It's been some time since I last wrote an update on my Odyssey^2 collecting. The last I left off there were two games to go in the regular US set. Those last two games go for much more than I'm willing to spend on such things. Still, there were some Ody 2 items that could fill out my collection. The Voice is an important add-on to the O2 system. Also, because I didn't bother with getting games CIB, many of my games are still missing boxes and manuals.
I've been spending the last few weeks casually checking ebay for auctions with manuals, boxes and The Voice. The Voice is almost always available and the prices must not be too bad because it regularly sells for $40 or more. I wanted to pay less, about $20 was were I would start to consider getting one.
[img width=700 height=525]http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8388/8463694278_309704010d_o.jpg[/img]An auction comes up which has The Voice add-on, a bunch of manuals, 20 something games and a few other O^2 components. Two of the manuals really stood out, one for Computer Intro which is more like a small book than the simple manuals for the other games. The second manual I had my eye on was for Power Lords, one of the two games I didn't have. Opening bid on this lot was $20 plus $9 shipping, figuring I was going to be out bid, I put the first bid in.
Power Lords is the rarest and most expensive game in the US O2 library. The cart by itself often sells in the $70-90 range. Complete, it sells for well over $100. Digital Press lists the game with a rarity of 8. Other Odyssey 2 centric sites refer to it with such grandiose terms as "Ultra Rare." This game was among the last, possibly
the last, to be released by Magnavox for the system. It came out in 1983 along with a small number of other games. Some information says it saw "limited release," which must be true but I haven't come across hard numbers to back that up, yet.
[img width=700 height=525]http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8229/8462594441_f7f3937043_o.jpg[/img]Somehow all two of the other O2 collectors must have been napping as I ended up winning the auction. It arrived in two boxes, I'm sure the $9 I paid for shipping were not enough to cover the actual cost. Excitedly I searched through the manuals for Computer Intro and Power Lords. Both were in there. When I showed The Wife the Power Lords manual she commented on how it would be funny if the shipper included the game as well....
[img width=700 height=525]http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8390/8463695418_16d1df093d_o.jpg[/img]Turns out, I'm a lucky guy! There are 4 more games then were pictured in the auction. One of them was Power Lords!!
There was a recent auction which sold that game and manual for $83.
[img width=700 height=525]http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8088/8462594757_0865115a62_o.jpg[/img][img width=700 height=525]http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8392/8462594265_595b32fa71_o.jpg[/img][img width=700 height=525]http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8520/8462595377_c820d4c60c_o.jpg[/img][img width=700 height=525]http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8240/8463696012_945fc5bfac_o.jpg[/img][img width=700 height=525]http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8369/8463696282_845c406aaa_o.jpg[/img]There are both detachable and "hard wired" controller variations for the O^2. Here is a scan of the instructions for the after market controller. I think it is interesting how it tells you to open up the console to replace controllers on the one version. Imagine a current console telling you to do that?
[img width=700 height=536]http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8511/8463694018_205b03972d_o.jpg[/img]I hadn't been planning on finishing the complete US O2 collection when there were two games to get. Now that the rarest game has shown up, effectively for free, reconsiderations must be done. I may have let it out before, I am a cheap collector. Time is my friend, I wait until game stuff shows up for nearly nothing. The last game I need is Atlantis (seems fitting my search ends with a game named Atlantis.) Atlantis often sells in the $50 range, not a lot by some collecting standards but a lot for me and at the top of the range for the O^2.
What do I do now? Stop being cheap and just finish the collection? Stick to the normal pattern and wait it out? Possibly for ever?
In conclusion, this is how you find the rarest game in a set. Just use luck. Maybe find an auction that is oddly named with a poor description and hope for the best, or maybe don't even hope, just be surprised.
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Well, there's another one down with that lucky grab on Power Lords!
Also that controller manual is really strange, if somebody tried to do that now it would be like asking, "Hey do you want to void your warranty?"
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I cry foul.
A) You can't make up your mind on how to write Odyssey^2 
B) Power Lords has no exclamation point at the end... disappointing.
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@Duke.Togo: A) *gasp* I've been found out!
B) I know. Not to worry, I have a set of permanent markers which can change that.
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Incredible find nupoile! I say wait it out for Atlantis. It would be a more exciting end to the O^2 collection.
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@Duke.Togo: No ! Just means that the game is no fun.
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Too bad you missed this one:
http://item.ebay.com/320954209751
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@Shadow Kisuragi: No kidding. Past nupoile was so lazy.
At that time, I was about to go to China and the local retro show was about to happen, so I wasn't really paying attention.
That's the best excuse I can think of.
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Oh, so you can do a reasonably easy DIY swap-out of hardwired controllers.
Not that I need to do that, it's just good to know.
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I love that buying O^2 stuff inspires such cheapness amongst us.
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