Starting to collect again in 2012, and whoa is it different game now!

[inRainbows]

Hello all, i am happy to find a new home here on RF Generations.

So, as my header says, i just now started to collect again. I originally started collecting just growing up in the times and keeping my games, but then around 2003 i started to really get into it as a hobby. I amassed quite a rare archive in a couple years with some absolutely mind blowing finds. For example, back in my hay-day then, i found from one dealer at a flea market in one day,  Little Samson, Lufia II - Rise of the Sinistrals, and Dracula X............. ALL COMPLETE!! And, for 5, yes FIVE dollars each! That will stand as my greatest day in collecting history, and be hard pressed to be beat id say lol. I would have rare finds like that ( not that good ) but rare nonetheless quite often. Bubble Bobble 2, standards like ff3, chrono trigger, etc. Well, when i went to college in 2005 i needed a new saxophone and as hard as it was i had to sell my collection off. It crushed my soul, but it was worth it as i needed this for school. Over the next few years after college, i gradually got the bug to start collecting again, and when i finally decided to do it, i checked out ebay to see what things were going for, and boy was my mind absolutely blown away to see things like a complete copy of Little Samson go for around 700 dollars. Mine went for around 100 on ebay back in 2005. The market has absolutely exploded and inflated everything. Maybe inflation is the wrong word, because in our world of collecting, what someone is willing to pay is what its worth. The worst part about this is the hunt is almost all but a thing of the past nowadays. Back just 8 or 9 years ago, there was absolutely nothing better than flea market hopping on the weekends and going on the hunt. Its sad to see ebay show every joker out there what stuff is worth, and even worse it makes them mark up things like anything with the word zelda and mario on it, and everyone slaps the word RARE on EVERYTHING nowadays lol. Ive found so far that now my best hope for elusive low priced rare finds is yard sales and thrift stores. I have had some ok flea market finds but nothing like the old days obviously. Regardless, im happy to be at it again even with the prices now being through the roof, because theres nothing like laying your eyes on a copy of something you cant believe is there.

[Duke.Togo]

Welcome to RF Generation! Selling a collection and rebuilding is tough, especially for some of the rarer stuff now. The forums here are generally a decent place to find items for sale, and occasionally Craigslist really comes through for me. It certainly takes an extra level of vigilance to hit the great stuff, but on the other hand all of these other people in the hobby has made it easier to get rid of common games and use those funds to build up for the big titles. I wouldn't be surprised if some things are in a bubble right now and prices settle, but that is a risk you have to decide for yourself. No market can continue to spiral up as quickly as some games have lately. It will either level off or crash.

[inRainbows]

Welcome to RF Generation! Selling a collection and rebuilding is tough, especially for some of the rarer stuff now. The forums here are generally a decent place to find items for sale, and occasionally Craigslist really comes through for me. It certainly takes an extra level of vigilance to hit the great stuff, but on the other hand all of these other people in the hobby has made it easier to get rid of common games and use those funds to build up for the big titles. I wouldn't be surprised if some things are in a bubble right now and prices settle, but that is a risk you have to decide for yourself. No market can continue to spiral up as quickly as some games have lately. It will either level off or crash.

Glad to be here! I've been looking for a place like this for a couple of weeks. I knew there had to be one and luckily i stumbled upon here today finally.  It is certainly tough. One thing though is being a little older gives me more funds to create this new collection with at least. Craigslist is definitely an option too, ive found a couple of games on there this way already. I look for the market to level off about where its at now, maybe a little more and stay there for a while. Online arcades and virtual consoles are whats created it i would have to assume, and those are only going to grow, which will keep the collectors growing and looking too i would think.

[blcklblskt]

Welcome back to collecting!  As for flea markets, I wouldn't completely write them off just yet.  A few months back I found a Pioneer LaserActive with a few games and the Sega Genesis expansion module for $15.  So there is still rare stuff out there waiting to be snapped up for outrageously low prices.

I think you'll find the RFG community to be great for getting some awesome prices on games, too.

[Crabmaster2000]

Welcome aboard!

NES prices in particular have gotten pretty crazy. I'm not sure that the crazy price inflation has affected other consoles quite as badly in the last few years. There are defintely still good deals to find out there, but like the others have said it seems like you have to work a little bit harder to find them compared to a few years back.

There are a lot of great guys around the forums here though that are more than willing to help you out I'm sure. Wether thats a sale, trade, buyer, someone to help answer questions, I've even had some members do me some pretty amazing favors around here too. Hope to see you around the forums!!

[a_hub10]

Welcome back to the world! If you're going to be collecting Genesis games you can find them for dirt cheap. Anything nintendo produced has gone up recently. At least in my area.

[FireStar]

All nintendo games are inflated in my area as well. I don't think I'll ever get SMW (A "Super rare" SNES game that came with the friggin' console!) but at least I'll have all the good Sega and Playstation titles.

[Crabmaster2000]

All nintendo games are inflated in my area as well. I don't think I'll ever get SMW (A "Super rare" SNES game that came with the friggin' console!) but at least I'll have all the good Sega and Playstation titles.

Dont feel too bad, one store up here has been sitting on the uber rare SMB/DH up here. And they are practically giving it away for $20!

[a_hub10]

Anyone else have a store that has 10+ copies of Contra but refuses to sell them for less than $25? Or the "RARE" Gold LoZ?

[inRainbows]

What remains i had were minimal, but here's my new beginnings. Only want to see this pile grow and grow and grow!

[img width=700 height=522]http://i.imgur.com/LxWEH.jpg[/img]

[img width=700 height=937]http://i.imgur.com/5aO8Q.jpg?1[/img]

[Crabmaster2000]

At least you held onto a pretty decent bunch of games. Definitely some great items in there. And your CIB Duck Tales 2 is definitely worth some cash nowadays.

I've got 522 different NES games in my collection and you've already got one I still need. Damn that Adventure Island III!

[inRainbows]

At least you held onto a pretty decent bunch of games. Definitely some great items in there. And your CIB Duck Tales 2 is definitely worth some cash nowadays.

I've got 522 different NES games in my collection and you've already got one I still need. Damn that Adventure Island III!

Duck Tales 2 is my favorite NES game, so thats one i did not part ways with back when i sold out! Adventure Island 3 is such a good game! Best entry in the series IMO. About to go out and about on the prowl today, ill post some pics if i get anything.

[Crabmaster2000]

At least you held onto a pretty decent bunch of games. Definitely some great items in there. And your CIB Duck Tales 2 is definitely worth some cash nowadays.

I've got 522 different NES games in my collection and you've already got one I still need. Damn that Adventure Island III!

Duck Tales 2 is my favorite NES game, so thats one i did not part ways with back when i sold out! Adventure Island 3 is such a good game! Best entry in the series IMO. About to go out and about on the prowl today, ill post some pics if i get anything.

Duck Tales 2 is your favorite? Did you grow up with it or something? I think its an ok game, but I dont think it would make my top 100. As frustrating as AI I & II can be I do enjoy them. Really looking forward to playing 3 eventually.

Cant wait to see some pics of your scores for the day! Garage sales today or stores?

[inRainbows]

I know thats a bold statement, but theres just something about it that gets me. Im a huge sucker for anything that relates to treasure haha. Im going to venture a little further out to a few flea markets off the beaten path, and a few normal closer ones too. Its a nice 80 degree saturday morning here in KY, so im hoping that brings some yokels out of the woodwork with some stuff. There is a couple of vendors at 1 flea market that have a lot of stuff, but they also have it priced pretty accurate.

[bombatomba]

Welcome to RFG!  I don't envy you on your road to collecting again.  Not that it is a bad thing, but you're correct in your observation that collecting for pre-1995 cartridge-based systems have changed.  When I first started serious collecting back in 2000 there were three primary factors that made retro game collecting easier (and much cheaper).

First, most used game stores still traded in NES, SNES, and Genesis games.  This regularly available source of games kept prices in check for the rest of the collecting market (garage sales, flea markets, pawn shops, etc.), and while rare and sought-after games still commanded strong prices, you could usually find them in a store, as opposed to hunting around on the Internet.  Keep in mind that these still weren't the most ideal places to acquire old games, but I believe that just the presence of this helped keep prices down.

Second, Internet exposure was still not widespread, which combined with the easily accessible source of games via used game retailers, made for some truly fantastic prices.  Back in 2000 I bought several lots of NES games from ebay, both containing about twenty games each.  While I'm not exactly sure how much I paid, looking into my records suggest that I paid no more than $25 dollars for each lot (without shipping)!  In comparison I just found a NES lot 33 games that was currently at $40 just over five hours left.  I was also able to get the original gold cartridge Legend of Zelda CIB for only $16!  I also count the massive rise of gamers (and thus, game collectors) to this factor.

The third factor, which is the most important for collectors such as us in my opinion, was the crash of 2008.  Now this didn't affect  things overnight, economics had been slowly changing in the United States for at least a year at that point.  What does that have to do with us?  It changed how people decided to sell things, and combined with the other two factors I mentioned certainly made collecting more difficult.  For example, if you take into account the loss of the first and second factors (mass-market availability at the retail level and loss of "exclusivity" of the Internet) and combine it with the third, you end up getting either people with a greater idea of what their old games are worth (thus changing where they sell their games and at what price), or people who attach a more personal (and less realistic) sense of worth to their games (which also changes were they sell their games and at what price).  Either way, it makes for slimmer pickings at garage sales and flea markets.  Sure, there are still plenty of excellent deals to be had out on The Hunt (especially where some of our members live), but the days of plenty are now over.

I remember possibly the greatest haul I ever brought in.  It was the summer of 2001, and my father-in-law and I gassed the car up and toured garage sales for over four hours.  I found my Genesis collection, my SMS collection (now sold), my Atari collection, my Sega CD collection (with all the rares now gone), my Turbografx collection (now mostly sold) and my 32X collection (now either broken or sold), not counting the NES and SNES games I found along the way (Super Mario Allstars for $1).  We stopped off at a pawn shop, where I was able to procure a bunch of Odyssey^2 and NES games (CIB).  I finished off with an evening trip to the mall with my wife, where I found a CIB Shortorder/Eggs-plode for $1.99 and a NIB SNES controller for $4.99.  This stands in comparison with my greatest haul post-2007, which consisted of a N64 for $12 along with a bunch of mixed PC games (CIB for the most part).

That was far too long and quite depressing.  Now I don't even want to go garage-saleing today.

Sorry.