Value of Old Monopoly Games

Answer: Generally speaking, not much -- almost always less than $200 for a standard edition, no matter how old and no matter how good the condition is.

Not long after the game began production at Parker Brothers, more than 20,000 games were being published each week. With that many games in circulation, the remaining supply is still big enough to keep prices down.

So you're not going to be able to finance your child's education by finding an old Monopoly game in your attic and selling it on eBay. In fact, a 1935 edition in decent condition sold in early 2003 for just $76. A 1937 edition with wooden pawns went for only $61.

The most expensive Monopoly set ever was a ruby- and sapphire-encrusted creation put together by San Francisco jeweler Sidney Mobell in 1988. With solid gold houses and hotels, and diamonds in the dice for pips, this game was worth $2 million.

The Franklin Mint has produced a deluxe collector's edition that I've seen available for $500 to $600 retail and $200 to $300 on eBay.

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Value of Old Monopoly Games

Answer: Generally speaking, not much -- almost always less than $200 for a standard edition, no matter how old and no matter how good the condition is.

Not long after the game began production at Parker Brothers, more than 20,000 games were being published each week. With that many games in circulation, the remaining supply is still big enough to keep prices down.

So you're not going to be able to finance your child's education by finding an old Monopoly game in your attic and selling it on eBay. In fact, a 1935 edition in decent condition sold in early 2003 for just $76. A 1937 edition with wooden pawns went for only $61.

The most expensive Monopoly set ever was a ruby- and sapphire-encrusted creation put together by San Francisco jeweler Sidney Mobell in 1988. With solid gold houses and hotels, and diamonds in the dice for pips, this game was worth $2 million.

The Franklin Mint has produced a deluxe collector's edition that I've seen available for $500 to $600 retail and $200 to $300 on eBay.

View the original article here

Determining a Board Game's Value

Determining the value of a particular board game can be a tricky proposition. It's certainly more of an art than a science.

Many factors need to be taken into consideration, including the age of the game, how rare it is, what condition the box and playing pieces are in, and what market it's being sold in. (What I mean by what market it's being sold in is best illustrated by this example: Fireball Island can sell for less than $5 at a thrift store, but it can go for $50 or more at an online auction.)

How rare a game is generally determines the value of a game more so that its age. Monopoly sets from the 1950s generally are not worth much at all, because there are so many of them available.

Meanwhile, a seller on eBay turned down $700 (in December 1999) for a copy of the 1963 Hasbro Creature from the Black Lagoon game, one that's much less common. (The seller also claimed another copy of the game had sold elsewhere for $1500.) Other interesting prices on eBay: Roy Rogers Rodeo Board Game (1949), $280; Blade Runner Board Game (1982), $305; Hasbro's Merry Milkman (1955), $127. The rare 3M game Jati always fetches top dollar at eBay.

So how do you go about figuring out how much your game is worth?

Price guides are a good place to start, and the best one I've found is Bruce Whitehill's American Boxed Games and Their Makers, 1822-1992. It's an encyclopedic work required for any serious collector. In addition to pricing information, it includes many related topics, including tips on how to store your games and a chapter about the game industry during the 1900s. Another good choice is Board Games: With Price Guide by Desi Scarpone.

Another good way to develop an estimate of your game's value is to search eBay's completed auctions. Doing so will give you listings of prices that were offered for board games at previous auctions, but keep in mind that not every transaction ended in an actual purchase.

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