Originally Posted by
cheesystick
I completed my cart-only set about three months ago, which included the competition carts and the South American games. It took me about 12 years to collect them all, although I was doing very little collecting in my college years. I decided I wanted to complete the set at about age 14 and I finally did at age 26, (a strange goal for a kid, I know.) I have been meaning to do a write up of my recent success here on Digital Press, thanking various people including forum members for helping me out, but I haven't quite gotten around to it yet. I am really thankful to everyone that helped.
A lot of my success involved collecting a large sum right when SNES games hit their price floor, probably between 2000-2003. Gamestop was clearing out their stock, (not that I got much from them, but it puts the time into reference), and it was really easy to find games for next to nothing. Gamecube/Xbox/PS2 was all the rage back then and some N64 and PS1 games held some value in the secondary markets, but nobody cared about SNES and Genny stuff at that time. I was able to clean up pawn shops and thrift stores back then just because it was the right time to buy, which is not something you can get away with today, (unless you're into GBA/PSP/XB/PS2/GC games, then it's the perfect time to buy.)
My advice? Well, I'll try to be brief:
- Always ask at garage sales or pawn shops. You never know what they'll have in the back.
- Don't be afraid to buy large lots, even if there are a lot of dupes. You can always resell and DP is a great place to do it. I have purchased lots that cost over $400 multiple times and this is really the way to go. You have less competition buying them because not everyone wants to buy everything. Each time I was able to add to my own collection basically for free, while usually reselling everything else and still making a profit. Look for people trying to sell their entire collection, or a storage unit, or just a huge lot. These people are usually easy to haggle with because they want it gone and you'll also be giving them way more money than Gamestop or a pawn shop would, so it's a win/win.
- Don't be afraid to buy games that aren't complete or are in crappy condition. You can always upgrade later and it makes for easier buying decisions. That is, it will be easier for you to buy a Super Mario RPG in excellent condition for $30 when you know that you can sell the one you already have in rough condition for $20 plus. You can look at it as only a $5 -$10 expense as opposed to just a standard $30 expense, and this also always keeps the hunt alive.
- Go after the rare games first. The seem to be inflating at quite the stellar rate
- Chase after Craigslist ads if you have the time. I purchased a whole SNES system lot, Super Scope, and a eight games for $75. I had all the games already except for one, but that game happened to by Kirby's DreamLand 3, which goes for over $50 loose these days it seems. I only scored this deal because I called and inquired, but it was clearly worth it in resale value. A lot of other collectors would have looked over buying such lots, but every now and then you can score a true gem when someone posts they have some ill-defined "Nintendo tapes" or something. Sometimes they have a SNES for sale as a "Nintendo" and they don't even know it.
- Let other people know you collect. I got SNES games from friends and friends of friends, people I didn't even know just because they heard I was going for a complete set through the grapvine. I had a friend give me Last Action Hero out of his childhood box because he knew I needed it. It is only worth a couple bucks, but instances like that really add up, and you never know when your Dad will come home with a box of "worthless games" from the office's secretary, or something really tangental like that.
One of the biggest mistakes I made in collecting was that I didn't prioritize collecting games that were expensive but not necessarily rare. For example, the last game I needed to complete my set was Harvest Moon. This is not a particularly rare game, but it is an expensive one. I prioritized my eBaying, (I got over 80% of my collection in person, but most of my "rare" games I got off Ebay), to get the rare games. Some of those games were indeed rare but not worth much, like Super Solitaire. Meanwhile, I was putting other games that I didn't consider rare on the backburner, games like Ogre Battle and Lufia. Before I knew it, these games had jumped in price astronomically. I thought to myself, "Not as rare - Not as important," but that was a financial mistake. Most of the last games I needed were not that rare, just expensive, and I watched Harvest Moon go from about a $35 game to a $100+ game in the matter of a few years because I didn't quite prioritize it.
Also, don't buy every game you see just because you don't have it. Make a game out of it. I can't tell you how many times I passed over the Bugs Bunny game just because I though it was too expensive, (turns out to be one of the most common games that I saw over the years). I would keep on seeing it for $3.00 and passing it up. Paying three bucks to cross the game off your list seems like a no-brainer, but the reality is that I knew for a fact that I would eventually find it for a dollar, or get it in another lot for free. It took awhile, but I eventually did find it for a dollar. If you know a game is super common, give it time and don't necessarily buy everything you see. It will help out in the long run and might make collecting a bit more enjoyable. I was stoked when I finally found it for a dollar, personal pride I guess.
Also, I found the Digital Press guide to be very helpful and accurate. The games they list as being super rare are indeed the really rare ones, but I'd like to shed more light on some other games that were really hard for me to find. To be frank, here are some games that I virtually never saw in three years of collecting:
- Ghoul Patrol
- Syndicate
- Super Goal 2
- Sparkster
- Pocky & Rocky 2
- Ren & Stimpy: Buckaroo$
- R-type 3
- Space Megaforce
These were games that seemed a lot harder for me to find than the guide would have led me to believe, at least on the West Coast anyways. Trading on Digital Press was also a huge help and I made friends doing this over the years that I have actually met in person and started genuine friendships with. If it stops being fun for you or ever feels like a chore, it't time to stop. But if you get enjoyment out of the hunt, then good luck, and game on!