For decades people young and old have been playing video games. From Atari to Playstation, there’s certainly a video game for every collector! With graded games, collectors can take their collection to the next level. Heritage holds a Mini-Boss Select auction weekly, featuring some fine examples of collectible video games.
Rocket Ranger CGC 9.4
Rocket Ranger is a single-player action-adventure game that takes place in World War II, and clearly heavily draws inspiration from the pulp heroes that graced the screen during the Golden Age of Hollywood. This box art has it all -- retrofuturism, Good Girl Art, a classic pulp era hero, and Nazi bad guys.
Cinemaware published several other pulp-inspired games from 1986 to 1991, including It Came From the Desert, Lords of the Rising Sun, and Wings. Each one takes inspiration from genres and translates them well to the video game format.
This sealed CGC blue label 9.4 is a beautiful copy. There is no past sales data on similarly priced examples, but there is sales data for CGC blue label 9.2 examples. The one-year average is $129. On WATA, a WATA-graded 9.6 example has a one-year average of $205. This awesome game could be had for cheap for the right collector!
Yoshi CGC 8.0
If you haven't seen the new Super Mario Bros movie, feel free to skip this part. If you did see it, then you may have an idea of who might make an appearance in the sequel! Yoshi, the adorable dinosaur pal introduced in Super Mario World, got his own puzzle game in 1991 (Japan) and 1992 (North America).
The stages in Yoshi are similar to Tetris, the mother of all puzzle games. Yoshi was fun and entertaining and was appropriate for the whole family. It might seem simplistic, but there's nothing wrong with that.
This sealed CGC blue label 8.0 has bright, fun colors with Yoshi right in the center. There is no sales data for CGC 8.0 examples, but a blue label 7.5 has a one-year average of $139. There is also no sales data for WATA-graded 8.0 copies, but the one-year average for an 8.5 example is $308. This is a cool game to speculate on, but an even cooler one to collect!
Pokemon Pinball (Japanese) VGA 85+
If you're a pinball fan who also loves Pokemon, it's kind of a letdown that there are no real Pokemon pinball machines. However, Pokemon Pinball for the Game Boy Color fills that void in its own sweet way.
The game was overall well received, but it is hard to replicate the feel of a pinball machine without losing something in translation. Virtual pinball games are still popular today, and you can even buy a full electronic pinball machine with multiple virtual tables included.
This sealed VGA 85+ is super cute. A similar example was last sold in December of 2022 for $1,225. By comparison, a WATA-graded 9.6 has a one-year average of $2,190. This is a fun collector's piece but could be worthwhile to invest in. Pokemon is still one of the hottest properties on the planet, with no sign of slowing down. So if you gotta catch 'em all, don't let this one get away!
*Any perceived investment advice is that of the freelance blogger and does not represent advice on behalf of GoCollect.