster to see if the buyer and I can come to a result that we're both okay with. I'd rather sell fast instead of going through the effort of "GETTING THE MAXXX MONEY" ... but hopefully without ****ing myself over. Y'know - a good deal for everyone

Here's the list;

Bat Man (Ritman&Drummond) (Ocean)
Cosmic Wartoad (Ocean)
Gift From The Gods (Ocean)
Head Over Heels (Ocean)
Kong Strikes Back (Ocean)
N.O.M.A.D. (Ocean)
Street Hawk (Ocean)
Transformers (Ocean)
V (Ocean)
Where Time Stood Still (Ocean)
Ant Attack (Quicksilva)
Uridium (Hewson)
T.L.L. (Tornado Low Level) (Vortex)
Everyone's A Wally (Miko-Gen)
Ghost'n'Goblins (Elite)
Mikie (Imagine)
Exolon (Hewson)
Movie (Imagine)
Tir Na Nog (Gargoyle Software)
ST Dragon (Storm)

Presumably you're not going to try selling these a week before Christmas?

I'd certainly be interested in roughly 30 of these games, as I'm looking to get a hold of numerous games I sold a few years ago again, and to get more
copies of games I own which either don't load or are missing instructions.
Certainly you could sell the whole lot in one go to online shops or whatnot, but you won't get anything like good money for them.

No, obviously not - nothing is going to happen for at least a week - I'm not in that much of a hurry. Let's see what happens with the 20 games above and lets take it from there. You've all convinced me that getting rid of everything in one go is not the best thing for me (and I'm okay with that, lol), but I'm also willing to trade profit for ... "closure". )

Let's find these games some new homes

[Magic Knight]

I bought all of these from ebay in the past three years at these prices.

Gift From The Gods (Ocean) £2.99
Cosmic Wartoad (Ocean) £3.00
Bat Man (Ritman&Drummond) (Ocean) £4.00
V (Ocean) £5.00
Ghost'n'Goblins (Elite) £6.75
Tir Na Nog (Gargoyle Software) £8.00

In 2002/2003, I paid 3.99 for Where Time Stood Still, 2.30 for Ant Attack, 1.99 for Mikie and 99p for Movie. They would all be more expensive now I think.

Do they all have the manuals? Quite a number of these had manuals that often got lost.

[Mort]

Hi Sokurah

i would be interested in scanning Crimebusters, if you still have it , would pay a fair price , or could you scan it ..

regards Mort

[Evil Genius]

Can I just barge into this thread with a quick question - do tapes have to be in working condition or are buyers just interested in having a physical copy for games they play on emulators? I have a few games I want shot of (nothing rare) but no way of testing them, do they still have value?

[akeley]

Sure, I bought a lot of games in "unknown" condition. Most of them have actually worked. The value will probably lower than "definitely working", but sometimes not by much, as people take a punt (though maybe not as much with common games). Just make sure you mention it in your description.

What counts most actually for me is the artwork, but working tape is nice as well.

[Morkin]

Can I just barge into this thread with a quick question - do tapes have to be in working condition or are buyers just interested in having a physical copy for games they play on emulators? I have a few games I want shot of (nothing rare) but no way of testing them, do they still have value?

Up to you, but if you're eBaying them, personally I'd try to test them - if you've got a Speccy you can get a tape recorder and leads dead cheap. It could mean the difference between 99p and £9.99 for some games, I guess it depends how many you have and if you're bothered with how much money you get. I think eBay retro-buyer types are a careful lot and will bid on "untested" as "doesn't work"..

I think all of my tape eBay purchases have been from sellers who've said they've tested the games in the description - I want to play them.. There's been the odd one that hasn't loaded, I normally allow a couple of "R: Tapes..." but if it's nowhere near getting a load signal I've contacted the seller. Usually they've just told me to keep it (though that's because I've probably bought a bunch of others from them!)

[Sokurah]

I would like to add here, that I've only sent out a single game so far, but another person wants to buy a whole lot of games, but I haven't gotten back to him yet. I will soon.

And another one decided not to buy anyway, because of the postage. There's nothing I can do about that though. Oh well.

[Nitrowing]

There's been the odd one that hasn't loaded, I normally allow a couple of "R: Tapes..." but if it's nowhere near getting a load signal I've contacted the seller.

Just musing...
If a tape doesn't load, would it be possible to re-record the data from a .tap file played from a PC?

[flatduckrecords]

If a tape doesn't load, would it be possible to re-record the data from a .tap file played from a PC?

Yeah, I’ve tried this but it can be tricky. If the original tape is physically damaged (stretched, kinked, or if the oxide layer has degraded) then you won’t get a good recording. You can also get artefacts of the original recording bleeding through and causing distortion if the erase-head doesn't completely wipe the old signal. It’s probably easier to record to a fresh tape (new ones are still available!) and either peel-off-and-transfer the original labels to the new tape, or (if the case is screwed rather than friction-welded) transplant the new tape reels into the original shell. (Would this be considered a bootleg though, or can we call it "refurbished"?!)

Perhaps the bigger problem I’ve had is actually getting a clean recording. Modern decks aren’t well suited (they record in stereo, use auto volume level that can distort the signal, etc.) and classic machines are getting on a bit (worn heads, bad capacitors, stretched or kinked drive belts, etc etc). If you have a well-serviced mono recorder you might be in luck!

All-in-all it’s not too hard to get an “okay” recording, but it seems to be tough to get a nice clean professional-quality (mono, low noise, loud-but-not-too-loud!) recording that’s likely to work on many Spectrum/cassette player combinations.

The Future was 8-Bit have an interesting approach to creating their tapes. They collaborated with Tynemouth Software on a tape-duplication machine. The blog post about it is not available now, but it is based on an TZXDuino and a salvaged Spectrum +2 Datacorder. I don’t think they published technical specifications but I understand the TZDuino was wired directly into the cassette recorder (as opposed to just recording the amplified/line-level audio). I think this ought to eliminate a lot of distortion and interference you might get trying to capture the audio signal. I’ve had some success trying to recreate the set-up; good enough for personal use but I've not quite cracked it yet!

Good luck if you give it a go.

[clebin]

I would like to add here, that I've only sent out a single game so far, but another person wants to buy a whole lot of games, but I haven't gotten back to him yet. I will soon.

And another one decided not to buy anyway, because of the postage. There's nothing I can do about that though. Oh well.

Hi Sokurah. I sent you a PM a while back about Exolon, not sure if you got it but let me know if you didn't. Cheers.