Ten Over-Rated Games

By Bruce Whitehill

Some games are so common they're overpriced and overvalued or - they're rare but not worth their high price tags.

• Lindy, The Flying Game. The price has never been down to earth for this widespread 1927 Parker Brothers game.
• Cootie. When have you not seen this 1949 Schaper game at a show? The giant Cootie, however, is worth over $100 because the four Cooties are all banks!
• Johnny's Historical Game. Sure, George S. Parker put this game out in 1888 before his firm became Parker Brothers, but it's also the most common early Parker game.
• Barnabas Collins Game. This 1969 Milton Bradley game just isn't worth what some dealers are getting for it. Help take a bit out of crime - don't pay more than $40 for it.
• Dogfight. Like others in Milton Bradley's 1960s historic series, this 1962 game is still prevalent at flea markets, yet the price is still in the clouds.
• The Man in the Moon. This 1901 McLoughlin game brought $4,600 at a 1988 auction. Now that several others have surfaced, the price has dropped considerably - but it's still unreasonably high compared to other comparable items selling for much less.
• Bulls and Bears. This 1896 McLoughlin game has everybody clamoring for one whenever it comes to auction. It must be a taste for early politics.
• Casper the Friendly Ghost. This Milton Bradley game has been haunting shows for decades (it was issued in 1959), but the only distinctive thing about it is it was the last M-B game to use wood pieces.
• The Mad Magazine Game. How many of these 1979 Parker Brothers games would you like me to send you?
• Monopoly. Mass produced by Parker Brothers since 1935, most are too common to be worth some dealers are asking. Rare sets are the exception.

The preceding material was written by Bruce Whitehill. 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.