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Thread: When is a complete collection a 'complete collection'?

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    ServBot (Level 11) tom's Avatar
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    Default When is a complete collection a 'complete collection'?

    I was just going to complete my Lynx collection, I am missing 5 titles:

    PA2088..Battlezone 2000, PA2091..Fat Bobby, PA2046..Hyperdrome, PA2078..Raiden, PA2093..Super Asteroids/Missile Command

    But then there is Songbird, bringing out more and more games. eg:

    CF2006..Championship Rally, CF2008..Crystal Mines 2: Buried Treasure, CF2002..Ponx, CF2007..Cybervirus, CF2003..Lexis, CF2005..Remnant, Ultravore

    and homebrew:

    #61..Othello, SIMIS, Sokomania

    Protos: AvP, Loopz, Road Riot 4WD

    Demos: PA2054..Blue Lightning Demo Card, CF2001..SFX

    So what's the deal, collect the rest 5 titles, and claim 'complete', or continue to collect the rest, and then claim 'complete'?

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    Great Puma (Level 12) anagrama's Avatar
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    Basically, it's "complete" when you say it is - every one has their own criteria for what does or doesn't count, and trying to find a general consensus is almost impossible.
    I'd personally call it "complete" if I had every title released during the system's lifespan and, while I'd be interested in getting them, wouldn't count aftermarket stuff as being "part of the set". Having said that, the Songbird Jag/Lynx games probably walk the line closer than most other aftermarket releases... :/

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    I wouldnt count unreleased proto in a complete collection.

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    Homebrew definitely doesn't count for completion, and neither do demos. I probably would count independent aftermarket releases, but most others wouldn't. My point of view is that there are complete collections, and there are authoritative collections. Authoritative collectors get into homebrews, demos, protos, label variants, and different kinds of ephemera. These collections can probably never be complete since homebrews are often released in very limited quantities and more are always being made. It's also pretty much impossible to collect every proto that's been made. Sometimes games, like NES World Championship, are considered essential for completion by general concensus even though you can argue that they really shouldn't be.

    No matter who you are, if you advertise that you have a complete collection, someone will find something missing that they consider essential. Once you get to the point where people begin splitting hairs about things you don't have, you can pretty much consider your collection complete.

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    After having this same conversation in the "DC complete collection" thread. It really is up to you when it is complete. Protos are usually not included in a complete collection, but are nice to have. But it's done when you say it's done.
    #vbender

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    Key (Level 9) fishsandwich's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by anagrama
    Basically, it's "complete" when you say it is - every one has their own criteria for what does or doesn't count, and trying to find a general consensus is almost impossible.
    :/
    Agreed. For instance, what counts as a "complete" 32x collection amoung the following?

    1. Every USA release
    2. Every PAL release
    3. Every Japanese release
    4. Every USA release plus DarXide, FIFA Soccer, and ROT3K4
    5. Every PAL release plus Spiderman, BC Racers, and ROT3K4 (and whatever else was a USA exclusive)
    6. Every Japanese game plus the non-Japanese games
    7. Every game released in every region: USA, Japan, PAL (expensive and hard!)
    8. Every single title plus the two known protos that are floating around
    9. Every single game plus any future homebrews

    ANSWER: They all are. It all depends on what you call "complete"

    Thanks for indulging my gaming habit when I was young, Dad. You were the best. I miss you. ~David Barnes 1926-2007~

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    Cherry (Level 1)
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    i figure a collection is complete when your satisfied with it, and no longer spend loads of money and time searching for them and can sit and enjoy them.

    i figured that out when it got to the point where i had every game i had ever wanted and that i didn't have to run around town searching or hunting online.

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    Default Re: When is a complete collection a 'complete collection'?

    The answer is that a complete collection is totally up to you. In fact, of the games that you are missing three of those are Telegames aftermarket releases that you could decide to not include and that would be fine. Or you could include them, and that's cool too.

    Just to point out one thing that I know from having gathered some Lynx stuff in the past......

    Quote Originally Posted by tom
    Protos: AvP, Loopz, Road Riot 4WD
    The "protos" of Loopz, Road Riot 4WD and Marlboro Man were released in larger numbers as "proto copies" of the games. They were not actually protos however, but copies of beta games that were put onto carts. You could count them as an independant releases or something, but 'protos' isn't the exact right term, as Atari wasn't the one who made them.

    I used to own a copy of Road Riot which when I bought I was told was a proto, and I found all that out when I listed it as a proto on some site where I was selling it.
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    complete is every licensed and released piece in your region, no more no less. Protos and unreleased things were never meant to be in anyones hands so they dont really count.

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    Great Puma (Level 12) anagrama's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by mills
    complete is every licensed and released piece in your region, no more no less.
    So Tengen or Codemasters NES games and Accolade Genesis games don't count? Or the huge portion of the 2600 catalogue that wasn't licensed? What about the NTSC SNES ISS Deluxe?


    Like I said above, "complete" is wherever you draw your own line. It's impossible to give a blanket one-size-fits-all definition.

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    I used to collect sports cards. To constitute a complete set is to have every card that was officially licensed and released in that series, cards that were made by a few guys in an asian factory that were not licensed were not necesary to consider your set "complete".

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    But videogames are not sports cards. A series of sports cards are all printed in a single run by a single company, not over a 5-10 year lifespan by dozens of different companies. Your comparison simply doesn't work.

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    See, this is one of the reasons why I'll never have a complete collection of anything (aside from the cash and family issues). You see, to me, a complete collection would be just that: complete. All Japanese region games and hardware, mint boxed. Then all US and PAL soft/hardware mint and boxed. And then as much proto/beta material as I could lay my hands on.

    But that's the thing. These are Japanese games and there's lots of stuff we don't know about. I'm sure there still crazy PCE/Famicom peripherals in Japan no-one's ever seen. And PSone games that had such limited Japanese releases, you'd never get one ever. And much other stuff that's never leaving it's homeland.

    It'd do my head in. I'd drive myself crazy knowing that, no matter what, my collection wasn't quite complete. So to me, attempting a complete MD/Genny collection would be mental suicide. But even relatively small collections, such as VirtualBoy or NeoPocket, that'd drive me mad till I had it all. Every limited release game or console, every variant, everything.

    As an example, my mate collects vintage toys. He has an incredible Starwars collection; protos, test shots, cromalins, proof cards etc. But he also has a complete Captain Power collection: every carded figure, every boxed vehicle and the Japanese released popy box figures. But it's not quite complete: no one's sure if Dread Commander and Dread Trooper were ever released, but 1 loose example of a Trooper is know to exist. That would drive me insane! I'd sell the collection and be done with it.

    Before I started my Indiana Jones collection, I said to myself I didn't want a complete collection. Just the 4 carded Indys, the Kubrik and whatever cool carded bootlegs I come across. The reason I don't want a complete collection, aside from no interest in the other figures, is that a carded Bellok in Ceremonial Robes is stupidly rare. $8000 worth of rare. And that would cause the Missus to leave me.

    And that's why I just buy the games I'm gonna sit down and actually play.

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    Quote Originally Posted by mills
    I used to collect sports cards. To constitute a complete set is to have every card that was officially licensed and released in that series, cards that were made by a few guys in an asian factory that were not licensed were not necesary to consider your set "complete".
    Yeah, this isn't a good comparison. Example: The Tengen releases for the NES appeared during the time when the NES when at its peak and the games were hardly produced by "a few guys in an asian factory." They were available all over the US and many unlicensed Tengen carts are as common as dirt. Same for many of the Accolade games for the Genesis. You can have a "complete set of licensed NES games" without them, but few people collectors would leave all of the Tengen (or Wisdom Tree, or Color Dreams) carts out of a "complete set of NES games."

    It's all relative.

    ps. A collection that is both "small but modest" is kind of redundant. Example: a person can be of "small stature" or "modest stature." Both terms mean pretty much the same thing. Maybe your collection is "Small but growing" or "Modest but impressive" or "Large but boring" or something like that.

    Sorry. English major.
    Thanks for indulging my gaming habit when I was young, Dad. You were the best. I miss you. ~David Barnes 1926-2007~

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    Staying on the sports cards, wouldn't you also need any error variations and all the special "chase cards" that drove me away from collecting.

    As for a complete collection, again, it is whatever you want it to be. For my tastes it includes:

    * All games publicly released in your region of choice during the system's lifetime, with box and documentation (ie "complete" :P ).

    It could include:

    *Homebrews: I hedge on this because the line between "Homebrew" and "Aftermarket release" is blurring. Take Beggar Prince for the Genny. The game was produced during the Genny lifecycle, but it has been translated and improved for release this year. At worst, this constitutes a "Hack." At best, it's the newest "Official Release." For 100% original homebrews (true homebrews) they are publicly released using - in some cases - new parts. Where do these fall?

    It does not include:

    * Prototypes: Nice to have, interesting part of history, but not part of a "complete" collection."

    * Label variations: with the exception of games released by other companies with different names (ie. Sears 2600 games) You can argue other exceptions like the late Genesis rereleases (like Castlevania: Bloodlines) by a different company with different packeging.
    It doesn't get any more serious than a Rhinocerus about to charge your ass.

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    ServBot (Level 11) tom's Avatar
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    Thanks for all the detailed info, guys.....

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    [quote="fishsandwichps. A collection that is both "small but modest" is kind of redundant. Example: a person can be of "small stature" or "modest stature." Both terms mean pretty much the same thing. Maybe your collection is "Small but growing" or "Modest but impressive" or "Large but boring" or something like that.

    Sorry. English major.[/quote]

    An English major should know that "modest" in that context would imply that the collection was not very impressive, regardless of size.

    Of course, a small collection of extremely rare titles could be quite impressive, so saying a collection is "small and modest" is not redundant in the least.

    Sorry, professional writer.
    It doesn't get any more serious than a Rhinocerus about to charge your ass.

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    ServBot (Level 11) GarrettCRW's Avatar
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    I agree with everyone who says that the collection is complete when you say it is. At present, I have 272 NES games, with duplicates of the following:

    -Super Mario Bros. 3 (original pressing and revised translation)
    -Gauntlet (licensed and unlicensed)
    -Tecmo Bowl (with and without Eric Dickerson)
    -Pac-Man (licensed, unlicensed, and Namco)
    -R.B.I. Baseball (licensed and unlicensed)

    So, other than scoring repros of games like Sweet Home, Final Fantasy II, and Just Breed (read: good Japan-only titles that require reading and don't have special chips inside them), I'm done. However, for some, this isn't even a half-finished collection.
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    Key (Level 9) fishsandwich's Avatar
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    Bah. Professional writer my ass.

    Thanks for indulging my gaming habit when I was young, Dad. You were the best. I miss you. ~David Barnes 1926-2007~

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    i say that everything released and lisenced is a complete collection, not to say that you cant a "complete tengen collection" for the nes, or a complete homebrew collection(have fun). but i dont think that its ever really complete because there will always be something new coming out, ir being found.

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