What is a Collector Game worth to you?

[8bit]

Hi,
Let me start by saying I'm new here and not quite sure if this is allowed or not. (I have seen there is a buying and selling forum that opens later)

But I'm less curious about what certain collector games are worth retail value as much as I'm more curious what collectors feel their value should be.

After finding my old game collection the other day, I came across a gem I thought was long gone. In the Winter of 1995, my usual Super Power Supplies catalog came in the mail and OF COURSE I picked a Christmas gift from it within 5 minutes of tearing open the plastic wrap around my Nintendo Power -(9 year subscription thanks to Grandma - Big ups for looking out, wherever you are G-ma!) Anyway, the "at random- BUT TOTALLY EXCLUSIVE-HAVE TO HAVE IT MOM OR I WONT EAT ANYMORE." product I picked was a weird Donkey Kong Blockbuster game for $35. I was a weird kid, who liked weird stuff, so I asked for it. So, t I was too young for the competition so I had no knowledge of the significance of the game. The game arrives. I pop it in, and low and behold (as many of us have found out over time) The game play sucked. Five minutes to run through a game I had already played through about 1000 times? Okay, well it's interesting and different, I'll just put a cover on the bottom since it didn't come with one to keep the dust out and put it aside. "Maybe it'll be worth a trade-in on DK2 or something?" -I thought. I played that game twice. It has sat in the box, with the same cover "to keep the dust out" until I stumbled upon it this past weekend. A mint copy of The Donkey Kong Country Competition Cartridge from the Blockbuster Championship 2.

Now I understand that many people probably come on here telling fantastical stories to get a rise out of people, to troll and what-not. But I'm a 25 year old guy and that's a waste of time. Of course I've looked up the value -(seems a bit ridiculous)- But at this point I'm more curious at what you guys think the value of these games should be? I know collector cars. I understand those values. I can look at a muscle car and be within $250 of a professional value. But games? I couldn't begin to dissect why or for what reason this game or another, aside from low production numbers, would rationalize such a value. I just feel like looking at Ebay and list prices is foolish.

I have no idea if I will be selling this cartrige, due to it being so rare and I'm the only owner. Plus I have the whole "I was a dumb kid and look what I bought!" story to tell. But I'm curious what the semi-professional opinion is here on the inflated prices of these games?

Obviously, I'm curious about my own but I think this is a conversation worth having about all classic games that have suddenly jumped hundreds of dollars. This was a similar topic I had many years ago amongst my car friends that once we all got past the retail values of the cars we loved, suddenly the reality of what they REALLY were worth to us came through. It was a very enlightening conversation, one I hope this one will be as well.

We all invested thousands at one point in our game collections. (At $50-$60 a piece we made our parents nuts over those little slips at Toys 'R' Us -[side note]- I miss the excitement of going to that pick-up window in the front of the store. It made you a God for the day!) The simple value factor, that most of us realized at a very young age for such a concept, was that the honor of simply being the first to own and play a new game significantly out-weighed the reality that these games would depreciate faster than Iranian Rials. We didn't care, it was about the experience. Not the cartridge or disc but the untold excitment in the virtual world that was held within it. The vessel was just something we could trade in a Funcoland Or EB for the next experience. It was religious. Almost a perfect metaphor to Hindu theological thoughts. But now that we are much older and looking to recapture those same emotions with our nostalgic games, are we really buying the experience, or simply purchasing the vessels back? Likewise, are those vessels worth the extremely high cost?

I'll finish with this thought. What is the value of these "rare" games to you and why? Is it the fact of owning something you couldn't as a child? Or is it the rush that you feel from playing that game in its original format again? Maybe it's just simply a collectible that you want to add to the shelf with little to no meaning. Either way, please tell us the game(s) you feel these attachments for and why? What story from your childhood is riding on that game to make it so appealing to even ponder a $300 price tag for something that 10 years ago was worth $5. Maybe then we all can start to understand what it is about video games that our generation just simply can't get enough of.

Our parents had old cars, baseball cards and comic books. Our grandparents had those and stamps and small glass figurines. We have video games. And its awesome. So let's talk about why.

-Just for the sake of proof to get past the doubt factor I'll add a picture of the DK game. (A small "anti-troll" submission. Hate that guy as much as you.)-

Thanks again,
I look forward to the thoughts.
Here's to our Gaming Senior Citizen Future!
-Chris (8bit)


(Hopefully I'm not over stepping bounds or repeating a post, I'm new and while I did have a look around I may have missed something. I apologize in advance if I have. As well, I won't take any offense to a Mod reaming me. I know the deal. Thank you in advance for the advice. )

[Baloo]

First off I'd like to congratulate you on your EXCELLENT find, that's definitely worth a pretty penny indeed if you do plan on selling it. I'm sure there are some buyers here on the forum and out there on eBay as well. As for the topic's purpose:

Some people, like myself, play classic games simply for their original purpose: They're fun! I prefer the simplicity and overall better craftsmanship of classic video games compared to the newer video games of today. Although I also grew up on Genesis and NES as well as the newer systems when I was a kid (I had N64, Dreamcast, Playstation along with them, so there was always something good to play!) Also, classic games are cheaper, and a bit easier to get a hold of sometimes.

Others like to collect. Some like to play and end up collecting, others collect for that strive to be the best and collect EVERY game and every variant for one system, maybe so that they can go the way of the Anglo-Saxons and have people talk about that one guy who got every single game for Playstation or Saturn or whatever. Personally, I find this to be too materialistic, since you can't take anything with you when you die.

I especially never understood people that chose to keep the games sealed in the plastic, I find that to be a true crime indeed since you're defeating the purpose of the product, and that is to bring enjoyment. If it was a piece of art maybe, but a video game? No thanks, I'll open it up.

Yet others, see it as a business venture. I LOVE going to flea markets and hunting down deals, looking for rare games that I'm either looking to get cheap, or possibly buy for cheap and sell for much more. For example, yesterday my brother found me a game for $1 that's worth about $200 (Spiderman: Web of Fire). Since I've always been interested in business, one of the things I'm planning on doing later in life is trying to open my own video game store. But for the record, I don't see video games as merely a means to an end. I love the community of video games and independent video game stores, and that's really why I want to open my own someday. Not to get rich off by manipulating collectors and people's childhood memories.

Although I don't agree with the opinion of "Buy it now, it's sure to be worth something in the future" standpoint, as almost EVERYTHING goes down in value tenfold as the years go by. This to me is a foolish standpoint, as even the most expensive classic games rarely go past their launch values of $60 or so. They have to be very desirable AND very rare/low production values on top of that, and unless you're looking at a video game company's sales charts, you can't know that a game will be valuable in the future at all. There are desirable games that are common as dirt, and rare games that nobody wants to touch with a ten foot pole most of the time.

I'd also like to say that when it comes to your Donkey Kong Country Competition Cart, there are the collectors that want it for collecting sake, but I do believe it has a purpose even still today (although it really shouldn't command as high a value, as the purpose of course is lost!) and that is to have your own video game tournaments.

I attend monthly meetings at a video game store near me where we all hang out and play video games for a day, and we'll have tournaments for all kinds of different games, where small prizes are awarded to the winners. I believe that games such as Nintendo World Championships 1990, Donkey Kong Country Competition Cart, Starfox Super Weekend, and Blockbuster Video Game Championship II games can be used for some great fun, but the collector's just jack up the price so they can put the game on a shelf and seal it in a glass case, which I find to be very dumb and annoying. Why take the enjoyment of a game from a lot of people so you can idolize it and have it go off to some other collector when you die or are strapped for cash? It really doesn't make sense.

Realistically, I would probably put the "real worth" of a Donkey Kong Country Competition Cart at about $30-50. Video games shouldn't be more expensive than what they were originally released for, but because of some people and the laws of supply and demand of economics, that's unfortunately the way it has to be.

Anyway, that's my two cents. Great thread!

[mobiusclimber]

I collect games to play them, and I sell games to feed my hobby. Something like the DKC Competition Cart would hold no interest for me outside of selling. (I'd rather play the original game... and even that I'm not a big fan of.) So to me I don't really care about the rarity of a game unless I'm selling it. Stuff in my collection is just games; the only value being how good it is. That's why I don't have a ton of expensive titles. I've actually played and resold expensive games I've gotten just b/c I can't afford to keep them.

[maxlords]

See...I collect only to play stuff I enjoy. I don't have ANY interest in the weird stuff like the DKC competition cart other than it's sheer monentary value. I buy stuff I like to play or think I might like to play, and if I don't enjoy it...I sell it. No matter how much it's worth or might be worth, and whether I take a loss on it or not. I think I'm in the minority around here though...

[frogofdeath]

I primarily buy games to play, but there is a little "collector" side to the hobby. After being a gaming pack-rat most of my life, I just recently started selling older games I own, knowing that I have no intention of playing them ever again, even if they are extremely solid titles (i.e. Beetle Adventure Racing). However, on the other hand, the wife and I have been buying numerous NES titles lately. They are games we enjoy playing, but aren't necessarily going to be played on a regular basis. Maybe one day we'll start selling those again, but for now we have a small little NES collection growing on our shelves.

[retroman]

I agree...i dont buy weird shit..only stuff i want to play..or has a childhood memory..dont get me wrong..i own about every system known to man kind, but only cause i wanted to play them and collect for them..

[Buapo]

Nice post!

I definitely want to play games, first and foremost.

I've slipped into collecting a bit, but usually for one practical reason or another. For example, I just purchased a complete NES Advantage joystick that looks like it's never been played with. I already have an Advantage, but mine looks like most do - beat up, slightly yellowed. I don't NEED to buy another Advantage... but for the right price, it's cool to own the original box and manual. Almost makes me feel like the original owner, in a way.

I also just picked up two big Sega Genesis arcade sticks. I remember wanting one of those back in the day, only to be denied - "But you already HAVE a controller!" Now I can play Streets of Rage 2 the way I would have wanted to play it back then. It seems this hobby has manifested itself as a way for me to own all the games, accessories and systems that I wanted to have when I was younger, but couldn't.

[FinalLapTwin]

Great Post. In my area (Midwest) local prices have dropped considerably. I think you will always have high priced games. But the bottom seems to have fallen on Nes, Snes and Sega in this area. Maybe it's this area, maybe it's the economy, online gaming, classic downloads(no system required just use points). I'm not a super collector but I like the actual systems to play games. So I agree with some of the other posts about letting go of games that others can enjoy and maybe I can find something I want. I have nothing that rare but I'm looking to unload what I don't play which seems to be quite alot of anymore. I'm wondering if this is a nationwide price drop or just my area as I look at Ebay and wonder if the auctions tell the whole story. I'm trying to ask if I should wait for a rebound in the market or sell now. I know I veered of the path (Sorry)!

Thanks.