Any point to collecting loose Rares?

[+Gemintronic]

About the rarest cart I have is Snoopy & the Red Baron. It got me thinking: Is there any point to collecting loose rare carts?

 

I mean, you collect to preserve - not to play. Rare carts get expensive and frankly rare != fun game.

[+Psionic]

Rare carts get expensive and frankly rare != fun game.

 

Often the case, but not always. Cakewalk is one of my favorite 2600 games and it's very rare. The 2600 version of Spy Hunter is excellent, and it's not exactly common. There are definitely games R6 and above that are worth having. Of course, whether one wants to spend any money to obtain the original carts when other cheaper options (like the Harmony Cartridge) are available nowadays is up to the individual.

[accousticguitar]

Sure, why not? After all, boxes are expensive.

[Atariman]

The fact that there is a correlation between rarity and game prices would mean that, yes, many people feel there is a reason to buy loose, rare carts. Some people don't see the allure of having boxes and simply want the cartridge to play it and show off in their collections. Others purchase the games for their collection based on their entertainment value alone.

 

I am one of the folks that don't mind not having a box for a game. While I prefer having them and take great care to keep them in pristine shape when they make their way into my collection, I don't feel the need to empty my wallet out explicitly for the extra cardboard. I can certainly appreciate why a person would, though - It is pretty cool to see all of those boxes lined up - especially the rares.

 

Even the rarer games that aren't fun to play can be worth collecting - I may not like Sneak 'N Peek (not a rare game), but I'm glad I can honestly tell someone that I think it sucks based on my own experience versus the clowns with no clue ripping on E.T. just because they were told this by their equally uninformed gaming magazine...

 

Then there's the thrill of finding a game for cheap at a thrift store or garage sale - the rarer and cheaper, the better! Loose or not. Collecting is chock-full of entertainment all around. Much better than lottery tickets...

 

So yeah, there are reasons to collect loose, rare games.

[Schizophretard]

1 Space limitations

2 Cheaper than CIB.

3 Less rare than CIB and therefore more attainable.

4 Collectible without box.

5 Most people didn't save boxes so a loose cart kind of feels complete.

6 Sometimes you can get two rare carts for the price of one CIB.

7 You can always find the box later and sale the cart that is in the worse condition.

8 They look lonely and someone has to love them.

9 Some people like to see their carts stacked so if the boxes were collected they would be empty on the shelf.

10 It makes more sense than collecting empty boxes.

[Mxyzptlk]

No.

[bennybingo]

I love my loose cart collection as much as my CIB's. It's like having two completely different goals. I will be collecting for the rest of my life and enjoying every minute of it!

[AtariLeaf]

Loose rares are fine with me, but I don't collect rare games that aren't fun. My rarest is probably Bumper Bash but I love pinball so it was worth it for me to find this one. After that, probably games like Pengo and Frogger II are probably my rarest but again, really fun games. I used to have games like Vulture Attack and Spider Maze but, not fun, so I sold them off.

 

If its a question of buying only rare games that are CIB, to me that's very limiting and would take an enjoyable hobby and make it more frustrating and expensive then it needs to be.

[StanJr]

 

I mean, you collect to preserve - not to play.

 

You collect to preserve. I collect to play and as sport to see if I can get all the games there are out there (unrealistic, but fun anyway).

 

So, for me, yes there is a reason to collect loose rare games.

 

For you, it does not sound like there may be. Then again, to collect to preserve would necessitate obtaining as much of what is out there as possible. So maybe the answer is yes, if you are collecting to preserve, then you should be buying every scrap of everything, loose or otherwise.

[sqoon]

I found R9 X-Man for $2 at Goodwill a few months back. Going on the logic of the OP, I should have passed on picking it up?

[Unbeliever]

I am years away from collecting rare games. But yes, I most certainly will.

[+cvga]

I found R9 X-Man for $2 at Goodwill a few months back. Going on the logic of the OP, I should have passed on picking it up?

 

Yes, but you can get back in good standing by sending it to me!

[shadow460]

Absolutely there's a point to collecting them. If you have any loose rares that you don't want, you can send them to me. Somehow, I don't expect my mailbox to be overflowing with loose rares next week.

I grab up boxes when I can, but often times, loose carts and maybe the book are all I need.

[jetset]

If you're collecting just for the sake of being materialistic, I suppose there's no point in collecting loose. Some people collect to play and enjoy the games. Oddly enough, I haven't found a game yet where it's any more fun playing because I own the box for it.

[opeygon]

I'm with StanJr. I collect to play. If I wanted preservation, I would only emulate.

[Jinks]

I hate boxes... I only buy loose games to play. They all went in trash when I was young and I still have no need for them.. Taking it in and out of the packaging to play would be retarded.. Its not like a cd case or tape case. Its a box. Its like stars wars collection in boxes. Only if the kid hated Star wars stuff as box ripped open in garbage and head torn off luke in battle.. Thats what this stuff is made for..

Some people like to look at products in their packaging I guess and never use them.. Me Not so much I play em till the cart connector f ups and the tube melts in the tv..

Edited February 17, 2013 by Jinks

[Schizophretard]

I used to collect to play and preserve but thanks to the Harmony Cart, I can just preserve the carts, preserve doubles of the ROMs in the Harmony Cart, and play the ROMs. It's like the best of both worlds. Also, I like the carts for the artwork.

 

Another good reason to collect loose is that may be all there is, it is too hard to find, or other collectors own all the known boxes. For an example, I own a Funvision T-handle Time Warp. I don't own the blue box Holy Grail version but the white box version I do own loose. This game is just as rare as Air raid. The chances that I'll ever come across a box and manual for it with the money to buy them is very unlikely. It is either having it loose or not having it at all. CIB of even a common is rare compared to loose. It's hard enough to get a CIB of all of them. It makes much more sense to collect a rare game loose than a common one because the boxes for common ones are more obtainable.

[+Gemintronic]

I found R9 X-Man for $2 at Goodwill a few months back. Going on the logic of the OP, I should have passed on picking it up?

 

I wasn't suggesting to stop doing what you find enjoyable. I was more interested in WHY you find it rewarding.

 

Given the feedback so far I think I'll start small. I was thinking of collecting CIB unlicensed Nintendo and Genesis games. That should keep the costs down (except for Action 52) but rare enough to make an exciting hunt.

[Unbeliever]

I just have too many commons to get first. My collection is very small (both boxed and cart only) so I have a long way to go. I think another 25 or so years of collecting will get me a nice selection. I would recommend starting small. My collection isn't big, and I don't do large assortments usually, but I might in the near future just to get a bunch of common carts.

[nofrills100]

Another good reason to collect loose is that may be all there is, it is too hard to find, or other collectors own all the known boxes. For an example, I own a Funvision T-handle Time Warp. I don't own the blue box Holy Grail version but the white box version I do own loose. This game is just as rare as Air raid. The chances that I'll ever come across a box and manual for it with the money to buy them is very unlikely. It is either having it loose or not having it at all. CIB of even a common is rare compared to loose. It's hard enough to get a CIB of all of them. It makes much more sense to collect a rare game loose than a common one because the boxes for common ones are more obtainable.

 

True True... as a PAL collector, and pirate collector, in some instances you'd be hard pressed to find proof of the existence of a box - let alone actually find it yourself.

Alas I had the luck to find just that a few years ago:

and btw it contained the same cartridge as yours - so yours could just as well be a 'blue box holy grail version' if you so desire it to be

Edited February 19, 2013 by nofrills100

[Andromeda Stardust]

Loose rares are fine with me, but I don't collect rare games that aren't fun. My rarest is probably Bumper Bash but I love pinball so it was worth it for me to find this one. After that, probably games like Pengo and Frogger II are probably my rarest but again, really fun games.

Nice you mentioned Bumper Bash and Frogger II together. I bought them from the same eBay seller when I got into Atari last summer. Bumper Bash is a fantastic pinball game, although I'm skeptical it's truly a Rarity 9 game. Digitpress lists it as a 7.

 

Every now and then, I'll splurge on a rare game that I know is bad just so I can laugh my butt off while playing. For instance I also own Custer's Revenge and Beat 'em and Eat 'em. It's kind of odd to me, but the Mystique titles are actually much more common CIB in their over sized boxes than loose or in their tiny leather cases. Maybe because the original owners were all adult collectors who took care of their stuff.

 

I'm also a member at Nintendoage, and I never understood the obsession NES collectors have with obtaining a "complete" set. Heck, some people will even fork away 1000s for a VGA sealed game that you can't even play! Back in the day, crap games were crap whether they were rare or not, and nobody ever considered paying 100s for sucky games.

Edited February 19, 2013 by stardust4ever

[Schizophretard]

True True... as a PAL collector, and pirate collector, in some instances you'd be hard pressed to find proof of the existence of a box - let alone actually find it yourself.

Alas I had the luck to find just that a few years ago:

and btw it contained the same cartridge as yours - so yours could just as well be a 'blue box holy grail version' if you so desire it to be

 

That's interesting. Is mine the one from the box or did you find another? LOL! Was the box sealed or was the rarity combined with the fact that it was in the box make it extremely likely that it is the original box? Anyway, it doesn't matter too much to me if the rarity is Holy Grail or R10. Those are just titles mainly used for bragging rights and to affect price. It's like saying,"Look at my expensive car!" For me, knowing that I'm preserving something is my reward. You using the money to help the Japanese victims of the tsunami is a huge reward too. A lot of the time I feel that collectors are more interested in preserving rarity and economic value instead of the actual games. It almost seems like they don't want more to be found. I'm the opposite. I want all the carts of every game to be found, preserved, and dumped. I would prefer them all to be R1. The only thing useful I find with assigning rarity is knowing the most "endangered species" out there to save. The value of games is not in dollar signs. We shouldn't think of them as things that belong in bank vaults but in museum displays. I wish everyone else felt that way.

 

Anyway, why does it seem like boxes are so much more rare in PAL Land? It's not just the pirate carts. When I look at the "official releases" on eBay there seems to be less boxes. Looking at eBay outside of the U.S. and Canada makes everything look rare. A lot of things look like they are in worse condition too.

[nofrills100]

That's interesting. Is mine the one from the box or did you find another? LOL! Was the box sealed or was the rarity combined with the fact that it was in the box make it extremely likely that it is the original box?

Yours I found first, then when I found this one CIB I sold the loose one (yours) and donated the money to Japan. The box wasn't sealed, but like you say the fact that Time Warp is rarer than most of the other T-handles pretty much guarantees that it was original in this box, and both the box and the cart were in pristine condition.

A lot of the time I feel that collectors are more interested in preserving rarity and economic value instead of the actual games. It almost seems like they don't want more to be found. I'm the opposite. I want all the carts of every game to be found, preserved, and dumped.

Personally I'm somewhere in between on this. I see each cartridge as having two parts to it - the object itself, and the game on it. Part of the 'collecting' thrill for me is finding something rare and/or valuable, and if there is some dollar value vested in the object, then it's part of the reward for the hunt (or as it is sometimes - the fastest finger first BIN on ebay), and that's great - because you never know when you may need that extra cash to deal with what life throws at you, or perhaps when you want to buy some other game that means more to your collection than the other, and you need to sell it to finance that purchase. So in the mean time it sits proudly at the front of a display case, for weeks/months/years/indefinitely, and there is a hope that it will maintain its value or even increase. Don't get me wrong when I say that because I'd rather not have to sell anything, but I'm not wealthy and I need to be realistic. But on the other hand I am also a gamer - so I would be more than happy to share the rom if it was not available. So I think there can be middle ground between collecting to play and collecting to display.

Anyway, why does it seem like boxes are so much more rare in PAL Land? It's not just the pirate carts. When I look at the "official releases" on eBay there seems to be less boxes. Looking at eBay outside of the U.S. and Canada makes everything look rare. A lot of things look like they are in worse condition too.

Not sure about the availability 'official releases', I always considered them readily available, but then again I don't really collect them,.. so I am not sure.

[Dino]

Yours I found first, then when I found this one CIB I sold the loose one (yours) and donated the money to Japan. The box wasn't sealed, but like you say the fact that Time Warp is rarer than most of the other T-handles pretty much guarantees that it was original in this box, and both the box and the cart were in pristine condition.

Personally I'm somewhere in between on this. I see each cartridge as having two parts to it - the object itself, and the game on it. Part of the 'collecting' thrill for me is finding something rare and/or valuable, and if there is some dollar value vested in the object, then it's part of the reward for the hunt (or as it is sometimes - the fastest finger first BIN on ebay), and that's great - because you never know when you may need that extra cash to deal with what life throws at you, or perhaps when you want to buy some other game that means more to your collection than the other, and you need to sell it to finance that purchase. So in the mean time it sits proudly at the front of a display case, for weeks/months/years/indefinitely, and there is a hope that it will maintain its value or even increase. Don't get me wrong when I say that because I'd rather not have to sell anything, but I'm not wealthy and I need to be realistic. But on the other hand I am also a gamer - so I would be more than happy to share the rom if it was not available. So I think there can be middle ground between collecting to play and collecting to display.

Not sure about the availability 'official releases', I always considered them readily available, but then again I don't really collect them,.. so I am not sure.

 

That T handle cart has also been found in a Ktel style box (like the label) with an orange Time Warp sticker across it. I had a picture of the box before my hard drive crashed a few years ago. The blue box version has been known for many years now. Franck from Atarimania had one in his collection for many years and sold it about 5 years ago on ebay. An austrian collector won it from memory....

 

BTW that blue box is by FAR the coolest Atari 2600 box out there!!!

[Schizophretard]

Personally I'm somewhere in between on this. I see each cartridge as having two parts to it - the object itself, and the game on it. Part of the 'collecting' thrill for me is finding something rare and/or valuable, and if there is some dollar value vested in the object, then it's part of the reward for the hunt (or as it is sometimes - the fastest finger first BIN on ebay), and that's great - because you never know when you may need that extra cash to deal with what life throws at you, or perhaps when you want to buy some other game that means more to your collection than the other, and you need to sell it to finance that purchase. So in the mean time it sits proudly at the front of a display case, for weeks/months/years/indefinitely, and there is a hope that it will maintain its value or even increase. Don't get me wrong when I say that because I'd rather not have to sell anything, but I'm not wealthy and I need to be realistic. But on the other hand I am also a gamer - so I would be more than happy to share the rom if it was not available. So I think there can be middle ground between collecting to play and collecting to display.

 

I don't see anything wrong with putting an economic value on it in that sense. It's when someone puts a "I hope the other Red Sea Crossing is broke" economic value on it or when it is more about money then the hobby. I'm not wealthy either. Well, maybe compared to most people in the world I am but in my country I'm classified as below poverty level. I would sell parts of my collection too if I had to. I'll probably have to sell my doubles eventually to support my hobby. I put an economic value on all of my things. It's just not my primary focus. I value things more based on what they are instead of what they are worth. If a warehouse full of Time Warps were found I wouldn't be thinking,"Well crap! The value of my cart dropped to nothing!" I would think,"Great! Now more people can get one!"