A sad story about my collection

[ShinobiMan]

Well, for years growing up, I was fortunate enough to belong to a family where gaming was king. My dad and the rest of the family on his side was so pro gaming that the parents were sometimes bigger gamers than the kids.

Unlike the rest of my family though, my father and I were collectors as well. We got everything from Atari 2600 to Atari Jaguar. Sega Master System to Sega Dreamcast. It was a very fun childhood indeed.

Now, here is the problem that I face today. I look back and think about when we started collecting (1994). This was a time when it was still relatively possible to find BRAND NEW classic games on the store shelves. Thus, we had mint copies of dozens upon dozens of 2600, 7800, NES... you name it!

Now, not thinking of value, as for us it was pure enjoyment of the games and because they were cardboard, my father and I would cut the boxes up and store them in sleeve cases. This was merely to protect the cover and preserve it (I was a kid still, and my dad worried about my friends destroying the boxes.) @_@ Little did we know, WE were in fact destroying the boxes the moment we cut the fronts off (it was the front and back wrap around that we'd cut out and store much like a PS2 or current gen game).

It's a sad story about a wonderful childhood and wonderful experience in collecting. Oh well, I still have the visual memory of these games when they were MINT and COMPLETE. :roll:

[strassy]

how is that a sad story?

[DefaultGen]

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[Frankie_Says_Relax]

Well, hey, even if your dad did some surgery on your game boxes to put in video store rental style sleve cases, your collection is both playable and easily accessible WITH the ability to view the original game boxes.

While yes, those boxes are certainly not "mint complete", at least they're semi preserved (sans box top/bottom and side spine).

Not the end of the world ... some people just trashed their boxes, so you're a half step up on them.

[NES_Rules]

I remember my dad saved all the boxes for our NES games, put them all away in a box in the closet. I found them several years later (before I was into collecting) while cleaning out that closet. And seeing them as useless, proceeded to throw them out. Sure would be nice to have them back now.

[Pantechnicon]

It sounds to me more like it was the case that the priority you and your father placed on collecting was more about playability and utility than it was preservation, and you shouldn't feel guilty about this. I think your emphasis ought to be more on the fun that you and your dad had playing and accumulating games rather than kicking yourself for lacking the prescience to not have opened up that shrink-wrapped copy of FFIII (`Cos - you know...it was never meant to be played) for fear of potentially diminishing its cash value to an enthusiastic, but ultimately small, niche of like-minded souls that exist 15 years after the fact.

For my part, I'm training my son to regard our Room of Doom (http://www.videogamecollectors.com/gallery/The_Pantechnicon) less as a museum and more like a library.

[Fuyukaze]

Collections are ment to be enjoyed, not cataloged and stared at behind bullet proof glass. It sounds like you and your father had a great time playing em. My own father would never touch a game in his life as games didnt make him any money and using two hands to do something was too hard for him. I realy wouldnt think about how you cut the boxs up though, you had more fun with your parents playing games then most of us ever would.

[guitargary75]

It might have dropped the value of the collection as a whole. However, I still think that they have some value, especially if you ever sell your whole collection. At least you still have something of the boxes and the memories that they conjure up.

[ShinobiMan]

Yeah, you know, I don't think I would ever sell the collection. There are to many special memories connected to it, and my dad, for me to do something like that. Here is a picture of some of the boxes:

http://img397.imageshack.us/img397/992/nesboxesfx8.jpg

I agree with what all of you are saying. Back then, it really was all about the playability and fun of the game. Still is for the most part today, although, even in the last couple of years before his passing, my dad agreed that we should have never cut them up like that. :oops:

Oh well, a time and a place for every decision we make.

[Sudo]

I wish Nintendo's cartridges actually came in boxes like that. Cardboard boxes are so impractical for storage, since they can become damaged so easily. That's the reason I always loved the Genesis cases, and probably why it's much easier to at least find boxed games for it opposed to loose ones with the SNES.

[DefaultGen]

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[otoko]

Yeah, you know, I don't think I would ever sell the collection. There are to many special memories connected to it, and my dad, for me to do something like that. Here is a picture of some of the boxes:

http://www.geocities.com/segamastersystem/nes_boxes.jpg

I agree with what all of you are saying. Back then, it really was all about the playability and fun of the game. Still is for the most part today, although, even in the last couple of years before his passing, my dad agreed that we should have never cut them up like that. :oops:

Oh well, a time and a place for every decision we make.

Well, no cut up boxes no story?

[Trebuken]

A couple months ago someone had a binder full of information about the Atari Jaguar for sale on ebay. It was very nice with all sorts of information color photos etc. At some point I realized that all the pages had been torn out of magazines and compiled in a Jaguar book. I was horrified on one level that someone destroyed all those collectible magazines, but at the same time was aware that that binder was one of a kind...I forget what it sold for but it wasn't that cheap...seems you had something similar...

[Superman]

Hindsight is 20/20 isn't it?

I agree with what some of the others have said. It could have been worse; you could have thrown the boxes away.

While original boxes look nice, if I find a previous video rental game in a box like the style you mentioned, I will usually pick it up if it is something I need. Even though it is not factory original, it still displays nice (in my opinion).

In regards to value, if you aren't planning to sell your collection, in reality they aren't worth anything, regardless of if they have the original box, a modified box or are just the cart. They only have value to you.

So I would say enjoy the display that you have and the memories that you have gained from them.

[ShinobiMan]

OK, I fixed the picture. I really should use image shack more often. Thanks for the suggestion.

[Zebbe]

You may have broken boxes, but at least you have a dad who is a gamer and a collector... Who wouldn't trade a factory sealad * for that? :)

* = insert YOUR most sought after ultr@ r@re game worth thousands of $.

[ShinobiMan]

You may have broken boxes, but at least you have a dad who is a gamer and a collector... Who wouldn't trade a factory sealad * for that? :)

* = insert YOUR most sought after ultr@ r@re game worth thousands of $.

Well, you are right, however, my father passed away in OCT. of last year (There was a thread on that in the off topic section.)

In these recent times in my life, I'm cherishing my love of gaming, as well as everything else he gave me more than I used to. It's been hard, but to collect games and everything that comes with it is the best way to honor him. I know he'd want me to.

Nothing can ever replace the relationship I had with my dad. I couldn't of asked for a better father or friend. I owe my life to him in more ways than one.

But, rather than change the topic of this thread, I'd like to hear more about other members stories about there collection, perhaps other pitfalls (pun intended) that have occurred over the years. Anyone else?

[DigitalSpace]

My copy of Plok for the SNES looks like that - it was a former Wherehouse rental copy, and the box was cut up to fit in a rental case.

[murdoc rose]

I have some nes boxes like that. They are actually kind of cool, in the way that you can have the boxes and not worry about them. It has dropped the value but it doesn't sound like your going to sell them so its not all that sad.

[James8BitStar]

You want sad? Of the 20 or so Sega Genesis games I own, 14 of them used to have their original cases.

Then I decided to take them all out so that I would have "room for more games," and put the cases in a closet.

Then I moved. I took the games, but not the cases.

I also used to have a mint, boxed Earthbound. But again I ditched everything except the cartridge. Oh, and I took the player's guide to school and some girl pulled out the scratch n' sniff cards (I think I still have them, but they aren't attached to the book anymore).

Actually, situation has come up recently where I MAY be able to recover these things. But I'm not holding my breath.

[ApolloBoy]

Those cases actually look very nice. Personally though, I'd much rather print out specially-made inserts than cut up the boxes. I'd either put up the original boxes on display or sell them.

[emceelokey]

Those aren't too bad. I know I threw some SNES boxes out when I was a kad back in the day. I would always keep them then lose track of where I put them in my house and when I would e end up finding them again I would throw them away because I figured that if I went so long without the cases then why would I need them now.

[Zebbe]

Well, you are right, however, my father passed away in OCT. of last year (There was a thread on that in the off topic section.)

In these recent times in my life, I'm cherishing my love of gaming, as well as everything else he gave me more than I used to. It's been hard, but to collect games and everything that comes with it is the best way to honor him. I know he'd want me to.

Nothing can ever replace the relationship I had with my dad. I couldn't of asked for a better father or friend. I owe my life to him in more ways than one.

But, rather than change the topic of this thread, I'd like to hear more about other members stories about there collection, perhaps other pitfalls (pun intended) that have occurred over the years. Anyone else?

I didn't know about your father. I hope he rests in peace.

I can tell you that my mother sold off my entire NES collection for peanuts, without telling me. It would perhaps be worth $1000 today, because the Swedish editions of NES games are big collectibles here (since they had low runs). If I ever start buying NES again, it will be loose carts of whatever cheapest edition I find. Building up a collection of mint/complete Swedish ones would be too hard, time consuming, expensive and painful.