Collecting the Legend of Zelda

By Arnie Katz

"What I set out to create is an entirely new emotional experience for video game players," says Nintendo's Shigeru Miyamoto of his latest creation The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. The world's most celebrated video game designer, who numbers the inimitable Mario among his credits, led the team that created this blockbuster action-adventure game.

The biggest and most splendid Zelda so far has galvanized collectors around the world. The state-of-the-art video game brings the glorious characters and world of Zelda to millions of players, and in the process, has energized the market for collectibles based on the interactive electronic roleplaying saga.

Zelda's publisher Nintendo has recognized the status of Zelda as a prime video game collectible. The Big N has issued special gold cartridge editions of several titles.

The most notable is the gold edition of Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. Nintendo only made 325,000 gold cartridges, which it distributed to placers of pre-publication orders.

The gold Ocarina of Time is getting tremendous action right now, since even the standard version is in short supply. It's neither the first nor the only gold cartridge, though. The company also created gold cartridges for Legend of Zelda and Zelda II: The Adventure of Link, both of which are compatible with the Nintendo Entertainment Systems. The exact quantities of these two earlier gold editions could not be verified. They aren't extremely well-known, but trade at 50% premium over the ordinary gray ones.

Many collectors refer to the five Zelda titles, six counting the Game Boy Color cart now heading into distribution. That's not completely accurate. Although those are certainly the main Zelda games, but there are two others worth collectors' consideration.

The easiest to overlook is the Zelda watch. The 1989 game watch has red lettering with a black band. It does more than tell time - it tells the correct time in Hyrule, too. The game watch plays a simple Zelda action contest starring the ever-heroic Link.

Another overlooked Zelda game is Link: The Faces of Evil. Made for the ill-fated CD-i system, it is a side-scroller with animated plot sequences. The CD-i is one of several systems that failed to find a wide audience, so this CD Zelda disc is comparatively hard to find.

From a collecting standpoint, there's more to Zelda than just the games themselves. The long-running Zelda series has spawned many appealing and curious items.

Nintendo Power, the official magazine for Nintendo video game fans, licensed a pocket-size maze game based on Legend of Zelda in 1988. The plastic-fronted item, manufactured by Largo, has a cardboard backing on which are printed other games.

You can lie in the sun with Link if you have the beach towel emblazoned with him. It dates from 1988, a tie-in with Zelda II: The Adventure of Link.

Valiant Comics, started by Marvel expatriates a decade ago, began with a series of Nintendo-inspired comic books before switching to the more familiar superhero turf. Valiant's distribution centered on comic book stores, and the print runs were enticingly small compared to X-Men or Fantastic Four.

A crisp image of Princess Zelda adorns a card which Kellogg includes in a set of Nintendo-oriented collectibles. The cereal maker also offered cards for other Nintendo characters such as Kirby, so this small set appeals to more than Zelda zealots.

A sheet of removable tattoos is an inexpensive way to acquire classic images of the game's main characters. Issued in connection with Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, the small sheet contains four tattoos of Link, one of Princess Zelda, one of the mysterious warrior Sheik, a skeleton, and the game logo.

A six-inch bendable key chain offers a three-dimensional representation of Link, the hero of the series.

Want something a bit larger? Check out the Zelda promotional poster. The full-size, full-color poster, is widely used to promote Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time at the retail level.

Zelda collectible merchandise has proliferated tremendously this year, as the games ' popularity has grown. Items include the Zelda hat, compass, letter opener and the ever-popular t-shirt.

Strategy guides are another collectible. These hint books, designed to help gamers negotiate the tricks and traps of the most challenging games, often have extensive artwork and other images from the game. Of special interest is the Prima Press "Official Strategy Guide" in the special Electronic Boutique edition with the holographic cover.

It's certain that there are many more Zelda collectibles to come. Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time is just starting to pile up sales. The demand for the older games and the associated collectibles is likely to rise as the audience expands. And the release of each new Zelda game -- the next is expected in fourth quarter, the year 2000 -- will boost interest in all earlier Zelda items.

The preceding material was written by Arnie Katz. These are the opinions of the author, not the opinions of eBay, and therefore eBay does not validate the accuracy of or endorse these opinions.