Ultimate Ultima Collection for sale (6 days only!)
Get thee thy Ultima fix!
He’s asking $30,000 US for the whole lot, but trust me when I say: it is nothing short of an insane collection.
Indeed, about the only thing he isn’t selling is a gold master CD of The Lost Vale.
So if you have a spare 30 grand kicking around, Dragons and Dragonettes, and you love Ultima that darn much…get thou to eBay!
Of course, caveat emptor: the seller is located in Illinois, and is offering the item for “local pickup only.” So maybe don’t buy this if you happen to live in Europe and don’t plan to be making a trip to the United States anytime soon.
Showing the E-Bay site to my wife the only thing she said is: “get that fingers away from the mouse, honey… Doooon’t click!”
without the Lost Vale, almost worthless… to me 🙂
Resembles my collection *cough*
except mine has mostly one edition of each game with some gems like the Underworld Playstation version…
Seriously it is most likely worth the 30.000 if anyone pays it…
Well, there’s only…okay, I’m an idiot, there’s six days left.
And no bids thus far, after…I’m not sure how long. Also, local pickup only, in Illinois. Pfeh. This article needs some edits.
Very interesting, but I think I’m going to have to pass. My collection I’ve amassed over the last 10 years is one copy of each of the original games, and that’s pretty much always been my goal.
I can’t imagine anyone paying $30,000 as a job lot but I’ve seen stranger things on Ebay. There is stuff I’d pay good money for in there if he’d split it up and ship abroad though, especially that copy of Akalabeth. It’s a hell of a collection. I notice he doesn’t have a California Pacific Ultima 1 so I’m one up there at least.
I don’t know about anyone else but as a collector, I’ve only ever been interested in owning one version of each game. Other systems, compilations, Japanese versions and the like don’t interest me at all.
Wow. I had no idea one could collect so many things/versions of the Ultima games. How he was able to do that is beyond me. An Ultima museum could be built around this collection.
It’s definitely an impressive collection and appears to be from TomMage (www.tommage.com). The list itself appears to be identical to the one posted on page 3 of his collection on his website (direct link: http://pwp.att.net/p/s/community.dll?ep=87&subpageid=329444&ck=).
I’ve collected every game there for PC/Mac and consoles, with the exception of Akalabeth and Mt. Drash of course, as those are extreme rarities. In fact i have near mint sealed US copies of most of the main titles in addition to opened ones. I also have all the cluebooks and related books as well as Japanese editions of all the titles (and books) for PC and consoles, so my primary interest are those two rare items, really. You could say I’m sort of an an Ultima addict, but he’s definitely got more duplicate items and miscellaneous related collectibles.
Is all of that worth 30k? Seems a bit on the high side, although the copies of Drash and Akalabeth probably could make up half that asking price.
I have a question for the collectors.
Are these collections typically assembled by purchasing the individual items on eBay? Or are there people out there that actually got all of the games (or most of them) on their original release dates?
Almost certainly the former, I expect.
In my case it was Ebay for the most part but not entirely. I have some of the games from playing them first time around. Back when I assembled most of my collection there were plenty of other auction sites and Ebay wasn’t the only choice as it seems to be these days. I did a bit of trading for some things and I actually got a few games direct from TomMage.
For anyone after Mt. Drash, he’s selling yet another copy in a different auction. It’s starting at $2500 so I think I’ll pass. He’s also selling a sealed Caverns Of Callisto at the same price which is the only Origin game I don’t own a copy of but there is no way I’m spending that much. I’d rather have an unsealed copy and not pay the huge premium.
I can’t believe the price of games like this. I forgot to bid on a copy of Caverns of Callisto once until after the auction had ended back in 2000 or so and it went for about $10. Seeing it at $2500 now rubs it in a bit.
I’d buy this if I were rich.
But then I’d be happy in just having every Ultima in good condition (which is of course never gonna happen. Meh).
-Sergorn
As far as collecting goes, most of my items were found on eBay over the past couple years or so actually. I only had the main titles for the PC from when they were originally released (Ultima 3 through 9, including the Worlds of Ultima series and Underworld 1 & 2). I aggressively started collecting only recently when I was financially able to do it as a hobby but I gad always wanted to prior to that.
I wouldn’t put that much value into the Caverns of Callisto game. While it is indeed rare to see a mint sealed copy of Origin’s first game, it actually doesn’t have much demand out there from collectors. I’m sure he’s throwing it out there at such a high price to to “create value” — ie, it’s high priced so it must be in high demand. That’s actually the second time he’s posted that listing, as nobody bought it the first time around. He’s tried the same thing with Ultima 9 Dragon Edition sealed copy at $2000 on Amazon (http://www.amazon.com/shops/tommage), but that only goes for several hundred on eBay, as unsealed copies can be bought for under $100 easily. Actually I just checked and it’s still listed so nobody has bought that for over a year at least.
If any of you are starting to collect, eBay is a great place. Just wait for the best price that you can afford and you’ll likely complete your collection in a year or two. I’ve tracked all listings so I’ve seen almost everything pass through the past couple years and know how often each title gets listed, with the exception of Akalabeth and Drash. Don’t be tempted by the Buy Now listings as generally those command a higher price for immediate gratification. But if you must have and can afford, by all means go for it. Just don’t kick yourself later when the same item goes for much less in an open bid (speaking from experience here 🙂
As far as Caverns Of Callisto goes, I probably want a copy more than anyone else you are likely to find since it’s the one Origin game I need to complete the collection but I wouldn’t even think about it unless it was 1/5 of the price. I’d still consider myself to be grossly overpaying at that. Like you say, I’m probably one of a very select few who would have any interest in owning it in the first place so it’s not like there is much demand.
I really don’t like seeing anyone overcharging like this. His prices were more realistic when I traded with him 10 years back. I can understand trying to get the best price but $2000 for U9DE is simply insane and he must know this. I’m surprised to hear about it fetching a few hundred to be honest. I always thought U9DE was slightly ironic as collectors editions went, since the box is so big that as a collector I’ve struggled to find anywhere to put the thing. I prefer the normal version with the fold out cover.
An incredible collection, to be sure! Being a collector myself, I’d estimate the actual value of this collection at $20,000–and that’s being VERY generous on all titles (even counting all the common ones at $50 each). When you sell a collection, it is normally customary to ask LESS than the total price of all titles–a discount for buying them all at once, if you will.
The asking price is ridiculously high at 30K–even if you’re paying top ebay prices for all of them!
I’ve known Tom Mage for 10 years–He’s a collector, but he’s a profiteer. Buy low-sell high. It’s not unethical (you can just not buy what he sells), but it is bad form in my opinion, and anyone who’ll pay his prices needs their head examined.
Hmm, well some interesting comments for sure. And some personal attacks. Figured I should comment on some of this. First of all, Mr. “Origin Museum”, while I do deal in games (usually duplicates or items I don’t personally collect myself) I don’t consider myself a “profiteer”. It’s more of a hobby, many times I take a loss simply because prices change over time, sometimes daily. And I DO have honor and follow though on what I promise, I don’t say “it’s in the mail” when in fact it’s not and never will be, I don’t back out of deals that have dragged on for MONTHS and claim “well since nothing has exchanged hands yet there really is no deal”, gee, if you bid on an item at ebay I guess you have no obligation to pay then since nothing “has exchanged hands yet”, makes sense…..
As for pricing, when selling most games/items my prices are simply the going rate, many times cheaper. Items from my collection are a bit different, I don’t really care if I sell them so I list at a price that would make me feel not TOO bad if they do indeed sell. It’s not just the price paid for some of the items, it’s the rarity and the time spent finding them, sometimes years and maybe hundreds of man hours over that period of time. Regardless, when dealing with many of these obscure items there ARE no “set prices”, they are only worth what someone is willing to pay for them at the time, a game that goes for $1000 one day might go for $100 a month later, or $5000, there is no telling.
I will say this, since I’ve been collecting/trading my reputation is FLAWLESS, I’ve never backed out of a deal and I’ve always tried my best to make the trader/buyer/seller happy. If someone thinks the prices for my “personal collection” items are too high they don’t have to buy them, which is fine. However for someone to deem themself some sort of “expert” by claiming a price on a collectible is “ridiculously high”, and telling people if they pay more than that person’s “expert opinion” they “need their head examined” THEY are the one who is showing “bad form” IMO. And I would not sell my collection to Mr. “Origin Museum” if he offered $1,000,000, he is arrogant, unreliable, tells lies, and has no problem launching personal attacks on others, behind their backs no less as seen here. The comments by others, thanks I enjoy the feedback 🙂
Jeez.
(I had a feeling my previous post might garner some response from this guy.)
Tom-
I remember the trade (how could I forget?!) Email agreement-even trade. You sent me your item, and it was rubbish. I waited about 6 weeks before returning your item (my bad), saying it was rubbish, and even including my agreed upon trade item in the package for free–my way of saying I’m sorry. You lost nothing, got the item you wanted for free, and it was *eight* years (and over a dozen harassing emails) ago–Let it go, dude!
It wasn’t a personal attack–I stand by my statements. I made my own estimate (20k US), gave a personal opinion (30K is way too much), and stated a fact (Tom is a profiteer). Seems like Pix shares the same thoughts I do. (Pix–if this guy emailed you privately about your post, don’t worry–you are *NOT* the antichrist.)
Tom, I don’t know where this anger comes from, but if you think that it’s my previous post that is preventing your auctions from selling, then I simply wish you well–cause there’s nothing that’ll convince you otherwise.
To the readers of this forum–Sorry for the intrusion, folks.
More lies from the Origin Museum (for one there was nothing wrong with the game I sent period). And again tells only the part of the story that makes him look “good”, but peppered with falsehoods and ommission of all the facts. I let this all go YEARS ago, until I do a random search for a game the other day and see him posting garbage about me AGAIN. I’m tired of it so I’m not going to go into details, for one this is not the place for it, two it should have been kept private between Origin Museum and myself. However since he will not stop I have to at least make this final post.
Oy! No need to get prickly. Bad blood is what it is, but I don’t think it needs to play out here. I’m gonna lock down comments on this article; interested or aggrieved parties can hit up the contact form and I will consider airing their statements.