How long has everyone been collecting?

[dreamcaster]

How long have you guys been collecting for, and what did you start with?

I'm a real newbie to this whole collecting thing (Jan 2003) with my purchase a Dreamcast (that's when I considered myself a collector). Although I got an Atari 2600 in October 2001, I didn't consider myself a collector.

[digitalpress]

I'm not sure when I started to consider what I do "collecting". Ever since I was a kid I just couldn't throw anything away. So I've been a video game "packrat" since at least 1979, when there was clearly a stack of Atari 2600 games next to my TV.

[maxlords]

I started getting a subscription to Nintendo Power back around issue 10. That was really my first console exposure, cause my parents banned games from my house. Strangely, they bought me a C64 instead around 1988 or 89 (I really can't remember). All I know is that was the first machine I had that played games, and that's ALL I did with it. When I finally got money in high school, I bought an SNES and then a Genesis. By the time I graduated hs, I'd decided that if I liked a game, I'd keep it for good. The first games I decided to keep forever were FFIII and Zelda: LttP. So I guess I've been a collector since I got out of HS, around 1995.

[bargora]

After fiendishly playing the family Atari 2600, then sleeping/PC gaming through the Nintendo reign ("wake up and smell the Playstation"), and then playing a few PSX games, I really started collecting around the beginning of 2002 (at which point I had about 30 games total), with the innocent premise of "hey, I'm out of school and have a job now, I should buy some of the good console games I missed earlier".

[Mr-E_MaN]

I would say I started collecting when I bought my NES back in August of last year. I used to sell my game systems after a while... I regret doing that now... I almost have all of the games that I originally had when I was a kid... besides the SMS stuff I had... can't seem to find any around here.

Now I buy any game I can get ahold of! :D

[omnedon]

About a year now. The whole affair is outlined in my 'Introduce Yourself" post. In summation, once a console gamer back in the pre-crash days, had a SMS, then a genny with CD. Then sold it all and went PC. Came back to consoles about a year ago.

Technically, I consider myself just a "gamer". I'm as comfortable gaming at the PC as I am in front of the telly. They both have their advantages.

I'm collecting for all things console. I just play PC stuff, no collecting for it.

[slapdash]

I'm in the same boat as Joe, though I don't think I got started until 1981 or so. Basically, it started by just not getting rid of any games I already had, and then accumulating more and more. It was only after the crash, and maybe even in college a couple years later, that I really started thinking about it as collecting.

So, collecting, 10+ years, accumulating, 20+ years...

[rolenta]

I'm like Joe. I never throw anything out. I started collecting videogames when I bought my first VCS in May 1979..

[leonk]

Going on 3 years now..

I think I also got into NES collecting just in time.. before the huge wave that has hit the market now and left nothing but common games for crazy prices.

If I started collecting NES now, I'd have 1/2 the collection for twice the price! DAMN YOU EBAY! :D

[y-bot]

I still have my original Intellivision from the early 80's but I didn't really start collecting until 1997.


y-bot

[Rogmeister]

I've been into games since I got my Atari VCS...but I"m not sure when that was but I'm also not sure I'd consider that my "collecting" period but since it works for others, I guess it works for me. I actually stopped playing games for about 5 years until I got my SNES in 1993 but even during that period I wasn't playing games, I still had a 7800 and games for it tucked away. So I've had games for something like 20-22 years but my serious collecting has really been just shy of 10 years now.

[thekeepr]

Well......I don't remember the exact day...it was in the 1996, probably around August or September.....I was wandering thru a local thrift, looking for Lionel train stuff (my 1st true hobby love) and lo and behold...there sat a Colecovision, just the console, nothing else. Feelings stirred inside me "Damn, I always wanted one of these back in the days" I said to myself...I hunted for the rest of the system....alright!!, a controller....need a power supply ( I would not find it at Radio Shack, I already knew that)....way cool I found the PS after looking thru a box of stuff on the floor near the woman's clothing....and all I need is a cart, ANY cart!!! Of course you know I found one...it being of course, Donkey Kong!!! Oh....let's see if I can find anymore....sure enough I found 5 more!!! I was in Classic Heaven, after routing around in that disorganized thrift for 20 min. I claimed my first "find" that would lead me down the road to Gaming Nirvana. The rest is history & a room full of Gaming Goodness is my reward!!! LOL :-D

[tynstar]

I have been "collecting" for about 2 years. But the Genesis, 2600, and Intellivision 2 I've had since I was kid.

The Dreamcast is what got me back into games.

[Mayhem]

Too long LOL

Seriously, not sold anything off unless it was a spare... so like over 20 years...

[l_lamb]

I, too, am like Joe and the others. My dad bought a VCS for his uncle back in 1977 and it never made it out of our living room. I never got rid of anything from back then. I started collecting in small doses when the crash occurred, because I had started working and the prices were so low. I actively started collecting about 7 years ago.

[IGotTheDot]

I had the 2600 and the NES in a closet from when I was younger, but I didn't consider it collecting until about 1991. I bought a 2600 Jr. at Fedco for 25 bucks with 15 games and I was off and running.

[portnoyd]

I also never really got rid of anything, so you could say 1984 when I started with the 5200. :)

Actual collecting? 1998 with the NES.

dave

[kainemaxwell]

I've been gaming since I was a kid and never threw away any of my old systems. Really got into collecting since joining here and after getting my DP Guide 7 from DP Survivor last year that I dove into actual collecting as well.

[Videogamerdaryll]

I'm also like Joe..and some others here.

I started collecting back when I got my first Atari 2600..I had played Pong but I could'nt collect for that..
With the nice picture faced/boxed Atari games I was in an instant love affair.

I never threw anything away.I lost some things in two fires though..

For over 20 yrs I've had some sort of large game collection put together.
Sometimes getting rid of some things to get others..(regret)
Moving around to different locations and being in different relationships had slowed my collecting down somewhat.

I settled down,got married and had a child..
As for the last 7 to 8 yrs..I've been on a mad game collecting binge..
I've spend so much money in the last few years on video games..I've really lost my mind.

I still don't throw anything video Game related away..and I NEVER sell anything from my own collection..I promised myself I never would again.
I'm still tying to get everything I ever got rid of back...and I will, in time.

Now that my Son is 2 he's starting to get into the video games more..and more.
Today he was pointing at the Neo Geo cab saying.."On the Green"..
He wants me to play NeoTurf Masters..

Now with my Son being born ..I have someone to leave all my videogame collection too.

I call this "Hanging out at the Arcade"..
My nephew Tyler is ready to put his quarter in.
http://www.imagemagician.org/images/cokegirl/196465.jpg

[ClubNinja]

Well, I had the Atari Video Pinball and Telstar Marksman from long, long ago. Then my first real system was the Genesis. While I kept everything, I wasn't "collecting."

I began actively collecting about five years ago. I was at a flea market looking for records and maybe one of those old Atari things, since I'd been fooling around with emulators by then. I came across a box containing about twelve 2600 carts and a 7800 for a mere 5 bucks. There was also a busted 5200 at the bottom. Anyway, the next day, I was at a thrift looking for records and some more games for my new Atari when I stumbled upon an Intellivision with three games. To be honest, I had never even seen one in person, but it was 2 bucks, so I figured "yeah, why not?" That purchase marked the beginning of my collecting days. I started hitting thrifts and fleas on a more regular basis, as well as lingering around RGVC.

Now the whole thing has taken over,.. in a good way!

[Tempest]

Hmm... I dunno, I guess I've always been sort of a collector since I started on Atari in 1983. But if you're talking about serious collecting I'd say about 8 years.

Tempest

[NE146]

I'm not really a collector. I just buy the latest and greatest videogames and still do...but of course I've been doing that since the Space Invader days.

For example, right now I buy GC/Xbox and ps2 games. And when those systems run their course, that will be my "collection" for those systems. I probably won't go out of my way 15-20 years from now hunting for games for these console.. but then again I wouldn't turn down any good deals :D Same story for all other consoles.

[sniperCCJVQ]

Without knowing since 1988-89, but seriously since mid 1999.

[Six Switch]

Hmmmm almost two years ago,two summers ago when I bought a 2600 at a flea market.I think I've done ok with little to no money and I'm still in high school.One day I hope to be like Joe and own everything! :)

[Arqueologia_Digital]

Well, i´m young!!!, i collect since December 2001

[nildem]

I first started collecting in early 1997 when I got my first part-time job and could afford to buy games on my own. My first console that wasn't recieved as a Christmas present (or by bugging my parents to death) was a Nintendo 64 with Mario 64 and Mario Kart 64. Since then I've amassed nearly 40 different consoles / computers and 1300 games at last count.

[dreamcaster]

Oh, well, I never get rid of anything so you could say I started in August 1997 (that's when I got my N64).

The only thing I've ever sold was my original Super NES - biggest mistake ever.

[den68]

I've been collecting video games since I got my first Atari 2600 in 1981. I used to only collect for one system at a time though. I went from the 2600 to the C=64 to the NES to Genesis to PSX. When I bought my first house in 1995 the Atari and C=64 got packed away but the NES & Genesis came along and were hooked back up.

Then about 4 years ago I dug out the Atari and hooked that back up. I wondered if I could still find games for it. I sure did find more games. and more games, and more games still. then some systems I didn't have, then... well you get the idea.

so in short: started collecting-1981, started OBSESSIVELY collecting-1999

[buttasuperb]

Almost 2 years now.

I actually got my first NES 17 years ago (I can't believe it's been that long :o) but always sold old systems and games to get the new stuff.

Then about 2 years ago, I was bored at work searching ebay, and I decided to search for some genny stuff, namely TJ&E and General Chaos. I was kinda surprised I could pick up a system for 15.00. I bought a genny, and a few of my old favorites and the collection was started. Then a couple months later, I found this site and all hell broke loose. :)

[RetroYoungen]

I've considered myself a collector ever since I found my local Funcoland and that they had NES games that I could buy. So I started "collecting" since about 1998. But like so many so far here, I never really got rid of anything I had growing up, and I've been hanging on to my games and gaming stuff sicne about 1987 or 8 or so. I started playing in 1986, when I was two :D

[Ed Oscuro]

Only since mid-2002, maybe earlier, when I decided to go buy some old games online. Since that time, I've poured well over $2K into the hobby (at least, that's what I count from my expensive games shelf, with all the games I like best on it). Few systems so far, but I'm working on it.