Discuss Dain's article here.

BTW, anyone who didn't sort out the 4/1 e-zine, the direct download link is here:

http://www.nintendoage.com/index....

great info. although i never may get into collecting hint books, it is always nice to know their back story. They are, without a doubt, very unique pieces of a collection. I commend you for your research on this topic!

Oddly enough, I agree with every single one of those rarity ratings, and I've followed the hint books since I've been a member here. I can also honestly say I had no clue a Fester's Quest one existed until this article, though I've still never seen a Wall Street Tip Sheet either.

And I like how you left off the price on the Milon's Secret Castle, didn't I come in second place to you on the one that hit eBay a few months back I forget my snipe but I think it was low $50s and I can only imagine what yours was since it was the last you needed.

(And in a similar unrelated note, there was a certain SNES CIB on eBay last week that I came in 2nd on, and I think it may have been the last one Wrldstrman needed... certainly at least "one of")

Actually, that's the price it was obtained at originally, not the price I paid. I hope I didn't confuse too many people on that -- those are what it cost to purchase them back in the day.

I won the Milon's Secret Castle one for $59.56 from jhd7, and I'm pretty sure my snipe was set somewhere in the low 3 figures.

Great article & info Dain -- thanks for sharing!  I got into collecting these a few months back and there's a few on there that I definitely didn't know about yet (Fester's Quest, Dungeon Magic, Wall Street Kid).  Time to hunt those down

By the way, what about the Tokuma Dragon Warrior IV Hint Book?  I was surprised to not see that on the list. 

Whoops, missed that tidbit about what they retailed for instead of confusing that for what they are worth. Can't believe I misconstrued that, it's plain as day if you know values.

Speedy - Scroll down a bit more I didn't agree with it intially either, but Dain's rationale makes perfect sense... apparently the DWIV book was sold in stores and not a mail-away hint book as the others.

EDIT to add:  Also, am I a nerd for understanding what you meant about ISBN checksums?  I did some UPC math back in the day and there actually are formulas to tell what is accurate and what is fake... I couldn't believe it when I first discovered it either.

Ha, I completely missed those two pages!! Sweet!

Yep, or maybe it's the two Greek symbols next to your name.

I recall you and Megan having a pretty verbose thread on the subject.  It was definitely interesting.

Same here.  

Very interesting article!

Also, does anyone actually have the tip sheet for Wall Street Kid?

A great article. I really need to get some of those hint books...lol.

Something I've actually dabbled in myself. Just missed out on a Fester's Quest one (he wanted to make a trade, but didn't want boxes and manuals), but I've got a Maniac Mansion guide (thanks Euripides) pending in, and currently own the Ultima: Exodus, Might & Magic, Wizardry II, and Shadowgate guides, as well as the 4-Player Extra and Ninja Gaiden II NP guides. Think I'm missing a couple offhand, but still a wicked little subset. Dain, if you have a spare Wizardry: PGotMO guide, or any other dupes, PM me

^I actually have several dupes and I'd be willing to give them ALL up for the Tip Sheet for Wall Street Kid. Until then, I may just hang on to them. I've got a Lolo, Lolo 3, Dungeon Magic, and a few other dupes.

Damnit Dain, why couldn't you need something I have?

Loved the article, Loved finding some of this stuff even more. Check out my latest find from earlier today:
http://www.nintendoage.com/forum/...

I have a Lolo manual if you still need to CIB it   If you need anything else I'll gladly look through my stuff for you, or check my WTB thread and offer me a trade (obviously anything I need is worth more than a Lolo manual, but I'm sure something could be worked out).  PM me if you can't find the threads

I came across the ad where Dungeon Magic's hint book is mentioned:

Electronic Gaming Monthly #20, page 1 (top right)

There's also mentioning of the Maniac Mansion hint book outside of the manual, in EGM #19, page 0 & 1 (bottom).

It's crazy how many mailaways and sweepstakes there were in old EGM mags. Just browsing through old mags really helps to know what to look for on eBay etc

Good stuff man, thanks for the info! I just knew the Dungeon Magic one would be in a mag I didn't have yet (grrr!).

No problem man, it's a lot of fun to page through these old mags. I sighted another Dungeon Magic HB mention + a couple others while going through some Video Games & Computer Entertainment mags (great magazine to check out btw, contains info on NES items that I haven't found in the more popular mags).

Dungeon Magic HB mentioned in VG&CE April 1991 -- pg 29
Ultima Exodus HB mentioned in VG&CE April 1990 -- pg 87
and in VG&CE September 1989 -- pg 31

Edit --> attached image of ad w/ Dungeon Magic HB

It's also worth adding that not every Dungeon Magic ad has this hint book info in the upper right corner, as I came across the same ad without it as well. 

Maybe check the dates of the mags with ads that both have and don't have the offer. Maybe they weren't available right away, or maybe they stopped offering them because of a lack of stock or something.