What collecting advice would you give a younger you?

[Flack]

My 20 year high school reunion is just around the corner, and I've been thinking a lot about how much more I know now than I knew back then. When I was 17 I was pretty sure I knew everything. Now, at 37, all I can think about is how stupid I was at 17. Then again, when I'm 57, I'll probably think I was a moron at 37 too. Anyway ...

What if you could go back in time and talk to the younger you? Specifically, what advice would you give yourself when it comes to collecting? Are there any items you would tell yourself to hang on to? What would you tell yourself to sell, and when? Anything you would warn yourself about? What do you think the younger version of yourself would have a hard time believing?

[kafa111]

i would tell myself to never open any games and definitly not throw away the boxes

[Mattiekrome]

Buy all those Starfox Weekend, DKC Competition, and NES test carts when they were under $100.00 each... Just couldn't cough up that kind of dough :|

[boatofcar]

I would have told myself that buying video games as an "investment" instead of paying off my credit card was a stupid idea.

[ugly_monster]

I would have told myself that buying video games as an "investment" instead of paying off my credit card was a stupid idea.

I like this one.

I would be able to talk people down even more on prices because it doesn't sell for "this much" on Amazon or ebay

[Greg2600]

Maybe that trading in a lot of NES and Genesis games to Funcoland wasn't worth the $2 store credit.

[The 1 2 P]

Maybe that trading in a lot of NES and Genesis games to Funcoland wasn't worth the $2 store credit.

You could say the same thing today about trading 360 and PS3 games to Gamestop.

I would have told my younger self to buy up all those remaining sealed copies of Snes and Genesis games at Toys R Us. And also to have bought every single copy of FFVII duing the black friday sale when they were only $15 each.

[Steven]

I would have told myself to start my SNES collection rather than wait until 2006. I would have snatched up a 100 boxed Earthbounds as well ;)

[courtesi1]

I'd tell my younger self to forget video games and save his money to buy an assload of Apple stock when its $5 a share.

Videogames can come after.

[goatdan]

I would have held onto a couple of the copies of Earthbound that I bought absolutely mint for $7.99 instead of selling them for $30 apiece.

Beyond that, I really can't say I'd have done much differently.

[Emperor Megas]

Honestly, I wouldn't really do much differently as far as gaming goes. Outside of the obvious answer of telling myself what to look out for that will be rare and valuable later, there isn't much I'd do differently.

I never really spend much on games. I've always been a very frugal shopper. When I use to purchase games new, for higher prices, it was when there weren't as many games on the market, so it balances out. I never throw anything away, or sold or traded in anything I bought. I traded a few friends for other games before, but that's about it. Everything that I lost since I was younger was either in the house fire I had about 10 years ago, or in the flood (Katrina).

It's had to even think about video games when the issue of giving advice to my younger self goes. There are so many things I'd advice myself on, the least of which would be toys.

[Boltorano]

Keep all your packaging and contents in good condition. My pile of loose SNES carts would probably be worth $2000 if CIB today.

[kafa111]

i also would have told my self to get a job at nintendo and take every prototype/competition cart

[j_factor]

My advice would be: Don't start.

[chrisballer]

I would of told myself to buy the entire shelf of Top Loaders at Toys R Us when they were at $15. Or go buy up all the Sega Nomads when I saw them at Meijer for $25.

[Icarus Moonsight]

It's hard to even think about video games when the issue is giving advice to my younger self. There are so many things I'd advise myself on, the least of which would be toys.

Very low priority. If it were to come up somehow, I'd suggest not keeping the Saturn stuff at my apartment to prevent it from getting lifted.

[CDiablo]

Beg my parents to buy me multiple copies of Stadium Games

[PapaStu]

Buying new is great.... but think about the price drops when you're 'collecting' a system! I understand that not everything drops nearly as fast as it does now, but still... to play is one thing, but to just collect it can get damn expensive.

[swlovinist]

I would tell myself to keep all the shrinkwrap on the older games I did not want to play.

[Doonzmore]

Strictly talking video games, I'd say just be patient and listen to your instinct. All the games you're day dreaming about owning will one day be yours.

[portnoyd]

Keep. All. Those. Sealed. Contras.

[dgdgagdae]

i would tell myself to never open any games and definitly not throw away the boxes

Well that would have been a fun childhood!

[RPG_Fanatic]

I would have told myself not to sale then re-buy and then sale then re-buy the same games over and over.

[VACRMH]

I think I started collecting at 16, when I realized I could buy games that I never got a chance to play with my own paycheck. So I'd tell him...

1. Don't buy something just because it's video game related (Strategy guides for random games that I'd either never own or wouldn't be worth squat)

2. Have realistic goals in mind (Unless it's something you really think is worth it, don't bother with a complete collection)

3. Only buy games you 100% intend to play. Or know you can sell/trade for games you do intend to play.

[shawnbo42]

Strictly video game-wise, since to the best of my knowledge they were sold on store shelves in my area, RUN, don't walk, get to the nearest Woolworth's and pick up a Stadium Events or two. And DO NOT open them...
Other than that, should have bought that NES Flintstones when it was $50....

[Cornelius]

I gave away my NES to a friend after it had sat idle for a year or so in the late 80s. I'd love to have my original console and games now, so that'd be #1 even though none of it was rare or valuable. Also, we kept the games in the boxes until the boxes were falling apart and got thrown out, so I'd tell me to just put the boxes away somewhere. Of course, then that storage box probably would have gotten chucked at some point.

Starting collecting sooner since I only started 6 or so years ago comes to mind also, but realistically I wouldn't have taken that advice anyway since I had other stuff going on.

[98PaceCar]

Don't buy arcade games that I don't really want just because they are cheap. Hold out for the good stuff. I ended up selling almost everything I bought early on and rebought the machines that I still have now, essentially building 2 arcades over the course of my collecting.

That and don't sell your original Commodore 128 collection in college. I still regret that.

[boatofcar]

I think that can be expanded further--don't buy anything just cause it's cheap. I'd definitely tell my former self that.

[skaar]

Don't use SNES protos as box cutters.

[98PaceCar]

I think that can be expanded further--don't buy anything just cause it's cheap. I'd definitely tell my former self that.

I don't know about that. I made quite a bit of money selling off my console dupes. It took a while, but it did fund some bigger purchases nicely. The arcades were hard to flip because they were crappy titles to begin with and I took a bath on them because nobody wanted them in the first place. Probably the reason why they were so cheap!

[binici]

The compiled list would be huge! Seroiusly though, keep ALL games in mint condition as well as systems (no trade-ins).

[8bitgamer]

I would tell myself to keep my 80+ ColecoVision boxes (at least I kept the manuals).

[tom]

'don't sell that grey boxed Hangman'

[OldSkoolBrian]

I would say... "Hey Jerkoff stop tearing those NES Boxes apart" and "Don't make a Paper Airplane out of that Super Nintendo Earthbound Box"

[BenG76]

Buy the rarer games first and get the common stuff later. There are several games I want now that have only went a good bit in value since I started collecting around 5 years ago.

[xelement5x]

Don't pirate your games as much, or at least buy the legitimate copies when they drop in price to something cheap.

Though, I think one reason I was able to make it through college without a ton of debt is because I pirated a lot my entertainment, I wasn't dropping $50-$60 on a game all the time. Now all I've got to show for the work I put into making copies are binders of games that are essentially worthless.

[Edmond Dantes]

"Never lose the packaging or documentation to anything. Right now, anything you've already lost is in the past, but henceforth step up your game and keep all that you can."

"Always keep the game, the documentation etc. in the box when you're not playing them, and don't EVER put them on the floor. Always put them on a shelf or in a drawer."

"Don't get into collecting fantasy novels or comic books. You're never gonna read most of them because they're shit, and that shit is why you wound up selling all your really good games in my timeline."

"In general, don't sell games unless their market price is below $60. That way, if you sell it and regret doing so, it'll be easy to reverse the mistake. If you have a game that's worth ginormous amounts of money, KEEP IT unless it's a game you absolutely fucking hate with a passion."

"Don't sell anything before you've discovered the glory of painkillers and are able to make more balanced decisions. Depression leads you to do stupid things."

"By the way, never sell anime either. If you need cash, get rid of your american cartoons--practically all of them are gonna get re-released later anyway."

"Doctor Who is awesome."

That's about it.

[Darko]

I would tell myself to sell everything I owned and convince my parents to let me invest as much money as possible into Microsoft and Apple. I would then I'd then travel a bit further forward and knock out a short sell on 9/10 for every US market possible. After that I'd return to the present time and start collecting game companies instead of games.

[SpaceHarrier]

"Never lose the packaging or documentation to anything. Right now, anything you've already lost is in the past, but henceforth step up your game and keep all that you can."



This. Also, "Dont. Ever. Sell. Anything."

I regret selling most every game I've sold.

Except Mega Man X5, Stupid Invaders, and Mission Impossible.

[Mr Smith]

Don't bother buying a Saturn.
Keep your Sonic and Knuckles box in mint condition.
Love the manuals.

[duffmanth]

Don't throw away manuals and boxes, and keep them in mint condition. Sell games privately instead of trading/selling them to pawn shops and/or used game stores. *Correction* don't sell or trade in games or consoles at all! Don't whip your controllers at the wall at a 100mph when you get pissed off at a game. Don't put your foot through your NES cuz it keeps freezing. Be picky about what games you spend full price on, and have more patience for games to drop in price.

*MOST IMPORTANTLY, DON'T LET YOUR FRIENDS BORROW YOUR GAMES, unless you have deep trust and confidence that they'll take care of your games!*

[MachineGex]

Keep boxes and instructions is good advice. I use to do that....I had a closet I would toss everything in...but when we moved, they all got dumped.

Also, trade newer releases for older rarer games. That way you can buy-back the newer releases when they go down in price. The rarer older stuff usually keeps it's value or goes up.

[jcalder8]

I would just tell myself which games to buy and which games to pass on. Not just in terms of value but also in terms of what games are fun and which ones suck. I would tell myself not to rent Silver Surfer that's for damn sure. Also picking up a few sealed games that would become rare would suit my personality of always wanting to make a buck so young me would be all over it! lol

[Steven]

Oh yeah, if we're not speaking about prices and doing things that would make us rich (i.e. buying 100 boxed Earthbounds), I would tell myself to document my game buying and playing experiences in a journal.

I regret not documenting my intense Saturn experience 1999-2005... fortunately learned from that regret and started documenting my SNES resurrection 2006-present. Still, part of me wishes I had done so for Saturn. Would be cool to look back on those days with a more in-depth accurate eye...

[YoshiM]

I would have told myself not to sale then re-buy and then sale then re-buy the same games over and over.

This. I'd shuffle this into "keep your Iron Man comic collection and DON'T sell it on eBay." I had well over 300 issues and after not being able to stand the dreck that's on stands now, I'm starting to buy those comics again. Funny thing is that it's practically in the same order I did 18 years ago.

Another would be to NOT store my game magazines in the shed then toss them after getting moisture damage. I had a LOT of early issues of EGM, VG&CE, GamePro, Game Player's and such and that's what I really collect these days. Could have saved some dough with some of those issue.

And finally to just keep the systems I had. Looking back I don't think I made out as much as I thought I did selling my Atari 5200, 7800 and such.

[Greg2600]

I gave away my NES to a friend after it had sat idle for a year or so in the late 80s. I'd love to have my original console and games now, so that'd be #1 even though none of it was rare or valuable. Also, we kept the games in the boxes until the boxes were falling apart and got thrown out, so I'd tell me to just put the boxes away somewhere. Of course, then that storage box probably would have gotten chucked at some point.
Yeah, I sold my original Genesis around 1996 to a friend, only original console I do not still have. I too gave away games and controllers to my younger cousin, and my aunt later gave them to her even younger nephews, whose mother threw them away!

[thom_m]

"Young Thom, my lad: your mommy is gonna tell you to give away your old systems to your cousins everytime you get a new one. DON'T. Also, make aunt Stella PROMISE you to give you that Intellivision when your older cousins don't want it anymore. You're welcome!"

[Steven]

"Young Thom, my lad: your mommy is gonna tell you to give away your old systems to your cousins everytime you get a new one. DON'T. Also, make aunt Stella PROMISE you to give you that Intellivision when your older cousins don't want it anymore. You're welcome!"

LMAO.

Sounds just like a scene from Back to the Future II :D

Ah, memories

http://pwned.com/gamecovers/nintendo/88e29cd065f1de17d077f33c32189794-Back_to_the_Future_Part_II___III.jpg

[NE146]

Buy all those gawdamn Stadium Events you see behind the counter at Woolworths every single day you idiot.. the one that catches your eye because of the cover and makes you wonder "who the heck would get that?" :p

[moggles]

Don't spill orange juice on your Saturn.

[Compute]

So if we all told our younger selves to stock up on "rare" titles and keep them in box, then Earthbound,etc would be way more common than they are. We'd just be kicking ourselves for holding onto all of these worthless copies of Chronotrigger.

That said, I have a few:

"Don't rent WWF Smackdown for Playstation. You'll end up getting mad and throwing your Playstation at the wall, making it broken. And mom isn't about to buy you a new one."

"If you want to get into CCGs, don't get Sim City. Get that goofy one called "Magic." Way more people will play that one with you."

"Stop 'collecting' toys. You're in 4th grade and they won't be valuable for 15 more years."

"You're 16 and love video games. Man up and ask for a job sweeping the floor at the local arcade distributor. Ask again tomorrow, and then the next day."

"Just get off your ass and start building that MAME control panel." (Come to think of it, that's advice I can give myself today:roll:)

[Flashback2012]

"Take MUCH better care of your games, that includes not only the carts but the cases and manuals as well."

"Don't trade your original release Revenge of Shinobi to your cousin. You'll still be looking for it in 2011"

"Make collecting for the TG16/Duo a priority. When you see Magical Chase for sale in Babbages, do no hesitate to pick it up"

"Dial it down on your non-gaming hobbies such as anime and comics. The anime scene is going to putter out after a few years and the whole Image thing is one big flash in the pan."

"Just like the TG16/Duo, make the Neo Geo Pocket Color a priority when it arrives."

"DON'T get into the collecting race with your friends. They'll end up stopping long before you. Aside from the systems mentioned to focus on, buy what you'll play and enjoy!"

"Use ONE credit card for game purchases and keep the limit at a reasonable rate, like $500 or so. Avoid maxing the card out and only buy when the balance is nearly or completely paid off." :roll:

"Avoid buying systems at launch after the 32-bit generation." :ass:

[eskobar]

Definitely:

"eskobar, save a few hundred bucks and buy NCW ASAP !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Also .....

"Don't give away your NES COLLECTION when you enter High School"

[Casati]

Don't sell your CIB collections through the local newspaper and quit video gaming in the 90s.