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If you’re concerned the classic tabletop gaming of yesteryear has been consigned to history – fear not! In the year in which Monopoly turns 80, there’s every evidence that board games are not just surviving, but thriving.
Sure, board games can’t stand up to the mammoth sales figures of gaming titans like Call of Duty, Halo and Grand Theft Auto. But in the world of retro gaming it’s far outstripping its video game rivals – or so these eBay sales figures suggest.
Scrabble sales, for example, have been soaring in the last three months with 803 Scrabble related products sold every day and nearly 50,000 products currently listed on site.
Chess has been a favourite since the sixth century, and is still shifting 200 units per day on eBay.
Meanwhile some version of Monopoly is being flogged seven times every hour. That includes limited editions, Disney editions, and junior Monopoly.
However, in the world of retro video games, sales are not quite as stratospheric – though still healthy.
The Legend of Zelda takes top place on the online marketplace tech games ranking, selling more than 100 pieces of related products per day – that’s 4 every hour. Still nothing compared to Scrabble, which sells a product once every minute.
Street Fighter is the second best selling classic video game on the site, with its sales figures including art work, games and figurines.
Infamous arcade-pleaser Pac-Man is also up there, but only selling 50 pieces of Pac-Man related merchandise over the last three months.
Here are the top five classic board games flying off the virtual shelves on eBay.
1. Scrabble
2. Chess
3. Monopoly
4. Risk
5. Trivial Pursuit
And here are the top five retro video games people are picking up from the online auction site.
1. The Legend of Zelda
2. Street Fighter
3. Pac-Man
4. Tetris
5. Super Mario Kart
Don’t say we never give you any Christmas ideas.
