jimbo100 wrote:
The question is why?
What is it that makes sane people bid crazy stupid prices?
It didn't sell very well at the time, but it grew a large cult following, people who mostly had illegal copies.
The combination of few original copies and a large fan base makes it sought after and valuable.
Moonstone is somewhat buggy, but it is a fantastic game which keeps you coming back for more, especially in multiplayer mode.
One of the aspects which made it popular is the graphical violence, with blood and gore flowing as you die.
I for one remember that my friends and I played the CU(?) coverdisk demo constantly before we aquired pirated copies of the full game.
I later bought the original, luckily before the prices were at today's level.
There's something special about owning one of your absolute favourite games. The manual, the box, the poster..
Also, don't ignore the fact that this may be a vicious circle. The game is sought after, so the prices rise. People see it and remember it as one of their favourite games, so they also want one of these (rare) copies. Which in turn pushes the price further upwards.
There's nothing strange about it. I for one have been trying to find Naval War, a fairly popular card game which has long been out of print. It usually fetches prices above its original retail, just because the supply is scarce and demand is high.
You should remember that eBay items sell for what someone is willing to pay. What you call "crazy stupid prices" is what someone is willing to part with to get this particular item. I have often been willing to pay more than 10 times the final auction price of an item.
