‘Rare’, we need a better word

[Pop Bumper Pete]

'Highly sought-after' is the best I can come up with

[Caveoftreasures]

Good topic Pete.

Godzilla-1998 Sega - 500 units only, so i bought one. This is VERY RARE because of production numbers, although there are probably 6 or more in the Country, but not many.

Other Sega games with the "concave" Headbox shape like Viper Night Drivin, Starship Troopers, Lost World Jurrassic Park etc, considered rare by world standards cause only 1000 to 1200 units ever made of each title. Again, because of the large importing into Australia, we have probably got alot of the rare titles cause we are constantly cleaning out the stocks from all the other countries that USED to have them.

I would probably rate anything with 1200 units or less as RARE, cause by world standards, thats not many to go around to fifty countries etc.

Some titles which were produced in say the 2200 units area, can be considered RARE because of a different reason. Not RARE due to numbers, but RARE due to the fact that people hang onto them and rarely sell very sought after titles. An example is Black Knight 2000. Not rare for units produced, but a bit RARE due to very low sales listings u see, or dont see around. Thats my interpretation anyway. 

[Cow Corner]

I reckon just throw a blanket right over it and call the " collectable " " super fkn duper collectable " for those hard to track down titles. We are all collectors after all in some way...what you may find it collectable,others may not.
Whenver I see rare in a listing I want to fire up the bbq and whack a few steaks on!

[punter]

I agree with one of Homepins,to me rare is that is does not come up for sale often.I always have a laugh at some of the ebay listings when the word rare is mentioned in the comments  ,do people think that by using that term it is going to be wanted more  ,most of them do not receive a bid.

[wonder]

I would call my Sega, Big together pinball as Rare.

Rare that it will work again
Rare if i will find any more imformation on this machine
Have found one other person with this machine but no responds to email.

[RGR]

Bally Spectrum is most definately rare... low production and most sent to the tip... reason? Its a huge lemon! No pop bumpers and awkward to play.
there are 5 balls in play at all times... should the game turn off and one of these balls isnt in its correct position then the game logic gets thrown out and the machine fails to send a ball down to the flippers for play. Bet my arse this is why it failed onsite so badly... funny thing is... the manual doesnt cover this, i had to work it out in order to get the game going... SPECTRUM... stear clear!

After seeing a video of Spectrum being played I would love to own one..

[Strangeways]

Bally Spectrum is most definately rare... low production and most sent to the tip... reason? Its a huge lemon! No pop bumpers and awkward to play.
there are 5 balls in play at all times... should the game turn off and one of these balls isnt in its correct position then the game logic gets thrown out and the machine fails to send a ball down to the flippers for play. Bet my arse this is why it failed onsite so badly... funny thing is... the manual doesnt cover this, i had to work it out in order to get the game going... SPECTRUM... stear clear!

After seeing a video of Spectrum being played I would love to own one..

It is an interesting title. The perfect marriage between pinball and Mastermind ! Not a player's game, but great if you have a large collection and you like rare machines. Most I've seen have wear areas in the same places - so it must have been played on location a fair bit.

[blue95]

It seems nearly every pinball machine on ebay is 'rare' these days. Or at least 'highly collectable'.
The ones that worry me are the ones that say 'rare, only 300 made' and are missing ramps, toys or backglasses. What chance woud there be to restore any of these?

[spacejam0]

I saw a Shadow advertised on ebay late last year and in the description it was described as extremly rare and that only 6 were in the country. This suprised me because that would mean I have seen every Shadow in the country (as well as owning one of them)..and they all must be in Victoria . I guess that would explain the high starting price of $3500 for what looked like a bit of a roughie.

[Strangeways]

It seems nearly every pinball machine on ebay is 'rare' these days. Or at least 'highly collectable'.
The ones that worry me are the ones that say 'rare, only 300 made' and are missing ramps, toys or backglasses. What chance woud there be to restore any of these?

I think this is a huge problem that eBay cannot possible police. There are still honest sellers on eBay - mostly private sales with poor pictures and lack detailed descriptions. These guys know nothing about the game, and sell it because no one plays them any more.

The "rare" and "collectible" tag is used too often, and it is used to mislead the buying public. Another trend is assertion that missing or defective parts don't affect gameplay. My favorite is "Display is missing a couple of lines but it does not effect gameplay". Why not remove the display completely - that also does not "affect gameplay". It is a joke !

The rare games missing parts are a huge risk. I bought a project Flight 2000 only after ensuring the playfield was going to reproduced and I could buy the VERY rare VS-100 Vocalizer board. I have a Freefall with a poor playfield, but I took the risk. Price reflected the condition of the machine.

[Dirty daz]

pinballs are not rare in australia  there all going to end up here