Collecting "Vintage" Games

[TremblingBluStar]

First of all, a definition of "vintage" would be helpful. Some games that were a normal part of my childhood seem to be considered ancient by some people.

My definition of vintage, at least as far as collecting games goes, is anything over 15 years. Obviously wouldn't apply in all cases, such as furniture or books, but games become outdated rather quickly.

Also just got Sinistar Unleashed on CD, it's for Win 95/98 so I'm not sure what "bit" generation it is.

A bit of a history lesson (puns!), but the whole "bit" concept for video games was pure marketing b.s. When a processor has a bit count, it refers to the number of digits it assigns to memory, and the number of instructions it can process in a cycle. If you are talking about Intel CPUs, anything after the 8086, which was released in 1979 is 16-bit. Anything after the 486, released in 1989, is 32-bit. There were some 64-bit Pentium 4's, but the real start of 64-bit CPUs was with the Core 2.

As far as video games go, they are organized into console "generations" where anything from generation 1-3 is considered 8-bit, 4 is 16-bit, 5 is 32-bit-64-bit, and after that the "bit" marketing idea was dropped.

 

[TremblingBluStar]

Not a video game player, but I have 1960's versions of:

Monopoly (wooden houses and hotels!)

I have quite a few versions of Monopoly. I have a few friends who collect Monopoly sets to an unhealthy level considering there are almost 1300 variations. I have an early one with patent 1,509,312, which according to this site places it sometime before 1941. I also have a green boxed Popular Edition from 1954. Those two have the wooden houses, and the earlier one has wooden playing pieces instead of the familiar metal ones. I have a 1960's version, which was when the began to come in the board-sized boxes. I have a few of the "city" versions from the 90's, New York and Chicago, I think. I have two Star Wars versions (one from 1996 that is still shrink wrapped), a version for Casey's General Store (yes, really), and a Nintendo version.

I've also created a few variations of Monopoly that I have yet to produce or market. Maybe someday.

What I'm salivating over right now is a 1979 Star Trek game based on The Motion Picture. I remember playing that one as a kid!

 

[HIjol]

The Salivation Flows Through the Desire!

I can see why you want that one!

I also remember the a Monopoly money being thicker and more robust back in the early days of my Capitslistic Training. I was usually "The Bank", so...

Did you play with the fines and taxes going on "Free Parking", and when you landed there, you got the dough that was there?

I had no idea there were so many issues and versions!

 

[TremblingBluStar]

TI also remember the a Monopoly money being thicker and more robust back in the early days of my Capitslistic Training. I was usually "The Bank", so...

Oh, I have a red boxed version with a faux-wood tray, like this one, that has a much thicker board. Other than that, the boards have always been pretty much the same as far as look and construction. The pre-1941 board I have is pretty much the same as one you get today, just with different patent information.

Did you play with the fines and taxes going on "Free Parking", and when you landed there, you got the dough that was there?

I had no idea there were so many issues and versions!

Here is a list of all of the Monopoly versions. I'd post it here, but that would be cruel.

I never played with the Free Parking rule, because it tended to break the game. I have children even today insist that it is actually in the rules. Reminds me of people who think in UNO that you keep drawing on your turn until you find a card you can play, or that if you get a Draw 2 you can slap your own Draw 2 down and make the next person draw 4.

 

[HIjol]

Ha! My kids grew up learning that exact Uno Rule! Plus: you could also do it with "Draw 4 Wild" cards!

That Monops money tray is pretty sweet. Easier to keep "New" than the crappy cardboard of more recent days.

Yeah, the boards didn't change much, but the money was made of much thicker paper and held up better!

 

[Timewalker]

The Salivation Flows Through the Desire!

I can see why you want that one!

I also remember the a Monopoly money being thicker and more robust back in the early days of my Capitslistic Training. I was usually "The Bank", so...

Did you play with the fines and taxes going on "Free Parking", and when you landed there, you got the dough that was there?

I had no idea there were so many issues and versions!

I have the Free Parking rule in my computer Monopoly game.

I have a "Make Your Own -Opoly" kit. I haven't decided what kind of "opoly" to make, though. I suppose there's already a Downton Abbey version...

Reminds me of people who think in UNO that you keep drawing on your turn until you find a card you can play, or that if you get a Draw 2 you can slap your own Draw 2 down and make the next person draw 4.

Why not? It would make the game more challenging. That's why my gaming group added new house rules to the Mayfair Rail games we played.

People had to connect to EVERY major city, we doubled the taxes, and added an "environmental cleanup" rule that would apply to players who drew the "derailment" card. Anyone carrying cargo would be assessed an environmental cleanup fine that was on the same scale as the taxes.

 

[HIjol]

Love the "Environmental Cleanup" rule!!!

 

[Timewalker]

As a group of left-wing Society for Creative Anachronism people who were also into Dungeons & Dragons, Civilization (board & computer games) and attended Star Trek conventions, it seemed logical.

I just had a look at that list of Monopoly versions. No Downton Abbey, but my city's on there (#2095).

 

[HIjol]

Knew people at the University of Illinois that were members of the Society! I learned how to make chain mail!

 

[Timewalker]

It's soon 50 years for the SCA, too. Actually, it predates Star Trek by two months.

 

[Avro Arrow]

What I'm salivating over right now is a 1979 Star Trek game based on The Motion Picture.

You have landed on "V'Ger Flyover". Advance your token one square per minute for the next sixty minutes. No other rolls or actions are allowed during this time.

Did you play with the fines and taxes going on "Free Parking", and when you landed there, you got the dough that was there?

I never played with the Free Parking rule, because it tended to break the game. I have children even today insist that it is actually in the rules.

Growing up, we always played with the "Free Parking" rule. So of course, when I was older and actually read the rules, I was shocked to discover that it wasn't actually a real rule. Of course, by then it was so ingrained, that I still play that way to this day!

 

[RJDiogenes]

It used to seem that way. Now it just whizzes by like any other day. Faster, even, as once more it's Monday and time to do Monday-type things.

There's a reason that Monday is "Moanday" in lolspeak.

Yeah, it's amazing how fast the weekends whiz by these days.

 

[TremblingBluStar]

You have landed on "V'Ger Flyover". Advance your token one square per minute for the next sixty minutes. No other rolls or actions are allowed during this time.

Oddly, the only thing I remember from the game is there being the Enterprise tokens, and V'Ger cards. I don't think I had even seen the movie at that point, and we probably made up our own rules.

Growing up, we always played with the "Free Parking" rule. So of course, when I was older and actually read the rules, I was shocked to discover that it wasn't actually a real rule. Of course, by then it was so ingrained, that I still play that way to this day!

Yeah. Same here. I have one of the newer sets with credit cards that I use at work. You can't put money in the middle with those.

Oh, my 1938 Monopoly set:

Looks pretty much the same as new ones today.

 

[Kor]

Does anybody remember the "Anti-Monopoly" game, in which the idea is to break up monopolies and promote a free market?

Kor

 

[HIjol]

I do remember that game!

I think we played it a couple of times when I was in High School (early 70s?) do not remember much detail, but...

 

[TremblingBluStar]

Does anybody remember the "Anti-Monopoly" game, in which the idea is to break up monopolies and promote a free market?

Kor

I've heard of it. Unfortunately, it's from the mid 70's, and pretty hard to come by.

 

[Kor]

There's a new edition of Anti-Monopoly currently distributed by University Games. I don't know if the rules et al are exactly the same as the '70s version, though.

Kor

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

I've heard of it. Unfortunately, it's from the mid 70's, and pretty hard to come by.

There's a new edition of Anti-Monopoly currently distributed by University Games. I don't know if the rules et al are exactly the same as the '70s version, though.
Kor

There's 158 instances on ebay at the moment, including a couple dozen that look to be later reissues (35th anniversary, etc.). At least 40 from 1973 & 1977 to be had.

 

[TremblingBluStar]

I bid on one at shopgoodwill.com for $6. I wouldn't recommend the site normally, because they will rob you in shipping charges.

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

I get all my vintage games and whatnot on ebay. Usually many choices for sellers and shipping is rarely too much, plus you have the protection of ebay & paypal for disputes.