Ultima Collectors Guide
Ultima Collectors Guide / Last Update December 3rd 2011
03.12.2011
Almost Christmas, about time for another of my biennial updates. Not much new here on the page, a few small additions to the UO section (like the missing 'Kingdom Reborn' releases) as well as a number of corrections and minor changes.
However I would like to take the opportunity to promote an exciting project by fellow long time collector Stephen Emond. For many years he is already working on a mighty almanach containing the ultimate Ultima collectors wisdom that excels the scope of this little page here by FAR. Not only does it cover any Ultima game ever released in any shape or form in exhausted detail - it also deals with books, promotional items, online downloads even advertisements from all across the globe! So thats truly a must have encyclopedia for the serious collectors and people interested in computer gaming history in general.
Please check out the projects web site here: http://www.rockethub.com/projects/3850-ultima-the-ultimate-collector-s-guide
It will soon be available at a bookstore of your choice.
28.10.2009
Good Morning.
I bet you thought this guide is dead, done or at least as complete as it gets... far from it! Here's another irregular site update with a whole busload of fresh releases, even more oddities and memorabilia mainly from the Far East side of the Ultimaverse. And this is it::
  • Ultima IV - Korean Edition Apple + Apple + PC
  • Ultima V - Korean Edition PC
  • Ultima VI - Korean Edition PC
  • Ultima VII - Korean Edition PC
  • Ultima VII - Spanish Edition
  • Ultima VII Part 2 - Korean Edition
  • Ultima VIII - Korean Edition
  • Ultima IX - Korean Edition
  • Ultima Underworld - Korean Edition
  • Ultima Underworld II - Korean Edition
  • The Savage Empire - Korean Edition
  • Ultima Trilogy - Korean Edition
  • Ultima Collection - Korean Edition
  • UO: T2A - Korean Edition
  • UO: Renaissance - Korean Edition
  • UO: LBR - Korean Special Pack
04.09.2007
Yes, it's still alive. I've spent some time to sort out new material in my archive and update the guide chapters accordingly. Most of it are just small corrections and modifications, or revised pictures here and there. However a number of new additions have also made it onto the list since last update about one and a half year ago:
  • UO:Mondains Legacy - New UO (HajiUO) Japanese
  • UO:Mondains Legacy - Backup CD Set US
  • UO:Mondains Legacy - 9th Anniversary Collection
  • UO:Mondains Legacy - Ultima Online 2006 Edition Japanese
  • Ultima IX - Russian Edition
  • Ultima IX - Spanish Edition
  • Ultima IX - Portuguese Edition
  • Ultima IX - South African Edition
  • Ultima VIII - Best Sellers Edition
  • Ultima VII Complete - Best Sellers Edition
  • Ultima II - C64/Atari - MCC Version
01.04.2006
April Fool's Day - there could be no better date to come up with some fresh additions to the guide... ;)
  • UO:Lord Blackthorns Revenge - Spanish Edition
  • UO:Third Dawn - Italian Edition
  • Ultima II - IBM PC - 2nd Grey Box edition
  • Ultima II - Apple II - 2nd Grey Box edition
10.01.2006
New additions:
  • UO:Age of Shadows - Asia Pacific Edition
  • UO:Third Dawn - Spanish Edition
  • UO:Mondains Legacy - Japanese New Player and Upgrade Editions
  • UO:Mondains Legacy - Chinese Edition
  • UO:Samurai Empire - UO Gold Edition
  • UO:Samurai Empire - The Eighth Age
  • Ultima IV - IBM PC - Chinese Edition
  • Ultima V - IBM PC - Chinese Edition
  • UW2 - IBM PC - UK Edition 5.25"
  • UW1 - IBM PC - PL Edition 5.25"
Corrections and Modifications:
  • Ultima IX - Portuguese - Pictures added
  • Ultima VIII - Polish Edition - Pictures added, text modified
  • UW1 - PowerPC Edition - UPC added
  • UW1 - Hitsquad Edition - Pictures exchanged for DE/UK
  • Ultima IV - Amiga / all editions - content corrected
  • UO:Samurai Empire - Japanese editions - EAN corrected
  • UW1 - IBM PC - Polish Edition - Pictures added
  • UW2 - IBM PC - Polish Edition - Pictures Added
19.10.2005
Debating Ultima VI and it's 'Orb of the Moon' trinket the glass vs crystal became once again an issue on the SWCollect mailing list. Since neither side have been able to provide some 'hard facts' I decided to conduct an experiment to clear up this mistery once and for all - Read about the The Ultimate Moon Stone Test
05.07.2005
Welcome to the 'new' Ultima Collectors Guide. This update took about 2 years to completion and covers about twice as much releases as the old one. As you can see, I have also managed to give the website a bit of a facelift and functionality enhancements. Some parts are not yet finished though, like the Compilations section - others are simply lacking information (both factual as well as visual).
The site also got its own domain now under http://www.ultimacollectors.info so please update bookmarks and referring links. The old page on the 'Mysterious Sosaria' site will auto-forward to this one but only for a while.
22. May 2001
Hello fellow collectors...
Long time no update but I have been busy acquiring all sorts of information to add to the guide :) - as you can see below.
  • New 'Compilations' section
  • Completely revised the Ultima Online pages
  • U2 / U3 - added the C64/Atari combo editions, various changes
  • SE - added/modified box pictures and new info for Special Edition
  • U4 SMS - modified text and added pictures for French edition
  • U3 MSX/Cart. - updated pictures and changed text
  • U7 / U8 / U9 - split up in language editions, added low budget releases
  • U4 - added U4 for X1 (Ponycanyon)
  • UW - added Special Promotional Edition
I also modified the Credits page once again and tried to correct any spelling/grammar mistakes as best as I could... please let me know if you still find any inconsistencies. Also, I know there are still some images missing - I'll add them as soon as possible.
26. January 2001
Hello fellow collectors...
Happy new year everyone! I guess it's about time for an update of the pages so here you go... I have adjusted information where necessary, split up some and added new items.
  • U4 SMS all versions - added pictures and new info
  • U8 DOS/V and PC98 - added box pictures
  • U4 NES and FC - changed text
  • U5 all systems - added/modified box pictures and new info
  • U4 2nd ed. - changed text
  • U3 MSX/Cart. - changed text
  • U1 PonyC. - added pictures
  • ROV2 SNES and GB - new text
  • UO Ren. / U9 Jap. - new
  • Plus about 20 other corrections
The links page got 2 new entries and I have modified the Credits page a bit. Many more fixes/updates are still in the queue...;)
18. October 2000
Welcome back...
...or Ultima is dead - long live Ultima! :)
As you may know (or not), the Ultima series has come to an end after almost 20 years, its creator has left the stage and the company he once founded to publish these games will more or less cease to exist in a couple of months. What is left are memories and a number of highly collectible games, released for countless systems and in many different variations.
Fans all over the world have been collecting these games for many years already and with the growing Internet and all its exciting possibilities of worldwide communication and trade many more are joining the community every day. Today, there's a rather active market for all sorts of Ultima related things with collectors, professional traders as well as a handful of fans of the series competing with each other for a limited amount of memorabilia. As the demand and availability of certain titles is still increasing so is the confusion as to what should be considered a 'collectible' item and what not... as a matter of fact still too many people see just about anything that bears the 'Ultima' label as a rarity.
The main purpose of this site is to clarify here and to offer assistance for both casual gamer and serious collector alike in finding the information they need regarding a specific release. At the moment the 'guide' is still far from being complete and I'm sure there are still more than just a handful of errors and unknowns that need to be corrected. However, I hope that with your help one day this will be the comprehensive resource it was intended to be - so please don't hesitate and send me some feedback. You know, any sort of constructive criticism is always appreciated. :) That's all basically, just one request - please refrain from sending me inquiries regarding price ranges or anything like that - that's not my interest, it's purely speculative and everyone has a different view on this matter anyway, always depending on one's priorities (and how deep your pockets are).