the ones that got away...

[strassy]

i realize this may be a disturbing thread to some, but i wonder if anyone else has suffered the same cruel fate as i?

coincidentally, i got my driver's license about the same time as the waning days of the NES. being a typical 16 year old loser who very seldomly knew about any parties or anything, i would spend a lot of time cruising about, trying to find NES games. a gold mine would often be toys r us or wal-mart, who would be clearing out their inventory of NES games at very low prices (generally under $10) since i had a part time job and very few expenses, i amassed a fairly decent collection of shrinkwrapped NES games, somehow having the foresight to envision that they might be worth something someday.

flash forward 2 years. i go off to college, and in the process, my mom sells the house in which i grew up. somehow, my collection disappeared in the process. she swears up and down that she didn't throw them away, and i believe her, since she knew that i was real into the NES. i have searched her townhouse many times for these games, but the only thing that ever turned up was a shrinkwrapped Play Action Football (Yippee!)

while it is my hope that somehow, i will find them someday, i realize that this probably will never come to pass. off the top of my head, here were some of the games i had in original shrinkwrapping...i think it would be pretty impressive to have all of these nowadays

several copies of Startropics (at least 3)
Startropics 2: Zoda's Revenge
Wario's Woods
Ducktales 2
Destiny of an Emperor
Mermaids of Atlantis
NES Play Action Football (aside from Startropics, which was exceedingly common in Toys R Us at this time, this is probably worth the least...and wouldn't you know it's the only one that ever turned up)
Chip and Dale: Rescue Rangers 2
Crystalis
Nintendo World Cup Soccer

at least one other unlicensed (probably color dreams or wisdom tree) game...might have had metroid and/or zelda 2 (the re-released versions) too...can't remember

i may have also had Kid Klown shrinkwrapped. i know i bought it from Toys R Us at least once, but I know I opened a copy of it. i think that'd be worth something as well.

well, now that i've dredged up those painful memories, time to cry myself to sleep!

[Greg2600]

As most all of us, I have lost some favorite things over the years. Are you more upset over the loss of monetary value or the collectible value? Many times I'll remember a toy I had and look it up on ebay, and say, hmmm, yeah I had that one, and could sell it now. But then I say, ah, who cares, it's only a few bucks. Now if you had one of those big money games like Stadium Events, I might be quite upset.

[Pantechnicon]

A story I've told a couple of times now...

In 1988 I had an Atari 2600 with around 25 carts. Nothing terribly rare, mind you. The rarest one I had was probably Pitfall II. But back then I didn't look at in terms of rarity. It was my game system; my game system.

So come summer of that year I graduated from high school. I took the Atari and its games, put it all in a closed box in my closet for safekeeping, and left home for boot camp. After 3 months of the Marine Corps idea of a summer vacation, I was really looking forward to coming home for a few days and unwinding with some Space Invaders, etc. but the system and its games were gone from where I had carefully stored them.

"Where the f--k is my Atari?!" I yelled at my parents (bear in mind that I was now 25 lbs heavier and far more muscular than the pencil-necked geek they last saw three months prior).

"We sold it at a garage sale in July. We didn't think you wanted it anymore." Right. That's why I put it in a sealed and labelled box away from prying hands, `cos that's what people do with things they don't care about.

So I was pretty miffed. And the memory of this incident fueled my earliest efforts at 2600 collecting when I started back in 1994. So the way I look at it now is: If my parents hadn't gotten rid of the thing, then I might not have carried a torch for it for so long, and merely consigned my teenaged association with the Atari 2600 as being just another thing that I used to do.

[strassy]

As most all of us, I have lost some favorite things over the years. Are you more upset over the loss of monetary value or the collectible value? Many times I'll remember a toy I had and look it up on ebay, and say, hmmm, yeah I had that one, and could sell it now. But then I say, ah, who cares, it's only a few bucks. Now if you had one of those big money games like Stadium Events, I might be quite upset.

i'm not sure which value i am upset over. i think it would be cool to have those...i doubt i'd sell many (if any) of them even if i knew where they were at. probably i'd hang on to them for another 25 or so years until i have kids that need money for college

[cyberfluxor]

...probably i'd hang on to them for another 25 or so years until i have kids that need money for college
Or maybe as something for them to take to college for leisure. In college today it's "hip" to have a NES in your dorm, 25 years from now... LOL

[ssjlance]

One of my (now ex) friends stole my Paper Mario and sold it for money to buy some weed.

[erehwon]

My mom forced us to get rid of our NES since we weren't using it. I really didn't want to, but was too young to give a good argument for it. I've gotten back most of what I can remember, but I still need to get Kid Icarus, Contra, and maybe one of the mega man games. I can't remember if I had one of those or not.

That is really the only time games have gotten away from me.

There was a time that some games got away from my parents. My parents worked at Magnavox a long time ago. They had some prototype stuff for the Odyssey 2 that was stolen. It annoys me a bit that I could have had the chance to mess around with some prototype stuff, if some jerk hadn't stolen it.

[strassy]

Or maybe as something for them to take to college for leisure. In college today it's "hip" to have a NES in your dorm, 25 years from now... LOL

although i own other consoles, the NES is the only one that isn't usually packed away in a box somewhere. i am moving back to a college town in the fall to go back to school, i have been wondering what percentage of the youngins' (i'll be 27 by then, so to them, i really AM old) will recognize what an NES is and have some level of appreciation for it.

[geneshifter]

When I was in college, my parents threw out my C64 games (probably about 150 games) and some of my PC games, all complete and boxed :(

I had a C64 game where you'd go around different tourist places in London and I cannot for the life of me remember what it is called. I sure would love to play that one again.