CAVE PCB Rarity

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pegboy
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CAVE PCB Rarity

Post by pegboy »

I've been observing and tracking CAVE PCBs over the last (Edit: ~2 years) or so and I have come up with a ranking based on their relative rarity. This ranking takes into account sales observations, forum posts, google images searches, etc to track the PCBs by serial number as well as some guesstimating based on the original production numbers. Here is my preliminary (edit: current) ranking based on the data I've collected so far. Only official games will be added, no bootlegs or hacks.

10 = rarest, 1 = least rare.

CAVE PCB Ranking (Change log at end of post):

10
Akai Katana Limited Version
DoDonPachi (Campaign Version)
DoDonPachi III (DOJ International version) - Is this an official release? I'm not 100% sure about it
DonPachi (1st Version with AT-C01DP marking)
Medal Mahjong Moukari Bancho
Mushihimesama Cave Festival Version 1.5
Progear (USA/Blue Version)

9
Deathsmiles II
DoDonPachi DaiFukkatsu 1.0
DoDonPachi DaiOuJou Black Label
DonPachi (Hong Kong Version)
Mushihimesama Futari 1.0
Progear (Asia/Grey Version)

8
Akai Katana
Deathsmiles Mega Black Label
DoDonPachi Daifukkatsu Black Label
Mushihimesama Futari Black Label
Mushihimesama Futari Black Label Another Version
Mushihime-Tama

7
DoDonPachi DaiOuJou Tamashii (Red version)
DoDonPachi SaiDaiOuJou
Ibara Kuro: Black Label

6
Fever SOS (Dangun Feveron Int Version)
DonPachi (International Version)
Pink Sweets

5
DoDonPachi (International Version)
DoDonPachi DaiOuJou Tamashii (Blue version)
DonPachi (2nd version with AT-C01DP-2 marking, the "standard" version)
Muchi Muchi Pork
Progear (Japan/Green Version)

4
Dangun Feveron
DoDonPachi Daifukkatsu 1.5
DoDonPachi II: Bee Storm (Japanese version)
ESP Ra.De. (International Version)
Guwange
Uo Poko

3
Deathsmiles
DoDonPachi
Mushihimesama Futari 1.5

2
DoDonPachi DaiOuJou
ESP Ra.De.
Espgaluda II
Ketsui
Mushihimesama

1
Espgaluda
Ibara

Changelog:

-Update 5/21/20
DoDonPachi III (DOJ Int version) added at 10
DoDonPachi DaiOuJou Tamashii (Blue and Red versions) added at 5 and 7 respectively
DonPachi (Hong Kong version) added at 9
ESP Ra.De. 3->2
ESP Ra.De. (International) 5->4
Medal Mahjong Moukari Bancho added at 10
Progear (Asia/Grey version) 8->9
Progear (USA/Blue version) 9->10

-Update 8/18/19
Dangun Feveron (Fever SOS/Int Version) added at 6
Deathsmiles 4->3
DoDonPachi (Campaign Version) added at 10
DoDonPachi (International Version) added at 5
DonPachi (Development Version) added at 10
DonPachi (International Version) added at 6
ESP Ra.De. (International Version) added at 5
Ibara 2->1
Ibara Kuro 8->7
Ketsui 3->2
Mushihime-Tama 7->8
Progear (Asia/Grey Version) added at 8
Progear (USA/Blue Version) added at 9
Last edited by pegboy on Fri May 22, 2020 6:29 pm, edited 16 times in total.
Tokyo-J
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Re: CAVE PCB Rarity

Post by Tokyo-J »

pegboy wrote:I've been observing and tracking CAVE PCBs over the last 6 months or so and I have come up with a ranking based on their relative rarity. This ranking takes into account sales observations, forum posts, google images searches, etc to track the PCBs by serial number as well as some guesstimating based on the original production numbers. Here is my preliminary ranking based on the data I've collected as well as . 10 = rarest, 1 = least rare.

Some of them could be bumped a point up or down but I believe this to be fairly accurate. It should be noted that international versions of DoDonPachi, Dangun Feveron (Fever SOS), etc are not counted here, so those PCBs are a bit more common than listed if you include them.

CAVE PCB Ranking:

10
Akai Katana Limited Version
Mushihimesama Cave Festival Version 1.5

9
Deathsmiles II
DoDonPachi DaiFukkatsu 1.0
DoDonPachi DaiOuJou Black Label
Mushihimesama Futari 1.0

8
Akai Katana
Deathsmiles Mega Black Label
DoDonPachi Daifukkatsu Black Label
Ibara Kuro: Black Label
Mushihimesama Futari Black Label
Mushihimesama Futari Black Label Another Version

7
DoDonPachi SaiDaiOuJou
Mushihime-Tama

6
Pink Sweets

5
DoDonPachi DaiOuJou Tamashii
DonPachi
Muchi Muchi Pork
Progear

4
Dangun Feveron
Deathsmiles
DoDonPachi Daifukkatsu 1.5
DoDonPachi II: Bee Storm
Guwange
Uo Poko

3
DoDonPachi
ESP Ra.De.
Ketsui
Mushihimesama Futari 1.5

2
DoDonPachi DaiOuJou
Espgaluda II
Ibara
Mushihimesama

1
Espgaluda
I would rank SDOJ higher as it has a low production number. Less than 250.
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pegboy
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Re: CAVE PCB Rarity

Post by pegboy »

I've heard that SDOJ had 350 PCBs made, and the serial numbers support that amount if not even more. While it is one of the most expensive CAVE PCBs out there, it is definitely not the rarest. I've seen it far more often than any of the black label games, and even some of the games I have ranked lower on the list.

I do factor production numbers into my rankings, but ultimately the most important factor is how often it is observed, whether it be on ebay, Yahoo Japan, google images, or simply mentioned on a forum post. I feel pretty confident in ranking SDOJ a 7 on this scale.

The most general trend is that the later the game, the more rare, as only the early games had large print runs (> 1000). That said, while some of the earliest games had the largest print runs, they are still relatively rare in comparison to the expect number that should be out there. The most obvious example of this is DonPachi, CAVE's first game. While the serial numbers seem to support a print run of around 1200 (not including International versions), it rarely shows up for sale or in online images.
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z0mbie90
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Re: CAVE PCB Rarity

Post by z0mbie90 »

11
DoDonPachi Campaign Version (Blue Label)
Image
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DoomsDave
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Re: CAVE PCB Rarity

Post by DoomsDave »

pegboy wrote:I've heard that SDOJ had 350 PCBs made, and the serial numbers support that amount if not even more. While it is one of the most expensive CAVE PCBs out there, it is definitely not the rarest. I've seen it far more often than any of the black label games
Any idea how many Futari Black Label PCBs were made? Yaton seemed to have a decent amount of them before he ran out. Wonder what percentage he actually had.
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NTSC-J
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Re: CAVE PCB Rarity

Post by NTSC-J »

EOJ's estimates for SH3 boards:
Here is a list of each SH3 (CV-1000) game and the current best estimate of its total production, based on serial number data, and categorized by rarity:

Super Rare (less than 10):
Mushihimesama Futari Red Label: 3 (only given to prize winners in a CAVE scoring contest)

Very Rare (less than 100):
Akai Katana Limited Ver: 30 ~ 100
Mushihimesama Cave Matsuri Ver 1.5: 30 ~ 100
Mushihimesama Futari Ver 1.0: 50 ~ 100
Dodonpachi Daifukkatsu Ver 1.0: 50 ~ 100

Rare (100 ~ 200):
Ibara Kuro Black Label: 100 ~ 150 (initial print was 100, but two small addition prints were made, probably totaling no more than 50 additional PCBs)
Mushihimesama Futari Black Label: 150
Mushihimesama Futari Black Label Another Ver: 200
Deathsmiles Mega Black Label: 200
Dodonpachi Daifukkatsu Black Label: 200

Somewhat Rare (300-350)
Akai Katana: 300
Dodonpachi Saidaioujou: 350 (currently available serial number data only supports 350 PCBs made: 250 in the first run and 100 in the second)

Somewhat Common (400 ~ 600):
Muchi Muchi Pork: 450 (serial number data indicates up to 500 were originally made, but 50 were unsold and used to print MFBL)
Mushihimetama: 500 (initial production. Some of these were unsold and converted to Ibara Kuro or Mushihimesama, and possibly other games)
Pink Sweets: 500-600 (initial production was about 700, but several of these were unsold and converted to other games such as Futari. The actual number of extant PS PCBs is unknown, but a reasonable estimate is around 500-600)

Common (700 ~ 800):
Deathsmiles: 700
Dodonpachi Daifukkatsu Ver 1.5: 700 ~ 750
Espgaluda 2: 800

Very Common (1000 ~ 1500):
Ibara: 1000 ~ 1500
Mushihimesama: 1000 ~ 1500
Mushihimesama Futari Ver 1.5: 1050 ~ 1150
Source
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Xyga
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Re: CAVE PCB Rarity

Post by Xyga »

Update that list adding the average price those go for these days, and you realize the rarity doesn't matter nearly as much as how deep are your pockets.
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waiwainl
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Re: CAVE PCB Rarity

Post by waiwainl »

You can use this spreadsheet as additional input: http://cave-stg.com/forum/index.php?topic=1746.0
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Xyga
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Re: CAVE PCB Rarity

Post by Xyga »

I know that list, my point is that the rarity is only relative to the number of people who can afford to collect Cave pcb's, and the unkown number of each title which is likely to be exchanged between them.

In short if you have the money, a little patience and know the likely people/places where the pcb's exchange, then most aren't that rare.
Kinda the same with console games, the issue is less so 'rarity' than price.
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2a03
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Re: CAVE PCB Rarity

Post by 2a03 »

very useful info, thanks
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pegboy
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Re: CAVE PCB Rarity

Post by pegboy »

Correct, there is another tier of PCBs that only have single digit copies (or are even unique). The reason they aren't included is that they were never available to the public as an official release.

I suppose you could make an argument for DDP Campaign since it was made "officially available" as a prize through a contest. If you want to include these, they would rank at 10 and you can just bump all the other's down by a point.
z0mbie90 wrote:11
DoDonPachi Campaign Version (Blue Label)
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Mark_MSX
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Re: CAVE PCB Rarity

Post by Mark_MSX »

z0mbie90 wrote:11
DoDonPachi Campaign Version (Blue Label)
I was going to make this exact joke, ha.
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Mark_MSX
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Re: CAVE PCB Rarity

Post by Mark_MSX »

I know this doesn't count toward the conversation, but just an fyi for the random person reading this thread, there are PGM bootlegs of Ketsui, DOJ BL & WL, and Espgaluda for people wanting a taste of the arcade experience, but not a load of cash.
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pegboy
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Re: CAVE PCB Rarity

Post by pegboy »

Updated. Added international versions and some others.
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Re: CAVE PCB Rarity

Post by awbacon »

I’d love a full set of CAVE pcbs. I don’t want to pay for them lol
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pegboy
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Re: CAVE PCB Rarity

Post by pegboy »

Made another update, let me know what you think.
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Re: CAVE PCB Rarity

Post by Buffi »

Esp Rade must be more common than Ibara, Mushi and so on?
Esp rade shows up for sale all them time and is reasonably cheap.
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Kiken
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Re: CAVE PCB Rarity

Post by Kiken »

I seem to remember reading somewhere (possibly ArcadeShock.com) that the US blue board of Progear was limited to 50 pieces. Seeing as I can't find confirmation of that number, take that cum grano salis.
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pegboy
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Re: CAVE PCB Rarity

Post by pegboy »

Buffi wrote:Esp Rade must be more common than Ibara, Mushi and so on?
Esp rade shows up for sale all them time and is reasonably cheap.
It is more common if you count both the Japanese and International version of ESP Ra.De. together. My list separates them, and in that case I have found many more Ibara PCBs over the last 2 years.


Ibara - 75
Mushihimesama - 63
ESP Ra.De. (Japanese) - 59
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pegboy
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Re: CAVE PCB Rarity

Post by pegboy »

Kiken wrote:I seem to remember reading somewhere (possibly ArcadeShock.com) that the US blue board of Progear was limited to 50 pieces. Seeing as I can't find confirmation of that number, take that cum grano salis.
I've only seen pictures of 1 legit Blue Progear, so I would believe it was made in very small numbers. Nearly all of them you see online are fake/bootleg carts.
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To Far Away Times
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Re: CAVE PCB Rarity

Post by To Far Away Times »

Interesting. I'm pretty far from an arcade connoisseur but I remember seeing Progear in an arcade a few years back, and I'm pretty sure it was the English version. Was 5 or so years ago, so I might be misremembering.

A few others I've come across in the wild.

Mushihimesama (had this at my college of all places)
Mushihimesama Futari
Deathsmiles
DoDonPachi
DonPachi
Ibara
Espagaluda II
Esp Ra. De.
Zero238
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Re: CAVE PCB Rarity

Post by Zero238 »

pegboy wrote:
Kiken wrote:I seem to remember reading somewhere (possibly ArcadeShock.com) that the US blue board of Progear was limited to 50 pieces. Seeing as I can't find confirmation of that number, take that cum grano salis.
I've only seen pictures of 1 legit Blue Progear, so I would believe it was made in very small numbers. Nearly all of them you see online are fake/bootleg carts.
I bought the b kit on ebay 3~4yrs ago. Haven't seen another one for a long while.
zak
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Re: CAVE PCB Rarity

Post by zak »

I used to own 2 matching serial Progear kits :p

The boxes are HUGE! :shock: The art work isn't printed very nicely tbh.

I'd definitely go for a Japanese kit over an English one.

Here are some pics:

https://imgur.com/a/CUwRHQ8

They were made to order (and it showed). The sticker on the cart was different on each one.
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