Geoffrey N64 Controller: Rare, Collectible, Evil Twin

Is that a giraffe?

As a follow-up to the Hello Mac N64 controller article, may I introduce to you the Geoffrey N64 controller. This is another Japanese-exclusive controller that was sold in very limited quantities only at Toys'R'Us stores late in the N64's lifespan. This controller is in fact identical to the Hello Mac controller in every way except for the sticker, sort of like some kind of evil giraffe twin.

Yeah, that's a giraffe.

What I find really interesting is that hardcore N64 collectors were completely taken by surprise when this controller started showing up in auctions towards the beginning of 2011. No one had ever heard of them before. Current count puts the total known number of these controllers at less than 20, making it just a little bit more rare than the Hello Mac controller.They do show up on eBay often, selling for around $300-$800 depending on condition and if they include the box. So if you want to own this rare controller, better start saving your Geoffrey dollars!

[EDITOR'S NOTE: To those of you that didn't have a childhood, Geoffrey dollars were gift card forerunners given out by the various 'R'Us stores. I would be lying if I said I didn't snort an entire pixie stick for five Geoffrey Dollars. Elementary school was tough, man.]

Hello Mac One of the Rarest and Most Collectible N64 Controllers

The world's most expensive sticker.

Hello! What exactly am I looking at? Why it is the Hello Mac N64 controller, of course! Ok, now what is it? A special, two-toned (black in front, grey in back) N64 controller with a little lion mascot sticker in the center. Below the lion is 'Hello Mac' in Japanese. Alright then, what makes it so special? Uhm, hype and rarity?

N64 controller design was... "innovative".

So the Hello Mac controller first came into the game collecting limelight when one of them popped up on eBay around the end of 2011 being sold by Jack "luick555". During this time, Jack was traveling between Japan and Malaysia and needed to finance his trip so he was started listing huge amounts of crazy rare items that he had picked up over the years. One of them just so happened to be the Hello Mac controller. The auction was pretty innocuous to start with but then community started realizing just what this was and it ended up selling for $739.51.

I don't know what I'm looking at, a temple? Oh no wait, it's a Hello Mac store.

This controller is so rare that less than 40 have ever been found in the hands of collectors. It was sold exclusively in Hello Mac stores, a Japanese toy/computer superstore very similar to Toy'R'Us. Hello Mac was a chain owned by the Chiyoda corporation that first opened its doors in 1985 but went under during the Great Recession of 2009 (which hit worldwide FYI). They were then turned into shoe stores (because shoes are recession-proof). Hello Mac is fondly remembered as interesting chain known for having a lot of charm and character. It was well-loved by its customers, even inspiring an entire fan album dedicated to it.

It was also was heavily featured in the Japanese anime, Idol Tenshi Yōkoso Yōko, a series about a young girl and her pet flying squirrel going to Tokyo in hopes of becoming an idol singer who meets another girl who wants to become an actress, and together they work to achieve their dreams. 

Hello Mac made 21 cameo appearances throughout the 43-episode series.

Enough of the minutia, the controller is VERY, VERY rare and was sold only at the tail end of the N64's lifetime. It was an exclusive and it sold poorly. What really boosts the value of the controller is the box. Only around three boxes have ever been located.

Hundreds of dollars of cardboard.

This rare piece of gaming and Japanese history sells for around $150-300 dollars now after the initial hype of the luick555 auction but the price with the box is easily double, if not triple that, at $600-800. This is a rare piece but the only thing that makes it any different from any other N64 controllers is the little sticker and the two-tone color scheme (which it shares with Japanese Mario Kart 64 controller). In my opinion, it just ain't worth it. Cool history, though!

Foxdata N64 Controllers

SoCool.

I don't know what was with the 90's and bright colors but looking back on it all now, I can see that nobody had any sense of color and yet I'm gripped with so much nostalgia for the era. Another hallmark of this decade was Nintendo's N64, which also got on the neon bandwagon with all of it's "Funtastic" colors.

MY EYES.

Beautiful, isn't it all just so beautiful? No? Well, forget you. I'm here to talk about some of the rarest N64 controllers out there, the Foxdata Ltd. controllers. The British-based company started taking out full-page ads in the summer '97 offering chrome N64 consoles and controllers. They even offered to chrome your system if you mailed it in. The colors offered for these controllers were Chrome, Copper, Gold, and Electric Blue.

I have never in my entire life seen either the chromed N64 or any of these painted controllers come up for sale on eBay or anywhere else. I have never even seen any pictures of these items except for in these advertisements. If you have any more data, please leave a message in the comments. 

What I have seen are Foxdata's second round of radical paint jobs. Released for the following Christmas season, Foxdata offered up for sale four of the gnarliest custom N64 controllers to date. Moving from the top-right clockwise we have: Red Rain, Chrome Leopard, Purple Rain, and Desert Storm. All were sweet paint jobs applied to stock blue N64 controllers, except Desert Storm which was made from yellow controllers.

Their controllers were even sold in some stores but to say they are "official" would be misleading. They are just really mondo items of extremely high quality and are still sought after by N64 collectors even today. They usually sell for around $300 a piece but I have seen them sell for as little as $150. There are rumored to have only been around 500 of each type made.

In recent years, I have seen N64 controller collecting boom and for good reason. There are so many different colors and a lot have a really unique and interesting story behind them. A lot of the special ones come from Japan but the US has it's fair share of exclusives. I personally think they are really beautiful and I know a few collectors who wall mount them as art but I, personally, find it hard to justify spending hundreds of dollars on controllers but I can still see the appeal.  

It's like a rainbow had babies.

Nintendo 64DD Collector's Guide: Part 2

Collecting the entire library for the N64DD is by far the easiest milestone for any Nintendo collector. With only 9 titles, the N64DD set can be completed in a single day with a credit card and access to eBay. The problem is that it is pretty expensive and some of the games are harder to find. Here is a handy guide to collecting all 9 N64DD games and the prices you should expect to pay for them.

1. Mario Artist: Paint Studio (released on December 1, 1999) $10-$30 (with mouse)

Designed as a sequel to Mario Paint, the Mario Artist series was to span 8 separate games. Each game focused on a different medium or idea. The focus of Paint Studio was painting with the N64 mouse which was included. The game also allowed importing images through either the Capture Cartridge or the Game Boy Camera with the Transfer Pak. It is easy to find and also cheap, but make sure to find it complete with mouse, box, and instructions.

2. Doshin the Giant (released on December 1, 1999)  $50-70

Doshin the Giant is a god simulator game that received good reviews and was so popular that an expansion was released and later on, it was ported to the Nintendo GameCube in both JAP and PAL regions. It never made it stateside.

3. Mario Artist: Talent Studio (released on February 23, 2000) $50-$90 (with Capture Cartridge)

The second game of the Mario Artist suite, this game came with a unique Capture Cartridge that plugged into the top deck of the N64. Through the Capture Cartridge you can import video through a multitude of devices and manipulate it within the game. Images ripped from video uploaded could even be used in minigames that would later inspired the Warioware series.

4. SimCity 64 (released on February 23, 2000) $30-50

Developed as a sequel to the much-loved Super Nintendo counterpart, this game had a lot of interesting and novel ideas. SimCopter was originally designed as a separate game but the idea was incorporated in to this title. 

5. F-Zero X Expansion Kit (released on April 21, 2000) $50-100

An expansion for F-Zero X that contained twelve new tracks, a car editor, and a track creator. It even had the entire soundtrack remastered in stereo as well as the original mono. This kit could hold hundreds of new custom tracks and racing ghost data.

6. Japan Pro Golf Tour 64 (released on May 2, 2000) $300-400

The definitive N64 golf game contained 10 courses based on real Japanese golf courses. It also had extensive single-player modes and allowed online play among 4 players. It is also extremely rare. It had a short release and was not hyped like other N64DD titles.

7. Doshin the Giant: Rescue from the Front by the Toddlers that Tinkle at the Large Meeting-hall  (released on May 17, 2000) $300-400

The oddly-titled, odd sequel to an already odd god simulator game. Doshin was popular enough to warrant a sequel, it was more of an add-on and could only work in conjunction with the first title. You essentially swap in the disk for the first game at certain points to unlock cut-scenes and animations in the second. Due to the strange nature of this game and the fact that it isn't really a game, it sold poorly and is very rare. Good luck finding a copy.

8. Mario Artist: Communication Kit (released on June 29, 2000) $40-60

This game of the Mario Artist suite allowed for Randnet connection so that users could show off their creations from the other Mario Artist games. There were also printing services and contests. Not really a game but still collectible. 

9. Mario Artist: Polygon Studio (released on August 29, 2000) $40-60

The last game of the Mario Artist series released was developed with the hopes that the next 4 would be released. This game allowed for the designing, saving, and sharing of 3D images using images imported with the Capture Cartridge or created in Paint Studio. This game was to be a stepping stone in the later games, Game Maker, Graphical Message Maker, Sound Maker, and Video Jockey Maker. Sadly, these last 4 games were shelved.

The N64DD was an ambitious and powerful device. Capable of using a disc-based medium and internet connection but it ultimately failed. It lingered too long in development and failed to reach enough store shelves and consumers. The collectors will find this system to be interesting, fun, and worth collecting. Good luck.

Nintendo 64DD Collector's Guide: Part 1

We all know the interesting and eclectic history of Nintendo's failed N64 peripheral, the 64DD. Nintendo announced the 64DD as a way of combating the high price of cartridge games as well as rivaling Sony's Playstation for raw memory space. The add-on lingered in development hell for several years after being revealed but instead of shelving the hardware, Nintendo released it. The Nintendo 64DD was a huge commercial failure. Only 15,000 pieces sold and the remaining 85,000 pieces that Nintendo had originally hoped would sell were scrapped. That is how bad of a failure this add-on was.

The 64DD went on sale December 1st, 1999 after originally debuting 4 years earlier at the Nintendo World event. The piece originally retailed at ¥30,000. It was available sparingly in stores in 2000. Knowing that it was doomed to fail, Nintendo made it largely available through a mail-in subscription. This service was called Randnet, formed and named after the two companies that started it, Nintendo and Recruit, a Japanese advertising corporation. Here's the commercial video for the add-on.

As a collector, most people gravitate towards this interesting little oddity due to the novelty of it and the fact that it is a true piece of Nintendo memorabilia but then they look at the price and turn away. The market on this piece is all over the place. I have seen them sell for $200 and I have seen them sell for $1,500. There is no stability in this market. Another big problem when trying to purchase on are the extras. The 64DD launched with a keyboard, a mouse, a special "Capture Cart", a modem cart, and 9 different games. Most auctions you find come with some of these extras, which in turn increases the cost. Since this is just Part 1, I will help you buy just the peripheral itself.

Like I mentioned earlier, there is the Retail version and the Randnet version. The only differences is the packaging and the Randnet version comes with the modem cart, modem disc, and phone cable. They both come with the red-topped expansion pack that would later be shipped with every copy of Donkey Kong 64.

This is the Retail version and sells normally for around $500-$700. It is worth more than the Randnet version despite containing less, this is due to an extremely limited release later in the 8-month lifespan of the add-on.

You can often find these on eBay for around $400 complete in box. This was the version sold through subscription and Nintendo tried to buy them back in 2000. Some didn't get returned and are now in the hands of collectors.

If you want to purchase just the 64DD by itself, good luck. It is hard to get them unless they are bundled with something but be willing to pay more than $300. I have some good news, they are compatible with NTSC-region N64's so you don't have to purchase a JAP-region one to use it.

Now go buy one and stay tuned for Part 2: The 9 Games of the 64DD!

The $1,125 Instruction Manual | ClayFighter Sculptor's Cut for N64

Any game worth more than $1,100 would be very close to making our list of the most expensive video games of all time. But that much for just the instruction manual? That would be a record as far as I know.

An instruction manual for ClayFighter Sculptor's Cut recently sold for $1,125!

Why would someone pay so much for this particular instruction manual?

First of all the game is one of the more rare titles for Nintendo 64. ClayFighter Sculptor's Cut was a Blockbuster exclusive.

Anyone who rented games at Blockbuster remembers you usually received just the game in your rental box. The store would usually throw away the box and instructions. Or instructions that were included quickly got destroyed by customers. Instruction manuals for all Blockbuster exclusives are much more rare than manuals for regular games.

Interested to know how much the ClayFighter Sculptor's Cut box sells for? There is an auction for one on eBay right now with a current price of $720.

Nintendo 64 Not For Resale (NFR) Collecting Guide

Author: Evan Butler

Collecting “Not For Resale” or NFR versions of games has recently cropped up as a bit of a niche collector’s market. This category is usually for the more hardcore collectors as most people aren’t even aware that collecting these demoed version was a thing. One of the areas that NFR collecting has really blossomed is with the Nintendo 64 due to abundant information, tons of nostalgia, and a good supply of these carts to fuel demand from collectors. This article will go into a bit more information on some of the rarer and in-demand N64 Not for Resale carts.

What Makes a Game Not for Resale

What denotes an NFR version from the normal version is usually just a sticker on the back of the cartridge reading “NOT FOR RESALE DEMO GAME ONLY”. Below this is the ominous “PROPERTY OF NINTENDO” warning along with a serial number and some place for store information to be written.
NFR cartridges were meant to be either destroyed or returned to Nintendo. Nintendo wasn't proactive about this so many of these have slipped out of the hands of the store owners who were demoing the games and into the sticky, sweaty palms of niche game collectors. Most NFR copies were just stock copies of the game with an extra sticker on the back.

Not all NFR games were made equal though, some are very rare and worth a large bounty to completist collectors. Some of these NFR carts had a unique front label instead of the normal stock one that would often include a small red box with the words “NOT FOR RESALE” also in red. The placement and size of this box differed on different games. Most of these NFR games with different front labels were just that. They had no beta content, they weren’t even really demos. Some were and those are worth far more.

It is important to keep in mind that the cartridges with these unique front labels are worth around twice as much as a normal stock version. There are a few exceptions though, some of these NFR games are worth much, much more.
Due to a lot of used game shops not paying attention to their own stock, Not for Resale carts often sell for well below prices people are willing to pay. Shops often price them at the same price as a normal copy or even less due to them being only a 'demo' version.

Rare& Noteworthy Not for Resale N64 Cartridges

Here are a few of the exceptional NFR copies that are worth several times more than their retail counterparts.

The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask (Grey) | Price: $600-$1200

This is probably the holy grail of N64 collecting and is rivaled only by a complete copy of ClayFighter: Sculptor’s Cut. What makes this so interesting that it is chocked-full of beta content, has numerous demo points to start from, and it is a Zelda game. This award-winning combination of features provides that this item will literally be worth its weight in gold. Gold Not for Resale versions also exist but are only worth a fraction of the price and not sought after as much as this version. Keep an eye out, they show up every once in awhile for dirt-cheap mislabeled on eBay auctions.

Donkey Kong 64 (Grey Cartridge) | Price: $350-$400

There are two NFR versions of this game, a grey one and a yellow one. The yellow one was released much later on and is worth far less than the earlier grey one. It contains a lot of beta material that was removed later on in development. The cart contains three different demos from various parts in the game, two boss fights and a minigame. A lot of really interesting content can also be dumped from the ROM of the game. All of this unused content and an interesting story behind one of the best-selling games for the console have really promoted this piece of Not for Resale memorabilia to the forefront in reputation and in price.

Pokemon Snap (DEMO ONLY) | Price: $400

Buyer beware on this because there exist not one but two different NFR versions of this title. They also look very similar. The difference is in the color of the box on the front. There is the red version and the black version. The red version is worth around $125 dollars but the black version is worth much more at around $400. The black box “DEMO ONLY” version came exclusively from the special printing kiosks at Blockbuster stores across the US and are a lot harder to come by. The content is also radically different. The black box version contains only a demo of the first two levels while the red box version is functionally identical to the retail version.

Turok 2: Seeds of Evil | Price: $150-$400

With a fully monochromatic front label that is radically different from the final version, this item sports a unique look. Several things in the demo are also different from the final version. It is an interesting item that commands a high price due to how different it is from the final version. There is also a European version that is nearly identical to this except for on the bottom in fine print the USA version says USA while the European version says PAL.

Yoshi’s Story | Price: $200-$300

There is a unique history and story behind this item. This NFR is actually the Japanese copy of the game that was taken apart and had the backplate of the cartridge replaced with the backplate from an American game so that it could be played on American consoled. A special front label was also printed off with the words “INTERNATIONAL VERSION” above the title of the game and was then applied directly on top of the original Japanese label. How interesting!

Excitebike 64 | Price: $40-60

This is another unique cart that has quite a few differences than the final release. A lot of the content is locked and there a few minor tweaks. Most people overlook this one due to it being a game that is often overlooked.

Jet Force Gemini | Price: $40-$60

Rare produced a lot of the NFR cartridges due to their games being high-profile and also due to their stupidly long development times. Not much is different in this NFR other than a panel missing at a certain point in the game that prevented you from moving any further and effectively turning a full game into a demo. There is also some beta content contained in the game’s code.

List of Not for Resale Nintendo 64 carts with unique front labels:

• 1080 Snowboarding
• Banjo-Kazooie
• Banjo-Tooie
• Diddy Kong Racing
• Donkey Kong 64 (Grey)
• Donkey Kong 64 (Yellow)
• Excitebike 64
• Goldeneye 007
• Jet Force Gemini
• Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask (Grey)
• Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask (Gold)
• Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
• Mario Kart 64
• Mario Party 2
• Mario Party 3
• Mario Tennis
• Perfect Dark
• Pokemon Snap (DEMO ONLY) (Black Box)
• Pokemon Snap (Red Box)
• Pokemon Stadium
• Pokemon Stadium 2
• Starfox 64
• Star Wars: Episode 1 Racer
• Star Wars: Rogue Squadron
• Super Mario 64
• Turok 2: Seeds Of Evil (USA)
• Yoshi Story

Here is a complete list of N64 Not for Resale games that only have an NFR sticker on the back. It is hard to validate these because the stickers were only on the back and can fall off or be worn away.

• Diddy Kong Racing
• Donkey Kong 64
• Legend of Zelda: Orcarina of Time
• Mario Party
• Super Smash Bros
• Wayne Gretzky's 3D Hockey
• WWF Warzone
• WWF Wrestlemania 2000

Good luck hunting down all those Not for Resale games! There are a lot out there but it is an undeveloped market which means that people have not yet realized how much these games are really worth, and let me tell you right now, they are worth quite a bit.

Tracking Prices for Turok Rages Wars Gray

There is a new rare Nintendo 64 game in town - Turok Rage Wars Gray cartridge. It sells for about $120 but has been increasing in price very quickly.

This gray version of Turok Rage Wars gained notoriety in February 2012 when a seller on eBay listed 120 of them at $12.99 each. Turok Rage Wars Black cartridges have a flaw in the game that doesn't allow you to beat one of the levels on 2 player mode. To fix this bug Acclaim made a limited number of gray cartridges. People could mail back their black cartridge and receive the gray one as a replacement.

This was not a well known program so only a small number of people took part. In fact, so few took advantage that the game was pretty much unknown in the collecting community until this past February.

This master case of games was probably purchased from Acclaim after their bankruptcy. The exact number of copies in existence is hard to know for sure, but because it was only made for a replacement and never sold in stores this is probably the rarest of the color variants for Nintendo 64.

At current prices, this Turok Rage Wars Gray would be near the top of our list of the most expensive Nintendo 64 games.

120 Turok Rage Wars Gray in Master Case

Master Case for Turok

Black Turok Rage Wars for Comparison

Guide to Nintendo 64 Blockbuster Exclusives

Remember Blockbuster? That movie and game rental store from all of our childhoods that was recently bankrupted by RedBox and Netflix? Yeah, that’s the store I’m talking about.

Blockbuster peaked in the mid 90’s and early 2000’s at around the time that the N64 also peaked. Nintendo worked with Blockbuster to create Blockbuster-only games. This literally meant you could only rent the game, never buy it except when it was thrown in the bargain bin after it had been rented-out a hundred times.

These N64 games are unique, a few of them are rare, and they are all collectible. A game that is any sort of "exclusive" means that there is a special value to it. These games could only be obtained in a limited way and games with an interesting story behind them are always going to be worth more to collectors and emerging "video game historians".

It is very hard to find these games complete with box and manual as they were often put on the shelves as display and absolutely destroyed by kids in the stores. Complete copies can often go for two to three times as much as just the cartridge alone.

Clayfighter 63 1/3: Sculptor's Cut

Cart: $65 | Complete: $900 | See Current Prices

Sculptor's Cut is probably the rarest N64 game. It was released early on in the N64 life span. This version was improved from the original by adding 4 extra characters. These extra characters were added at the expense of cutting several of the other characters' special moves. Even though it is an "improvement", Sculptor's Cut was released largely unfinished. Some people estimate that as few as 20,000 copies of this game were released.

Stunt Racer

Cart: $25 | Complete: $150 | See Current Prices

Stunt Racer is different from other Blockbuster exclusives because it is actually a very good game. It is fun, it is fast, it is pretty. It is also hard to get ahold of, especially with the original box and manual.

Transformers: Beast Wars Transmetals

Cart: $20 | Complete: $60 | See Current Prices

Initially Transformers was a only available via rental but due to poor performance in the rental only business it was re-released in standard retail stores. It is a 3D fighting game. The game featured 8 characters and 5 secret characters from the Transformers universe.

NFL Blitz Special Edition

Cart: $5 | Complete: $70 | See Current Prices

Blitz Special Edition is identical to the normal version but had updated rosters, schedules, and uniforms.

Razor Freestyle Scooter

Cart: $5 | Complete: $20 | See Current Prices

Only the N64 edition of Razor is a Blockbuster exclusive. It was extremely mediocre and sold (rented) so poorly you can still buy sealed copies. This is due to Blockbuster's "Guaranteed to Be There" marketing strategy. Blockbuster overestimated the demand for a crappy Tony Hawk knock-off. So it was severely overstocked

International Track & Field 2000

Cart: $3 | Complete: $10 | See Current Prices

This is one of the few games where the rental only aspect was a good choice. Most of the mini-games in this one were short, fun, and brutal. This is the kind of game you rented once to play, then you got sick and tired of the button-mashing and you never wanted to play it again. Hence, a great game for a rental.

Indiana Jones and the Infernal Machine [Limited Exclusive]

Cart: $20 | Complete: $40 | See Current Prices

Developed and published by LucasArts originally for Windows 95 and 98 it was ported to the N64 afterwards. Praised for good graphics and great story it was rendered nearly unplayable by awful controls. The idea to make it Blockbuster exclusive was LucasArts and they seemed happy about it. It was also available for sale through LucasArts website.

Daikatana [Limited Exclusive]

Cart: $18 | Complete: $25 | See Current Prices

This was a port from PC that fell short. The gameplay was ok and so were the graphics. As a rental only, it didn’t do as well as planned so it was later published and stocked in other retail locations.

Read our guide to the Rarest and Most Expensive N64 Games