If you want to play the original version of Doom II, the game will set you back just $1.24 during the current Steam sale. If you want a boxed copy of the original floppy disk version, circa 1994, there’s a copy available on eBay right now for $75.
But if you want Doom II floppy disks that were once owned (and potentially signed) by Doom co-creator John Romero, you’ll need to pay over $3,000.
That’s what we learned this week when Romero posted “Original DOOM 2 disks / 3.5″ floppies / PC” on eBay and promoted the listing via Twitter. The auction drew 84 bids from 31 distinct bidders over three days, ending this morning with a winning bid of $3,150. “I will sign these disks if you like,” Romero wrote in the eBay description, leading us to wonder if that signature would increase or decrease the collector’s value (we kid).
While these disks’ association with Romero makes them a small part of Doom history, there’s no indication that these are among the first copies of the game produced by the internal id Software team or anything. It looks like this is just a standard copy of the floppy disk edition of the game (version 1.7) that happens to have been owned by Romero.
If you’re looking for an actual rare Doom-related disk that isn’t tied to one of the game’s creators, you could try tracking down a copy of the original game on 5.25″ disks from 1993 (well after 3.5″ disks had become the standard). Previous auctions for this rarity have gone for over $860. Of course, a serious Doom software collection can go to some very esoteric places.
For what it’s worth, Romero’s signature seems to be worth more than creators from the Atari 2600 era; a collection of 13 VCS cartridges signed by their creators went for just $125 in 2013.
John Romero auctioned off his ‘Doom 2’ floppies for over $3,000
Rip and tear your bank account, amirite? Still though, would be fun to own these fucking cultural artifacts. If you count simple floppies owned by a game’s creator as cultural artifacts. (I think I do?)