G.I. Joe Cobra Strike
G.I. Joe has been a childhood staple since the Hasbro toy line's introduction in 1964. The action toy line would go on to become a very popular franchise in the 1980s, thanks to the G.I. Joe cartoon show and subsequent comic series. Of course, with any popular franchise comes video games. In 1983 the first G.I. Joe video game, G.I. Joe Cobra Strike, was released for the Atari 2600 and Sears Video Arcade. The game wasn't a huge hit, with many noting that while it had the same title as the popular toy line, the game had little to do with the franchise itself.
This sealed 9.8 B+ WATA-graded game is something to behold. Finding sealed games in this grade from the early 1980s is an impressive feat, even if the game wasn't popular. The one-year average on similarly WATA-graded copies is at $515, making this an affordable high-grade game. If you really like G.I. Joe or vintage video games, this could be a great chance for you to get this.
The Rocketeer
My dad took me to see The Rocketeer in theaters in 1991. Being all of 6 when this movie came out, I absolutely consumed anything that had the titular hero in it. Unfortunately, the movie wasn't a smash hit, so any plans for a sequel (or a trilogy, as originally planned) fizzled out.
The movie has garnered a cult following, and there are always comics to lean on. In 1991 there was a video game adaptation of the movie (and original Dave Stevens comic), was released for the Nintendo Entertainment System and the Super Nintendo. The game was unreasonably hard for me, so while I did play it a great deal that summer, I ultimately lost interest in it.
This sealed 8.5 B+ WATA-graded copy is an eye-catching copy. The box art is stunning, and truly captures the heart of comic book art. This game is another affordable gem, with the one-year average on similarly WATA-graded games being $204. Even sealed 9.8 WATA-graded games have a one-year average of $456 if you wanted to wait for a higher-graded copy.
Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer
If I'm being completely honest, I never saw this movie -- and oftentimes I'll forget it even happened. While the movie did make back its budget, it was overall panned by both critics and fans. The movie came out at a critical time for comic book movies. By 2007, we were at the tail end of the Sam Raimi Spider-Man trilogy and the popular X-Men series, and we were only one year away from both Iron Man and The Dark Knight -- the hugely successful followup to 2005's Batman Begins.
Stuck in the middle were movies such as Fantastic Four, Electra, and even Catwoman. Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer was doomed from the beginning, as was this video game tie-in.
All that aside, this sealed 9.4 A+ WATA-graded copy is still a curious catch. This game is flat-out not a good investment piece -- the one-year average for a 9.4 WATA-graded copy is $59, with a 9.6 at only $71. Interest in this game floundered, but if you genuinely like bad movies (like I do), this is an interesting niche piece of nerd history. If you can get this for cheap, why not.
