i was thinking about buying a proto

Yeah, about $50 minimum and then from there it goes on up with the popularity of the game/proto.

It depends of the game and the support, if the title is not popular you can buy a proto for less than 50$, popular titles sold for much higher.
DreamTR sold some protos recently, mostly SNES and Genesis, take a look:

http://www.ebay.com/csc/gametimev...

(EDIT: Your are more faster than me 3GenGames !)

Yeah really depends. For NES they usually aren't cheap unless it's a crappy released game.

But something like a PS1 demo disk could be dirt cheap.

Mark.........

HAHAHA, totally laughed in my chair when I read this!

As cheap as $30 and as expensive as $55k.

Simliar to the price of transportation.  A bike doesn't cost as much as a jumbo jet.  If you want any proto for any system, they can be had very cheaply (especillay disc protos).  If you want something super high profile, it comes as a price.

Didn't that 55K Zelda proto also include a VGA copy of Legend of Zelda?  I know it was included in the auction, but didn't read the auction too closely to see if it was actually included with purchase, or was only thrown into the listing to keep the game from being pulled.  Not to be a dick about it, but if the VGA Zelda was included, then I guess part of the 55K went towards that too

Its depends on who wants it ( cough cough nolans cough cough). I payed 200 for all 4 of my wisdom tree protos.

I would say the "natural" value (average) value of an NES proto these days is $150 unless there are a few ($80-100 ones) or popular stuff ($300-600) or crazy 1st party ones ($1000+)

Gameboy prototypes are typically cheaper, if you wanna go that route. I almost did, but spending the extra for a NES prototype is worth it, especially if it's of one of your favorite games.

They are not too pricy if you shop around. I was 15 years old when I got my first protos