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SNES Game Collecting (Tips, discussion, and info for like minded collectors)

v1perz53

Member
I will not ever collect cardboard boxes. They're just not functional as containers for games. I can so easily get clear plastic multi-game boxes and print nice fancy labels for less than $1.50 each.

I'm the same way, which is why my Genesis collection is CIB but my GB/GBC/GBA collection is in plastic cases I bought after the fact with printed labels. Which is funny, since I still have all of the boxes for my GameBoy games, I just don't care to display them. Even the act of opening them to take out the game to play ruins the cardboard a little more each time, cardboard boxes are just too flimsy.

That's what is great about collecting. It's a personal objective. It's the goals you set for yourself and it's the same across most hobbies. I like to collect as much CIB as I can, but sometimes I compromise. We all have different expectations.

Yea, this is really true. I know a lot of people who really care about CIB games with manuals because that is their goal. For me personally, my goal is to display the games on my shelf and be able to play them when I want to, so I don't care about instruction manuals for games. You go after what you personally care about. Though I will say that not caring about manuals has saved me a good bit of money on collecting!
 

NDPsycho

Member
I tend to do the same. I normally leave the box, manual and any inserts in a protective sleeve and keep the cart in a universal case with a label in front of it on the shelf. That way I don't damage anything when I feel like playing. The downside is that it takes a lot more space.
 

IrishNinja

Member
gorgeous pics, just stunning

I think that's something important that new collectors are missing and most of the old-school guys I know have in common: the deep shame of even the thought that you might have spent too much on a game.

Now they brag about it and make threads about how much they overpaid. No wonder game prices have blown up.

yuuup
thought you were gonna go in the other direction with how many of us had those boxes/packing materials etc and hastily tossed em in the day, haha
 

ZealousD

Makes world leading predictions like "The sun will rise tomorrow"
I think that's something important that new collectors are missing and most of the old-school guys I know have in common: the deep shame of even the thought that you might have spent too much on a game.

Now they brag about it and make threads about how much they overpaid. No wonder game prices have blown up.

Yeah you practically can't even overpay these days. Shit doubles in price in a year sometimes. Crazy.

Wonder how much longer the market can keep up with these increases. Bubble's gotta pop someday, right?
 

Mark5130

Member
I think that's something important that new collectors are missing and most of the old-school guys I know have in common: the deep shame of even the thought that you might have spent too much on a game.

I'll admit that I've felt that shame a few times after (knowingly) overpaying on eBay, but it's hard for a guy like me, with kids and their activities, a full time job, etc., to drive all over and hunt for this stuff in pawn shops, yard sales, flea markets and the like.
 
I'll admit that I've felt that shame a few times after (knowingly) overpaying on eBay, but it's hard for a guy like me, with kids and their activities, a full time job, etc., to drive all over and hunt for this stuff in pawn shops, yard sales, flea markets and the like.
yeah, this combined with the fact that deals are much harder to come by make for less practical deal-hunting. Bit of a shame.
 

Mark5130

Member
yeah, this combined with the fact that deals are much harder to come by make for less practical deal-hunting. Bit of a shame.

Yep. It's fairly obvious that a lot of places are "wising up" and the deals, let alone the games, are evaporating quickly. For instance, the Goodwill store near my house used to get stuff on a pretty regular basis. I would visit a few times a week and normally walk out with a handful of PS1 or maybe some GCN games every time and sometimes the occasional SNES game. Now they haven't had anything in months and if you visit their eBay style auction site, I can easily find all knids of stuff from my area that is now up for auction - SNES systems and games, N64, Genesis, etc. Big time bummer for sure.
 

v1perz53

Member
I'll admit that I've felt that shame a few times after (knowingly) overpaying on eBay, but it's hard for a guy like me, with kids and their activities, a full time job, etc., to drive all over and hunt for this stuff in pawn shops, yard sales, flea markets and the like.

Where I live, even flea markets and pawn shops seem to know the value of retro games, so I never have luck going to physical locations. But what I do do is every few days just check eBay for things that I want, generally sorting by "auctions ending soon" to see if I can nab anything not too popular that skirted under the radar, or generally more successfully, "newly listed buy it now", hoping for someone who didn't check the value well enough of a new listing or just wants to offload something. Not saying I got any crazy $5 for Earthbound deals like people get with garage sales, but I've gotten plenty of games for 15-20% below market value this way, which works for me. Though it is certainly hard at times to be patient when there are things I really want, such as deciding to complete my collection of a game series.
 
I'll admit that I've felt that shame a few times after (knowingly) overpaying on eBay, but it's hard for a guy like me, with kids and their activities, a full time job, etc., to drive all over and hunt for this stuff in pawn shops, yard sales, flea markets and the like.

I'm right there with you on the kids/life thing. I'm lucky to make a run to visit my local stores twice a month. And there's crap all left now at most places.

Where I live, even flea markets and pawn shops seem to know the value of retro games, so I never have luck going to physical locations. But what I do do is every few days just check eBay for things that I want, generally sorting by "auctions ending soon" to see if I can nab anything not too popular that skirted under the radar, or generally more successfully, "newly listed buy it now", hoping for someone who didn't check the value well enough of a new listing or just wants to offload something. Not saying I got any crazy $5 for Earthbound deals like people get with garage sales, but I've gotten plenty of games for 15-20% below market value this way, which works for me. Though it is certainly hard at times to be patient when there are things I really want, such as deciding to complete my collection of a game series.

That's what I'm doing, too. My watch list is huge. I look for OBOs. Another tactic I employ is looking for several auctions of the same game ending within a day or so of each other, hoping that at least one or two zealous bidders are taken out of the mix by the time the third or fourth auction is up.
 

ZealousD

Makes world leading predictions like "The sun will rise tomorrow"
eBay listing at $30.00 OBO

Offer $25

Counteroffer $29.50

Why would you even??
 

IrishNinja

Member
eBay listing at $30.00 OBO

Offer $25

Counteroffer $29.50

Why would you even??

this is like 90% of my "Make Offer" experiences

for posterity: i get it with graphic novels, hip hop vinyl and other things too, but not as frequently as with older games

like i'll literally catch a "$29.01 - Note from seller: FINAL OFFER"
 

D.Lo

Member
If someone best offers something I sell with a 10-15% off, I take it, that's reasonable.

Here's the usual experience as a seller:

Listed $100

New Best Offer received! $8.

Reject, edit listing to auto-reject offers less than $80.

Come back and see four buyers exhaust their best offers with patterns like $10, $20, $25.

Does anyone seriously expect someone selling something for $100 to accept $25?

TLDR: people on all sides as assholes quite often.
 

Peagles

Member
Whenever I've done best offer it's like... $30, put in $25... auto-reject, $27... auto-reject, $29... auto-reject, then... sorry you have been auto-rejected too much and cannot put any more offers in... LOL
 
Oh wow, I didn't even know it would shut you out after being auto rejected too many times.

If I get auto rejected once I'm pretty much done since I just put in what I think it's worth and am not doing it to haggle.
 

Mark5130

Member
Does anyone seriously expect someone selling something for $100 to accept $25?

Not at all, but the problem with eBay is that sometimes sellers list their games for WAY more than they are worth. It's super frustrating, but not as bad as someone who only ships to the states and wants $18 to ship a loose SNES game.
 
I guess I should say I've only just started using the Make Offer option since I've gotten back into collecting this year. I think I've used it it three times. Two were exactly what others described -- just auto rejects on what I thought were fair offers.

The third time I did have success. Seller was asking $80 for a SUPER nice CIB copy of Gumshoe for NES (circle seal, non Rev-A, in tact hang tab -- my preferred variant to collect). I offered $60, they countered at $66.50 and I accepted. Looking closely at recent sold copies, I felt it was fair. Once it arrived it was indeed a fantastic copy, and it means a little more to me since it's one of the dozen games I had as a kid.

I'm watching a few other OBO auctions right now and we'll see how they go if I make offers.

If its a decent price, I'll make an offer taking out the shipping fee. I hate paying for shipping.

If nothing else, it's worth it just to try for this.
 
eBay listing at $30.00 OBO

Offer $25

Counteroffer $29.50

Why would you even??

Probably someone who didn't mean to have the Best Offer option on. I hate that no matter how many times I list something without it, it defaults to on when you list a fixed listing. I have definitely had times where I received an offer on something I didn't even mean to have best offer on for.
 

Ban Puncher

Member
If you ever want to pick up a few pricey rarities at the same time you'd be better off flying to Japan yourself and buying them at a much cheaper price and in better condition too compared to ScumBay.

Plus you get the added bonus of experiencing a crazy toilet in your motel room.
 

NDPsycho

Member
Yeah you practically can't even overpay these days. Shit doubles in price in a year sometimes. Crazy.

Wonder how much longer the market can keep up with these increases. Bubble's gotta pop someday, right?

I keep wondering the same. Games that I thought I overpaid for last year seem like pretty good deals now. I questioned paying $120 last year for Wild Guns. Looking now they list for twice that or more.

No one likes the crazy prices unless you're selling. I certainly don't always feel good about it. When faced with the alternative of not getting a game you're after though, you often have very few options. I rarely find anything in the wild now. You pay or you go without. Just like most things in life. I do feel bad for anyone that treats a hobby as an investment though. I'm only buying what I want and deciding what that's worth to me. If the bubble bursts, I might wish I could have saved some money by waiting, but I won't regret having the games and whatever time I've spent with them.

I'm kind of curious what everyone thinks is an acceptable price for retro games? I mean, ignoring supply and demand, what do you value them at? I tend to think of them no different than any other games I buy. Anything that I'm interested in, if I can get it for $60 or less, doesn't bother me at all. I remember cashing out a savings bond as a kid and paying around $50 or so for Yars revenge when it released. I guess that became my comfort zone for buying games and it has never changed. Well until the last couple years anyway. With dlc, season passes, collector editions my comfort zone has expanded a bit, but this is still pretty accurate for me.
 
For me personally I don't get too fussed paying up to $40 for an uncommon NES game (retail price back in the day for most) and nearly any truly good SNES game (just what I feel a fun 16-bit game is worth). That's for loose carts. My personal ceiling right now on a CIB game I really want is probably $100 but I haven't paid more than the aforementioned $66 so far - and I really wanted that one. I feel like $15 and under is worth it for nearly any good condition CIB NES game, no matter the game. But I am not buying those up indiscriminately. I'm trying to stick to my desired sets.
 
Yeah, I don't worry about overpaying. If I want something, I find the best price I can, decide if it's worth it, and either pay it or don't. And then move on.

And if I feel a little twinge after paying "too much" for something, I just look at what I paid for stuff in the past, and what it goes for now. Knowing that my games are worth a lot is kind of cool...even though I'll never sell.
 

v1perz53

Member
Honestly, it probably sounds dumb, but I have a much harder time paying more for a game I owned in the past and either lost or sold than I do a game I never owned. The idea of paying for a game twice bothers me. And for price in general, if I buy a game today for $60, I am getting a flawless mint condition copy, so I would only spend $60 for a retro game if it offered the same flawless quality. Since I don't generally go for CIB retro games, my ceiling on a normal rarity game is something like $30, while I will go as high as $50 for a specifically rare game I want to complete a certain collection.

I do find it really hard to justify prices like $175 for Earthbound though when I can play the game for $10 on the VC. $165 just to display something and play it on original hardware is more than I can afford currently, though I do envy people who have the income to do so, because I would love to own some of the rarer games.
 

IrishNinja

Member
^nah, i totally get that...i waited & waited for my day 1 copy of Suikoden 2, hated having to sell it years ago during some hardships. refused to pay what others will for it, a gaffer sold me the disc years ago for sub $50 so now i just wait on a cheap/repro manual and nicely print out inserts until some other option comes up, because yeah it was my fault but fuck all that
 
Honestly, it probably sounds dumb, but I have a much harder time paying more for a game I owned in the past and either lost or sold than I do a game I never owned. The idea of paying for a game twice bothers me. And for price in general, if I buy a game today for $60, I am getting a flawless mint condition copy, so I would only spend $60 for a retro game if it offered the same flawless quality. Since I don't generally go for CIB retro games, my ceiling on a normal rarity game is something like $30, while I will go as high as $50 for a specifically rare game I want to complete a certain collection.

I do find it really hard to justify prices like $175 for Earthbound though when I can play the game for $10 on the VC. $165 just to display something and play it on original hardware is more than I can afford currently, though I do envy people who have the income to do so, because I would love to own some of the rarer games.

As someone who collected and sold off SNES and NES games, if it takes more effort than it's worth, don't do it.

For most people, having digital access to the game might be fine enough. Even a game like Earthbound(where copyright is in place and licensed songs are changed), it's not worth chasing after past a certain price point for CIB.

If it passes three figures I wouldn't pull the trigger on buying. There are a few games I felt that impulse kick in.
 

Mzo

Member
I think the real problem comes when buying and collecting starts replacing actually playing the games as the main source of entertainment. It can add up fast. Sticking to a gaming budget is a good idea, and even blowing through 2 months' worth to get something rare you really want isn't so bad if you then take two months off to recuperate from the cost. It can also be easily justified if it is your main hobby that you enjoy and spend time on. Bonus points for making videos and having fun with that side of things.

Unless money is no object, then you can do whatever you want I guess, but even if I was the richest mofo on earth I'd still haggle over game prices.
 
I think the real problem comes when buying and collecting starts replacing actually playing the games as the main source of entertainment. It can add up fast. Sticking to a gaming budget is a good idea, and even blowing through 2 months' worth to get something rare you really want isn't so bad if you then take two months off to recuperate from the cost. It can also be easily justified if it is your main hobby that you enjoy and spend time on. Bonus points for making videos and having fun with that side of things.

Unless money is no object, then you can do whatever you want I guess, but even if I was the richest mofo on earth I'd still haggle over game prices.

Yeah, I generally put aside like 40$/month for retro games. either 1 'premium' item or a couple smaller ones. Occasionally if I have an influx of cash I'll put down a bit more for something big but the budgeting certainly helps.
 

NDPsycho

Member
I think the real problem comes when buying and collecting starts replacing actually playing the games as the main source of entertainment. It can add up fast. Sticking to a gaming budget is a good idea, and even blowing through 2 months' worth to get something rare you really want isn't so bad if you then take two months off to recuperate from the cost. It can also be easily justified if it is your main hobby that you enjoy and spend time on. Bonus points for making videos and having fun with that side of things.

Unless money is no object, then you can do whatever you want I guess, but even if I was the richest mofo on earth I'd still haggle over game prices.

This is kind of where I'm finding myself. I laugh it off as a midlife crisis because it feels like I'm trying to rebuy my youth by buying back things I've sold over the years. Some of it I have a lot of fun playing again with my kids, but some of it just sits on a shelf because of how it makes me feel when I see it.

I used to love the rpg's, but I just don't have the time for them anymore. I do love the shorter style arcade games though, especially the beat em ups. Which had initially seemed more reasonable in price compared to the rpg's until tracking down a copy of captain commando. Turtles are crazier all the time too. I think I'm done picking up most of those. I have a few shooters to still get, but I have the ones I really want so I can be patient. I just wish I could stop finding new retro games that I'd never heard of or given a thought to when I was younger. This thread, even as a lurker, is brutal on the wallet and want list.
 

v1perz53

Member
I think the real problem comes when buying and collecting starts replacing actually playing the games as the main source of entertainment.

This was a bit of a problem for me for a while when it came to typically multiplayer games. Do I have amazing memories of playing Super Smash 64 and Mario Kart 64 or F-Zero X against my brother back in the day? Sure, but when I went and added those games to my collection, I quickly realized that without someone to play with, those games weren't really all that fun. Many of them, like Mario Kart 64, didn't even have things you needed to unlock in single player, so there was more or less no reason to play them again alone. And I currently go to med school, so I can basically never get people together to play couch multiplayer, as much as I would love to.

Though sometimes the desire just to own something is enough, like for me being able to complete a full collection of a game series, like owning every Mario Kart or Smash Bros game for every system, despite not actually wanting to play most of the older ones. But I try to make that the exception not the rule.
 
This is kind of where I'm finding myself. I laugh it off as a midlife crisis because it feels like I'm trying to rebuy my youth by buying back things I've sold over the years. Some of it I have a lot of fun playing again with my kids, but some of it just sits on a shelf because of how it makes me feel when I see it.

I used to love the rpg's, but I just don't have the time for them anymore. I do love the shorter style arcade games though, especially the beat em ups. Which had initially seemed more reasonable in price compared to the rpg's until tracking down a copy of captain commando. Turtles are crazier all the time too. I think I'm done picking up most of those. I have a few shooters to still get, but I have the ones I really want so I can be patient. I just wish I could stop finding new retro games that I'd never heard of or given a thought to when I was younger. This thread, even as a lurker, is brutal on the wallet and want list.

This is where I'm at as well. Just to give you an idea ... my retro consoles aren't even hooked up! It's all boxed in the basement, lol. However, I plan to fix that this summer. Hope to get a Framemeister eventually.
 

LaserHawk

Member
And if I feel a little twinge after paying "too much" for something, I just look at what I paid for stuff in the past, and what it goes for now. Knowing that my games are worth a lot is kind of cool...even though I'll never sell.

That's a pretty good point. I felt a little silly paying $25 for Contra 3: Alien Wars a while back, but now it's averaging $40 on eBay. I'm starting to feel like I should grab some of those harder-to-get games sooner than later. Vintage SNES games probably won't ever become less rare.

I recently started collecting some of my old N64 favorites and was shocked to see how much lower the prices were. I don't know exactly why that is, but I started to theorize that when all the 90's kids start running into disposable income, they'll start buying back their childhood like I did and the demand and prices for N64 stuff would go up just like the SNES did.
 

Mark5130

Member
This is kind of where I'm finding myself. I laugh it off as a midlife crisis because it feels like I'm trying to rebuy my youth by buying back things I've sold over the years. Some of it I have a lot of fun playing again with my kids, but some of it just sits on a shelf because of how it makes me feel when I see it.

Couldn't have said it better myself. Perfectly summed up!
 

Rich!

Member
Got a crazy idea after finding a dead pal SNES in my cupboard of junk.

1. Get a Raspberry Pi B2. Secure it in the case.

2. Strip down a retrode and hook it to the cartridge port.

3. Wire up the front controller ports for real SNES pads.

4. Install a nice HDMI socket at the back and optical audio out.


So....good idea? Authentic SNES feel, real cart and controller support, HDMI output and support for other game console ROMS too via SD.


Edit: of course its a goddamn good idea. I'm doing it! Only issue is cost...the pi is cheap, only £30. But I would want another retrode to use, and they're £50. With the additional parts I need (HDMI port, extension cables for the inside, etc), would people agree this project is worth the near £100 it would cost?

The cheaper option is to leave out the Retrode. I would lose real cart support, but it would work with ROMs, have network share support and I could easily still hook up the controller ports to it. I could even make a mock cartridge that holds an SD card or even a portable hard drive


Edit edit edit:

This SNES casing is fucked. So I will need to start from scratch...but I'll do it. It will essentially be a retron, for cheaper than the price of one, but in authentic SNES housing and without supporting stolen code. I can even try and investigate the possibility of outputting in RGB and 240p via composite or VGA (through an adapter). Costs would be as follows:

- £20 for a decent non yellowed SNES housing (faulty internals)

- £25 Raspberry Pi Model B 2

- £45 Retrode

So that's £90. Hm.
 

Teknoman

Member
Hmm... i'm pretty deep into Breath of Fire 1...and all I can think of is what i'll play next RPG wise. I like the music, the enemies, and general art style...but man is it average. The story has that quick translation feel where you don't really get a good grasp of the events happening, and the characters dont really seem to have any motivation or personality. Pretty slow since you cant run in the dungeons, and enemies dont seem to have noticeable weaknesses or any reason to use debuffs. Just use most recent spell, rinse and repeat.

I'm still going to see it through of course, since I like the art style of the enemies and the soundtrack...but its kinda bad when earlier rpgs have a more interesting story, or at least run with the story they set up. I think i've seen whats led to be the main bad guy...twice so far? And even then he really didn't do much. Great set up at the start, but once it hits the middle it falls flat.

Also some of the later dungeon puzzles are even more annoying than Brainlord ( and there it was just challenging). Anyone who has made it through Mogu's dream area knows what i'm talking about.
 

meanspartan

Member
So the small podcast I do with a friend, "Multiple Lives", is gonna have an interview with Blake J Harris, author of the Console Wars book that came out last year that is supposedly going to be made into a movie (though no idea on the status of that).

I literally just took a shot in the dark messaging on Facebook and he said he was down to be interviewed, so that's cool.

Anyway, I'm here to get your guys' suggestions on some questions to ask him. Give me some ideas!

(also posted in genesis thread)
 

Mercutio

Member
So the small podcast I do with a friend, "Multiple Lives", is gonna have an interview with Blake J Harris, author of the Console Wars book that came out last year that is supposedly going to be made into a movie (though no idea on the status of that).

I literally just took a shot in the dark messaging on Facebook and he said he was down to be interviewed, so that's cool.

Anyway, I'm here to get your guys' suggestions on some questions to ask him. Give me some ideas!

(also posted in genesis thread)

I understand that the point of the book was Nintendo and Sega as we saw it in the USA, and the didn't want to complicate things, but I'd like to hear if any earlier version of the book had more information about the PC Engine and its role in the Japanese market during the 16-Bit era. After all, Sega was a distant third there.
 

v1perz53

Member
I don't even get it. It's not like retro video games even need that much...promotion. Things will sell for top dollar anyway.

Even beyond that, what good do boobs do on something like eBay? Like, you could make the argument that in a physical store or booth selling things, they might entice someone to come over and browse what is there. But on a site like eBay, I generally search for what I want, and the picture of the item doesn't even factor in until after I have looked at the prices of things. I would be fairly shocked if there has ever been someone willing to pay more for the same game in the same condition because one of them had boobs in the picture.

Unless you just want to show off your assets I guess, maybe she is rather proud of them. In which case, good for her.
 

IrishNinja

Member
that black top...damn, id consider buying plok

So the small podcast I do with a friend, "Multiple Lives", is gonna have an interview with Blake J Harris, author of the Console Wars book that came out last year that is supposedly going to be made into a movie (though no idea on the status of that).

I literally just took a shot in the dark messaging on Facebook and he said he was down to be interviewed, so that's cool.

Anyway, I'm here to get your guys' suggestions on some questions to ask him. Give me some ideas!

(also posted in genesis thread)

awesome man!
loved the book, cant think of much to ask dude - maybe the movie's status, but im sure that'll come up
some of the book doesn't entirely fit what used to be on Eidolon's Inn/Sega Base but i forget the specifics

I understand that the point of the book was Nintendo and Sega as we saw it in the USA, and the didn't want to complicate things, but I'd like to hear if any earlier version of the book had more information about the PC Engine and its role in the Japanese market during the 16-Bit era. After all, Sega was a distant third there.

this'd be interesting too, though a whole other subject and i wouldn't know who to ask. i doubt even Kalinske knows much, though Vic Ireland is pretty knowledgeable on how hard the US branch got fucked
 
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