Collecting for Saturn

[vaportransmitter]

I've been comtemplating collecting for Saturn for a good time now. And recently I picked up around 25 Saturn games for $20. 90% complete and near mint. Kind of set me in a downhill momentum and now I do want to collect. I was just curious as to how hard it is to get a complete Saturn US collection. I may even branch off to other regions, but that's much later down the road. I guess what appeals to me if the short list of games (less than 300) and the games that are good on this system are simply fantastic.

But for now. How difficult is it to complete a Saturn US Collection? Anything I need to look out for besides Panzer Dragoon Saga, Shining Force III, and Dragon Force. Anything super expensive... hard to find... hard to find complete... hard to find near mint... etc.

Thanks!

[Muscelli]

winning post is a hard one to get, as well as virtual casino

[crazyjackcsa]

I've been collecting Saturn games for a long time. It's the main system I collect for actually. None of them are super hard to find,most you can find on ebay right now. However, I've never actually seen a Winning Post. But I picked up Virtual Casino for 12 dollars at a specialty store a couple of months ago. The ones you listed are expensive, So is House of the Dead and Guardian Heroes. They can be hard to find complete as a lot of them have cracked cases and I've found the system no longer exsists in the wild.

[starchildskiss78]

winning post is a hard one to get, as well as virtual casino

I didn't realize Virtual Casino was hard to get. I bought it for $6 at a Game X-Change a couple years ago. I've since traded it to trim down my collection to games I actually played on a regular basis!

[cyberfluxor]

I've been hunting Saturn games for almost 2 years now and own around 70 US, 10 EU, 1 JP. It's my favorite system but it's just rough finding games around here, and when you do sometimes they're a bit expensive from their local "rare" factor. If you have a deep pocket at the moment you can gain a lot of ground on the system simply from eBay, matter of fact that's where I've gotten a nice chunk from bulk purchases.

As for importing, the JP market is nice but expect to pay some good money for most titles. I actually suggest going to conventions because sometimes you can find decent discount deals on Sundays. DP is a good source to request games in the Buying & Selling, just list what you want and I've seen quite a few others on here have big import libraries.

[vaportransmitter]

Cases don't matter to me, as they can be easily replaced if I were to buy a lot of say cheap sports games or something. However, I want near mint to mint manuals/inserts. I've found it more often then not... when I get a saturn of Sega CD game that the registration card is torn out, written in, or there's some other writing, stains, rips, even rusted staples... It's rather frustrating as I like to own complete games. The last straw was when Albert Odyssey and Shining Wisdom. Every single time I buy a used game online now I ask the owner to take a look at the manual and tell me ANY imperfections.

I guess the ultimate question is... "Is it worth it?" Is there enough great or good games to outweigh the horrible ones?

[cyberfluxor]

I guess the ultimate question is... "Is it worth it?" Is there enough great or good games to outweigh the horrible ones?

Oh hell yeah, but of course if you want just get the games that you feel are best for you. Here's a thread I created last year where a bunch of DP Saturn collectors posted their lists:
Saturn collectors share info :) (http://www.digitpress.com/forum/showthread.php?t=86136&highlight=saturn)

I became lazy and stopped posting my "recent Saturn finds", which of course has slown down due to other expenses. The last game I bought was about 2wks ago, "Albert Odyssey: Legend of Eldean" for $10. Gotta just keep your eyes open in the wild and constantly look around into places.

[vaportransmitter]

Problem is there's nowhere to look around here. Maybe 45 minutes away, but I just feel more comfortable buying online. Thus, spending more money. *sigh*

Albert Odyssey for $10 = amazing.

[Trebuken]

I've got about twelve games left to fin for a complete set. I have found that all the games can be found, but they tend to be a bit more expensive than you'd expect for older games.

I'm in agreement with all the games already mentioned, but can add some:

Herc's Adventures - get it if you see it cheap...
Bomberman - more expensive than it should be on ebay
Netlink games - get them when you see them
Sega Ages/Megaman - get them if you see them cheap
Mr. Bones - this is selling for alot more than it used to..
Crypt Killer, Crow, Primal Rage, Lunacy, Winter Heat - get them if you see them less than $20, maybe $30 shipped...
FIFA '98 - oddly uncommon...

If going for a complete collection buy up all the cheapo titles first, then go slowly and buy a game here and there; it's just amazing how the games have held in valule, maybe even increased.

There are also variants among some of the RPG's, I believe there are pictures in another thread. In addition there are 6 Demo/Sampler discs that might be worth having....

It's a fun system. Once I complete my collection I'm going to try and imprt a few of the cooler Japanese games. I've wanted the D&D game(s) for some time now.

[fishsandwich]

Don't turn down a game just because the plastic case is in bad shape. I've seen many games where the instructions and back insert are in fine shape but the case is tore up... cracked, broken, shatered, whatever. If the CD and PPW is fine then buy it! You can easily use the bones of a cheap and perfect (even new) sports game to make a perfect copy of a better game. Use the case and CD holder of the sports game and carefully place your other game in the new case. No one will ever know. I've got a great collection of near-perfect Saturn games made from a huge assortment of cases from other games. A front frm one, a back from another, an insert from a third. I sold the lot of the extra games and their shitty cases on Ebay (and I made sure to advise the bidders that ALL the cases were in poor shape.) Some assclown seller who uses deceptive selling practices ended up buying them! I was happy... he had no cause to complain as I was totally up front.

[GhostDog]

You're just looking to collect mostly? If you want to get the best out of your Saturn you MUST import! There are a ton of great imported titles with an abundance of 2D fighters. shooters and other great titles.

[j_factor]

Daytona USA C.C.E. Netlink Edition is ridiculously hard to find, because it was only sold online, and that was back in 1997. You'll probably make it to every US game except that one, and it'll take you at least another year just to find it. And when you do, it will be horribly expensive. The other Netlink games are uncommon but not that bad.

BattleSport is also one of the harder to find games, but very few people are actually aware of it, so when you do find it, it should be super-cheap.

As for replacing cases with sports games... good luck. That's getting harder and harder to do these days. A few years ago, you could find a case (8 in a case I think) of some EA sports game on eBay for cheap. Now it's hard to find those deals. There is one guy who sells "new" Saturn game cases, but he charges like $5 a piece.

[Steven]

US Saturn games? Not hard to get them all. The hardest to find two titles are actually pretty obscure IMHO. And they are:

-3D Baseball
-BattleSport

http://www.digitpress.com/forum/showthread.php?t=60232

In that topic I talk about them a little bit. I agree with the poster above me too, if you want to get the most out of the Saturn, import. A lot of great games never saw American soil.


EDIT: JFactor, you beat me to it! (mentioning BattleSport. Good call)
BTW, how come you don't post at segafans anymore?

[j_factor]

BTW, how come you don't post at segafans anymore?

Because nobody does. :( It's become barren. I still check it, and post once in a while, but those forums are almost dead. It's a real pity, because a few years ago it was a pretty active place.

[erehwon]

I've been wanting to collect for the saturn, but there is just nothing in my area. I've been garage saling for the last two years, but I've only come across saturn stuff like 3 times. I'm not looking to get a complete selection. I just want to get some of the better games for my systems, plus any RPGs I can come across.

[Steve W]

As for importing, the JP market is nice but expect to pay some good money for most titles. I actually suggest going to conventions because sometimes you can find decent discount deals on Sundays.

That's a good idea. I've bought several Saturn games at places like the Oklahoma Game Expo. I bought Herc's Adventures for something like $15 there. And one table was selling an ST Key (region unlock cart) for $14.99, but with four bundled games (Konami MSX Antiques, Golden Axe-the Duel, Shinobi, and a soccer game) for $19.99! Gaming conventions are fantastic for collectors. Keep an eye on the events forum here and find one near you. It'll be worth your time. And if you let people here know you're heading to that convention looking for Saturn stuff, they'll probably bring a whole load of it up there for you.

[dj898]

been collecting for Saturn for almost decade in I can tell you as long as you stay away from Saturn H/W you shouldn't have too much of trouble. Of coz there are couple of hard to get or on very high demand titles - i.e. = expensive - but majority are relatively easy to obtain.

Have a fun~
cheers

[Iron Draggon]

Burning Rangers and House of the Dead will cost you a pretty penny too...

[Fuyukaze]

I've been after Saturn games for about 3-4 years now and so far have around 70 Jap imports, 2 Euro imports, and 7 N/A games. Finding domestic games is the biggest problem for me as all I've ever been able to find in the wild is sports titles or the more extreme common ones that were over priced. Finding games on e-bay shouldnt give you much problem, finding prices that are within reason will be the most difficult of all. Practice your sniping skills if you plan to use e-bay to boost your collection much.