Guide books valuable?

[Spyke]

Hi,

I was searching on that auction site for Darius Gaiden (haven't bought) tonight and found a listing for a Japanese Darius Gaiden guide book.

It looks stunning with big bright colourful images and page layouts etc, in fine condition - and it's £90 !

I had no idea guide books became this valuable - or do they? Or is the price way over-inflated? Or is it actually a deal for that particular book?

Not that I'm thinking of buying it (but I'll sure keep an eye open in second hand shops for one!)

Ant

[Vyxx]

I'm not up to date on that exact guide book but I would assume it's the same with super play DVDs.

Some are a lot more rare or popular than others so the price reflects that, regardless if the particular item is "worth" that much.

Having sold some cave art books in the past yes they can be valuable without a doubt.

[Ed Oscuro]

Don't rush out and buy the first copy of anything you see. You need data, can't make bricks without clay!

About that particular item...I honestly don't know. Some guides are highly sought after and expensive, while others (even for well known games) are cheap. And of course there are many which are just a bit uncommon which could be found easily, but sellers get money out of people who look at the site, see only one for sale, and gobble it up for a tidy multiple of a reasonable asking price

[Vyxx]

http://shmups.system11.org/viewtopic.php?p=264890

There is a topic with most of the known art/guide books for shmups, if you we're interested.

[Ed Oscuro]

most of the known art/guide books for shmups

The first guide I looked for isn't there (double header Elemental Master / Darius II guide, published by BEEP! MegaDrive magazine)

[Vyxx]

most of the known art/guide books for shmups

The first guide I looked for isn't there (double header Elemental Master / Darius II guide, published by BEEP! MegaDrive magazine)

Haha well I was hoping most of them would be there. Seems its been a while since Sven has updated said topic

[Jeneki]

Be careful about certain print-on-demand "guide books". Some are just a bunch of web sources (wikipedia pages, etc) printed into a book format, but still charge up to $100 or more.

Those usually have really obvious covers though, so I think you're safe.

[Spyke]

It must be an interesting side-aspect to game collecting. I'd forgotten that old magazines used to have pretty thorough game guides in too, like that Megadrive magazine, and others.

I've used Brady guides before to help me complete non-shmup games (Arkham Asylum, Jedi Outcast are two that spring to mind), but I'm guessing that non-mainstream titles may rise in value more than common ones?

Like I said, I wasn't looking for books, but it came up in the search results because of the title. But if one looked really interesting or good condition for small outlay, then I'd probably pick it up for the shelves. (but not at £90 a pop though!)

Ant