FA: Vic-1001

carlsson · Post by **carlsson** » Fri Dec 08, 2006 6:32 am

So, VIC-1001 > Denial Collection 2 ?

Post by **Jeff-20** » Fri Dec 08, 2006 1:01 pm

I never expected that the VIC 1001 auction would boost visits to this site! So, I would safely say "much much much greater than" (you'll need a bigger font to express it)

Even at US$500+, I am still tempted to bid.

carlsson · Post by **carlsson** » Fri Dec 08, 2006 1:31 pm

And if someone had put a $500 bid on the Denial Collection 2, you probably would have asked us to return the disks to you.. or manufactured a dozen more of course.

Schema · Post by **Schema** » Mon Dec 11, 2006 8:52 am

Ouch, 757 Euros was the final auction price! I put in a hefty bid myself, but just couldn't justify going any higher. Maybe it's for the best.

Post by **Jeff-20** » Mon Dec 11, 2006 1:08 pm

I gave up much earlier without even placing a bid... That price is crazy.

carlsson · Post by **carlsson** » Mon Dec 11, 2006 1:25 pm

So Mayhem got his VIC-1001 for €625 one year ago, and this one sold for €757. Perhaps they were not comparable 1:1, but a 20% increase in top selling price over a year is decent. Weren't there other loose or boxed VIC-1001's on eBay earlier this year to get a complete picture?

Post by **Jeff-20** » Mon Dec 11, 2006 5:15 pm

Was Mayhem's as complete as this one?

Mayhem · Post by **Mayhem** » Mon Dec 11, 2006 5:28 pm

Yep, it was fully boxed with all parts.

Post by **Jeff-20** » Mon Dec 11, 2006 6:15 pm

I bet the Japanese manual is really cool.

eslapion · Post by **eslapion** » Mon Dec 11, 2006 10:42 pm

When I think I sold my early "made in japan" VIC for 20$...

The only difference between that machine and the VIC-1001 is the keyboard and character set... the PCB is identical and the power supply is the same part no.

carlsson · Post by **carlsson** » Tue Dec 12, 2006 11:00 am

I think the different keyboard makes 60% or more of the collector's value. ROMs could easily be replaced, even by EPROMs if one only wants the functionality of a VIC-1001 (a false one, that is). An early VIC-20 made in Japan but with Latin characters probably would have a tough time fetching €350 even if boxed and in very nice condition.

Schema · Post by **Schema** » Tue Dec 12, 2006 12:13 pm

eslapion wrote:The only difference between that machine and the VIC-1001 is the keyboard and character set... the PCB is identical and the power supply is the same part no.

What about the video output? Japan uses a different variation of NTSC than North America. (AS I found with my MAX).

Old VICs aren't very uncommon yet. I have a couple (given to me), and TPUG had a box full of VICs (old and new) at WoC that didn't sell.

Mayhem · Post by **Mayhem** » Tue Dec 12, 2006 2:26 pm

I didn't have an issue getting a picture from my Vic-1001 on the TV here, but then again, European TVs tend to handle most stuff thrown at them now!

ral-clan · Post by **ral-clan** » Tue Dec 12, 2006 2:33 pm

$757 Euros for a VIC-20 is about $1500 Canadian. To me that's about three weeks wages. Would the Japanese VIC-1001 be cool in my collection? Yes. Would it be $1500 CAD worth of cool? No.

I could fly to Europe for that....or take a University course, or do something quite productive.

Does my VIC-20 purchased for $3.99 at Value Village give me the same degree of fun: Yes.

The equation is simple for me!

The thing is, these VIC-1001s are probably not even that rare. There are probably at least several hundred (if not thousands) sitting in attics in Japan. It's just that they haven't been shown the light of day yet. Once word gets around about the high prices they are fetching, they'll start showing up on Ebay more and more. They're not as rare as Apple I's for instance.

It's like the Star Battle cartridge for VIC. They were highly in demand in the US (being classed as ER and fetching higher Ebay prices). Yet here in Canada, Commodore seemed to have dumped most of their stock. At one point I had several in my collection - they certainly aren't rare or even scarce here. For a while Canadians could take advantage of this demand....but in reality there is no shortage of these cartridges, just a peculiar geographic concentration of them (which will be temporary until they are distrubuted worldwide by Ebay)!

Mayhem · Post by **Mayhem** » Tue Dec 12, 2006 4:37 pm

Canada and the UK I should point out. Actually I'd say the majority of Star Battle carts I see on eBay are in the UK. Likewise for Jelly Monsters. Needless to say both have been marked down rarity wise over the years by myself because they do seem to be a lot more common than originally thought.