New goal, buy every game I have ever owned...

[Talen]

I need some input on my latest endeavor.  I have always tried to hold on to the games that I buy, collecting semi-seriously since I was about 16 or so.  I traded in games occasionally, but often bought them back because I missed playing them. 

There were two major times I traded in a large amount of titles from my collection; first in 2003 to get an xbox, I traded in probably 50-60 dreamcast and ps1 games, and again in 2004 I traded in another 50 or so games.  Ever since I have vowed never to trade in any titles, as the value gained from them is a pittance of what I paid, and I enjoy having them in my collection.

This brings me to the task at hand, re-buying every game I have ever had, and sold/traded in.  It seems pretty straight forward, but is pretty tricky actually.  Many of the games I forgot I ever had, and I want to be concise in my collection, so I have been going through full release lists of systems to try and jog my memory.  Luckily I didn't have a large variety of systems, only NES, SNES, Genesis, Playstation, Saturn, and the last gen consoles.  I currently have about 130 titles on the list, with only the Dreamcast and Ps1 sections done. 

I have only hit a few so far that will be really painfull to re-buy, such as Panzer Dragoon Saga, Powerstone 2, Marvel vs Capcom 2 (DC), Intelligent Qube, and most of the old Ps1 Rpgs

Has anybody else had experiences doing this?  In a way I feel crazy that I will be spending so much (multiple thousands most likely) to buy games I sold for 1-10$ each.  But on the other hand it has always really bothered me that I don't have those games anymore....

Any thoughts?

[Feechy]

Yeah, same here. Trying to buy back my N64 and Dreamcast games. Hope you have good luck with your games.

[Talen]

Thanks Feechy, I wish you luck in you search too. 

Actually, I have come across an abnormally large amount of used Ps1 games second hand in the last week, I picked up 14 or so games for 35$ total, including 4 that were on my rebuy list.  I am pretty stoked...

[Game Freak]

haha nice, i havent sold a single game in my life.  beat that.  and im only 15

[NES_Rules]

I've been pretty good about not trading in games. I've only done it once, I traded in: some Call of Duty game on the GBA (don't regret that at all really, it was a bad game), Rugrats in Paris N64 (loved it as a kid, miss having it now), Nuclear Strike 64 (I loved the PS1 version so I bought the N64 version and didn't really care for it, really missing it now), Pikmin (I can't believe I got rid of it, it was THE reason I wanted a GC in the first place). There was probably a couple more, but those all come to mind first. I traded those all in before I started collecting and have been looking for them since then, but can't find them for a good price.

[Talen]

NES Rules, thats the issue I am facing now.  The prices for a lot of the Ps1 games I am looking for have come down in the last few years, but I am still looking at 5-15$ for shipping to Canada on top of the price of the game when buying on Ebay, where they are redily available. 

That shipping is what usually puts me off of buying those older titles, but a lot of them can be had for about 5$ plus shipping, so I would be good to start buying those now.

[modest9797]

I was just thinking about that the other day.  I have a ton I would need from the Gamecube, Gameboy, and Xbox

[Talen]

Yeah, thats the trouble with the stuff from way back (snes, nes, gameboy and game gear for me).  I remember a few titles I have owned, but likely only half of them.  Luckily I was dirt poor as a kid, so I probably only owned 10 from each system (at most), so less to remember.

[Ghost Soldier]

Good Luck on reclaiming the loved and lost.

[Tan]

You can look at your own collection from a few different viewpoints. Those you buy because they are good games, those you think will be rare or worth money later on, and those that made you the gamer you are today, like having baby pictures or old toys, a part of your history. Some people still hold onto the prejudice that games are a "fad" or unimportant, but they are no different in impact than your favorite books, movies, sports cards, stamps, coins or music that evokes an emotional response or a strong feeling of nostalgia or even sense of accomplishment.

The only real problem I've had, is making sure that for the systems that had them, I got the Canadian versions of the games/systems and not the American ones. That's a side-effect of being involved in the collecting community and realizing the differences though. But if I want to recreate and have a piece of my own childhood, I have to be true to the collection, even if it makes things much more difficult in the long run.

I think a lot of collectors get caught up in the hobby like it's a race. They feel they need to buy it all now, whatever the price. Realistically this is a marathon hobby. When you deal with games that are 30+ years old, you have to realize that your in it for the long haul. Patience will make this a hobby you can enjoy for decades to come, also you'll be able to enjoy the virtues of patience like paying what you feel is appropriate, in the condition you want it, without compromising what will make you satisfied with each game you add to your collection.

[Talen]

Thanks for the well thought out reply Tan, I never really put it into words, but I agree with you on the points you bring up.

When you deal with games that are 30+ years old, you have to realize that your in it for the long haul. Patience will make this a hobby you can enjoy for decades to come, also you'll be able to enjoy the virtues of patience like paying what you feel is appropriate, in the condition you want it, without compromising what will make you satisfied with each game you add to your collection.

I often feel pressure to buy games before I am ready too.  Aside from the normal factors, like hype for a new title, I often fight with the issue of future rarity when picking up new titles.  Many titles are obviously going to be rare after a little while (most Atlus titles), but with many others its a very complicated guessing game.  With the large amount of ds and psp titles flooding the market these days, it is increasingly difficult to decide when to buy a game.  Many games are not even restocked after their initial shipment, and often I will never see a title in the wild that I am looking for, having to resort to ebay. 

Its always been a complicated balance for me.  Waiting until a game drops to a reasonable price for me, but getting it while it is still readily available on store shelves.  This leads to buying games because I am afraid I won't have another chance to buy them later, and pay more for them.  This leads to the problem of weather to pre-order or not.  I hate being tied to a specific retailer to get the game I want, and having to wait for their shipment to come in, often later than I can get it elsewhere, but often nowadays with the less popular games for Ps2 or portables, they will only get the number of copies they had preorders for, and often a month or so to restock.

Ebay has actually taken a lot of the stress out of this situation for me, personally.  I know that I don't have to buy it day one to guarantee that I get a copy, it will always show up on ebay at some point, and even most of the titles that are high priced on ebay 50$ + range are usually roughly what they cost new, give or take.

Lots of rambling here, hopefully it made some sense.

[Talen]

Good news. 

In the last week, I picked up 13 games that were on my re buy list, mostly ps1 and dreamcast games, all for 1-3$ each. 

[blcklblskt]

Thanks for the well thought out reply Tan, I never really put it into words, but I agree with you on the points you bring up.

When you deal with games that are 30+ years old, you have to realize that your in it for the long haul. Patience will make this a hobby you can enjoy for decades to come, also you'll be able to enjoy the virtues of patience like paying what you feel is appropriate, in the condition you want it, without compromising what will make you satisfied with each game you add to your collection.

I often feel pressure to buy games before I am ready too.  Aside from the normal factors, like hype for a new title, I often fight with the issue of future rarity when picking up new titles.  Many titles are obviously going to be rare after a little while (most Atlus titles), but with many others its a very complicated guessing game.  With the large amount of ds and psp titles flooding the market these days, it is increasingly difficult to decide when to buy a game.  Many games are not even restocked after their initial shipment, and often I will never see a title in the wild that I am looking for, having to resort to ebay. 

Its always been a complicated balance for me.  Waiting until a game drops to a reasonable price for me, but getting it while it is still readily available on store shelves.  This leads to buying games because I am afraid I won't have another chance to buy them later, and pay more for them.  This leads to the problem of weather to pre-order or not.  I hate being tied to a specific retailer to get the game I want, and having to wait for their shipment to come in, often later than I can get it elsewhere, but often nowadays with the less popular games for Ps2 or portables, they will only get the number of copies they had preorders for, and often a month or so to restock.

Ebay has actually taken a lot of the stress out of this situation for me, personally.  I know that I don't have to buy it day one to guarantee that I get a copy, it will always show up on ebay at some point, and even most of the titles that are high priced on ebay 50$ + range are usually roughly what they cost new, give or take.

Lots of rambling here, hopefully it made some sense.

I get what you mean, I know I also hate to put down $50-60 for a new game when most of them eventually drop to much cheaper prices.  It also makes it a little more fun, predicting when the price will drop.

[ganonbanned]

I did the same thing, sold a butt-ton of NES games when I was younger.  I wish I had a list of what games they were, I can't remember most of them, and NES games are expensive these days. 

[Sirgin]

I sold my old (Man United) Game Boy and now am sad that I did