Rare Unsealed 1987 Dragon’s Lair Commodore 64 & 128 on eBay

Last Updated on August 21, 2023

Do you have £15,000 to spend on two 5.25-inch floppies of Dragon’s Lair?

In the mid-1980s, one of the biggest arcade games was Dragon’s Lair, a fantasy title with art by ex-Disney animator Don Bluth. Foreshadowing the “going through motions” gameplay of more recent titles like Death Stranding (unfair? I think not), the game was based on laser discs.

Released in 1983, the game from Cinematronics puts you in the shoes of Dirk the Daring, charged with rescuing a princess, Daphne. She’s held captive by the titular dragon, named Singe.

In a world of sprites and vectors, the rich art that the laser discs enabled made Dragon’s Lair a huge hit, even if it wasn’t particularly playable. It was essentially a case of pushing the joystick and hitting fire at the right moment in order to progress the story by means of a challenge.

For the home release, Dragon’s Lair came as a floppy disk only release, which in itself was rare. More unusual is this eBay listing, with an $18,000 asking price, of a factory sealed copy of the game from 1987.

The listing states:

1987 Dragon’s Lair Commodore 64 & 128 | Electronic Arts (Factory Sealed!)

**Possibly the only factory sealed Dragons Lair Commodore 64 video game in existence**

This version of the game works on Commodore 64 asnd Commodore 128 systems (in C64 mode) and requires a Commodore 1541 or 1571 disk drive. I’ve never seen the game beyond magazine reviews, so I’m not entirely certain if it was ever released in the UK. Note that this item is being auctioned by a US seller on eBay.

Clearly this is a very rare item, and an opportunity that doesn’t come around very often. Save a Don Bluth signed copy, it’s hard to see how you get anything more rare for Dragon’s Lair. Can you match the asking price?