SNES Classic coming out September 29th for $79.99

[Sonikku]

Market value seems very high at the moment since there supply for Hi-Def NES and UltraHDMI have dried up. I think my brother and I are the only installers that have any kits on-hand. If supply ever comes back to satisfy demand, then prices can normalize.

I bought the last 4 kits ever sold from the source (game-tech.us) over 1 month ago. I have 1 of them up for sale on eBay (link) and I'm still sitting on another.

I also bought someone's failed install attempt on eBay -- an NES board with soldered interposers and a Hi-Def NES board, but no CPU or PPU chips to go in the interposers. My brother put another CPU and PPU in and it works fine. I believe that person had damaged their CPU and/or PPU when attempting to desolder them (the most difficult part of the install if you don't have the correct equipment).

Jason Rausch of Game-Tech.us (the only source for Hi-Def NES kits) said in a recent interview that Kevin "Kevtris" Horton (brilliant creator of Hi-Def NES, Jason's business partner) is occupied by a contract job with an NDA clause. He said the next manufacturing run of Hi-Def NES isn't even on the radar. My last kits will probably go on eBay as auction format to see what the current market value really is.

The kits I have sold recently:

$190 for Hi-Def NES kit + installation (NintendoAge member Tbone sent his NES to me)
http://nintendoage.com/forum/messageview.cfm?catid=56&threadid=176506
After the fact, I feel like I didn't charge enough. I was trying to beat the price of established modders, but I have been the only one with any kits at all for a while now.
Used a red board from my previous order.

$345.00 for NES-101 top loader with Hi-Def NES kit installed (eBay fixed-price listing)
http://www.ebay.com/itm/132312643371
Used one of my yellow boards from the most recent order.

[traded kit+install for some gaming stuff] (NintendoAge member A2600 sent his NES to me)
http://nintendoage.com/forum/messageview.cfm?StartRow=1&catid=5&threadid=176458
Used a red board from my previous order.

$380.00 for NES-101 top loader with Hi-Def NES kit installed (eBay fixed-price listing)
http://www.ebay.com/itm/132273148763
Per buyer's request, I ended up using one of my yellow boards from the most recent order instead of the red one pictured.

I've been focusing more on UltraHDMI for N64. I got the last 21 of those kits and each modified N64 have been selling for >$400 within hours of going on sale. I'm finally testing an auction format to figure out what it's really worth (link). I really like this one and would love to keep it for myself
https://imgur.com/a/Lc1xB

damn. Guess I won't hold out hope for a family discount.

 

[Ichinisan]

damn. Guess I won't hold out hope for a family discount.

There's hope! I'll buy a whole lot more kits the moment they're available again.

 

[HitAnyKey]

Amazon.ca prices are absurd. I can't find anything less than $400.00 Canadian on Amazon.ca for something not even released yet. Why can't we just pre-order directly from Nintendo and have them route the order to a local vendor?

 

[Sonikku]

Ichinisan already mentioned letting people back order one. That way everyone that wants one would get one, even if it was not on release date. It would also tell Nintendo exactly how many to make. But alas, it is beside the point. The scarcity is artificial and the device is a publicity stunt to get some cheap name recognition in the media. Gamespot for instance has reposted their SNES Classic story so many times without anything new to report you just know they're milking the ad revenue all to hell while Nintendo gets some free publicity simultaneously. It's win-win. Well, save for the fans left with camping out in the cold for hours because Nintendo refuses to make enough. But who the hell cares about them?

 

[Red Hawk]

Amazon.ca prices are absurd. I can't find anything less than $400.00 Canadian on Amazon.ca for something not even released yet. Why can't we just pre-order directly from Nintendo and have them route the order to a local vendor?

Because online retail does not work like that. At all.

 

[HitAnyKey]

Because online retail does not work like that. At all.

Why not. You put in your order, pay the money and the order is filled by a local vendor who has a contract with Nintendo. It probably breaks a million retail laws but I don't give a crap. I want my Nintendo lol

Yes I was kidding but you got to admit that the online scalpers are even more ridiculous than my demands.

 

[Chaotic42]

I wonder what it would take for Nintendo to deliver a mini-SNES with the original hardware design made on new processes so the games could run natively instead of through an emulator.

 

[Ichinisan]

I wonder what it would take for Nintendo to deliver a mini-SNES with the original hardware design made on new processes so the games could run natively instead of through an emulator.

Look up VeriSNES. It’s a one-man ongoing project to create an FPGA SNES.

 

[CZroe]

$90 for the US boxed controller is a steal today if that's what you got. As I'm sure you know, I've seen them on ebay for more than the consoles are selling at $250. I doubt Nintendo made more than 50k of them for the US. I ended up buying two EU controllers for $75 each. Only difference is the box. The controllers are identical. But I'm hoping for the re-release they also put out some more controllers, and not just include an extra in the box like they're doing for the SNESC. I want $9.99 replacement parts, dammit!

Well, the market reacted fast:

$72 is less than I paid so the eBay/PayPal/USPS fees are going to sting a little but if it's possibly going to be back in the market for $10 and I'll be buying a ton for parts then I'll take anything over that for what I have.

As for everything else:
We Nintendo fans are crazy, right? I'd never pay that much, which is why they convinced me to part with some of my most cherished stuff (original owner for most everything but the modded consoles). I'll miss those GameCube component cables.

 

[Nashemon]

Well, the market reacted fast:
$72 is less than I paid so the eBay/PayPal/USPS fees are going to sting a little but if it's possibly going to be back in the market for $10 and I'll be buying a ton for parts then I'll take anything over that for what I have.

As for everything else:
We Nintendo fans are crazy, right? I'd never pay that much, which is why they convinced me to part with some of my most cherished stuff (original owner for most everything but the modded consoles). I'll miss those GameCube component cables.

We certainly are. Back in April, I paid $75 each for two EU controllers cause I couldn't see myself paying $250 for the US one. I think there's a lot of worry about knock offs at this point, so people aren't gobbling them up with no thought. Either that or they believe Nintendo may produce more now. I'm not sure when the bottom fell out exactly, though; Before or after the announcement.

I see some for less on eBay right now, but as I said...knock offs worry me. I still think they are rare as all heck and should be priced higher, but if no one is buying them, what can you do?

Do you have any more of them? I'd rather buy from a trusted source.

Also, funny you mention GCN component cables, too. I bought one a few years ago for a steal at $260. Maybe it was yours? lol

 

[Ichinisan]

Also, funny you mention GCN component cables, too. I bought one a few years ago for a steal at $260. Maybe it was yours? lol

CZroe’s twin brother here. We sold the component cable for $265 (it’s the one in the screenshot above). Not bad considering there are now HDMI options for GameCube. That’s the main reason I was OK with selling it. I plan to do the HDMI mods.

I think it sold for a bit more than average because we still had the original packaging as we received it from Nintendo back in the day. Heck, it was only $30 back then

We had also bought a previous component cable (both direct from Nintendo when GameCube was still the current Nintendo system). The first was stolen along with our entire GameCube collection and we had to start the GC collection over from scratch.

 

[Sonikku]

I'm glad I sold my GCN component cables last year considering there's now an hdmi adapter you can just plug into the hd port today. Still, from the numbers I'm hearing in this thread, they were let go for a song at $220 something.

 

[Ichinisan]

I'm glad I sold my GCN component cables last year considering there's now an hdmi adapter you can just plug into the hd port today. Still, from the numbers I'm hearing in this thread, they were let go for a song at $220 something.

Yeah. I thought people were getting >$300 for them last year.

 

[zinfamous]

...people are paying $530 for red-colored junk plastic N64 controllers? wtf, man.

Tulips are going to make their return, damn it! I just know it! And then you'll all see!

 

[Ichinisan]

...people are paying $530 for red-colored junk plastic N64 controllers? wtf, man.

Tulips are going to make their return, damn it! I just know it! And then you'll all see!

Makes me feel bad that I opened a couple of them to use once or twice. Same “Fire Orange” color as the sealed one we sold for $530.

 

[Sonikku]

Damn, you never know what Nintendo loot will be worthwhile years down the road.

Must... Buy... EVERYTHING. @_@

 

[CZroe]

We certainly are. Back in April, I paid $75 each for two EU controllers cause I couldn't see myself paying $250 for the US one. I think there's a lot of worry about knock offs at this point, so people aren't gobbling them up with no thought. Either that or they believe Nintendo may produce more now. I'm not sure when the bottom fell out exactly, though; Before or after the announcement.

I see some for less on eBay right now, but as I said...knock offs worry me. I still think they are rare as all heck and should be priced higher, but if no one is buying them, what can you do?

Do you have any more of them? I'd rather buy from a trusted source.

Also, funny you mention GCN component cables, too. I bought one a few years ago for a steal at $260. Maybe it was yours? lol

When I listed it all the most recent ones had closed around $130 and up including a used one for $127. I paid $90 so I lost money but that was expected. I always intended to buy a ton for $10 each and only bought that one for $90 when availability at MSRP never materialized. Because there's suddenly hope that it will be available next year and I'll be able to get as many as I want for $10 each, I felt it would be silly to keep this one when I can get more for it now. I knew I probably wouldn't get $130 like the other recent auctions but I wonder now if I should have made it a 24hr auction (less time for the news to spread/price to drop).

Yeah, unfortunately, I don't have more.

I feel bad getting rid of my old component cables but I'm definitely looking at GC Video as an equivalent solution and can't justify hanging on to them any longer. I only hope my first set that was stolen in 2004 eventually made its way into the hands of someone who appreciates it, since the thieves probably didn't even know what they were. I actually kinda hope that's what you bought.

...people are paying $530 for red-colored junk plastic N64 controllers? wtf, man.

Tulips are going to make their return, damn it! I just know it! And then you'll all see!

Only because it's sealed. Loose ones are 10-$20 depending on condition. That kind of packaging never got saved so anyone who wants a boxed/displayable controller collection pretty much has to buy sealed controllers for the Funtastic colors. Sealed Fire Orange was closer to $590 back in late 2014/early 2015.

I bought them as spares with the intention to open and use them as I wore out my other controllers but they simply got too valuable to open. Because I never intended to become a sealed collector, it was time to sell.

That said, I did actually save the packaging from a couple of them and I'm listing them right now to see if there's any interest. I managed to get one open pretty cleanly. If a collector wants to save money then they can toss a loose controller in one of my shells and get away with it for cheap. Not sure what that's worth but someone's probably interested.

https://www.ebay.com/i/132332717265
Tulips? You mean that wasn't an onion I just diced for a meal? Uh oh.

 

[Sonikku]

Why invest in the stock market when you could have invested in sealed N64 controllers? Sheesh!

 

[purbeast0]

Yeah you could retire off of that $600.

 

[Sonikku]

Well you don't buy just one.

 

[CZroe]

Well you don't buy just one.

I watched eagerly waiting for them to go on clearance after the GameCube launched but the only slight discount I ever mustered was something like $5 off $35. I was ready to buy 20 if the price was $20-$25 and exponentially more if the price was $5-$10 (hundreds). I totally would have "invested" if the buy-in was lower.

At the full $30-$35 I probably had something like 8 or 9 in reserve that I rationed through the years as I wore out other controllers (supplemented/extended by any good used controllers I could find). I had started forming this plan days after the N64 launched... when I first noticed the gritty feeling as I made it to Tick Tock Clock in Super Mario 64. I realized that Controller wear was going to be a bigger issue than the NES, and I wore out several NES controllers. For those I used Doc's Fix-A-Pad controller repair kits but nothing acceptable ever materialized for replacement N64 sticks. Perhaps the N64 Classic Edition will have compatible parts, but I doubt it. Even if Nintendo nails the emulated input and input translation, which they have failed to do in every past attempt, I'm not sure I want these to wear out like the old controllers!

 

[zinfamous]

Yeah you could retire off of that $600.

It's a huge gamble obviously, but whatever those things cost retail....$20, $30? ....that's now a ~1800% interest return. Yes, you could definitely have retired off of a dedicated, sealed N64 orange color controller investment. lol.

 

[zinfamous]

That said, I did actually save the packaging from a couple of them and I'm listing them right now to see if there's any interest. I managed to get one open pretty cleanly. If a collector wants to save money then they can toss a loos controller in one of my shells and get away with it for cheap. Now sure what that's worth but someone's probably interested.

https://www.ebay.com/i/132332717265

Tulips? You mean that wasn't an onion I just diced for you? Uh oh.

Nah man, the Dutch Tulip craze

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tulip_mania

 

[CZroe]

Yeah you could retire off of that $600.

The basket price for that transaction was $5,055.99: same buyer as the N64. The thing is, I got that N64 last month for less than the cost of the included Everdrive 64, which enabled me to sell my Ultra Everdrive 64 Deluxe in the same round of auctions for $180.

I did "invest" a $150 UltraHDMI kit to make that N64 worth $525, but it had already paid for itself with that Everdrive 64.
https://m.imgur.com/gallery/Lc1xB

I hope the Facebook guy who sold me that console doesn't mind me turning around and selling it a month later. I really did intend to keep that as my personal console! I needed to set the bar high before I mod and sell all my other consoles and none of them compared.

 

[CZroe]

Nah man, the Dutch Tulip craze

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tulip_mania

Yeah, man. One reference begets another.