Collecting games you sold/traded in/used to own

[DOAsaturn]

Hey guys, not really new here but have trolled forever and been posting more recently. Not sure which forum this specifically can go in, so I figured this was the best.

Anyway, I recently took stock of my entire gaming collection. I'm not so much a collector as someone who had just played and enjoyed games and ended up with a bunch. I currently have 320 (not that much from what I've seen in these parts) but I was curious as to how many games I had sold or traded in all my years of gaming. Surprisingly I came up with 222 (add a few more for the countless sports games I can't keep exact track of what I had and a handful of Saturn, Game Boy NES and SNES games I either lost or had friends steal - i.e. before I let Gamestop "steal" my games). So maybe 230, 235, maybe even 240.

I've compiled a rough list (that 222 one) of games I'd like to acquire again. I don't care if they sucked, I never/rarely played them, or I loved them. I want to own them again for whatever reason. I guess you could say I'm getting a bit nostalgic (already, at 28) and want my gaming library/collection to reflect all my years in the hobby.

After a few weeks I've already acquired 46 titles. I've used ebay for some old cheapies I can't find as easily in town (PS1 and Dreamcast titles, some for as low as 0.99 - with shipping 3-4x that). I spent $54 on 15 old PS2 games at Gamestop I used to own. I'm sure they thought I was odd when I had stuff like NHL 2002 in there. Where else am I goint to be able to fill that hole for 0.99 though? (I imagine I could locate some for free if I really tried though). I might be the only person on this earth activiely looking for NCAA Gamebreaker 99.

I am a bit OCD on it, I like complete games that are in respectable shape. With the PS1 and DC, I don't care about cracked cases, I just swap 'em.

Anyway, I'm curious if anyone else has a collecting goal similar to mine? I'm having a ball chasing down all those old titles I cherished throughout my middle school, high school and early college years. It's great fun to nab these at pennies on the dollar.

[Pichu]

Im 13, and I want to re-collect all the games I traded in when I was younger.
I reget trading in each and every one of those games, and I want them back.
So yeah, I have a similar goal. nice

[HurricaneAndrew]

There are very few games that I have ever traded in. If I traded one in, it was probably because of having multiple copies. Although, there are some PS2 games that I traded away purely because I didn't like them, but since I don't really collect for PS2, it's not a big deal to me. However, I don't trade any games anymore unless they are doubles.

[MissingNo_1231]

there's very few games I've traded in, and the only one that comes to mind that I'd really like to get back is Mario's Time Machine.

[goldenegg]

While there are many games from my past I want to own again, I'm only interested in buying back ones I know I'll play. Over the years, I've had less interest in collecting just for the sake of having items. I'll only buy something if I'll actually use it.

[Eyedunno]

If anything, I have a few games that I don't care much for that I'm reluctant to sell off... Final Fight for the Super Famicom comes to mind. I bought it off of a friend when I was 13, and I probably haven't played it at all in 10+ years, but I guess nostalgia keeps me from just getting rid of it; it's not so much the game itself, but the memory of playing the game. :P

But I mostly only get games I really like, which keeps my collection fairly small (around 80 or so so far for seven platforms, and the majority of those are for SNES/Super Famicom, by far my favorite system).

[MASTERWEEDO]

I have sold off most of my stuff over the years and bought it back, sometimes it was actually mine, marker still there. i used to hunt for my markered games at the funcoland i used to live by.

[Trebuken]

Mnay seem to get into the hobby this way. It is a great way to start collecting...you have list of games that you want...some people also have a list of systems that they never owned themselves and want to experience.

What you may discover, as I did, is that there are likely many more games that you missed that are better than the ones you are pursuing. There are many games that are underated, espeacially in genres you favor.

Keep reading the posts here and you come across all kinds of angles toward your collection.

[goatdan]

I am very lucky that I never sold off any games for the systems I played as a kid, so I still have those exact copies of them. For instance, my copy of Earthbound was a rental with a ton of stickers and crap all over it, but I love that cart and wouldn't trade it for a mint copy if I could -- even though I now have collected all of the other Earthbound games (from Japan) in mint shape.

The only game that I ever sold and had to re-buy was Jeremy McGrath for the Dreamcast. I bought it and HATED it when I first got the system. It took me until one of the last five or so Dreamcast games I needed to finally bite the bullet and pick it back up. Beyond that, I have more recently sold games for systems like the Xbox, PS2, PSP, DS and so on (heck, I'm selling some now on here!) but I am doing that because I am certain that I won't have the same nostalgia for those titles as I do for the 2600, Colecovision, NES and SNES games that I used to play.

Interestingly enough though, beyond the games that I own for those three consoles, I have absolutely no interest in expanding those collections. My collected games were collected almost exclusively because I was really into the console, and then I just expanded at a time I had the ability to do so -- Dreamcast, Neo Geo Pocket and Atari Jaguar. And sort of Nuon and PS1 longboxes. But beyond those systems, I have had no interest in expanding any of my collections as collections, and treat them as simply stuff that I enjoy.

I have toyed with collecting Virtual Boy, 7800, Lynx, Colecovision, Saturn, 32X, DS, PSP Game.Com and Action Max (yeah, seriously) before, but I never felt like I was into enough of the games on any of those to actually keep them around. Instead, I just keep the games I really enjoy, and sometimes 'borrow' them from the GOAT Store to play if something hits my fancy at some particular point in time.

But that's the great thing about collecting -- it is totally up to the person doing the collecting what he or she wants to have. I really feel "done" with my collections (although I do still need some PAL Dreamcast titles and a couple PS1 long boxes) and I enjoy them for what they are. If you love NES and PS1 though, by all means go for it -- and go for what makes you happy. Whether it is a $30k+ sealed copy of Air Raid or a $0.25 copy of NCAA Gamebreaker, if it is what you want to play or own, then it's a great collection!

[The 1 2 P]

The main thing I sold that I would like to have back is my 3DO demo binder with all the demo game disc in it. I sold that a few years back because I had lost my job and needed money for rent. I've yet to see another one for sale at a reasonable price.

[DOAsaturn]

The main thing I sold that I would like to have back is my 3DO demo binder with all the demo game disc in it. I sold that a few years back because I had lost my job and needed money for rent. I've yet to see another one for sale at a reasonable price.

I traded in a lot and sold because of financial issues as well, otherwise I would have never done it. For a long time, due to some health issues, I can only hold down a part time job, so getting new games through trade-ins was sometimes my only option. I always felt kinda uneasy about it, but I wasn't really worried about the collection aspect until recently. As I've become more of a collector I really hate not having the games now, since a great majority of them I enjoyed a lot, or at least played through (I played everything I owned quite thoroughly). The biggest question mark for me is my Xbox 360 collection, I counted nearly 80 games I had owned before during its first two years (I only own 20 or so now as I've moved my focus to the PS3 and Wii for modern consoles) that I mostly ebayed. No way I'm going after those now as even the early titles will cost me quite a bit usually.

I do agree with the poster who said I'll probably run into other games. I've been quickly assembling my original dreamcast and PS1 collections and have a keen interested in adding more to the DC collection. A complete set isn't that challenging (as compared to most consoles) and if I ever go for a complete run of any console, that could be the one. I loved the DC to death, as well as my Saturn (which I still own 95% of the titles I bought).

Lesson learned for me though, no more trade-ins or sales except for maybe my dupes (i.e. my few sealed copies).

[darkslime]

I used to do that but don't really collect anymore because I realized what a waste of time it is. Now I only buy games I want to play, and profit off of other collectors who will buy my games on ebay.

[Shellshock!]

I'm only interested in buying back ones I know I'll play. Over the years, I've had less interest in collecting just for the sake of having items. I'll only buy something if I'll actually use it.

This. So I recently decided I would buy a CIB GameBoy again, which I grew up with, and all CIB games I really love. Collecting for the sake of racking up numbers is part of materialistic capitalism.

[jonebone]

My goal was to just buy back all of the NES games I had as a child and I completed that long ago. Never had a SNES and I kept my Genesis and N64 games from childhood.

[DigitalSpace]

I sold and traded off several of my SNES games as a teenager - a decision that I would later regret. The list:

Super Mario RPG
Secret of Evermore
Donkey Kong Country
Killer Instinct
Mechwarrior 3050
Demon's Crest
Drakkhen
Wing Commander
Wing Commander: The Secret Missions

And there were a few that weren't sold or traded off but were no longer a part of my collection for various reasons:

Super Mario World (dead cart)
Bulls vs. Blazers (went missing, possibly stolen)
Donkey Kong Country 3 (went missing, possibly stolen. I did find the manual about a couple years after I had replaced the game)

When I started collecting in 2003, I made a goal to get them back, and I'm glad to say that that only one game listed above (Wing Commander) isn't in my current collection (that's right, I even re-acquired stinkers like Drakkhen and Bulls vs. Blazers since they were dirt cheap).

[tentencanidae]

Wow.. We're almost in the exact same boat, except I have already re-aquired the majority of games I sold/got rid of.

I broke up with a girl and left my extra NES with about 30 games at her place when I was 18. I still had my original NES from when I was 5, so that didn't bother me... but the 30 or so games were NOT extras. I pretty much rebought em all except Kirby's Dreamland.

I also do this regularly with Final Fantasy games. I play em.. Sell em on eBay when they're selling high, and then always regret it a year or two later... and rebuy it.

I should probably stop doing that.

[Theretrogamingroom]

I do as well. Do you know of any good places to find them?

[BetaWolf47]

Argh, this has happened to me too much in the past. I traded in most of my N64 and Gamecube games at one point. I was left with about 12 Gamecube games and 3 N64 games. Now, I've got almost everything I used to own, and more.

[shopkins]

Yeah, this is why I usually don't sell or trade anything away, I generally just regret it. I'm more likely to give things away and even then I end up buying them again, I had, I think, four GBAs because I kept giving them away to relatives.

[kupomogli]

Some SNES games and a couple PSX games that I've sold and regretted it.

Super Mario RPG, Mega Man, X, Mega Man X3, and Super Mario All Stars + World I remember specifically but there were others(about 10-11 games.) At the time I just wanted another game and didn't have money.

The PSX I've only sold three games I've wanted to keep in my collection(I've sold others but they were games I haven't ever thought of picking back up.) Warcraft 2, Diablo, and Castlevania Symphony of the Night. With Castlevania SotN though, I sold it about three different times. I'd have played the game constantly to the point that I got extremely burnt out on it and then I'd just sell it. Later on realizing it was a stupid decision and then miss the game, and then finally buy it back later on only to do the same thing once again.