The Absense of a "Crown Jewel"

[GrayGhost81]

I love collecting. I love my collection. I collect games so I can play the hell out of them. I won't lie, I do care if they are worth some money, but that is secondary.

Having said all that I realized I really don't have a "crown jewel" in my collection. When people see my collection, they often ask me what is my most valuable piece. My response is usually something like "ummmm I dunno, a loose Conker's Bad Fur Day? But look how many games I have!"

I think my problem is my ceiling for buying games is usually about $10, leaving more valuable finds to chance (like garage sales). So I may have near 1,000 games, but I'd say about 80% of them are extremely common, and the other 20% top out at maybe $50 in value, which is about what you'd spend on a newer game.

Recently I borrowed, played through, and returned a copy of Suikoden II from a buddy of mine. He asked if I still was going to try to add it to my collection now that I've played it. The answer is that I'd love to have it but to "save up" and buy one off ebay just ain't doing it for me, and the chances of scoring one randomly are slim.

So until I find Earthbound or something at a yard sale, I'm lacking that big fish.

Just curious if anyone else has felt this way and what did you do about it, if anything? Save up and go for something big just to justify your existence? or just learn to love what you have, come what may?

[Duke.Togo]

This is an interesting topic. I suppose it is really what your collecting goal is set at.

When people come over they do think it is cool to see some of the different items I have, but unless they are into the collecting hobby themselves the usual questions are if you have the popular games they loved as kids. For them, SMB3 or Mario Kart is what makes a collection.

For collector friends, you do get some more ooh's and aah's over the rare items, and break out the hard to find game just to try and play them.

Once you've been doing this for some time you'll come across many gems. Some will definitely require some saving, or taking the time to trade items that aren't of such interest to you for that item from someone else.

[GrayGhost81]

I agree completely in regards to goals. I never thought about goals until I started reading these forums.

I've thought about it recently. First off, I'm not going for a complete set of anything, I'm just not that committed and I'm afraid I would obsess over it and spend too much money.

In regards to my post above, I'm on the fence about whether snagging the "big fish" is one of my goals.

I'm really about owning good games that I want to play, then holding on to them so I can play them again down the road. The only "bad" games I've held on to are ones that have sentimental (or dollar) value, otherwise I trade them.

So for a while I thought a nice minty copy of Valkyrie Profile would satisfy me. I had just played the PSP version and loved it, and I'd love to play it on a tv. But after a while I decided my $80 or so would be better spent on more games of lesser value.

Maybe one day I'll pull the trigger on something, for now, fingers crossed for that diamond in the rummage sale!

[Vectorguy]

It's your collection.  Whatever makes you happy, until you run across that rare item you can afford/someone prices it too low without knowing the *real* value of it

[russlyman]

I too am not going for a complete collection but rather a quality collection. Games that I can put in and they are good. The only "bad" games I'll get our ones I remember playing as a kid and have nostalgic value to them.


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[Sirgin]

I wouldn't worry about it.

[Razor Knuckles]

I rely mostly on second hand shops to find my stuff. I just like the thrill of buying something thats worth a lot of money or nostalgia to me for cheap. I don't go out of my way, I just stay patient. It's more fun that way for me.

But I have found a very good chunk of games that are worth a pretty penny. I always seem to get lucky when it comes to finding sweet things in the wild.

If I see a game thats worth lets just say $50 at a thrift store and its priced $2 I will always pick it up, even if I could care less about the game itself. If its worth something more than I can buy it for it's mine. I don't sell any of my stuff, I just horde them.

The only thing I have ever splurged on is my Sonic collection. Their a still a few more games to go into it but their pretty expensive games and I will wait for the right opportunity.

I could care less whats in my collection for the most part, as long as it brings me some joy it's all good. I do have a few gems in it, but I paid next to nothing for them.

[cverz2]

Interesting topic, for me personally, the big problem is that when I do find a JEWEL at a garage sale or flea market. I end up selling it on Ebay. So that I can make a quick turnaround and buy more LESSER value games that I want/need.

I know this makes me a disgrace to all collectors, but I just can't help it.  Its a sickness.  

Also my collection changes depending on what I am into at the time.

[Duke.Togo]

Disgrace? No, it's making your collection what you want it to be.

I've had many titles I've made trades or sales for that some people would balk at letting go. All of it went into picking up items that I wanted in my collection more, and I'm sure the other collectors that ended up with them enjoyed them too.

[techwizard]

i would only resell a game i found for cheap (that wasn't one i really wanted) if it were really valuable. i think my cutoff point would be $150-200ish, anything below that i would keep just to add more rare or valuable games to the collection, but if it were worth more i would sell it in a heartbeat unless i really wanted it.

not counting duplicates, of course i would sell those.

[Crabmaster2000]

I've splurged for a few "crown jewels" occasionally in the past. Some were to help towards a complete collection, some were mementos, some where local deals,and one was kind of a trophy. While a few of those items hold special places in my collection there are a few extremely common items that hold equal or even greater value for me personally. For example the copy of Frostbite on the 2600 that singlebanana just sent me will definitely have a special spot in my collection beyond something like a Flintstones Surprise at Dinosaur Peak. Or something that I held onto since I was young like a copy of Final Fantasy IX will be more important to me than a Bubble Bobble 2.

Its nice to have those things, but ultimately like yourself I LOVE playing these things and have a strong attachment to some games that just paying a high dollar value for can't quite compare to.