Finding that one, exceptionally rare game?

[ReddMcKnight]

Okay, here's the deal: I've been looking for a Jaguar Game called Towers II for a LONG time. It's "Very Rare" according to Atari Age's Rarity Guide. That being said, when you guys are hunting for a rare game (We ARE Collectors, after all), what do you do to find it? What are your helpful hints for finding rare games?

[Tynstar]

For system that sold very little it is pure luck unless you use the web.

[Slowman]

Small numbers, out of production, hard to find even when new?  I'll stalk it on eBay for months and months, waiting for it to hit a major price downswing. 

[BadEnoughDude]

Use the internet. Finding things like that in the wild is dumb luck. Literally, the best "tip" is that you need to search everywhere, all the time - thrifts, collectible stores, game conventions, flea markets. Get to know the owners at smaller collectible stores. They're the people most likely to know other major collectors/sellers, and start asking around for whatever you're looking for.

Even with all that work, you're more than likely going to just end up waiting on an eBay auction and going to battle with everyone else and hope that you have the budget for it.

[Duke.Togo]

For the ultra obscure, eBay may be your only reasonable option. Outside of that, just communicate as much as possible with people. Post want to buy threads on multiple boards and do your allotted bumps regularly. Build relationships with local shop workers so they will watch out for you as well. Unless you are ready to drop big cash to make things happen quickly, it's just a matter of pure persistence.

[BadEnoughDude]

For the ultra obscure, eBay may be your only reasonable option. Outside of that, just communicate as much as possible with people. Post want to buy threads on multiple boards and do your allotted bumps regularly. Build relationships with local shop workers so they will watch out for you as well. Unless you are ready to drop big cash to make things happen quickly, it's just a matter of pure persistence.

Even with pure persistence, with something rare, 99% of the time it will still take big cash to acquire.

[Cryptid Collector]

Pure luck, I've had trouble hunting down even some dirt common games(Buster Busts Loose for example, it's a R1 according to DG) that I wanted to get back from when I was a kid. I don't even have all the SNES Mario games yet as long as I've been piecing my collection back together.

[Dergatron9000]

Things like that I would goto all the retro game forums you can find and post a wtb thread. Maybe goto sites like this creep on peoples collections and pm them asking if they want to part with it haha.