5 Classic Tiger Electronics Handhelds That Are Pure Nostalgia Today

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Back in the 1970s, if you wanted to play a game on the go, you didn't have a ton of options. That changed when the '80s rolled around, bringing better technology that enabled gameplay on LCD screens. And the company that made a huge number of those games was Tiger Electronics. At the same time, Nintendo released its Game & Watch series, whose games are highly collectible today, but so too are some classic Tiger Electronics Handhelds.

Tiger Electronics produced nearly 200 different games, many of which were licensed properties related to big summer blockbusters and popular television series. Some were handheld versions of popular console games like "Mega Man," "Street Fighter II," "Double Dragon," and more. Even after Nintendo released the Game Boy in 1989, Tiger Electronics continued pumping out its LCD games, and thanks to their comparatively low cost and entertaining gameplay, the company kept making them into the early 2000s.

Now that the kids who played on those devices have grown up, those same Tiger Electronics Handhelds that kept them entertained on the school bus are going for tons of cash on auction sites. Rebuilding lost collections by grabbing a game you couldn't find when you were a kid drives the nostalgia marketplace, and Tiger Electronics Handheld games are no exception. Here are five Tiger Electronics Handhelds that were tons of fun when they came out, and they're pure nostalgia today.

When "The Terminator" hit theaters in 1984, it didn't take long for associated materials to come out. A handheld game based on the film from Tiger Electronics would follow a few years later. The game is a bit different from the movie, as it puts the player in the role of John Connor as he fights for the resistance against the machines in the future. It features a standard directional control pad as well as a fire button and a weapon button to swap from one to another.

"The Terminator" gameplay puts Connor at the bottom of the screen as he faces off against opponents with a blaster. It features several sounds, including explosion noises, gunfire, and more. As you take out a Terminator with your weapon, they flash and disappear, so there's plenty of animation for an LCD game that was released in the 1980s.

The game's packaging touted it as having "16 levels of peril from the future," so "The Terminator" features extensive gameplay despite the technical limitations of the time. Most Tiger Electronics handheld games don't cost much when they're loose, but an unopened one can often cost considerably more. Loose "The Terminator" handhelds are listed on eBay for around $20 to $50, while a new-in-box (NIB) one can go for as much as $900 on eBay.

One of the most desirable Tiger Electronics handhelds is the "Pokémon Pokédex," which looks just like it does in the animated series. The system is unlike most of Tiger Electronics' games in that it's not a game in the traditional sense. It's literally a Pokédex ripped straight out of the series it's based on. The system includes all of the Generation I Pokémon, except for Mew.

The reason for Mew's exclusion was that the Pokémon hadn't been revealed to the fandom prior to Tiger Electronics' latest and greatest hitting the market. As you would expect from a Pokédex, the system includes a full numeric and alphabetic keypad and other buttons that a player can use to input data, and each Pokémon recorded inside has a cute two-frame animation of the character displayed on the screen.

It displays a bunch of information, including the Pokémon's height, weight, type, strength, attack (and attack animation), and a bio. As you can imagine, when this was released around the same time as "Pokémon Red and Blue" launched, it was a hot item, and it's only grown in popularity with the franchise. You can often find them open with an asking price of $50 to $80, but a sealed one is considerably pricier, with many listed on eBay for between $350 and $600, depending on condition.

The original "Paperboy" arcade game was released in 1984, featuring a unique controller in the form of a bike handle. The game sees the titular character ride his bike down a street, delivering papers to the right houses while avoiding obstacles. It's a fun and challenging game that remains a classic to this day. Porting it to a handheld system in '84 was a pipe dream, so Tiger Electronics tackled the task a few years later in 1988.

While nowhere near as complex as the arcade game that inspired it, Tiger Electronics' "Paperboy" remains one of the more popular handhelds the company has made. Gameplay is similar, as it puts the player on a bike, and the goal is to avoid obstacles while delivering newspapers to the correct houses, which scroll by as you continue playing. For an LCD handheld, it's considerably advanced.

This has made "Paperboy" one of the most beloved of Tiger Electronics' handheld systems, as it's fun, challenging, and well-made. It's not difficult to find a working "Paperboy" for relatively little money, as they tend to be listed on eBay for around $20 to $30. It's much harder to find a game that's still sealed in its plastic container, and those can go for upwards of $600 in graded, excellent condition.

In 1993, Hasbro released the Star Brigade, which was a completely different type of G.I. Joe than what kids were used to. Star Brigade featured aliens and a space theme, and many of the OG Joes got redesigned in the new theme. Tiger Electronics got in on the action when it released "G.I. Joe: Star Brigade" in 1993. In the game, the player controls the Star Brigade team as they fight enemy aliens and members of Cobra.

Gameplay sees the player take control of Duke as he fights against Joe's enemies on the Moon, which is where Destro just so happens to be hanging out, causing trouble. The player must dodge various hazards and shoot at enemy ships and aliens. The gameplay is fun and engaging, and it was a must-have for any fans of the G.I. Joe franchise, which was waning a bit when this game was released in '93.

Regardless, it has plenty of fans these days, and you can occasionally find loose copies of "G.I. Joe: Star Brigade," but even those are somewhat rare, as it appears that Tiger Electronics didn't produce as many as some of its other games. Depending on condition, NIB game listings can range from $130 to $1,599, but many asking prices sit closer to the $600 mark.

One of the more interesting Tiger Electronics Handhelds is "Castlevania II: Simon's Quest," which came out in 1988. That was the same year the game was released on the Nintendo Entertainment System. The two games are pretty similar to one another. In it, Simon Belmont must break a curse, and to do so, he must gather up Dracula's relics.

While the story is similar, the handheld game doesn't feature all of the same characters and creatures found in the original Nintendo game. Being a less complex system, the handheld excludes some elements from its gameplay, including purchasing items and getting hints from villagers. Still, the game did a good job of approximating the sequel to "Castlevania," and Tiger Electronics' game is highly collectible today as a result.

Gameplay unfolds in a side-scrolling fashion, where you must jump over gaps from one platform to another while dodging enemies that take the form of skeletons, bats, and swamp monsters, to name a few. It's not too difficult to find a "Castlevania II: Simon's Quest" loose for around $40 to $50, but the holy grail is an unopened one, which is tough to locate. When they do pop up for sale, asking prices can reach $1,375 or more.