Age of Collectors on DP. [Archive] - Retrogaming Roundtable

Matt-El

03-21-2006, 05:20 PM

I've noticed that there are a few people that are collecting that are a lot younger than even me. I'm going to be 22 in August, and I sort of started COLLECTING about a few of years ago.

My collection is alright, containing some okay stuff, near-exclusively all finds in the wild. My collection is currently a Mish-Mash of different systems and games.
I think though, that I could be giving it more thought and concentrating on different systems and Items, which I will try and attemt at doing.

I guess the point of this is, What age were you when you started and what do you think was your strategy in the beginning?

whoisKeel

03-21-2006, 05:32 PM

26. I started collecting around 3 years ago. I still had a pretty decent collection for starting (40 or 50 games), just because I didn't really sell too many of my games.

My strategy IS and WAS: Get games that I like to play, games that seem interesting, or games that I played as a kid (even if they suck). I'm mostly focused on NES/SNES. I try to get all the manuals for carts, and try to get complete stuff for CD/DVD games.

I've sold some R4-R6 before just because I didn't think they were particularly good games, and I used that money to buy other more common games that I might play.

I'm on a very limited budget (college) and limited for space, so my "strategy" has stayed the same. Collecting is pretty casual for me.

Atari 5200

03-21-2006, 05:53 PM

Well, it all started about a year ago. The past Christmas I recieved a bike from my mother and went peddling all around town since I didn't have my liscense. I went as much as 15-20 miles from my house with nothing but a backpack to carry my finds and wallet to pay for them, on me everywhere I went. Mostly yardsales since flea markets were too far away. (I got my aunt to drive me to the flea markets) Yardsales didn't provide much for my collection, but it was better than nothing. Later that summer I found something that would change my life for ever...a job...with decent pay...I was doing factory work for twelve hours a day, five days a week, and only getting the weekend to look for games. I finally recieved a ford mercury topaz from my father and I was in business. Every weekend I went all over my hometown and around Elkin, Jonesville, and Wilkesboro to find deals. Pawn Shops, Flea Markets, Bargain Bins, Yard Sales, Auctions, Gamestores. I was all over the place and my paycheck was gone by the next monday. I spent about $200-300 a weekend on games. I was addicted. I first started out with collecting Nintendo, then that wasn't enough. Then it went to Super Nintendo. That wasn't enough. Then it was Gameboy. I then was happy with what I was collecting until one day at the flea market I finally ran into an Atari 2600 for $8. Atari 2600, cord cut in two, (something I knew I could fix) AC adaptor, with some common but good games. I took it home and hooked it up. After that, I started to collect EVERYTHING FOR EVERYTHING. Well, up to now I'm up to 930 total games. 25-30 systems, and a whole lot of bad deals from when I first started. That was a year ago, and I am now 19 years old. I'm in college and don't have any money to buy many games. My name is Atari 5200, and I am addicted to collecting.

max 330 mega

03-21-2006, 06:00 PM

im 17, and started collecting when i was... either late 14, or very early 15.
at first my strategy was to collect everything possible from all gaming eras, but as time has gone by ive slimmed my collection, and my collecting habits down to only specific systems that i like the most.
i have also moved alot more towards online purchases versus thrift stores and pawn shops, partially due to not being able to find many games in my area that are worthwhile and decently priced, but also because most of the systems i focus on now are things like neo geo and import saturn titles, so obviously i cant just walk in a store and hope to find games for those.
that isnt to say that if i do find rare games in the wild, i would turn them down because they are for a specific system i dont collect for, i buy up anything rare regardless of the system, and hope that if i dont need it, someone here on DP will want it for their collection.

Raedon

03-21-2006, 06:08 PM

32.. Started collecting a long time ago. Can't remember when I started at DP but it's been over 3 years.

I'm currently on hold until I buy a house as my collection is just huge and the thought of moving any more around doesn't appeal to me. Plus I got all the common, uncommon games for all systems and anything else I'd buy would be rare and not local anyway.

DKTheArcadeRat

03-21-2006, 06:33 PM

15 years old (man, i am saying that a lot lately) started actually collecting a few years ago. Started playing when I was 3 and beat my first game(SMB) when I was 3 or 4.

My strategy, go to stores and flea markets to look for games I don't have. If they are cheap enough or I want it bad enough I usually buy it, I prefer cheap though as I don't have a job. But I have set a goal and that is to get every US released system + the games I want. So far I have well, just check the sig.

Dave

DKTheArcadeRat

03-21-2006, 06:34 PM

GaijinPunch

03-21-2006, 06:43 PM

I'm 31, but I don't collect per se. I generally keep games that I will play again (in theory), or at least have the desire to play again. Basically, something I really like. My room of doom is very unimpressive by most standards, but I have had my greasy paws on well over 1000 games over the last few years, as I used to locate them for people.

Haoie

03-21-2006, 06:45 PM

20 and a half, and I began almost 3 years ago.

My first game? Technically it was Need for Speed: High Stakes that came for free with my PS, but it's really my FF8.

And the first game I got online was of course, Silent Hill, which was kind of the whole point.

Poofta!

03-21-2006, 06:52 PM

ill be 21 this july. i started when i was 19 or so. i first started doing only rpgs but soon narrowed to just the games i like for only a handful of consoles (atm, im trying to get all the games i like [to play] for genesis, ps, xbox, gba and kinda snes). i have about 250 games and am about 70 games away from completion.

Simply Dave

03-21-2006, 06:54 PM

28 and I've been at it a long time

MarkMan

03-21-2006, 07:09 PM

23 years old.

Started collecting seriously a few years ago, but I've been gaming since I was 4 or 5 :) !

keiblerfan69

03-21-2006, 07:10 PM

I'm 17 and I have been collection since I was 14.

kainemaxwell

03-21-2006, 07:11 PM

28 now, gaming most my life. Really started actually collecting after the DP Survivor game of a few years back actually.

Jumpman Jr.

03-21-2006, 07:15 PM

20 8-)
I started collecting when I was 18, and haven't looked back yet.

Fighter17

03-21-2006, 07:46 PM

16, and been collecting since October.

At October I was able to get money to buy a lot of games. Also in October my friend gave me a free Genesis Model 2 with games, and thus my collection began. I used to own a Genesis before, but my father force me to get rid of it. Since I'm order now, my father understands my hobby. I go to flea markets time to time just looking for games that I want to play. Most of the time I just look on the internet to find games that I'm looking for (with great luck). I have a list on this computer that tells me what games I want to buy for the Genesis/Sega CD. I use emulation to see if I like the game or not. If I like the game, well I buy it. As of right now my Genesis/Sega CD collection is over 30 games with five Japanese Megadrive imports and some rare games. :)

BrokenFlight

03-21-2006, 08:01 PM

I'm 19. I've been collecting for a year now. I started with a Megadrive with 7 games, and a PS2 with 15 games. Now I've got over 220 games for 11 systems.

I mainly collect Megadrive games. I have over 70 of them. I usually buy whatever is available, if it's cheap enough. I'm thinking of selling the crappy games. I don't play them all too often and I sort of need the money.

I get questioned a lot by my cynical friends, who say it's a waste of money. I think the way I collect games is a bit of a waste, in that I don't just buy games I really want to play.

My collection is in my sig (When the site is back up) or a nearly complete list in my profile.

Bratwurst

03-21-2006, 08:04 PM

I can't tell anyone my true age but I have been gaming for over 987 years, my earliest memories being a participant of the tribal dance of the M'tok Kunu in the dust plains of north west Africa. I have rolled the bone dice of the Leopard King in the Rhino's Horn and played tag with chimpanzee in the rolling woods of Tanzania.

Iron Draggon

03-21-2006, 08:09 PM

kentuckyfried

03-21-2006, 08:24 PM

I'm 28 and have been collecting, selling off the whole thing and collecting (rinse, repeat), since I was 19.

Nesmaster

03-21-2006, 08:34 PM

18, collecting since about age 12

Sylentwulf

03-21-2006, 08:36 PM

This board always makes me feel damned old, like whenever I play MMORPG's.

I'm 30 today. Old enough to be considered mature and serious, but not too old to have wild and crazy sex..... of course.... I am married, so that's not really a factor anymore :/

cyberfluxor

03-21-2006, 08:38 PM

I guess I'll start off with being 21 and I've been collecting for 3 years now. I started off with buying a Genesis a Columns and it continued from there. I decided that what was to be collected were games I had heard of or played from ealier days in my life and relive or experience what I never played. Generally I try to stay away from sports titles, but I'm sure one day I'll begin grabbing them when I turn into more of a pure collector. I've already bought so many games of my past up to present that now I branch out to titles I've never heard of and try them out. So things that were once ignored are now getting picked up. I don't mind going out and finding nothing because I tend to do collecting "on the side". If I go out to my grandparents I slip by a few pawn shops along the way; on the way to work once a week (generally Tuesday) I go by the pawn shop around its corner; near the movies there's a bunch of GameStops and EBGames. So, it's something I don't get disappointed in, but excited over finds.

le geek

03-21-2006, 08:39 PM

Well, I'm 32 these days. I started collecting in college when I started to discover just how many different Atari 2600 carts there were! I was going for a complete loose 2600 NTSC collection for a while, but I got out of that race for now when I realized just how hard it would be to track down the real stinkers like Video Life @_@. I downsided my 2600 collection by over 100 carts (and I still have over 250). For the most part I collect and keep the games I like to play. There are two collections I am going for now. Every game by Treasure plus a couple variants (Have 20 out of 27) and chipping away and a complete US Turbo collection (minus the boxes). (49 Hucards, 6 CDs). I can see myself getting back into 2600 at some point, but who knows. Right now I have around 875 games...

Cheers,

Ben

vahn401

03-21-2006, 08:51 PM

I was 24 when I started collecting for the Genesis, which was in 1992. I'm 38 now. My strategy then was the same as it is now. I just try to buy games in "mini collections" whenever I can. Like all the games in a certain genre, or all the games in a certain series, or all the games by a certain developer. That way I always have something to be proud of along the way, which keeps me encouraged to continue collecting. It is way too frustrating to just get any old game here and there. That is why alot of young collectors give up on collecting, because they don't feel that they have really accomplished anything along the way. They just have a bunch of random old games. But if you do it with some sort of "mini goals" along the way, instead of just trying to attack it all at once, it becomes alot less intimidating and alot less discouraging. You can look at your mini goals and say to yourself, I can do that, it is not so many games. Then when you achieve one of your mini goals, you can be proud of your accomplishment and move on to the next one. And in the meantime you have something to show for it that you can be proud of while you work on the next one.

This is what actually got me really into collecting. I am currently 18 years old, and i've probably been collecting since 15 i believe. I've been buying games since I was 10, but started tracking them down at 15. I had received a PS1 with FF7 and Resident Evil back in 01-02. Fell in love with final fantasy 7, and the whole squaresoft genre. Thus I had a goal to track down every U.S. released PS1 squaresoft game. Took close to a year, but I finally did it. From there I moved onto collecting every U.S. released PS1 RPG. Since having a good amount after collecting squaresoft, I thought I would just broaden my horizons. The RPG hunt never seemed tough, I would walk into my local EB at least once a week and always seemed to walk out with at least one more game towards my goal. Biggest find was in one trip, I came across suikoden 2, vandal hearts 2, tales of destiny 2, and Lunar 1 for a total of 75. Once completing this, I debated on just widdling away at the massive PS1 library, but then I came across a nice 40 game N64 lot. I then thought, hey, theres not nearly as many n64 games as ps1 games, i'll go after that. And thats where I am now, 224 complete U.S. released N64 games. Missing mostly sports games.

zerohero

03-21-2006, 09:03 PM

21, started over a year ago. My basic plan was just to collect for SNES/NES/DC, but I narrowed that down to SNES as of right now. I started only collecting the games I wanted, or enjoyed when I was younger, then I started looking for more rare titles.

Which reminds me, I need to update my list on DP...

Daria

03-21-2006, 09:10 PM

I'm 22 now, I never really started collecting as much as buying them became habitual and one day I realized I owned more then most people. I couldn't pin point the exact day it happened. I've always had the right mentality for the hobby, when I was in middle school my NES died but I continued to aquire new cartridges while carefully stashing away my old games. At the time I reasoned when I was older I'd find a replacement system and be able to play them all again.

When I was 15 I requested a PlayStation for my birthday. It was then that I really started cracking down on an all RPG collection. I'd always enjoyed the genre the most, but that was the first system I had that I only purchased and played one genre for. When I was 16 I had built a rom collection of every RPG released for preN64 cart based systems and hosted my own romsite.

Today I own over 500 games, 316 of which are Role Playing. I consider my genesis collection complete and am only a single title away from having every RPG released for PlayStation in the US.

Sparky

03-21-2006, 09:31 PM

Im 33 now and i started out as a kid with the SMS and my TRS-80, and have always collected for them both off and on as a grew up, but i have been really into it the last 8ish years when i picked up my first Atari and then later a TG16 :)

FullCircle

03-21-2006, 09:38 PM

I'm a quarter century, and have been collecting games for almost as long as I've been hacking them. I started playing video games when you had to code them into a Basic compiler on your IBM PC AT or XT (or if you were behind the times, a PC Jr). So I soon learned how Basic worked. By the age of 6, I had rewritten Castle Adventure into Shane's Haunted House. My father kept me interested in video games and computers, thinking I'd get a great job in IBM when I grew up. That is, until he and the rest of the families in the area got laid off around 1995. Now I work in auto insurance. Hooray!

dreamcaster

03-21-2006, 09:43 PM

I'm 20 at the moment, (21 in August) and I started collecting in the second-half of 2001. It was a VERY slow start though.

My grandad gave me my cousin's old Game Gear in August 2001. He found it in their bin and shoved it in my face and said: "HERE YOU FIX" in his quasi-Russian accent.

I pulled it apart, but aside from some dust, nothing appeared to be wrong (not that I could tell). Fired it up, and worked! Came with four games too. At that point already, the thought occurred, "hey wouldn't it be awesome to collect this retro-gaming stuff?" At that point, I only had an N64, Game Boy Color and Atari Lynx.

A few months later I then got an Atari 2600 Jr. for free off a n acquaintance at school. Came with 7 games and it was at that point that I decided that I would start collecting.

I decided to start off by getting a SNES to replace the one I stupidly sold years before, although that didn't happen until June 2002 - and it was at that point, that I started collecting full time.

MrRoboto19XX

03-21-2006, 10:33 PM

I dont like to give out my age online, but Im between 18 and 20 years old, and Ive been collecting since I was 13 when I got my Sega Master System.

Its honestly been like a snowball from there. Ive really fallen into a lot of stuff for no reason whatsoever.

BydoEmpire

03-21-2006, 10:47 PM

32. I used to resell games a lot when I was young and broke, and my 16 bit systems were stolen from my apartment in college so i had to reacquire classic games via fleas and ebay. I did manage to hold on to my original 2600 and Inty. I don't actively collect that much, I just keep almost all the games I buy, and occasionally hit the flea market or ebay for older games.

Canadian Psycho

03-21-2006, 11:18 PM

29 here. Been collecting since 1996-1997, trying to recapture my youth (and then some) one game at a time. :)

incubus421

03-22-2006, 12:22 AM

I'll be 19 in just a week and a half. I have been collecting since a few years before now. I would say about 15 or 16. Around the time I got my first job and actually had money to spend on games I wanted.
I haven't really started a hardcore collection of anything though, I just snoop around looking for mostly great and rare RPG's. Since I have joined DP though I have had a major boost up in my collecting hobby, and it has only been a couple weeks since my joining.
Thank you DP!

retroman

03-22-2006, 12:37 AM

i am 27, and i started collecting when i was 15....even then i still had a huge collection for the time

Pantechnicon

03-22-2006, 12:44 AM

I'm 36, and I suppose I've been collecting for 11 years now. That is, it's been 11 years now since I started buying games and systems above and beyond what I already had, which in itself was all replacement material for things that got sold off at garage sales, etc after I left my parents' home to live on my own at 18.

Heads up to you young'uns: When you leave, take it with you, or get it in writing that your parents won't garage sale/Ebay/throw out your stuff.

PapaStu

03-22-2006, 01:03 AM

I'm currently 25 and have in some way or another been collecting since I was 7 or 8 and have been playing since I was 3. I've still got all my childhood games and if memory serves have only sold off/back a small handfull of games that I didn't already have (and that was only because I didn't collect stuff for that system).

In the beginning I had no strategy. It was just the games I wanted when I was little. Beaten or not they were kept. I still don't have a huge strategy today other than to get variants and stuff for the systems I go after. I just build collections for the systems I like. One collecting mantra is once it's in the collection it stays in the collection. Another is that I do my best to buy it once, so I don't have to rebuy it over and over. I'll spend the money and hunt for the condition that I want as to not waste my money buying many copies, even if that means waiting a long time for it to come back around.

NinjaJoey23

03-22-2006, 01:30 AM

I'm 19 years of age. I have been playing video games since I was 3, my first game being Super Mario Bros. My family in one that is very open to video games, with my great grandmother (now in her 80s) being the first in our family to beat The Legend of Zelda, my grandmother who enjoys Megaman 2 and Dr. Mario, and my uncle who was a Simon's Quest and Dusty Diamond playing-fool. I suspose I have been collecting since that point, getting the new game systems at Christmas, and games for my birthday.

My first year in college I took my NES, SNES, N64, and Game Cube. This made me quite a popular guy in the dorm. We had a two tv setup that allowed for say NES and Game Cube to be played simultaneously, with the players sitting right next to one another. Good times. It was at this point that I began to get interested in collecting games, mostly for playing.

I found DP when I was searching for a rarity guide for NES games. After looking through the Rooms of Doom, I was wowed to see that NES boxed games even existed. I decided then to collect a full, boxed, complete NES set.

That was last August. Now, I'm settled more into the attitude of moderation, buying games that I mainly want to play, but trying to get them complete or at least in decent condition.

briskbc

03-22-2006, 02:21 AM

I'm 34 for the next 10 months. I've been collecting for about 8 years now but I've had to sell my collection a few times over due to a couple of rough pathces. Now I'm clear and I can keep what I find when I go hunting.

I've been playing since I was 9. My cousins got a 2600 and I played Space Invaders on this crappy black and white TV until I got a splitting headache. And played for 30 minutes behond that.

Tron2005

03-22-2006, 02:26 AM

31 and in 1980 my parents bought my brother and myself a Shiny new Intellivision system and we had fun its still one of my favorite consoles. then a couple years later after the controller in our Intellivision broke my parents got us a Intellivision 2 with a 2600 system changer.

after the fall of the Game industry we did like alot of other people did i got into Atari Computers i played computer games then for years after that

until the Gameboy came out .. and i had to have one a couple years after that i bought a genesis but i got busy with working and all and lost interest until 2003 when i bought my Xbox and then got the bug again and started getting any console i could get my hands on

Sailorneorune

03-22-2006, 02:54 AM

21 for another month, and gaming off and on since I was 3 years old. My first game system was an Atari 2600; first system I played well was the NES. The first system that was actually mine and mine alone was an original Game Boy, which met an ugly fate at the bottom of a stack of big heavy boxes...

I have been collecting games for about 4 or 5 years now. The Sega Channel is one of the things that inspired me to start collecting, because there were just SO MANY GAMES that I never knew existed before I played them through Sega Channel... good times.

I have small collections for the NES, SNES, Genesis, Saturn, Dreamcast, N64, PS1, PS2, and DS, and slightly larger collections for the Gamecube and GBA. I collect games that my friends, family and I will enjoy, and not purely for rarity, though I am not above taking advantage of the rarity guide in trades... LOL
I look forward to getting into import Saturn soon, and getting more import Dreamcast games.

Sailorneorune

03-22-2006, 02:54 AM

CRAP. Double-posted. :embarrassed:

tom

03-22-2006, 04:06 AM

Wow, you guys (and girls?) are all babies

48 since yesterday (21. 03 1958), feel sometimes between 25 - 35, sometimes 65 - 95.

Remember seeing the German Odyssee (Odyssey) in toyshops around 1975. Was interested in music and girls (and my car in 1976), not video gaming.

Played Pong on my Uncles TV around 1977.

Started late with VCS (1984).
Serious collecting VCS since 1985

XE (1985), C-64 (1986).
(Decided to own both, therefore I can honestly comment on which 8-bit platform is 'better than yours', unlike the majority of computer users, who never touched the opposite platform).

Only ever wanted to collect for these three platforms, by late 80s I was doing excellent with VCS collecting, loads of XE and C-64 discs and tapes and carts as well.

Later, early 90s, with the knowledge of 'The 2600 Connection' and 'Digital Press', getting to know USA gamers like Tim, Dominick, Russ, Joe, the late Kevin, Al, Scott and many more, the 'collecting-for-all-systems' bug appeared.

From then on it was buying, selling and buying, regretting selling, buying more, selling even more to pay the rent...and so on. Now I own many systems but not many games.
>>Tip for newbies out there: Stick to few systems, and collect many games.<<

Now, 48, I settled down a bit, and restarted collecting VCS.

tom

03-22-2006, 04:06 AM

Forgot to mention, played arcades (late 70s/early 80s) whilst being a drummer in a band (during breaks, not whilst playing; before some smartass comments), due to the fact that many machines were placed in bars and discotheks were we performed

thefireflowermario

03-22-2006, 05:41 AM

man you guys are ummerrum old...
Im 14 and Ive been collecting for a few months but I have always liked games,
I started seriously collecting when one weekend I was at a maket or something and thought hey this could be fun and
when I started posting on hyper (dreamcaster would know)
and I found this site (I forget how) it just snowballed from there and I'm at the 50 mark.

Speedy_NES

03-22-2006, 06:30 AM

I'm 21...started collecting heavily when I was 12 for two years, then took a break when I was 14 and started collecting again a year ago, so in total I've been collecting for 3 years now. I think I may take a break again soon...it keeps it interesting to see how the collecting scene changes and it's always nice to uncover the boxes filled with stuff that you haven't seen for a while ;)

klausien

03-22-2006, 07:12 AM

Well I'm 27, turning 28 in April, and started collecting about 8 years or so ago. Didn't really get serious until about 5 years ago. Of course, I was heavily into games as far back as grade school, but having an income is necessary for collecting.

Now I have a great deal of what I always wanted (1240 unique games, only about 5 or so choice sports titles), but games like the upcoming New Super Mario Bros. and my recently acquired Super Princess Peach keep me interested. The thing I am most proud of in my collection is my complete Treasure collection, barring the Brazilian Master System ports which I could care less about. I have the Japanese GG Gunstar and Headdy, so I am satisfied.

Revolution is my system of choice in the lead up to the next platform war. Have been and always will be a quality over quantity person, even with so many games. Even without the need for the "virtual console" due to the fact that I have everything from Nintendo's past that I want, the controller and price point are very exciting. I also love all things Mario and Zelda. Who doesn't? :)

Damaramu

03-22-2006, 07:23 AM

30 years old.

Gaming since 1982 when I got an Atari 5200 for Christmas, started collecting in 1991 when I traded a comic book collection for a TG-16 w/ CD attachment and about 25-30 games.

I've gone through several different game collections, but foolishly sold them when I was a young teen.

I started collecting hardcore back in 97-98, mostly Saturn stuff. As of two years ago, I decided to rebuild my teenage collection: SNES, Genesis, Turbo Grafx. Eventually I'd like to get another Atari 5200.

My current SNES and Genesis collection has exceeded the collections I had when I was a kid. That's a good thing.

smokehouse

03-22-2006, 07:30 AM

28.

I�ve been gaming since the release of the NES. I started collecting in 1996 when I bought a used copy of River City Ransom at a pawnshop for $6. I�ve had times when I bought a ton of stuff and times when I went many, many months without a vg related purchase.

Between the Neo forums and this place, I really don�t have time for any other boards anymore.

Mayhem

03-22-2006, 07:51 AM

31 here (soon to be 32) and approaching old fart territory I guess. On the other hand, ever since acquiring the C64 in the early 80s I have essentially been collecting; nothing I've acquired (bar the NES between my brother and I) has been sold off so it's been steadily accumulating since then!

Technically it means I've been collecting for about 22 years.

Though that was mostly C64 items. Only in the last few years (and a paying job) have I branched onto other platforms such as NGPC, Vectrex, 7800, Vic20 and SNES.

njiska

03-22-2006, 07:57 AM

21, and collecting for only a few.

FlufflePuff

03-22-2006, 08:18 AM

Started playing when I was 8 with my Atari 2600. Sold all of my games when I hit high school. Started rebuying them when I hit college. Started fullblown collecting when I was 20. I'm now 24 and my NES collection is rapidly nearing completion *yay*.

meancode

03-22-2006, 08:56 AM

I am 27, will be 28 in April. Good heaven.

Started on an Amiga and an Apple ][. Tons of gaming on the Apple ][gs!

I don't have the systems to collect, so I make up for them with ROMs 8-)

boatofcar

03-22-2006, 09:08 AM

I started out on an Atari 1200XL in 1986. I started collecting in college. I'm 24.

fishsandwich

03-22-2006, 09:32 AM

Oh, good. I'm not the oldest one here. I'm 35 now... soon to be 36 (where did the time go? Seriously.)

Anway, I guess I started collecting when I got the PSone back in '95, but the REAL collecting began a few years later when I found a dirty but working 2600 and some carts on the side of the road.

I've pretty much stopped collecting now, but I like to keep up with the hobby and buy something now and then.

poloplayr

03-22-2006, 10:31 AM

Turned 28 not too long ago. Been a gamer since I was 6 or 7.

cyberfluxor

03-22-2006, 10:36 AM

Hehe, fast moving thread! Happy to see a good chunk of you in the 20's spread out. Bunch of NES & SMS kids!

anagrama

03-22-2006, 10:54 AM

27 - right in the middle of the bell-curve, by the looks of things. Been actively collecting since about '97/'98. Before tha I was just yer average gamer.

Mr.Faxanadu

03-22-2006, 11:21 AM

28, Been collecting ever since I walked into a local video game store and found some sealed NES games. That led me to look on eBay to see if I could find more. I then found DP and really got into it. This was about 3 yrs ago.

I must say that I DON'T COLLECT GAMES THAT I WANT TO PLAY! I can see that there are many people who like to collect games that they're interested in. For me, It's a fun game of finding steals in the wild or eBay and reselling them - only keeping the "gems" that are really rare.

I started by spending a couple of hundred but since then my rule is not to spend any money at all! I'm only allowed to spend the money I've made:

Stats so far -

Spent $2,146.93
Sold $2,735.06
TOTAL $588.13 <-- meaning I'm up $588 dollars (US)
Est Worth $3,109.00 � meaning I have about 3K worth of games that I can sell

I have NEVER played any of the games I bought. Now before you think I'm crazy I should mention that I still love playing retro games but I do it using my xbox which has over 40,000 games on it. Right now I'm into Lufia II for the SNES. I think playing games on emulator is WAY better then the real thing! You can save whenever and fast track the frames through fights or narrative parts.

I wonder if there are any other collectors like me out there ?!?!

Icarus Moonsight

03-22-2006, 11:38 AM

26 years, gaming for 22 of em. Started out on a VCS that my dad bought "for me" at four years old. He wanted the brand spanking new NES ("It comes with a funking robot!", Dad, slight edit) but my mother would have castrated him for spending that much money on "brainrot". Mostly I watched my pops play Ms. Pac Man for most of the first year of the VCS. I fondly remember my first favorite games on the VCS, even though I have no plans on getting the VCS and games back. After the newness wore off and I started showing the old man up, his interest in games trailed off. It took Legend of Zelda LttP to entrap him again.

Over two decades later, I mostly just play the games I acquire and rarely acquire a game I don't care to play. That being said, I don't consider myself a collector in the way many people think of a collector, especially here on DP. Most my stuff is loose. I don't mind totally messed up labels, nor cosmetic inperfections. As long as it works and plays, I'm a happy camper. To simplify... I have a gaming collection, not a collection of games. :)

shoes23

03-22-2006, 03:48 PM

I'm currently 24 and started collecting PC games for my old Gateway Pentium 75. I stopped collecting PC games a couple of years ago when the requirements just kept ramping up (imagine having to update your console every couple of months to ensure that you could play the newer games with no hiccups).

I've always collected games (as I'm usually too anal to sell them, i.e. I bought a Super Troll Islands (SNES) complete for $3 with the full intention of selling it or using it as trade bait, but it still rests with the rest of the SNES games. I still have all my orginal consoles from the Atari 2600 to the PS2.

My strategy then was the same as it is now. I just try to buy games in "mini collections" whenever I can. Like all the games in a certain genre, or all the games in a certain series, or all the games by a certain developer. That way I always have something to be proud of along the way, which keeps me encouraged to continue collecting. It is way too frustrating to just get any old game here and there. That is why alot of young collectors give up on collecting, because they don't feel that they have really accomplished anything along the way. They just have a bunch of random old games. But if you do it with some sort of "mini goals" along the way, instead of just trying to attack it all at once, it becomes alot less intimidating and alot less discouraging. You can look at your mini goals and say to yourself, I can do that, it is not so many games. Then when you achieve one of your mini goals, you can be proud of your accomplishment and move on to the next one. And in the meantime you have something to show for it that you can be proud of while you work on the next one.

I can't recommend this enough to people. I remember when I first popped onto DP here, I would search the articles and the forums for hours on end. Then, I came across this article that talked about how people add to their collection and one of the suggestions was to collect by devoloper. I found it crazy at the time since often a devoloper makes equally good and bad games, however, it has been the most rewarding way of collecting that I have found. I recently finished off my "Ultra Games" collection for the NES, and exactly like Iron Draggon said, you feel a sense of accomplishment. It has also slowed down my spending because I'm not looking for anything and everything, ultimately, leaving me more money to spend on games that I really want. If you are strapped for cash or just looking for a sense of accomplishment, then first single out your favorite system, then your favorite devoloper for it, and begin hunting.

� Gideon �

03-22-2006, 03:58 PM

Hammy

03-22-2006, 04:45 PM

i'm 18 and have been collecting consoles for about 10 years. i began growing up and started collecting arcade machines when i turned about 15. i still pick up the odd job lot to fatten up the old console collection, but i'm more proud of my 10 cabs :)

Matt-El

03-22-2006, 04:57 PM

EDIT: Dang Screwy computer! Double Post!

98PaceCar

03-22-2006, 04:58 PM

31 now, turning 32 on the 25th of this month.

I have been a gamer since the 2600, but not full time. I spent a good amount of time away from consoles when I had my Commodore 128 and later Amiga 500.

In 1998, I got the bug for an arcade machine and started collecting as many as I could cram into my 700 sq foot apartment (more than you would think!). Once I moved to my house, my arcade collection exploded and has pretty much hit critical mass at right around 40 machines.

Sometime in 2003, I started hanging around with Raedon who introduced me to DP and more importantly, CGE. After that first CGE, I started going nuts with my console purchases. I honestly don't know what all I own now, but I have all of the US released consoles from the major players (Atari, Sega, Nintendo, Sony, Microsoft) and a ton of the lesser known systems along with a lot of notable foreign systems. I'm somewhat working towards having a boxed example of every system released in the US (not counting variants, though I do tend to buy quite a few of those). Sadly, I'm getting to the point where I'm going to have to start shelling out some serious cash to get the remaining few I need. Anybody have a Halcyon they want to unload?? @_@

Sosage

03-22-2006, 05:03 PM

Well I'm 27, turning 28 in April

Same here. Happy 28th birthday to us.

I've only traded in a hand full of games to a used game store twice. Both were horrible experiences. Other than that I've always held onto my games. Depending on your definition, that means I've been collecting ever since I was a toddler (but that is a silly claim, so ignore it). I suppose the actual �collecting� didn't begin until I was 17-18 and discovered that I could buy broken, yet repairable arcade hardware for cheap. That was my gateway drug that brought me back towards console/computer game collecting. Now I collect everything (and as you can see from my post count, I mostly lurk these forums).

Not to go off topic, but I like having a huge library of games to pull from. I like it when guests come to my house and browse my library. I like it when someone discusses a game idea with me and I can pull out a stack of titles from various systems and discuss why �X-title failed to do this well, but Y-title really took the idea somewhere�. My hobby has actually become both a conversation piece and a very handy research tool. My only regret after all of these years is that I don't have more titles lining my shelves.

Matt-El

03-22-2006, 05:19 PM

My strategy then was the same as it is now. I just try to buy games in "mini collections" whenever I can. Like all the games in a certain genre, or all the games in a certain series, or all the games by a certain developer. That way I always have something to be proud of along the way, which keeps me encouraged to continue collecting. It is way too frustrating to just get any old game here and there. That is why alot of young collectors give up on collecting, because they don't feel that they have really accomplished anything along the way. They just have a bunch of random old games. But if you do it with some sort of "mini goals" along the way, instead of just trying to attack it all at once, it becomes alot less intimidating and alot less discouraging. You can look at your mini goals and say to yourself, I can do that, it is not so many games. Then when you achieve one of your mini goals, you can be proud of your accomplishment and move on to the next one. And in the meantime you have something to show for it that you can be proud of while you work on the next one.

I can't recommend this enough to people. I remember when I first popped onto DP here, I would search the articles and the forums for hours on end. Then, I came across this article that talked about how people add to their collection and one of the suggestions was to collect by devoloper. I found it crazy at the time since often a devoloper makes equally good and bad games, however, it has been the most rewarding way of collecting that I have found. I recently finished off my "Ultra Games" collection for the NES, and exactly like Iron Draggon said, you feel a sense of accomplishment. It has also slowed down my spending because I'm not looking for anything and everything, ultimately, leaving me more money to spend on games that I really want. If you are strapped for cash or just looking for a sense of accomplishment, then first single out your favorite system, then your favorite devoloper for it, and begin hunting.

I think that this is what I SHOULD do myself. I think that I might go crazy just picking up whatever.

What to choose, though. Parting with what I don't use might be frustrating in case I actually decide to go that route later on. Do I want to get rid of a system that I didn't even play? Seems kind of rediculous that there is such a connection to owning items that you couldn't care less about...

It could be interesting on the previous point. Collect all games made or produced by Capcom, or Sonic Team, or something like that could be interesting.

It's interesting to see where other people started. It's quite enlightening for me.

*In the beginning, do you think that all of us were a bit lost at one time, wether it be by knowledge or interest?

At least I was. Or should I say still am? I know more and more about Collecting each day and love the hunt for new bounty.

Matt-El

03-22-2006, 05:19 PM

EDIT: Double Post!

Matt-El

03-22-2006, 05:19 PM

EDIT: Triple Post!

Speed Racer

03-22-2006, 06:01 PM

I'm 38 and have been collecting games for about 2 years now. I don't have a specific focus, it's basically just what interests me regardless of the system or developer. Currently the oldest system I have in my collection is the classic NES. The first one I had as a kid was an Atari 2600 but I've never had the urge to collect anything older than the NES.

suppafly

03-22-2006, 06:23 PM

Im 28 years old. I started collecting after finishing college (4 years ago).

So far I have 350 genesis games, 12 sega cd games, 10 32x games, 60 nes games, 40 snes games.....

Finding sega games in mexico is VERY hard....:(

Griking

03-22-2006, 07:56 PM

I just turned 37 last week and although I never really sold or let go of the games that I bought when I was younger, I didn't "officially" start collection until about seven or eight years ago when I walked into a Goodwill for my first time with my fiance and found an Atari 5200 witha bunch of games for sale for $20. I've been collecting ever since.

Originally my strategy was to pick up all of the games that I always wanted when I was younger but couldn't afford but once that goal came and went I basically just started collecting anything videogame related that I'd find. I'm also a big PC and computer game collector as well.