How do you Collect Your Games?

[UnpluggedClone]

Google 4 Gaga

[DuckTalesNES]

I have a rough idea of the games I want and basically just buy them. I'm not collecting for any systems or anything, just for playing games by myself and with friends. I mostly get games that I want to play so I'm relatively impatient about getting them so I look for a "reasonably" good deal and then I buy them. If I see a game I know I want to play sometime for a good price I'll pick it up.

For example, I found a guy on craigslist selling ChronoTrigger w/ the manuals and maps on craigslist for $30 so I went out and picked it up even though I'm not planning on playing it soon. $30 is probably a pretty good deal but its hardly amazing. But I don't care about scouring the earth for a $10 copy, I have better things to do :-)

Other times, I realize I don't have a copy of Rescue Rangers for the NES anymore so I look over all of the ebay auctions for one that seems like its in good shape and a good price and I just order it.

For newer games I wait for the major price drops and then I scoop them up and play them later. Rarely do I buy games at the day 1 prices. (The only ones I've done that with this year were Beatles Rock Band and Bioshock 2 Special Edition).

If I find something valuable at a thrift store or something that I can turn around and sell relatively easily then I'll do that. I go to used video game stores, and check out a few other places (Goodwill, craigslist sometimes, half priced books). I saw a complete SNES at the goodwill for $12.99 and then traded it in to preplayed for $25 so that seemed worthwhile. If I don't see anything I want, then I don't pick anything up.

[UnpluggedClone]

Google 4 Gaga

[DuckTalesNES]

Ahh see, if I see a copy of Snatcher for like $60-75 and I'm interested in playing it I'll probably shell out for it. But I consider that I've saved that money by not dropping $50-$60 on newer games that I can wait and buy for $20-30 about 6 months later. But I agree, I don't really drop face value on things.

[aclbandit]

I live in the middle-of-nowhere, WV, USA. I don't have many options. Craigslist is usually pretty much without anything useful EVER,and I've basically cleared out all of the local flea markets (only one of which ever even really had a good selection).

My only option is, sadly, eBay (or the neo-geo.com forums for my arcade stuff). I know that I'm paying a little more than I would have to if I found it "in the wild," but when your options are severely limited, you do what you gotta.

The plus side to this method, though, is that if I decide I want something specific, I just go buy it, and I have it within a few days; there's no searching for weeks or months on end.

Also, Snatcher is amazing. Even if you DO have to pay eBay price, it's honestly worth it, IMO.

[jonebone]

I do all of my buying and selling on eBay and forums. I also live in a rural area in MD, so I might be lucky to find a NES System with 5 generic games two or three times a year on CL or at yard sales. I only collect CIB and Sealed though, so all of my collection items have been purchased online.

But I'm in the same boat as you, my entire collection has been free. It started with a $500 "investment" in a bunch of NES resale lots that I bought off eBay. I started flipping games and keeping CIBs that I needed, along with repairing the systems and replacing the 72 Pin. That started in August 2008, so I've been a "collector" for maybe 18 months now.

I'll probably go for a full CIB or Sealed N64 set, but I just collect populars / RPGs and "games I want to play" from NES and SNES. Probably have at least 100 CIBs on each platform, and no filler. Probably another 50-75 on Genesis and I just began collecting PS1 last month. Already around 30 CIB / Sealed on there, I can tell I'm going to have a lot of fun with PS1.

Its just a matter of collecting within your means. I have a girlfriend who is still in school so I'm the one stuck paying ALL of the bills, mortgage, electric, DirectTV, internet, grocery store and everything inbetween. Reselling is the only way I can afford to collect so if I'm buying fast, then I'm selling fast too

I always slow down collecting in the summer though, gotta enjoy the nice summer weather!

[cityside75]

I have a large collection (will post pics within the next couple of weeks) and my entire collection is from going to thrift stores, pawn shops, CRAIGS LIST, and garage sales etc... In a way i've paid nothing for my entire collection considering all the money i've made from buying and selling, almost my entire collection is from cherry picking craigs lots etc... I have so many games that i run into the same games i have often and sell off what i already have, if i find a complete copy i sell off the loose copy i have. I've bought less then 15 things on ebay total EVER! Luckily i live in a large city (LA) where it has a large selection of craigs lists adds for vintage gaming.

I've never been able to justify paying ebay prices for stuff that if you work hard for there's a chance you will find it out in the wild. That and the fact that i'm not very wealthy and my wife would never let me spend 120 bucks for bubble bobble 2 on ebay. There is a lot and i mean a lot of things i would love to have but just can't pay ebay prices for it.

But the cool thing about not buying stuff on ebay and hoping you find it in the wild is the incredible high you get when you score something. Do any of you guys do a lot of thrift store hopping? Because the high of finding something like a Sealed Super Nintendo at a thrift store for 30 bucks is amazing.

I know for some people that live in small towns you have no choice but to shop ebay. But what are your guys collecting habits like and how do you do it?

You described my collecting habits almost to the letter. I live in suburban Chicago, so like you I have many options aside from ebay. There are very few (if any) games that I really want to have, my pleasure comes from the unpredictable nature of hunting in the wild. For example, I never had an overwhelming desire to own a Sega Nomad that would justify the ebay prices for one, but when I found a nice condition Nomad at my local Goodwill for $2.99 a while back, it was such a great feeling to add that to my collection.

I'm sure some of our friends think that I blow a huge amount of money on my game collection, but in reality my unwillingness to pay "market prices" for most games and the ebay selling that we do means that like you, my game collection isn't really all that expensive.

[BetaWolf47]

I only, only buy locally. I've only bought from craigslist three times. Everything else in my entire collection is from pawn shops, thrift stores, flea markets, Play N Trade stores, and other game stores.

I'm from the suburbs in Southwest Florida. Collecting conditions are amazing there. Here's what it's like:
-Nobody knows the true value of the games
-There's just enough population to circulate classic games in the wild, but not enough so that I have big competition
-There's a decent amount of secondhand shops

So yeah, I've gotten some really great finds from my hometown. Besides a couple Play N Trades by my college apartment, my new area has been pretty dry.

[SegaAges]

There are multiple collectors here in Omaha, so I have to be quick if I see something worth while. I am serious when i say that some guy was selling 49 NES games for $50, and one of the games was Stadium Events. I e-mailed him less than 30 minutes after it came up on Craigslist, and the next day he had already gotten an offer above me.

I know a couple collector's in Omaha, but there are a bunch of hidden collector's out there as well in Omaha that will just randomly pop up.

[UnpluggedClone]

Google 4 Gaga

[Rickstilwell1]

The local shops in my area seem to be the types who check ebay for prices. That said, I rarely find a better deal locally than I do on Amazon.com or ebay. On craigslist, old school games are rarely listed and all I usually ever see are current gen or last gen systems and games. I tried listing my old classic games and got no reply.

I guess around Seattle there are less people into old school gaming enough to go hunting locally. But maybe it's the impression that it is just click on ebay and get it in the mail instead of going around searching. Could also be the mindset that gas prices to drive somewhere + the cost of the game locally = the same thing as ebay.

This forum is a great place to turn to when I want something specific, but if I can't get any replies such as when I was looking for a CIB Crash Bandicoot 1, I go straight to both ebay and Amazon.com and compare prices, choosing the cheaper of the two. I still check the local store every once in a while to make sure if they have something I am looking for. If the guy looks on ebay and sees it's cheap he'll make it cheap for me.

When I collect I usually go for games that I know about. Unless I am buying games in large lots. If it's a CD game I usually prefer getting it in the jewel case / DVD type case with its manual and if it's current gen I will only buy it if it has those. But if it's older and it's a really big price drop for getting it without the case, i.e. X-Men: Children of the Atom for Playstation and I really want to play the game, I'll go for disc only to start with and come back to a CIB one after I get all the games I want (which will probably never happen anyway as new games are always coming out.)

For cartridges I don't really care yet because I really don't have space. If I were to collect everything CIB I'd lose 2/3 of the games in my collection because I'd have no room for them, not to mention missing a lot of my favorites. And with some of them especially the pre-Nintendo stuff, boxes are very hard to come by.

[Steven]

I'm pretty much done buying games but my buying habits in the last 4 years since I got back into the SNES included:

-Buying mostly only SNES games. I know it closes me off on other great games on other systems, but you can't play them all, anyway. I find it extremely satisfying since the SNES is my favorite system of all time and I don't really feel like I'm missing out on much. Plus there were a lot of games I missed from my childhood I always wished I could play. Now I own them!

-eBay was my main source

-Craigslist

(My CL Memoirs can be read here: http://www.rvgfanatic.com/7443/34701.html)

-Flea Markets

(My FM Memoirs can be read here: http://www.rvgfanatic.com/7443/1018115.html)

-Internet forums and game selling sites

I didn't go for buying the entire SNES library. That never appealed to me. Why would I ever play Barbie? lol. I only bought the games I loved as a kid, games I wanted to play but never could, and games that looked cool and I would want to play. That list turned out to be pretty huge in and of itself! It's a very cool peaceful feeling to be done buying games and just taking your time to enjoy them instead of waking up early on Saturday mornings to hit the flea market. Instead you can wake up and play that game you been wondering about for over 15 years

Or perhaps even better, sleep in a bit

[Rickstilwell1]

I'm pretty much done buying games but my buying habits in the last 4 years since I got back into the SNES included:

-Buying mostly only SNES games. I know it closes me off on other great games on other systems, but you can't play them all, anyway. I find it extremely satisfying since the SNES is my favorite system of all time and I don't really feel like I'm missing out on much. Plus there were a lot of games I missed from my childhood I always wished I could play. Now I own them!

-eBay was my main source

-Craigslist

(My CL Memoirs can be read here: http://www.rvgfanatic.com/7443/34701.html)

-Flea Markets

(My FM Memoirs can be read here: http://www.rvgfanatic.com/7443/1018115.html)

-Internet forums and game selling sites

I didn't go for buying the entire SNES library. That never appealed to me. Why would I ever play Barbie? lol. I only bought the games I loved as a kid, games I wanted to play but never could, and games that looked cool and I would want to play. That list turned out to be pretty huge in and of itself! It's a very cool peaceful feeling to be done buying games and just taking your time to enjoy them instead of waking up early on Saturday mornings to hit the flea market. Instead you can wake up and play that game you been wondering about for over 15 years

Or perhaps even better, sleep in a bit

Man I would love to do that. Get to a stopping point in getting such urges to spend money when I don't have much to begin with. My backlog is so big but I keep seeing stuff I would want.

I think when I get a job I want to do sort of what you did. Start with a system that doesn't have many games I want for it and just get all of the ones I want for it and call it a day till I get bored with it. You know, might as well take advantage of being able to still play all the old stuff while it still works.

I should start by saving $50-$100 for a copy of the rare Space Invaders clone for Channel F and never have to look back at the system. Start at the beginning of programmable gaming time and work my way up. Original Odyssey's are too expensive and I don't picture enjoying myself with TV board games anyway... I've got nobody to play them with.

I'll let emulators be my tester to see what I want and only make educated purchases.

[mobiusclimber]

I've got tons of amazingly good deals off of Craigslist (I live in Seattle, someone on the forums swooped up the one CL ad that I am still pissed I didn't see soon: three or four prototype NES games including Final Fantasy for .... $30? some ridiculously low amount) and I'll pick out what I want and resell the rest. If I didn't have other more important things in my life my collection would be double what it is now just from CL, yardsales and local shops. But I also use Ebay quite a bit. Anyone that thinks you can't get a good deal on Ebay just doesn't have the patience or hasn't bothered to try. Mint CIB Princess Tomato for $25 shipped? I've gotten it. Panzer Dragoon Saga disc and manual (along w/ the first two PD games disc and manual) for $70? Yup. I actually can't count the number of great, cheap auctions I've won on there. CL is great, the forums are great, but man it is satisfying to win an auction for half or more of what it should have ended at. There are certain games I doubt I'll ever find anywhere else but on Ebay... or if I do I'll have to be super fast at seeing the ad and getting to the guy's house. Seriously, if someone had an ad on CL for PDS at $70, just by itself, it wouldn't last more than an hour.

[PapaStu]

From stores (be it Indy or Corporate), people (on sites like DP or at conventions like CGE) and the occasional eBay item.

I don't bother with thrifting, or craig's list or trade sites like GameTZ because I really don't buy game lots or stuff I don't want in the first place. I buy once and thats it. I am not in the market for speculation or for teh 2k monies and I don't get rid of the stuff I have.

[Orion Pimpdaddy]

I have a large collection (will post pics within the next couple of weeks) and my entire collection is from going to thrift stores, pawn shops, CRAIGS LIST, and garage sales etc... In a way i've paid nothing for my entire collection considering all the money i've made from buying and selling, almost my entire collection is from cherry picking craigs lots etc... I have so many games that i run into the same games i have often and sell off what i already have, if i find a complete copy i sell off the loose copy i have. I've bought less then 15 things on ebay total EVER! Luckily i live in a large city (LA) where it has a large selection of craigs lists adds for vintage gaming.

I've never been able to justify paying ebay prices for stuff that if you work hard for there's a chance you will find it out in the wild. That and the fact that i'm not very wealthy and my wife would never let me spend 120 bucks for bubble bobble 2 on ebay. There is a lot and i mean a lot of things i would love to have but just can't pay ebay prices for it.

But the cool thing about not buying stuff on ebay and hoping you find it in the wild is the incredible high you get when you score something. Do any of you guys do a lot of thrift store hopping? Because the high of finding something like a Sealed Super Nintendo at a thrift store for 30 bucks is amazing.

I know for some people that live in small towns you have no choice but to shop ebay. But what are your guys collecting habits like and how do you do it?

You are assuming that E-bay is always more expensive. If you buy large lots, you can still do the reselling of items you already have. I got MUSHA for free by buying a lot, taking MUSHA out, then reselling the rest of the lot.

Also, make sure you are checking E-bay's completed items when judging prices. Don't get pricing info from the expensive Buy it Now items that sit there for years on E-bay.

I don't know how you find any good deals at thrift stores and garage sales. I live in a major metropolitan area, and the thrift stores around here hardly ever have games, and when they do, they are about the same price as thier E-bay counterparts. I would probably have to visit 10,000 times to find something that is sealed, in box.

I also spent a whole summer checking garage sales, but only came away with a few deals. Consider yourself lucky! I buy about 98% of my stuff on E-bay and the remaining 2% is from a local game store.

[Arkhan]

I go to all the local game stores and see if they have anything I want.

if I have to have something asap because im spastic, I go find it on ebay if its cheap.

that or i import the cheaper Japanese versions because I could care less what language its in

[Richter Belmount]

I buy them

[UnpluggedClone]

Google 4 Gaga

[Arkhan]

http://www.digitpress.com/forum/showthread.php?t=142290

this is how we get games!

WOO

lol