#723 & 724
Bubble Bobble Pt 2, Kid Klown
eBay & NintendoAge.com
9/14-15/11
All I've got to say is FINALLY! The original Bubble Bobble is in my top 5 games list - it's such a quirky, original, FUN game that I will say I'm pretty good at playing. I've got some good memories of being rescued from awful, long, boring trips to Garden Ridge Pottery by pumping quarters into a BB machine in the food court when I was younger. I can still rack up a decent high score on the NES version. Also - this.
The game has 2 sequels on the NES - Rainbow Islands, which I picked up and blogged a photo of a few months back, and this - one of the Sinister Seven expensive rarities in the licensed cart set. I've seen the price on this mother buck at around $130-$140 in recent months, which has been royally pissing me off. See, I've been sitting on a couple of eBay gift cards since my birthday back in June, and I've limited myself on how much I was willing to spend on the game. I've lost at least a half dozen auctions and let another dozen go by without bidding because the price had jumped so high so quick. I was about to sign off and go to bed one night last week when I decided to throw down a few quick eBay searches in the hopes of finding something I needed. And there it was. Bubble Bobble Pt 2, with a "Buy it Now" price that would be completely covered by my gift cards. Despite the picture in the listing being one of the stock photos, I took a chance, clicked the button and punched in the gift card numbers.
And I immediately got nervous. What if the label was all torn to shreds? What if the cartridge had a big hole it in it? What if this was....the GAME BOY version??? I sent a message to the seller and he reassured me it was what I thought it was and was in great condition. A few days and a trip to the post office to pick up the insured package later, I was the proud new owner of not only a rare and expensive collection piece, but a rather fun and worthy sequel to one of my favorite games - all for the price of FREE (via gift cards). This has been one that I've really been itching to add to the shelf and I couldn't be happier.
My acquisition of Kid Klown in Night Mayor World is a little less dramatic - a cash/trade deal via the Nintendo Age forums. I usually hang on to anything Nintendo, but by sending out a few bucks and my copy of Golf for Virtual Boy I was able to net this pesky bastard. The game itself weirds me out - too many clowns...er...klowns.
Ryan at NA - enjoy your VB game, but remember to take frequent breaks when playing VIRTUAL BOY. You'll go cross-eyed or something.
So I'm sitting here with only 20 licensed carts for a complete set and 3 of the Sinister Seven tackled and tamed. Finding games in the wild has been a chronic bust for what seems like forever and the pace is slowing down - but I'll be sure to add more stories in the coming weeks. Thanks for reading!
