Should I complete my collection? Is it possible?

[pooch]

I read in an old thread that vincewy has almost every sealed dreamcast games there were released. I am really impressed by that because I started collecting sealed dreamcast games about a year ago. (I know alot of people are against collecting sealed games but I hope you will not make any judgements here as I only want to hear some genuine insight from other collectors. Thanks for your understanding).

I only have about 92 games so far. I don't know if I should continue because it's getting harder to find sealed DC games. My only sources to gather them is from trading and Ebay. I am actually seriously considering to scrap my collection.

I would appreciate if you can give me some insight as to whether I should continue to go for a complete collection of sealed US DC games. It seems so far-reached now. Do you think it's possible for me to attain a full set or is it too out of reach that I should just call a stop to it?

I want to make a decision within the next day because a very nice member, suckerpunch5, is holding some games for me. I need to let him know if I still want it. They are all sealed DC games.

Thanks alot for your time. I would really appreciate some advice because I cannot decide

[c0ldb33r]

No one can answer that question but you, but I'd consider the following:

1. Do you enjoy collecting the games?
2. Are you tempted to stop just because it's too difficult and you're getting frustrated?
3. If you decide to scrap your collection - will you regret it? What about in a month? a year?

I'd personally say to stay the course, but hey... I'm me.

[Cauterize]

Stop :P Sealed collecting is expensive and holds no replay value at all...
Sure they look nice, but how are you going to play them!?

You might as well collect pictures of the disks and covers just to look at instead...

how can you guarantee that the last one youll need doesnt exist in sealed form as it was so popular that every single one got opened.

Just my opinion... and i appologise if it sounds aggressive or mean, but i really dont see the point in collecting sealed games whatsoever. Youre better off investing your money in something you can use

[/end rant]

[CosmicMonkey]

It's hard to answer without bringing the whole sealed games debate into play. At the end of the day, you're spending cash on games you're never gonna play. And when you're paying more for a crap game cos it's sealed, than you would for a good used game, you have to start to think; why?....

But it's up to you chap. It's your cash. If you want a shelf full of sealed games you can't play that have cost maaaany hundred $, then go for it. Otherwise flog the ones you have and buy open games to actually play.

[c0ldb33r]

Well it's easy to discuss without bringing the sealed game collecting debate into play. Pooch is cool with sealed collecting, and that's all that matters.

[Darren870]

well if you have non-sealed games id be willing to help you out with the ones I have. But they would NEED to be replaced. I only have some fairly common ones that you probably have.

[The Plucky Little Ninja]

If you're not feeling it anymore than just stop for awhile. Why sell the games? Do you see them primarily as an investment? If that's the case, now's a good a time to sell as any, but 92 sealed cd cases don't take up that much room.

Box 'em and toss them in the back of a closet. If the desire to keep going hits you again you can always break them out then.

If, in a few years, you regret your choice and decided to sell them all they'll be a lot harder to replace.

[suckerpunch5]

First rule I have is that I won't stretch myself financially for a hobby. Of course, I have a wife and kid, so that just really isn't an option for me. I would wait a week or two, and see how much you think about it. If you are having doubts already, maybe it isn't your "thing." Take a break for a 2 weeks, and then ask yourself how much you missed it. If you didn't miss it, then just let it go, and do something else. If you still want to keep going, then by all means, go ahead. Maybe try a slower pace.

I would say a sealed dreamcast collection is not outside the real of possibility. But it will probably take many years to accomplish. So yeah, I'd advise taking it slow. And don't worry, I'm not looking to move those games any time soon. And even if you don't buy the ones I have, I'm pretty sure more will come along. None of these things are extreme rarities. The last thing I don't do is, I don't allow fear to dictate how I respond to situations. If you are just trying to buy everything in sight cause you might not find it later, that probably isn't the best approach. So that is my 2 cents.

[Jumpman Jr.]

I'd go for it.
Anything is possible with collecting games. There are enough sealed copies of games to go around. They may be hard to find, but you can still find them.
One of my biggest dreams when I started collecting was to have a complete NES collection. However, for the first year of collecting I never bought any NES games because I thought it would be impossible.
Now, here I am, 2 years after saying that, and I'm sitting on a complete collection.
The satisfaction when your done is awesome.

[dbiersdorf]

You have 94 games in a year. Think about it, that's a lot of games in one year. You need to go at a slower pace, do it casually and you'll enjoy it again.

[smork]

I think collecting sealed DC is very doable. There aren't that many US DC games, and most aren't all that rare, so as far as sealed collections go it'd be a relatively easy set to complete.

The question is if it's what you want to do, or are you just burnt out on collecting. If it's the latter, i'd agree with what was said above -- just put the games in a box in the closet and wait until you're inspired again. No reason to sell them unless you really need the money. If you want them later, you have them!

[PapaStu]

Others have gotten sealed collections for systems that have been dead longer (i'm thinking of all that sealed Japanese NGCD stuff and DC and whatnot that Adol has) with some perserverance and dilligance. Your 92/249 or 37.75% of the way thru the collection so farr and thats not too shabby if you ask me. Yeah some of the games are going to be a bit harder to collect... and some will cost you alot more sealed, but if you've enjoyed doing this thus far and its not financially killing you keep at it.

Just determine what your going after early on (while you still can) and stick to it. Is it going to include the Sega All Stars? What about the Hot!New! Midway re-releases? Theres a few cover variants out there as well, not to mention the Not For Resale games that came packaged with system bundles. Your only automatic un-findable is Sonic LE. I don't think any have survived sealed.

It took me something like 4 or 5 years to pull a complete US NGPC collection boxed. Hell I didn't even go after games agressivly for a good 2 years at one point. I was still able to pull the collection together ( mostly from ebay and a few from online stores) with not all that much difficulty save for one game.

[MagicMajenta]

Here's my opinion. The only real motivation in collecting these things is if they have a high value in the future like Baseball cards and old/antique cars as compared to their present value. I mean I would think it's pretty pointless to collect if the value of those games in the future is just the same as the value of those games are now brand new. Hey, maybe in the future they will be worth more because there will be way fewer of them sealed because people bought them through the years and played them. That's always a possibility. But unless that's the case, there are a lot more things you can invest on than putting your money in sealed video games. I mean invest in stocks and bonds. Start up a business. Collect things that FOR SURE will have future value like Baseball cards and such since that's really one of the main reasons those things were made in the first place. When you think of baseball cards, you automatically think collecting because that's what they're made for. The Video game industry is not catering to collectors and is not considering the value of their sealed games 10 or even 20 years down the line. They are in the business of making games so people can play them NOW!!! Video games were not meant to be collected like baseball cards and such. Just my 2 1/2 cents.

[exit]

I find it useless to buy a sealed game and never open it. Infact if I ever meet someone who does that, I'd purposley open the game and pretend that I didn't know better.

[briskbc]

I was collecting sealed DC games up until recently. That's not to say I've quit completely but I started picking up mint used games as well. In the 10 months I've been doing it I got to 57 sealed games and probably 10 doubles. It was fun but in this time I noticed the supply dry up. In Oct of 2005 here were usually 500 to 525 games on eBay that were new. As of my last search (10 minutes ago) there were 224. I don't think it counts all of the items in eBay stores but those are almost always way overpriced.

If you have the cash then I would pick up rare/high demand games now and deal with the rest of the library at a slower pace.

[50TBRD]

Your 92/249 or 37.75% of the way thru the collection so farr and thats not too shabby if you ask me. Yeah some of the games are going to be a bit harder to collect... and some will cost you alot more sealed, but if you've enjoyed doing this thus far and its not financially killing you keep at it.

Just determine what your going after early on (while you still can) and stick to it. Is it going to include the Sega All Stars? What about the Hot!New! Midway re-releases? Theres a few cover variants out there as well, not to mention the Not For Resale games that came packaged with system bundles. Your only automatic un-findable is Sonic LE. I don't think any have survived sealed.

Papastu always gives the best advice. The question that imediately came to mind was, how many games are there to completion? Papastu answered that at 248. Thats quite a good bit to go at 92 but at 248 games I'd say that its not that difficult. That's 156 games left. That may only take you 2 to 3 years depending on your pocket and the availability of each title. Which is pretty good considering how collecting works.

Personally, when I set a goal I try my darnedest to make that goal. You have to ask your self I you have the same conviction to collecting DC sealeds.

If you do continue, my suggestion would be to know out the hardest ones as early as possible. Leave the sports and ultra commons. Make the ultra hardest a saved ebay search and wait it out. Once you get over the hump, you'll be home free, just round out those sports and commons.

I don't know much about Dreamcast but read about Sonic LE and I don't see how any of them would be sealed. If they were, I would shutter to thing of the price one would fetch. If a complete Final Fight Guy goes can go for 150 plus I'm envisioning 4 digits for a sealed one and you could expect more for Sonic LE. But you have to make exceptions incollecting because almost every system has something that breaks the mold. Super StarFox Weekend didn't have a box and thus cannot make a complete US Boxed Collection. You can how ever make a complete collection of DC games which were offered sealed.

At any rate, Good Luck.

[pooch]

Here's my opinion. The only real motivation in collecting these things is if they have a high value in the future like Baseball cards and old/antique cars as compared to their present value. I mean I would think it's pretty pointless to collect if the value of those games in the future is just the same as the value of those games are now brand new. Hey, maybe in the future they will be worth more because there will be way fewer of them sealed because people bought them through the years and played them. That's always a possibility. But unless that's the case, there are a lot more things you can invest on than putting your money in sealed video games. I mean invest in stocks and bonds. Start up a business. Collect things that FOR SURE will have future value like Baseball cards and such since that's really one of the main reasons those things were made in the first place. When you think of baseball cards, you automatically think collecting because that's what they're made for. The Video game industry is not catering to collectors and is not considering the value of their sealed games 10 or even 20 years down the line. They are in the business of making games so people can play them NOW!!! Video games were not meant to be collected like baseball cards and such. Just my 2 1/2 cents.

I agree that video games are not made to collect. However, this is the only thing which intriques me and with alot of luck, I have enough savings that can allow me to be in this indulgence. I am a girl 22 years old. I am supposed to be interested in fashion and make up but interestingly, I am not and I spend all my money on video games. I thought to myself that at least the value of video games MIGHT retain in value whereas fasion and make up are comsumption goods that don't hold any value once you purchase them off the rack.

I am sure many collectors here do not collect video games as an investment, but rather as a hobby, which is my case.

[pooch]

Thank you very very very much for all the valuable advice. I truly appreciated it. It really got me thinking.

I am not burnt out on collecting DC games. In fact, I really want to continue. However, the supply seems to be drying up in recent months so I am not sure if getting a complete sealed DC (maybe less Sonic Adventure LE) set is at all possible.

So what do you guys think about the possibility of getting a complete set of sealed DC games? I need some advice on this issue from experience collectors.

[98PaceCar]

If you are persistant in searching and willing to pony up the money when the opportunity to get something that is really rare comes up, any collection is completable. The real key for me has been sitting on some cash that is specifically to be used when a grail item comes up. That way, I don't have to pass on it because I have some other bill that's due.

If the money isn't a problem for you, then it's just a matter of searching long enough until you have everything you want. If you want a sealed DC collection, go for it! Worst case you end up with a ton of sealed games that are worth more then they would be open.

Also, go after the higher dollar and rarer items first. Don't worry about the sports titles and things like that unless you can get them in bulk or extremely cheap. But if you see something that's a bit rarer, grab it immediately. No telling when the next one will come up.

[The Plucky Little Ninja]

Don't fixate on the whole "supply drying up" issue. There are still people out their collecting sealed NES games. Going sealed isn't going to be easy, but that's half the fun.

Enjoy the journey of collecting instead of staying so focused on the completeness factor. When, or if, you decide to taper off on the Dreamcast games will it really matter if you only made it to a 64.8% completion.

Also, as I said earlier, those Dreamcast CD cases just don't take up that much room. Even if you stop actively collecting sealed games just hold on to them. You never know when you're going to stumble into a pawn shop that picked up a crapload of unsold games at some liquidation sale. That's when you're going to kick yourself for dumping everything.

So the short answer to your question. Collecting sealed DC games.... very possible. Not easy by any means, but very possible. Don't let the difficulty factor ruin your enjoyment of it.