Fair price on a Taito Crazy Climber?
That was the question that I was asked, what did I think a Taito Crazy Climber was worth? The immediate thought was, “Not as much as a Nichibutsu Crazy Climber”, but after hearing a few things about the arcade game and seeing the photos, I realized that may not be completely true.
This Taito Crazy Climber was nearly HUO
The inquiry about the value of the game went on in detail, explaining that this was only the second owner and the game had never seen the inside of an arcade. So then I started to think about what an accurate price point for a Nichi Crazy Climber, sideart in tow, might be. What do you think?
I was starting to think a Nichibutsu would run $800-$1,300, depending on buyer and condition (maybe this estimate was pre economic downtown) because its a hard game to find complete in nice condition. Here are a couple of photos of the Taito Crazy Climber. I’ll let you formulate what you think it might be worth…
Pretty awesome condition eh? Accurately verifying whether a game is actually HUO is about impossible, you have to look at the game’s condition in context of what the owner is saying. In this case the story seems to match up.
Then he told me what someone had offered. Another collector was willing to pay $800 for it. To me, that was a tough one. I think that is very good money for a Taito Crazy Climber. But, you might want to look at sentimental value and whether $800 will prevent you from experiencing any regret down the road for a set of circumstances ‘right now’. For me personally and considering this market, I’d sell it. But that was just me.
In the end, he sold the Crazy Climber for $800. What do you guys think? More than fair? Great price? Ripped off? Let me know. This was one of the most interesting inquiries I’ve had lately.
Here are some similar arcade posts
- Replacing Crazy Climber joysticks Part 2
- Replacing Crazy Climber joysticks Part 1
- Updates / Arcade Finds on Craigslist – 2009-08-09
- White Mr. Do! with Sideart for Sale!
- Buy Some Jr. Pac-man NOS Artwork
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Comments
A fair price would definitely be between $500-$900 in the condition pictured above. CC is just a great game, no matter what cab it comes in. The Taito version is just a bit more common, but almost impossible to find in good condition.
I have a fondness for the Taito version over the Nichibutsu version. Personally, I think the art and cabinet looks better on the Taito version, personally.
And in all honesty, this is the version I was more familiar with as a kid. I never saw a Nichibutsu cab for the first time until sometime in the late 90’s
I’m in awe of that coin door. Most Taito CC coin doors I’ve run into are rusted beyond help.
At last California Extreme , a clean Taito Crazy Climber (clean but nowhere as cherry as that one), went for $600 and sold immediately.
Really. Wow. I would guess some arcades to sell for a touch higher due to the event and the fact that its California. But if that price is about $100 higher than I would expect if that Crazy Climber really wasn’t that nice.
“In the end, he sold the Crazy Climber for $800.”
Is that true? Three days after you posted this story this exact Crazy Climber found its way onto eBay by a seller in Mentor, OH who claims he is the 2nd owner. Starting bid is $799 and Buy-It-Now is $1099. Auction ends 12 hours from now. It currently has no bids.
I wrote the seller as a courtesy to ask if he had a problem with my using NAVL pickup. He wrote back and said no problem only to retract that statement 24 hours later with no explanation. He would have a bid on his game right now if he’d reconsider. Picking it up myself is not an option (I live across the country).
A damn shame. I’ve been collecting early ’80s Taitos — have four so far — and would love to add this to my lineup.
This is true, so what you are saying about the Crazy Climber making it to eBay doesn’t surprise me. Everybody’s looking to make a buck. I’m just happy the last seller sold it in good conscience without remorse. Love how the individual is using the original owner’s photos any everything.
Well the auction ended just a little over two hours ago and, drumroll please… it went for the opening bid price of $799 after two bids came in from the same buyer, the first with 20 minutes to go and the second with only 9 seconds to go, presumably to ensure that he won it.
So this eBay seller, who apparently lied to me about being the true second owner of this game, who bought it for $800 and then listed it three days later in an attempt to flip it, succeeded in screwing himself out of a nice, very short-term profit. To make matters worse he was initially okay with my wanting to use NAVL pickup should I win but he inexplicably backpedaled on that 24 hours later. Had I not lost all confidence in this eBay seller I would have bid on this item and considerably more than it went for, up to the Buy-It-Now price of $1099. Instead, he will be selling it at a $1 loss in addition to the listing fees. I suppose there is a slight chance he shill bid his own listing, but I seriously doubt it given the second bid from the same buyer in the closing seconds.
Moral of the story: honesty is the best policy.
Thanks for the follow up after the auction ended. If he is the guy who bought it, and it certainly seems that way, I am glad to see he didn’t make any profit since that was his only intention.
$800 for a CC in that good of condition Hmmm…. He should of held on to it or counter offered for no less then $1500.00
I bought an overseas shipping container of unclaimed items and found 7 brand new in the crate never touched by human hands CC’s and sold them for $3500.00 each to several arcades and collectors not to mention all the pinball machines that were in the same condition but all that stock was sold in a matter of 7 days.
I think in time he will start to feel the sentimental value sneaking up like the grim reaper of games but at least he had a classic game and got to enjoy the hours of play on it.
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February 19, 2010
Wow! That is nice condition.
I can’t speak for the US obviously .. but I could see that fetching $1300 .. maybe $1400US on aussie ebay.