The Handheld Game Museum

A while back, I saw an item like the one above advertised as a RARE 1980 JAPANESE CASTLEVANIA HANDHELD ARCADE LED GAME, and almost flipped out. I totally love the old early 80s LED handheld games that were shaped like miniature arcade games, and I'm a huge fan of the Castlevania series (particularly obsessed with the early games), so this seemed like a dream item for my collection. Of course, my spider sense should have blinked on at the fact that this item was made six years before the release of the first Castlevania game, but I guess I wasn't thinking straight.

Thanks, however, to a little research at The Handheld Game Museum, I found that the game was 1) Not associated with Castlevania in any way shape or form (it was released by Bandai) and 2) The game engine itself was a clone of Donkey Kong. Man, would that have been a hideous dissappointment when it arrived.

And now I know to keep an eye out for this guy:


And I also found out about this game, which I didn't even know existed (I have the Wizards and Warriors handheld):

Stark, No-Nonsense Guide To Lunchbox Collecting.

The fellows at Lunchbox Library have put together this tight little no-BS guide to the values of metal lunchboxes made between 1950-1987. They also reccommend placing the following button on your eBay auctions so your customers can look for themselves and see what kind of deal you're giving them, as well as revealing you to be someone that does their homework -

Free Appraisals

Excellent TI-99 Cartridge Rarity Guide

Here is an excellent rarity guide resource for cartridges for the Texas Instruments TI-99 system. Includes details on peripherals used, whether or not it included speech synthesis, and screenshots as well!

It's really graphics heavy. If you're more into text, and want a different opinion, this seems to be a popular and heavily mirrored resource as well.

Surefire Way To Triple Money You Already Have, Without Investing!

Let's face it. The current economic times are shaky. But I was recently clued in by a recent email about a fact overlooked by the media:

Apparently the dollar has fallen so low, and the bullion value has risen to the point where pennies are now worth more in copper than their currency value!

They're the only non-fiat currency we have left in this country! Empty your piggy banks before they drop the grid on us! AAAAAAUGH!

Just kidding. Don't go trying to melt down your pennies - First of all, it's a hoax. And it's not just a hoax, it's illegal. And it's not just illegal, it won't work.

Pennies made before 1982 are worth a fraction of a penny more in copper, but you physically couldn't carry enough to make a significant profit (a 24-ounce bottle, filled to the brim, is about $16 worth of pennies which would rake in about $4 profit, roughly).

Anyway, forget about all of that. What I'm about to suggest is perfectly legal, definitely has the potential to at least triple money you already have, and could be used as an excuse to spend an afternoon with family (or a really boring date)...



This, my friends, is a "wheat penny". Instantly identifiable, even common wheat pennies are worth 3 cents to collectors, as long as they are in reasonably good condition. And there is still plenty of them in circulation. As a personal experiment, I went through the change bucket in my room, which had about $8 in pennies. In about 10 minutes, I found I had 5 3-cent wheats and even 2 5-cent ones! It may not be worth your time to dig around your house for a couple of extra cents worth of coinage, but if it's something you keep an eye out for and seperate as soon as a cashier hands you change, it can quickly add up!

Happy hunting!

Current Wheat Cent Prices.

Current Bullion Melt Value Of American Coins.

Atari 2600 Rarity Guide

Provided by the excellent source of everything Atari (vintage and homebrew), AtariAge, here is an excellent rarity guide for collectors. It's a great source to roughly estimate how much you might have to pay to replace your childhood collection (HINT: usually not very much)

Or for someone such as myself to find that of my personal collection of about 140 games, only one rates even a 5 on a scale of 1 to 10 for rarity. Meh.

Sega Collector's Guild

Ratings, rarity/price guides, and detailed reviews for anyone looking to dip their toes into collecting, or at least acquiring a stash of old favorites!

FIRE BURNS WOOD!

Battle Beasts FTW!  I have quite a nice collection!

Admin's Note: Not many people know that this toy line was originally intended as an unlicensed spin-off of Transformers. The Japanese name of the toy-line was "Beastformers", which was kinda silly cause they didn't actually transform into anything. My younger brother used to collect these, I had a few myself. They rocked.

And HERE's a great price/rarity guide for them.

Cute Little Fan Site For All Things Nerful

I recently scored a stash of assorted Nerful anatomy and needed a handy resource to figure out who was what. Lo and behold, I found this tasty and surprisingly comprehensive little site that allowed me to work it all out!(Admin Note: See Below.)

Just in case you are are unaware (and don't worry, the lady in front of me in line at the thrift store had no idea what they were either)-

Nerfuls were a line of figures made in 1985 by Parker Brothers. Despite what might be implied, they are not made of Nerf (also owned by Parker Brothers). The majority of the figures seperated into three parts - a round, golf-ball sized head, a bowl-shaped body that would cup the head, and either hair or a hat resting on top. The charachters were known for being surprisingly diverse, despite their simplicity, and each had their own distinct personality.

A limited re-release of the line (well, technically, only 4 of them), was part of a 1989 Burger King promotion.



Admin Note (05/2010): As of this point www.nerfuls.com is down. Changed the link at the top of the article to go to an old Tripod fan site. Leaving the old link down here just in case it ever comes back.