So the end is near.  I started this journey Feb 12th 2013 and I am still poking at it.

Some of the members on this group know that I have been living in Italy the past few years,  but before moving here I lived in Michigan for the bulk of my life and then followed that up with three years in Nebraska.  During that time frame I was a local game shopper,  commonly visited places for me were game stores, good wills, thrift stores and flea markets.  The normal spots most game collectors head to on a average day of game hunting.  Well during the first year here in Italy,  I only bought newer games on the Military base I work on and games from the local American community that also works on the base.   It kinda worked for a while but it did not satisfy my needs for the hunt. 

Well a year passes,  I knew that I was going to be heading back to Michigan to visit family and I even made a trip to Nebraska to visit a friend as well.  During that time frame I stopped by a local game store I use to go to so I could pick up some games and bs with my buddy Mike who ran the store.  He was telling me of a huge score he got over the summer and how excited he was.  He was at a thrift shop and asked if they had any games.  Well it turns out they just got over 1000 CIB snes games and they were sitting in the back.  He then offered them $2000 dollars for the lot and they took it.  I was super excited but then as the story went on he was explaining that he already made over $18,000 dollars profit on it but there was hardly anything left.

My excitement kinda went away knowing most of it was gone but I still asked him to bring in what he had left.  I assumed what would be left was all sports titles but I was actually wrong.  This is what he still had available and was still posted on Amazon at the time.

[img width=640 height=480]http://i382.photobucket.com/albums/oo269/Tadpole13132003/Snesboxlot.jpg[/img]

I up until this point never made a purchase online in regards to video games and I honestly did not know a solid price to offer.  I desperately lacked knowledge in complete in box collecting and I hardly knew anything of many of the titles here.   I then shot him a $300 dollar offer for the lot to see what he would say.  It really took him a minute to honestly agree to it and I understood because despite not really knowing much I did feel like it was kinda a low offer but I did not have much spending money since it was the very back in of the trip I was on and  I spent most of the money I put aside for the game hunt.  Well that same day I had to catch my flight back to Italy and did not have much time left before the post office closed and I knew if he sold it I needed to get it to the post office asap to mail this out.  Eventually he agreed to the $300 dollars I offered him and we then peeled the price stickers he had on the plastic bags around them at the time so he knew what games to take off amazon.

When we started peeling the stickers I soon realized that it was adding up quick.  It could of easily been at least $800 dollars worth of inventory he had on amazon that he just hooked me up with.  Well fast forward to early Feb 2013 and this ties back into not being satisfied with the lacking of game hunting locally in Italy.   I finally broke down and made my first gaming purchases online.  My stubborn self went 11 years of game collecting without doing so up until this point.  I even wrote a blog on this site about being on edge and whether i should do it or not.

But what was my first gaming purchase online?   It was NBA JAM 99 for the N64 CIB for a whopping $2 dollars with free shipping.   I was not complaining,  but why that game?  No real reason other then knowing that the journey to a Complete N64 set was on my mind for the past year in a half prior to that point.  But I was not sure if I was ever going to pursue that journey and if I did I defiantly did not know that it was going to be the CIB journey.  It was the huge super Nintendo lot that I got from my friend that made me realize that I wanted to not only pursue the N64 set as I have wanted to but to also work towards getting the complete collection with boxes.

Fast forward to today and I am nearing the completion of what I set out for. 

[img width=682 height=1024]http://i382.photobucket.com/albums/oo269/Tadpole13132003/IMG_8022.jpg[/img]



This is what I have amassed so far when it comes to Nintendo 64.   As of this time I am down to the last 9 games I need to complete the set.  However it is not a easy task,  I have been waiting patiently for the games to show up for sale in near mint or great condition which is not as easy it sounds.  Just to give a example I have only added three games to the collection since July 9th with the purchase of Bomberman 2nd attack.



[img width=700 height=466]http://i382.photobucket.com/albums/oo269/Tadpole13132003/IMG_8015.jpg[/img]

The next game to come to me is a nice Castlevania Legacy of Dark Box and manual.  Technically I am still waiting on a cart I ordered separate so I need 10 games.  But this does not count haha  

[img width=700 height=466]http://i382.photobucket.com/albums/oo269/Tadpole13132003/IMG_8016.jpg[/img]

And finally the most recent CIB game I received.  I actually had this game in my possessing for a whole whopping two hours and then as I left work with my box of games I condensed to one box I managed to forget the box on top of my car and drove off.  I was about 10 minutes away when I noticed I did not have the box and I drove back quick but the box was no where in site.  A few days go by and still not luck.  I lost one of my pricier N64 purchases and one of the games I spent the past year in a half waiting on quality wise.   A week later however the girl i know at the post office on base calls me up and informs me that a individual found the box and dropped it off at the post office.  I was so relieved and stoked and I am happy to have this game currently sitting on my shelf and in my possessing.

[img width=700 height=466]http://i382.photobucket.com/albums/oo269/Tadpole13132003/IMG_8013.jpg[/img]


So this is where you come in,  maybe I should of posted this list at the top but if you are still reading and with me thanks for hanging in there.  I am currently on the hunt for the following 9 CIB games.  Condition is a big factor to me but please message me with what you have and if you can help me in my journey to completing my first ever collection of any console.

Bust A Move 99
Hercules: The Legendary Journeys
International Superstar Soccer 2000 (English text)
International Track and Field 2000
MLBPA Bottom of the 9th
NBA Jam 2000
Stunt Racer 64
Top Gear Hyper-Bike
Turok 3 Shadow of Oblivion

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