Doh! The "I paid way too much for that" thread.

[Lendorien]

Ok, so we have the thrift find thread, and the "near miss" thread. How about a "My eyes were bigger than my better judgment" thread.

 

I'm sure that as game collectors, we've all come across situations where we decided to buy something, either unsure of its value, or just because we had to have it, only to find out after the fact that we paid way more than we should have. It can be small, it can be huge, but the best are the embarrassing ones. This thread does NOT include situations where a disreputable person did something dishonest. It's more about our own silly need to buy something that makes us spend too much.

 

Me, I recently got three of the wisdom Tree NES games for about 20 bucks. Worth about half that. Well, on the bright side, they were all CIB, but still, a bit more than I should have spent. I've also pretty much overpaid for most of my N64 games. I don't have any true horror stories myself, though I do have a few games I definitely paid too much for.

 

So, share!

[Taskmaster99]

I'm in the club!!!! I recently paid way over the top for a certain converter to play japanese games on an american system i have. After buying it....I was offered a Japanese system for half the price. Crap!!!!!!!!!

 

Another are my Neo Geo AES games. If i find it....i buy it. Then wouldnt you know.......i find it somewhere else for a cheaper price.

 

I am currently working on this little problem of mine. So far i am doing quite well. Will i revert back to my old ways of blowing the wad without any research??? only time will tell......lol.

[akator]

I bought a used graphite GBA SP for $50 when new ones were on sale for only $60.

 

For about 2 months, I was insane when trying to start my collection of Apple //c hardware. Nothing I bought worked, so I kept throwing more money at it. It was a vicious cycle. It eventually cost me $250 to get a working-but-very-used-and-ugly Apple //c and matching monitor, with several dead ones to show for my trouble.

 

In a similar obsessive episode, last year I had some money and decided to finally buy a ton of Dreamcast stuff I wanted for years. I figured that I would keep it under $1000. That didn't happen. $1800 and a month later, I had about 4/5 of my list -- but I looked at it all and felt like a fool out of control.

Edited March 8, 2010 by akator

[Lendorien]

I bought a used graphite GBA SP for $50 when new ones were on sale for only $60.

 

For about 2 months, I was insane when trying to start my collection of Apple //c hardware. Nothing I bought worked, so I kept throwing more money at it. It was a vicious cycle. It eventually cost me $250 to get a working-but-very-used-and-ugly Apple //c and matching monitor, with several dead ones to show for my trouble.

 

In a similar obsessive episode, last year I had some money and decided to finally buy a ton of Dreamcast stuff I wanted for years. I figured that I would keep it under $1000. That didn't happen. $1800 and a month later, I had about 4/5 of my list -- but I looked at it all and felt like a fool out of control.

 

If I recall, Apple iic are pretty easy to get into. Couldn't you have just switched the guts between that and a good shell? I've opened Apple 2s before and they aren't that complex.

 

And holy crap! What the heck did you buy for the Dreamcast that cost 1800 bucks?!

[Cebus Capucinis]

Cebus found the liquor cabinet. Cebus proceeded to drink 10 gin and tonics.

 

Cebus then noticed an auction for a Starpath Supercharger. Not in box. Not with anything. Loose. In "meh" shape.

 

Cebus then proceeded to bid it up to $268.

 

Yes, Cebus paid $268 for a crap condition loose Starpath Supercharger.

[Lendorien]

Cebus found the liquor cabinet. Cebus proceeded to drink 10 gin and tonics.

 

Cebus then noticed an auction for a Starpath Supercharger. Not in box. Not with anything. Loose. In "meh" shape.

 

Cebus then proceeded to bid it up to $268.

 

Yes, Cebus paid $268 for a crap condition loose Starpath Supercharger.

 

And once again we have proof that alcohol and ebay are a deadly mix.

 

Thanks for the laugh!

Edited March 8, 2010 by Lendorien

[Cheese007]

eBay Auction -- Item Number: 380175686427

ANYONE who buys this.

[Rev. Rob]

I was at a Bookmans location today and they had a 3DO FZ-1 for $90.00 with no games. Usually their prices are pretty reasonable, but that is just too high. $50.00 would be more like it. They also had a Goldstar for $75. I asked about the price and the clerk said "that's what they go for online." Ya, with 5-10 games they do.

[Cheese007]

The local classic game store has been trying to sell a pair of Lynx IIs, loose, no games, for $140. Each.

[vrocko]

eBay Auction -- Item Number: 380175686427

ANYONE who buys this.

 

Holy jumpin' catfish! $499.99? He's insane! I wouldn't give you a plug nickel for that thing. I've got one and wish I'd not spent the $1 for it at the garage sale I found it at.

 

Rich

[StoneAgeGamer]

Don't get me started, I've learned many expensive lessons since starting this business.

[monzamess]

ALMOST anything bought new... with the exception of things that are destined to climb in value (good luck predicting that).

[+save2600]

Yes, Cebus paid $268 for a crap condition loose Starpath Supercharger.

Silly monkey! Yeah, alcohol and eBay surely don't mix. Haven't really regretted any purchase drinking and eBay'ing - I've just noticed that I am capable of spending *more* and spending more often when under the influence. Best to stay 'offline' when drinking altogether. lol

[wccw mark]

bought a ufo snes game copier for $70 shipped on the aa marketplace that doesnt even work properly,then found on ebay(and won) a snes game copier with a super famicom system that all fully works a week later for $40 shipped.i learned to do my homework first before buying.

Edited March 8, 2010 by wccw mark

[akator]

If I recall, Apple iic are pretty easy to get into. Couldn't you have just switched the guts between that and a good shell? I've opened Apple 2s before and they aren't that complex.

 

Sure, but everything I bought was toast. I eventually hobbled together 2 working //c CPUs and 2 monitors. I wasn't aware of it at the time, but about 3 months before I started collecting them, someone bought a NIB Apple //c with all of the peripherals for something like $2,500. That drove up the price of the crap I bought. Now I know to pay more attention to the collecting fads and wait until things have cooled down.

 

And holy crap! What the heck did you buy for the Dreamcast that cost 1800 bucks?!

 

Broadband adapter, every controller imaginable (some NIB), keyboard NIB, mouse NIB, an extra DC NIB, every possible video cable, extra controllers, several VMUs NIB, and about 100 games (CIB or NIB) I didn't already have.

 

There's a lot of DC games that were running high at the time, around $30-60. Buying a dozen of those added up quickly.

 

I'm still missing around 50 US games from my collection, I'll gradually add more when the opportunity arises.

[4Ks]

I remember buying Ratchet & Clank new at walmart for $25.00, and then seeing a new copy at Slackers for $15.00.

[CGQuarterly]

ALMOST anything bought new... with the exception of things that are destined to climb in value (good luck predicting that).

 

Absolutely. Paying $10 or $20 too much for a classic gaming item is nothing compared to buying a new game for $60 plus tax when it will be in the used bin for $9.99 a year later.

 

Chris

[hex65000]

Yes, Cebus paid $268 for a crap condition loose Starpath Supercharger.

And Cebus for the win Clark. ;v]

 

I know I've just spent too much on games period lately with little end in sight. At least I'm not flea-marketing like I used to. ;v]

 

Hex.

[ Is not playing Hollywood Squares... I mean seriously... who is Clark? ]

[shadow460]

Paid $70 for a 2GB Memory Stick Pro Duo. That was the going rate at the time, but now they're what, maybe $5?

 

Paid $13 for a loose Wabbit cart. Paid $15 for FF8 just to get the promo disc, then handed the rest back over. Paid $300 for a Voodoo 5 5500 when it was first released, later was given another one free of charge. Paid $5 for a Flash Gordon when I had one coming in the mail. I couldn't wait to play it. When I got the one in the mail, I took the other one back. Just got through paying $15 for a busted hard disk, got nothing in return from it. Paid $60 for a PS2 hard disk when I coulda got it for $40 if I'd waited for the manager to be working. Almost paid $50 for Water Ski but I messaged the dude and told him it was worth about $20. It didn't sell, so he relisted it with a 99 cent starting bid. I won it for $17. Paid $300 for a Saturn at Toys 'R' Us when the competing systems were selling at the base exchange for $150. Paid $100 for an Asciiware Mach 1. It's not worth a plug nickel.

[SRGilbert]

Well, the other day I did end up paying $41,300.00 for a sealed copy of Stadium Events. Man, what was I thinking! Anyone want to buy a house?

[Cebus Capucinis]

Well, the other day I did end up paying $41,300.00 for a sealed copy of Stadium Events. Man, what was I thinking! Anyone want to buy a house?

 

You're lucky! I got REALLY drunk and bid a copy of that up to $800,000. I was totally ready to click 'checkout' but the guy didn't take me seriously and cancelled the auction. Oh well, his loss!

[Eltigro]

Well, the other day I did end up paying $41,300.00 for a sealed copy of Stadium Events. Man, what was I thinking! Anyone want to buy a house?

 

You're lucky! I got REALLY drunk and bid a copy of that up to $800,000. I was totally ready to click 'checkout' but the guy didn't take me seriously and cancelled the auction. Oh well, his loss!

 

 

Hey SRGilbert, wanna buy Cebus a drink?

[Austin]

Zeroigar on the NEC PC-FX. It's worth a lot of money, but in reality it's not very good. Mildly enertaining, yes--But $150-$200 entertaining? Hell no. Oh well, at least I can say I've had it..

[vincewy]

Not sure if this can be viewed if you don't have Yahoo JP account but I recently shelled out $900 (dollars are worthless right now) for Time Gal LaserActive

 

http://page7.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/g82532088

 

I'm actually glad to pay for it, usually this game commands 100K Yen and this is the last game I need to complete my collection. Economic recession means you might be able to get certain games at more reasonable prices (mind you, they're still high, but not insane).

[shadow460]

Shining Force III and Burning Rangers at 50 bucks each. Of course, SF3 is worth more than that now just with collector's value. When it was new, though, I purchased it and was very disappointed.

Then they had rave reviews for the control scheme in Burning Rangers. They must have flipped the numbers around by accident, though. Instead of being 9 and 10, they should have been 0 and 1. The game itself was cool, but the controls just plain stunk.

 

I felt like I paid $100 for a pair of coasters. That said, I'd pay more than that to replace them in my collection, but I certainly wouldn't get much enjoyment out of either title.