Platypus Comix has put out another edition of its ongoing list of video game collectibles that are most likely way out of your price range.  There's some interesting and rare items here such as the box for the Sega Dreamcast version of Half-Life that was never released, an invitation to a party thrown by Accolade to celebrate the 1993 release of Bubsy for the Super NES and Sega Genesis (it's printed on a sandal), the Tiger handheld version of Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, and the special North American version of Sonic the Hedgehog for the Sega Master System.  What makes it so special, you ask?

The Master System was a failure in the US, and Sega wanted to use Sonic as the main selling point of the Genesis. However, there might have been some stubborn people who wanted the game on SMS, so they put together an inferior port for their older console.

The Master System was still going strong in Europe, and they had plenty of Sonic copies to go around. Sega just took the European version and pasted a new UPC sticker on the box. The European version is nearly worthless. But guess how much that one little sticker makes the same package worth in the US?

eBay Price: $981.33

Stickers are serious business!  There are also a few video games graded by the Video Game Authority on the list.  These are games that have been judged to a set of standards regarding the actual physical condition of the game in question and assigned a numerical score correlating with its supposed worth.  The game is then sealed in a hard acrylic so it can never be disturbed or devalued.  While I'm all for keeping one's games in great condition, the idea of essentially trapping them in amber rubs me the wrong way.  I take great care of my games, but I do play them.  Sealing them up changes them from games to things that I have to lug through life that are only worth as much as some external authority grades them to be.  I'm sorry, I don't care how good a condition it's in, but nobody is going to realistically pay $700 for a copy of Panzer Dragoon Saga for the Sega Saturn that can only be examined through a protective shell and not actually enjoyed.  At least, I hope not.

(image via Price Charting)