Collecting Regrets
Does anyone have any regrets in relevance to collecting? Ever passed up a good deal? Ever bought a game over another game and wished you'd bought the other title instead? Ever come across a rare game and passed on it? Ever sold a game or console and later regretted it? Tell your stories here!
I found a Japanese PS1 game at a flea market a couple years ago that I passed on, because I didn't have a modded PS1 to play it on. The game was a special edition of some kind... of Policenauts. Ouch. I wanted to buy a Japanese version of Shining Force for the Mega CD, but there was no disc in the case. The guy who was selling them was Mexican and barely spoke English, so it was hard to get any info about the games from him. I ended up buying some import Saturn title that's just some high-res dancing J-pop girl.
I had a lot of bills 2 holiday seasons ago, which carried over into March. I could have paid them off in a few months, but I wanted to get them done quickly, so I listed on this forum a bunch of "rare" games.
One such game was the sexiest mint condition copy of Dracula X for the SNES. I didn't want to go through eBay since it's a pain in the ass sometimes, and I had an offer of $120 from PrincessIsabella. I did some searching and found that boxed copies go for around $100, so I figured I wouldn't get much more if I sold it on ebay.
A few days after she got it, it was on eBay with a BIN of $250, some fool actually bought it for that much.
It wasn't the fact that she resold what I sold her as much as the fact that she told me she wanted it for collection and was intent on having it shipped Priority Mail (adding to my cost, as it was $120 shipped).
This taught me NEVER to deal with anyone who has an ebay store where they have soundtracks listed at $150 and more.
I regret passing on boxed top loader NES consoles in a Toys R US about 8 years ago. There must have been 10 or so, I don't remember the price. I was looking forward to the Dreamcast, and thought "who would want a NES now?"
At the game store I used to work at, there was a good condition copy of Flintstones Return to Dinosaur Peak (whatever the name is) that was $9.99. Some crazy NES collector came in and freaked out, after doing some research I realized why. That one hurt a lot, since I generally know game values, but never really got into the pre-PS1 game hunting market.
Another time I saw at least 10 Mario DDR bundles at Toys R US during a buy 2 get 1 free, my ex gf told me not to waste my time since they were reprinted. What a mistake that was!
I'm sure there are more, just not as painful as those.
A few memories I have include:
* I remember when my local GameStation first opened, they use dto have a few brand new copies of Super Metroid on the shelf above the counter. The box set versions. They were only £19.99 as virtually everyone had moved onto Saturn's and PlayStation's by then, but I didn't have a SNES, so I passed. They were there for ages, and I have a vivid memory of seeing it sat there in the dead centre, and then one day it was gone. Now I look back, I wish I had've bought it
* Similarly, at roughly the same time, my local EB was having a sale and was selling off all their remaining 32X's and MultiMega's. I remember the 32X was only £25 and the MultiMega was under £50, but by then I had moved onto the PlayStation and didn't really see the point in buying a MultiMega as I already had a Mega Drive. I ended up buying a few PlayStation games instead, but a part of me wishes I had known better and grabbed teh MultiMega...
* I also regret selling my classic GameBoy. I had about 40 games with it, and most of them were boxed complete. One game was the original Castlevania. I also had all four Final Fantasy games, boxed complete. The price I got for this bundle? Just under £60. OUCH! I look back, and this is possibly the worst thing I have ever done in my collecting history. The first and only time I have ever sold a console. But, on the positive side, the actual GameBoy's screen covering had come loose and I stuck it back on with Blu Tack, plus the batteries had leaked and caused a big rusty patch inside (The guy never looked before I traded it in) ~ So in a way, this kind of makes up for the loss...
My biggest regret in game collecting EVER was about 6-7 years ago I think, a bit before I was a hardcore collector but I still kinda collected, I was at a flea market and this one table had alot of slealed PS1 games probably from a clearance since there were alot of duplicates. I picked up a sealed (original mind you since it was way before the GH version was released) copy of final fantasy tactics for PS1 for only $20 I believe. There must have been like 8-10 more copies there but at the time I had no idea the game was so rare (this was at the time when a used version on ebay was worth like $60+ used). If I had known of its rarity I would have bought every copy there to either sell or hold onto for a good investment (since now sealed originals are worth easily $100+ on ebay I havent checked though).
Oh easy, 3d0 at Goodwill last year, no controllers, but it worked great upon testing for 20 bucks. Gone the next day.
Another guy on this forum beat me by 30 seconds to a mega slew of Sega Saturn complete games including all three Panzer Dragoon. Nice guy but aaarrghh!! He got a great price too
I have two basic food groups, fast and frozen.
My big regret was back in August of 2004. I had a chance at an X'Eye for only $20. It was damaged, but worked fine. Not sure why I declined, but it might be because it was damaged. To say I regret not grabbing it would be an understatement. Despite it not looking great... It was a damn X'Eye for only $20!!!!!
My Game Collection
"I am only what you see me as." - Obsidian Rose
1996. Bought King of Fighters 96 AES instead of Metal Slug. Also in the same year I bought King of Fighters 95 instead of a Euro Kizuna Encounter from Telegames.
That's what I call dedication to a series! Lol. That must feel like being mugged twice in the same week.Originally Posted by Superfamifreak
I was strolling around a mall in Salt Lake City and came upon a Software Ect. Store. I decided to go on in and take a look at what they might have. After about 15min of looking around I notice on the top shelf maracas for the Dreamcast game Samba De Amigo. I asked to see them, they were brand new priced at $40. Like An idiot I put them back and have been looking for a set ever since. I know I can find them on Ebay but I choose to find my stuff at local flea markets, Thrift Stores and yard sales, just much more rewarding that way. I've learned from my mistakes and vowed to not make that kind of mistake again and I haven't.
I actually regret ever getting into collecting. I spent a lot of money during those 8-12 months. And now most of those games are in boxes in the basement. I can't stand looking at them anymore. All the Saturn and Genesis and 32X and Sega CD and Dreamcast when I could have been spending that money on good modern games.
I blame Super Mario 3 new in box. Though I don't regret buying that one. Just what followed it.
I dunno. I guess if I hadn't gotten into collecting I wouldn't have any of the stuff that I actually like having. It's a catch-22 I guess.
Thanks DigitalSpace, I knew this had happened a few times before.
**Duplicate Thread Lockerooni**
Because it makes no attempt to be great, it is therefore extremely great.
Some of My Game Collection Mah Mac n' Cheese Blog
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