Opinions on collecting boxed games? Is it worth it at this point?

[RetroRich]

I posted this same thing at nintendoage but since this is a different community, i thought i'd get opinions here.

I took a break from collecting for a while but I am trying to get back into it. Recently i've been collecting original xbox, ps2, and ps1 games. However i want to start up my snes, genesis, and n64 collecting again.
Since i have so few games, I was thinking of just buying boxed games. Doesn't necessarily need to be complete with manual, but at least have the box and cart holder. I'm not going for any complete collection, I have a list of games i want for the system, which covers most of the popular stuff like the rpg's, etc.

Part of me thinks that i'd be spending way too much money, and i can just go scour flea markets, thrifts, and used game shops to find loose carts for cheap.

But another part of me thinks i can slow down, and buy 1 boxed game a week or every 2 weeks, collection will grow much smaller but at least it would be boxed.

I wanted to post the games I want for the system, I was hoping people here can tell me, based on the stuff I want, if it makes sense trying to get it all boxed.

Do you think it might make better sense to just get UGC's and print my own covers?

I'd eventually be displaying these games when i move into a bigger place. Most of the games are on my list because I want to play them, and because I think they are the best games for the system,and represent it well.

games that are underlined and in italics are games i already have boxed.

SNES

ActRaiser
ActRaiser II
Adventures of Batman and Robin
Aladdin
Animaniacs
Battletoads and Double Dragon
Battletoads in Battlemaniacs
Batman Returns
Bonkers
Breath Of Fire
Breath of Fire II
Castlevania Dracula X
Chrono Trigger
Contra III Alien Wars
Death and Return of Superman
Demon's Crest
Donkey Kong Country
Donkey Kong Country II
Donkey Kong Country III
Earthbound
Final Fantasy Mystic Quest
Final Fantasy II
FInal Fantasy III
Final Fight
FInal Fight II
Final Fight III
Harvest Moon
Hook
Illusion Of Gaia
Killer Instinct
Legend Of Zelda: A Link To The Past
Lufia
Lufia II
Mega Man VII
Mega Man X
Mega Man X2
Mega Man X3
Power Rangers
Power Rangers The Movie
Ogre Battle: March Of The Black Queen
Phalanx
Phantom 2040
Pitfall: Mayan Adventure
Plok
Primal Rage
Prince of Persia
Prince of Persia II
Secret Of Evermore
Secret of Mana
Shadowrun
Soul Blazer
Spawn
Spiderman
Spiderman: Maximum Carnage
Spiderman: Seperation Anxiety
Street Fighter Alpha II
Street Fighter II - The World Warrior
Street Fighter II Turbo
Super Castlevania IV
Super Double Dragon
Super Mario All Stars
Super Mario RPG
Super Mario World
Super Mario World II: Yoshi's Island
Super Metroid
Super Punch Out
Super Street Fighter II
Super Tennis
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles IV Turtles In Time
Tiny Toons Adventures: Buster Busts Loose
Toy Story
Wolfenstien 3D
WWF Raw
WWF Royal Rumble
X-Men Mutant Apocalypse
Ys III - Wanderers From Ys

Genesis

Aladdin
Altered Beast
Beyond Oasis
Boogerman
Captain America And The Avengers
Castlevania: Bloodlines
Cool Spot
Comix Zone
Contra: Hard Corps
Earthworm Jim
Earthworm Jim II
Ecco The Dolphin
Ecco: Tides of Time
ESWAT: City Under Siege
Eternal Champions
Fatal Fury
Fatal Fury II
Golden Axe
Golden Axe II
Golden Axe III
Gunstar Heroes
Kid Chameleon
Landstalker
Lion King
Mortal Kombat
Michael Jackson's Moonwalker
M.U.S.H.A
NBA Jam
NHL 94
Phantasy Star II
Phantasy Star III
Phantasy Star IV
Ren and Stimpy
Ristar
Rocket Knight Adventures
Shadowrun
Shining In The Darkness
Shining Force
Shining Force II
Sonic
Sonic II
Sonic III
Sonic and Knuckles
Sonic 3D
Splatterhouse 2
Splatterhouse 3
Streets Of Rage
Streets Of Rage 2
Streets Of Rage 3
Strider
Toe Jam and Earl
Vectorman
Vectorman 2
World Series Baseball

N64

Banjo Kazooie
Banjo Tooie
Castlevania: Legacy of Darkness
Conker's Bad Fur Day
Diddy Kong Racing
Donkey Kong 64
Doom 64
Golden Eye 007
Harvest Moon 64
Jet Force Gemini
Legend Of Zelda Majora's Mask
Legend Of Zelda Ocarina of Time
Mario Tennis 64
Ogre Battle 64
Paper Mario
Perfect Dark
ShadowGate 64
StarFox 64
Super Mario 64
Super Smash Bros
WCW/NWO Revenge
WWF No Mercy

[Rickstilwell1]

First and foremost, be sure you have room for all this stuff, and the job security to maintain having enough space. Moving is always a nightmare when your collection becomes big.

[theclaw]

The basics are fairly obvious. Boxed games can be fragile space hogs. Ensure you have room to keep your desired titles safe.

Cardboard ones in particular. They may bend if opened hasty, and face weight damage risk kept as unprotected stacks.

[Emperor Megas]

I wouldn't worry too much about how fragile the boxes are because they can all be broken down and stored for the move, or until he's prepared a nice home for everything in his gameroom.

For me original boxed games are always the better way to go ASSUMING THE COST ISN'T PROHIBITIVE. If you go that route, I think the fact you'll collect slower is really a GOOD thing. It gives you time to play your games, and it'll actually keep your spending down if you can avoid picking up other loose games in the meanwhile. There are only so many hours in a day after all, and if you have a job and other adult responsibilities you'll only have so much time to play through these games, plus any current gen gaming you may do. I think there are only advantages to building up your collection slowly.



Your shelf will look a lot cooler (and honestly, we ALL appreciate that).
You can actually spend more time playing games than collecting them.
You'll (possibly) spend less money in the end by limiting your purchases to CIB games.
You'll have far less crappy filler than if you liberally purchased whatever loose games you came across.


Now, I don't really care about boxed NES and SNES games (I think it's because they have the names on the top of the carts, and still look great loose). I care more about the manuals than the boxes for those two libraries. Everything else I want cases/boxes for though. There's just no reason to not have CIB Genesis games. Hell, you have to look for ones that don't have cases thanks to SEGA being awesome and clamshelling their SMS and Genesis titles. Also, Nintendo 64 boxes are fairly easy to come across.

IF it won't cost you much, you can just use UGCs and printed labels for all of the lose games you decide to purchase or already own, and just add original boxes and cases as you come across them. I've matched up too many orphaned carts, manuals, discs over the years for cheap.

[Sosage]

Totally depends on personal preference, which also comes down to platform preference, space efficiency and ease of hunting. A complete boxed Genesis collection, although an easier than normal library to find complete games for, is an obnoxious space hog compared to other libraries. NES and pre-DS GameBoy, on the other hand, can be a pain in the ass to collect boxed only just in locating good specimens in the wild.

There's also ease of just playing the games. I collect mainly loose for NES because I want to grab the cart, toss it in and play it quickly. I don't want to fiddle with the box and be paranoid about damage. My 500 NES carts aren't as valuable as the guy with 500 boxed NES games, but at least I can play them without the extra baggage. :)

My Gameboy/GBA/DS/PSP/GameGear collection is mostly boxed, but I actually tossed all the carts in a couple of old traveling tape cassette/walkman bag from the 80's/90's. The boxes are on the shelf, but I can get to my games ASAP. Seems redundant, but again, at least I can get to my games when I want to without too much hassle.

It also comes down to what you are collecting for. Just to have numbers? Go buy every EASports release ever for pennies on the dollar. Yah' know? Go with what works for you and your situation.

[wiggyx]

I have plenty of boxes for games that I bought years and years ago when they were either new or just barely used, but I don't bother with buying CIB anymore. I buy loose almost exclusively and case em up in UGCs.

http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k99/wiggyx/29E70706-2F94-4912-BC19-37A987C8CFB3-767-000000589B3C13D1.jpg

I guess it depends on why you're buying games. IMO, UGCs offer a far more clean, uniform look. Plus, keeping games in cardboard boxes only makes it harder to access them PLUS those boxes will wear so much faster as a result of all that handling.

That said, depending on how many UGCs you buy at once and how you print the covers, you'll end up paying another ~1.00-2.00 per game just to case them. Still ends up being a LOT cheaper than buying CIB versions over loose.

[OwaynOTT]

Personally, I love collecting good examples of SNES and Gameboy boxed games. Trying to find a good example at a decent price ensures I don't go crazy and buy a inordinate amount of games. This also has the added bonus of ensuring each game gets played.
Now the silly bit. I don't leave the games in the boxes though, don't wanna damage them. Thus means the games are taking up almost twice the space.
Much prefer the cardboard to Megadrive cases.
Also neo geo cases can be flimsy, which is annoying considering their cost.
Love neo geo pocket game clamshells!

1st post!

[Casati]

When I returned to the video game fold a few years ago, I bought mostly boxed NES/SNES/Genesis games, but the prices have gone up over the past few years as boxes and manuals become more scarce. My priority now is for manuals and maps, although I'll willingly pay an extra $5-10 for a boxed game versus without, provided that the box is in decent condition. A box with a lot of wear is not something that I care to pay anything more than an extra couple bucks for.

I do have a lot of boxed NES, Genesis, along with some SNES games because I was lucky enough to buy my collection before the price inflation of the past couple years.

I also do not keep my carts or manuals in their boxes since I want quick access to them for playing. The boxes are stored away in storage boxes.

[WCP]

Personally, I think if you're going to bother with the boxes, then why not just get the manuals as well and just exclusively collect complete games. Give yourself a strict monthly limit to not go over in spending. Maybe start off with a $75 monthly limit. See how many complete games you can get for $75 or less each month, and just do it like that. Sure, it will take a LONG time to collect a lot of games that way, but it should be quite fun.