I have been trying to finish up my N64 collection and I still need a few more. I am curious about a game that I have had no luck finding in the wild. I have put it off until now but was that a bad choice?

After checking ebay completed auctions I have found that the game value is actually difficult to figure out. Most of the auctions are right in that $35 - $40 range but then you have those flukes that have the game hitting over $50 and one at $80. The one at $80 however was relisted for $150 even though it showed sold for $80.

Normally I wouldn't ask about a games value as you will probably all say what I am thinking and say $35-$40. My actual question is more directed toward what this game will rise to? There is only 1 on ebay and it has a very inflated price. 

Completed Auctions: http://www.ebay.com/csc/i.html?_sacat=0&LH_Complete=1&am...
Price Check Value : http://videogames.pricecharting.com/game/nintendo-64/transfo...
Only one on ebay: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Transformers-Beast-Wars-Transmetals-...
So what I am asking is what this items value is going to?
Will it rise and then fall and I can pick it up cheap in the future?
Should I pay the inflated price of $40 when I find one?

I just feel that the game is more around a $25-$30 range but its going up too fast.

well you need to keep in mind we are right in the beginning of the n64 bubble

Yeah, I am not really sure how the entire prices work to be honest. I just started collecting this year and have made it to 223 N64 games. I chose N64 since the prices are not too bad, the games are easy to find, and I already found the most expensive game for $10. I want to collect Super Nintendo next as most of the prices have seemed to find a solid place. I am guessing by the "n64 bubble" you are saying the prices are really changing constantly and the games that are rare are rising faster since demand is greater then supply?

I actually don't think it's jumping fast at the moment. It's plateaued in the $40-$50 range IMO. The reason some of the N64 rares have been jumping is because someone buys all of the ones on eBay and Amazon to create a sense of urgency. And it's been working apparently.

I could agree with the assessment that this maybe "feels" like a $25-$30 cart, but you're not going to find anyone to sell it to you at that price. If you want to try and snag it at that price, you are taking the risk of putting it off again, knowing it may jump more in the future.

Sculptor's Cut still "feels" like a $100 cart to me, yet it has been in the $150-$200 range for awhile. So feelings don't really matter, just market price

What jone said . I was lucky while collecting, hopefully ur not a CIB collector cause then you will have problems

Hmm, Maybe its time I look into selling my N64 stuff, I have beastwars and Calyfighter SC just hanging out in my closet as well a some other N64 games that are in decent demand

I got Beastwars, incase this helps with the price Timeline, off ebay October 6th 2011 for $16.49 shipped

Just to compete, I found my Clayfighter SC in the wild for $4.95 http://www.nintendoage.com/forum/... ^-^

Very nice! Even though you beat me on the price, I still would pay $10 again any day lol.

Yeah the Transformer game just seems pretty rare. I know it would be jumping to conclusions to say its rarer then Clayfigher SC , but I think the reason we see so many SC on ebay is the fact the price is so high. I bet if Transformers went that high there would be a flood of them lol.

Hey USFLegend, what games do you need to finish your n64 collection? is your profile/collection up to date on your NA profile?

Yeah it is up to date. I get most of my games from Craigslist, Flea Markets and a few retro game stores I have found within 1 hour of me. I have gotten some from ebay as well that I was having a hard time finding and really wanted to play. I haven't purchased anything on the forums yet but I do have great Ebay feedback if that helps. As far as payment goes I guess we pay using Paypal?

I use the N64 Collecting App on my phone and plan to get the other ones when I start collecting the other consoles. Here is a link to my online collection that the app has created for me: http://my.puregaming.org/?u=93774...

The pure gaming list is cool but if you click on my wanted list and go to page 2 it reverts back to my collection. I guess it still has glitches.

Yes, Clay Fighter flooded ebay once it hit $200. I remember there not being any for sale at all on ebay/amazon at times during the spike. The amount of carts that came out for sale was greater than demand at that much higher price.

Yeah, once they all find their places in a collectors home, I am sure they will find a nice high value to stick to like earthbound. Not sure if the Transformers game is going to mimic this or not.

I just scored a Transformers cart last week after not finding one for two years. I think with all the hype the $40-50 price tag is here to stay.

That being said, I don't think it will ever hit the ranks of Earthbound. The game just isn't good enough so most people can put off buying it.

Not true. If this guy is really into using Craigslist and local hunting he can most certainly find one for that price and probably well under. Sorry to call you out jone but that just seems like a weird statement coming from you - I'm guessing you paid under market value for you CIB at the time?

100% of my collection is from online.  I don't do thrift stores, yard sales, craigslist or other stuff anymore.  But yes, if you have a local market and you're fast, maybe you can find a seller.

What I meant is that if you post a WTB Transformers cart for $25 on these forums, you're going to hear crickets.

That probably would have been entirely true a few weeks ago, if not for the fact that I'm working on a cart only n64 collection. $25? I'm would be so there.

Yeah I know you're online only, I agree with your last point, and I figured that's more along the lines of what you meant.

But you know how I am when it comes to exercising patience in collecting. I just don't want it to sound like the experienced guys are suggesting, "buy this now because you will never be able to find it cheaper." To me, large groups of people not willing to wait for the right price is the root of prices rising too quickly.

How often does it pay off to wait for a rare game?  You of all people should know this.  You put off Daikatana for a long while and luckily got an IB from Alexk.  Daikatana is $175-$200 right now.  Or you could have grabbed it last year for under $50 with ease. 

I'm not telling anyone what to do.  But based on my collecting experience and my knowledge of values, 9 times out of 10, it pays to buy a rare game today instead of tomorrow.  Especially if you can get it Mint.  Of course you still try to shoot for the low end of today's market value, but you may as well forget about prices from yesterday.

Oh trust me I know. If I could go back a year there are quite a few titles I would buy that I am spending way more on now because I waited too long and I am sick of it now. But I only gained that knowledge because I found out what was rare more or less on my own.

I guess I'm just encouraging people to be patient and not always buy into price spikes. Plus, this is a Transformers cart we are talking about, not CIB. No N64 cart is that inaccessible.

Also, I didn't realize Daikatana was even that rare until I saved it in my eBay searches and barely saw any. I didn't put off any of the known rares and I have them all except ISS2000.

well all 8 of my beast wars were bought out awhile back. I had them priced 25-30 shipped. Same seller bought em all. So in theory it was falsely raised but now the hype has caught on. I used to find this game every store I went to, but now I may find one once every 15-20 stops.

Holy crap I thought those were prices for complete copies.

Haha, the last time Beast Wars was a $50-$60 CIB was in Winter 2010.  Hit as high as $200 last summer, then cooled off to $125ish by Winter 2011.  Been up and down since, but I'm sure a nice CIB is at a minimum of $250 now.  I bet it'd do even nicer at auction.

Thank you all for your opinions on it. I will keep looking locally for awhile and keep my fingers crossed. There is a local retro shop and he tends to get me everything I need if I can't find it. His prices are not too bad. I just bring him in things I find in the wild cheap for in store credit towards stuff I need. Its cool to have a shop like him.

I passed over a loose Transforms last week for $10 (had rental sticker on the frot of it)