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Post by 50tbrd on May 22, 2014 12:46:05 GMT -5
I think its a grey area that most of those items are demo, prototype and promotional items. Programs or carts made for specific purposes which may have eventually fallen into the hands of collectors like Dr Spin, Monstorm, Android, Dark Tower, Tour de France, etc. I'd love to hear more though.
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Post by vectrexrc on May 22, 2014 18:02:19 GMT -5
not sure about limited edition releases - seems like a cynical way to exploit maximum $$$ out of OCD collectors.
why go to the bother of writing a game and then only restrict the availability of 200 published carts?
i prefer kristof's approach to make a regular cart release always available at a reasonable price. let the quality of the game drive the demand rather than the scarcity of availability.
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Post by binarystar on May 22, 2014 18:56:06 GMT -5
Probably more down to time available, not everyone wants the hassle of running a part-time niche software business and having to visit the post office regularly  Also buying shells/pcbs/chips, getting overlays printed etc can be quite costly, not everyone can always afford to keep that amount of stock lying around to keep orders going so doing numbers like 50,100,200 at a time makes most sense. |
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Post by 50tbrd on May 22, 2014 19:48:55 GMT -5
A little off topic, but it has taken Kristoff 7 years to sell 300 copies of Vectrexians and 4 years to sell 350 copies of Vector Pilot. War of the Worlds came out in 2011, is currently around 250. It may take another year to sell the remaining 50 or so carts. Its just a way of limiting the amount of stock needed overall and allows the developer to focus energies on current projects. At 150 or 200 copies, you've about fulfilled the need for any particular game. Its really a burden after that to push the remaining carts. And honestly, the only time any Vectrex game is not increasing in value is when its currently in production. Why buy a used copy when you can buy a new one for only a little bit more? Really the only downsides are that when it is out of print it can be more expensive and it may not be readily available. However, everything comes up on ebay sooner or later and sometimes you can get a deal on an OOP title through some other avenue or even trade for it.
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Post by cNp on May 24, 2014 4:32:02 GMT -5
If you have the packaging Kristoff has chosen and can print your own inlays then that works well for 'never ending' supply...
If, like I hope to, you want to do a box like the originals then you need to get those printed in a bulk amount in one go realistically... you then have to choose an amount you think you can sell through without having a bunch left after.
I was wondering if 100 is a sensible number to go for, I would say it's usually enough but then it's clear that for a top game (like Vector Pilot) the worldwide market is as many as 350.
A limited number of full versions followed by an endless basic version is probably a good model.
I think it goes towards cynical when you stick a Mr Boston Hat in the game for a special edition but then there's no profit in a regular release so why shouldn't the author do a few special editions to get a little financial reward for their time?
cNp
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Post by Mayhem on May 24, 2014 10:10:43 GMT -5
George has stopped doing these special editions now afaik, partly due to time constraints (look at the number of projects on the go!) and partly due to getting hassled by people because he never made enough of them to go around the demand. He never made enough because it cost a fair bit to have some of them made (the ones with the watches especially), and it took more time than he could realistically put into making more. Self collapsing circle there.
One-offs are the more likely occurrence, just as a "nice" thing to offer collectors, such as Sundance Matrix. Winner takes all then.
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jammajup
Vector Runner
multi-format retro gamer
Posts: 47
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Post by jammajup on May 25, 2014 1:55:27 GMT -5
There are some interesting pictures there and I do like the presentation , some of the related items you get with the carts like a digital watch and such is unusual.
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Post by robocelot on Jun 17, 2014 1:36:07 GMT -5
VecCaves/Spike's Spree LE (w/ hand made overlay) should be included in these as well. May be only be 10 or 15 copies of the LE. I should be able to provide a picture in a few days.
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Post by Mayhem on Jun 17, 2014 11:22:03 GMT -5
There were 60+ copies of the game sold that came with box and overlay, so probably not a contender for the article. Towards the end of the production run, due to quality issues, not all the copies of the game were sold with overlay, or even boxes. I know this as a couple of folks have asked me for a scan of the inlay so they could print one out to go with their game and manual. They got theirs at the backend of things (serial numbers above 80).
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Post by 50tbrd on Jun 17, 2014 12:42:50 GMT -5
It is my understanding that somewhere around 84 copies exist (or at least that's the propagated number). I've never heard anyone refer to a Limited Edition version, Vecaves was a regular release and as Mayhem stated people who acquired their copy later in the run did not receive an overlay or box. Hexed! was also not included eventhough it was limited to 50 copies. If I ever do "A Definitive Guide to Vectrex Collecting", I'd definitely include them both.
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Also buying shells/pcbs/chips, getting overlays printed etc can be quite costly, not everyone can always afford to keep that amount of stock lying around to keep orders going so doing numbers like 50,100,200 at a time makes most sense.
