The State of Our Collections

[HoshiChiri]

So, in honor of this being my 1000th post, I figured I'd get a little introspective into how I feel about my game collection, and whether or not I'm happy with it. (Blame me just finishing Life Is Strange for putting me in the mood.)

 

I definitely miss the early 2000s as far as my collection goes. Back then I was just getting the ball rolling, so I had lots and lots of cheap commons I still needed for my collection. Every trip to the flea market or thrift store dripped with the possibility of amazing new additions (the fact that the bubble hadn't really pushed up prices yet helped too.) These days though, I've picked up the majority of things I want that cost less than their original MSRP. I can walk into a well-stocked, dedicated retro game store, and leave empty-handed almost every time because there's 'nothing good' I can afford. The thrill of the hunt is largely replaced by the chore of budgeting for an expensive title. Sometimes it's depressing.

 

On the flip side, the stuff I have to actually PLAY is so great it's overwhelming. In past, I had a little pile of games I'd finished/ mostly finished, and very little 'new' to choose from when I had the chance. Now? Now I can effectively browse my own collection, get excited about a game I forgot I picked up, and play it immediately. Friends will gush about title X or Y they just learned about & how much they'd like to give it a whirl, and I get to be the smug jerk that says "why, it just happens to be that I own that title! How fortuitous for you!" Trying to plan out a play order for things brings out tons of gems in my collection for me to enjoy.

 

Most of my time these days is spent fighting my greatest collecting enemy yet: SPACE. I've gone through multiple full resets of my entertainment center, getting new furniture, modifying furniture, all in the name of maximizing every inch of room for keeping as much stuff as possible. And now? I'm maxed out. Thankfully I have all of the current gen systems already, but when the next batch hits? I really don't know what I'll do. I've already sold/given away a huge amount of my anime & manga collection to make space, I really don't know how long I have until I've given up everything I'm willing to. Unless the opportunity to increase actual square footage comes up, I'm gonna be in a bad way in the next few years.

 

So, how do I feel overall? I'm not unhappy with my collection as is, not by a long shot- but I'm surprisingly wistful about it too. I think it's the realization that I'm moving into the collecting 'end stage'... when all that's left to buy are high priced games & holy grails, when new titles drop off to a handful a year, when organization and maintenance become more important than acquisitions. It feels... weird. I mean, I've been at this for 20 years now, it's hard to imagine that I'm almost 'done'. At least until I set up to start playing games- then I remember why I put all this time into getting this stuff in the first place.

[Skippy B. Coyote]

First off, congratulations on your 1,000th post! That's a pretty big milestone and I've always enjoyed reading everything you've posted here, so here's to the next 1,000!

 

That said, it's a tough spot to be in; the "end stage" of collecting. I've been there before with a couple different systems and I remember well what it felt like. You'd think it would be satisfying to be nearing the completion of a goal that you've spent so much time, money, and hard work to accomplish; but for me it never was. The thrill of the hunt is mostly gone at that point, you've played everything good there is to play, and there's not much in the way of new things to experience on the systems you've been collecting for.

 

I think that last bit is what matters the most for video game collectors, or it least it always has for me. I know plenty of people who are totally happy playing the same old Atari, NES, or Sega games that they've been playing over and over for decades and never get bored of them; but for me novelty has always been the most important aspect of this hobby. Discovering new games I've never played before, trying new systems, new controllers, and just generally having new and fresh gaming experiences. When you've collected all you want to collect outside of the holy grail items and there's not much new to experience the novelty begins to fade and it's easy to start feeling down about your collection.

 

My solution to that problem was to sell off my massive collections for the systems that I had collected everything I wanted on and start fresh with a different system. They weren't bringing me excitement and joy anymore like they used to when I was just experiencing them for the first time, so I decided to pass them along to someone else who would find excitement and joy in them and put a little money back in my pocket in the process. Sometimes I do feel the occasional twinge of regret over the mass liquidations I've done, but it's not too bad and there's really only a few handfuls worth of games I want to get back. Ones that were really special to me for nostalgia reasons that I probably shouldn't have sold, but those games are few and far between and I don't miss 95% of what I've sold one bit. I'm also looking forward to hunting down nice minty condition copies of those old favorites again.

 

Now don't get me wrong, I'm not saying you should run off to the Marketplace and unload your big collections that you've worked so hard to build, that's just what I did to brighten my spirits and get me feeling enthusiastic about gaming and collecting again. Sometimes less is more and it can be difficult to fully appreciate all the things you have when you have so many of them, or at least that's how it worked for me. I suppose the end stage of collecting is something that everyone will have to find their own individual ways to make peace with.

 

 

As far as the current state of my collection goes, I'm happy. The only consoles in my gaming center at this point are the three that I grew up with and played throughout my formative years: The Sega Genesis (+ Sega CD & 32X), original PlayStation, and GameCube w/ Game Boy Player. I do have a Wii off to the right side of the entertainment center for when I feel like playing something a little more modern or emulating an older system that I don't own, and there's a Light Sixer model Atari 2600 in one of those neat woodgrain "Atari Game Center" stands off to the left side for when I want to play something truly retro, but the main focus of my gaming area is just the three consoles I had throughout my childhood and teenage years. As far as handhelds go I've whittled that collection down to just a Game Boy Color with my 30 favorite games (I used to have over 100 before my big Game Boy liquidation last year) and a New 3DS XL for my modern gaming fixes, which I'm satisfied with. The only system I don't have that I'd like to get at some point is a Nintendo Switch, but I'm going to wait on that one until they come down in price and are a bit more affordable.

 

In terms of my game libraries I'm 100% satisfied with my Game Boy/Color collection and don't feel like there's anything more I really want to get for it, but there's still quite a few games and accessories for the other systems that I'm actively hunting for. The big one on my agenda right now is a Mega EverDrive X5 for the Genesis/32X/Sega CD setup but I'll just toss the full list including the prices I'm planning to pay for them in the spoiler tag below for those curious:

 

 

Jin's Most Wanted Games & Accessories

 

Accessories

RF Plate & Screw for Sega Genesis Model 2 & Sega CD Model 2 - $18

Mega EverDrive X5 (New from Krikzz) - $95

Official RVL-011 Component Cable for Nintendo Wii - $25

RDS Industries Blue Game Traveler Case for New 3DS XL (New in package) - $14

Original Samus Aran Amiibo (New in package) - $13

Atari CX-80 Trackball (New in box) - $45

 

Atari 2600 Games (Loose carts)

Berzerk - $3

GORF - $6

Kung-Fu Master - $10

Millipede - $8

Ms. Pac-Man - $4

Pitall II: Lost Caverns - $16

River Raid - $7

Super Breakout - $3

 

Nintendo 3DS Games (CIB)

Star Fox 64 3D - $30

Resident Evil: Revelations - $15

Metroid: Samus Returns - $30

 

Nintendo GameCube Games (CIB, Black Label)

Killer 7 - $35

Metroid Prime 2: Echoes - $19

Namco Museum: 50th Anniversary - $13

Sonic Gems Collection - $17

Sonic Mega Collection - $8

Star Wars Rogue Squadron II: Rogue Leader - $15

Viewtiful Joe - $15

 

Nintendo Wii Games (CIB)

Call of Duty: Black Ops - $7

Dead Space: Extraction - $11

Kirby's Dream Collection Special Edition - $38

Metroid Prime Trilogy - $43

Namco Museum Megamix - $9

Okami - $10

Red Steel - $4

Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles - $8

Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles - $13

Silent Hill: Shattered Memories - $22

Super Smash Bros. Brawl - $16

 

PlayStation Games (CIB)

Assault Rigs (Long Box) - $8

Castlevania: Symphony of the Night - $39

Crash Bandicoot - $22

Descent (Long Box) - $12

Diablo - $49

Parasite Eve - $20

Spyro the Dragon - $15

 

Sega 32X Games (Loose carts)

Knuckles Chaotix - $60

Kolibri - $60

Metal Head - $10

Mortal Kombat II - $18

Shadow Squadron - $15

 

Sega CD Games (CIB)

Advanced Dungeons & Dragons: Eye of the Beholder - $27

Dungeon Master II: Skullkeep - $20

Ecco the Dolphin - $21

Silpheed - $20

Sonic CD - $38

Surgical Strike - $13

 

Sega Genesis Games (Loose carts)

Bram Stoker's Dracula - $5

Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine - $11

Golden Axe II - $14

NBA Jam: Tournament Edition - $8

Raiden Trad - $22

Scooby-Doo Mystery - $20

Shadow Dancer: The Secret of Shinobi - $14

Shining in the Darkness - $14

Sonic the Hedgehog - $7

Sonic the Hedgehog 3 - $14

Sonic & Knuckles - $12

Sonic 3D Blast - $8

Sonic Spinball - $5

Street Fighter II': Special Champion Edition - $6

Thunder Force III - $37

Zero Tolerance - $7

 

 

 

As you can see there's still a lot of stuff I'm actively hunting around for, enough to keep me busy for at least a couple years on top of whatever little treasures I might stumble upon in local game stores or Half Price Books. It's going to be a good long time before I own and have played everything I want to, but I'm totally okay with that. It gives me something fun to look forward to whenever I have a little cash burning a hole in my pocket.

Edited January 20, 2018 by Jin

[Tanooki]

While you appear to be growing it, time, a long ago loss, and just being able to skate by with help put a lot in perspective for me. What was once like you saying hey I have that, it's now more like, hey I have too much and don't use it and why? Maybe you'll get there, maybe not.

 

I still look, but it's less aggressive over all though far more less so in the real world (vs ebay etc online.) I'd rather not have dust bunnies but stuff I either have growing up memories tied too and a few more fun things keeping it in the lower/mid 100s over the 1000s. Space was a concern for years, now it's not, but time is and money. Those 1000s now I can do through multiple cart kits instead or be lazy and an emulator on this computer too. The sting always pretty much removed now from numbness over the years from the horrible original slowly drawn out impact, but also because i set a reward for myself. Arcade cab and carts, pinball machine, heavy handed computer to last for years, stuff like that I can't normally have. It adds value in other ways.

 

Right now I'm dumping more and more, but I decided to get back into the costly NEC market and picked up a Core Grafx II and have snapped up some games, but not aggressively on that as I'll get a kit there too from Terraonion for all those expensive discs and cards. I missed it, my last old school loss so it's awesome plus it has a world of discovery I've not felt in a very LONG time since the JP market had so much we got screwed on with the TG16/CD. Find whatever works for you, stick with it, but keep it managed so you're not overwhelmed in unfinished games vs limited time (and you, space.)

[Eltigro]

Congratz on 1000!

 

My collecting has evolved over the years. When I first started gaming, I was probably like a lot of people here. I just wanted the newest thing. I had a pong console very young. No idea what happened to it. Probably got tossed when we got a 2600. That was lost in a house fire when I was around twelve or so. Then I got an NES, which I then sold in a garage sale when I got my TurboGrafx-16... you see what I mean? I didn't care about what was old, I just wanted the next big thing.

 

I think it might have been getting a TurboGrafx, a system that "failed", and selling my NES that made me start thinking about saving the older stuff. My Turbo was great, but then my brother-in-law got a SNES. I still remember setting it up and playing Super Mario World for hours on end. I wanted my own, but I didn't want to get rid of my TurboGrafx. I didn't get a SNES until much later, but when I got my Playstation, I kept my TurboGrafx. Somewhere in here is where I got my first job and could start buying my own games. I also worked at Target in the Electronics department, so any time a new game came out, I could pretty much get it day one if I wanted to. It wasn't like it is today, where people line up at midnight for the newest Call of Duty or whatever... or at least I don't remember it being like that... when did that become a thing? Maybe the next generation? I remember people standing in line for Dreamcasts... anyway, by the time that came out, I had moved on from Target. I got a PS2, next and suffered my next big loss (selling my NES was the first). The PS2 was a great machine. Mine was packed with Gran Turismo 3 A Spec and I played the hell out of that game. I had Gran Turismo 1 and 2 on the original Playstation, but this one looked and played so much better. As did most other new generation games... so I lapsed back into the old thinking a bit... I wasn't playing my old Playstation games, so I loaned them to a friend. Almost all of my PS1 library, save for about three games and for some reason the first disc of FFVII were in a big Case Logic CD binder that I just handed over to Mario. (Yes, his name is Mario.) Anyway, you guessed it... he moved and lost it.

 

I think that's what did it. From there I started doing things differently... It wasn't just one system per "generation" anymore... Soon after that, I got a GameCube... then I got an XBox... then I started getting older generation stuff... and it's really all a blur. I don't remember the order of things from then. I was in acquisition mode. Within the span of about 5 years, I got a top loader NES, a Jaguar, a Saturn, another Saturn, a Genesis, a SNES, an XBox 360, a Master System, an N64, a Wii, another PS2 (slim), and a Dreamcast. A GameBoy Advance is in there somewhere, too. By way of comparison, from about 2000 to 2006, I acquired approximately 14 consoles. Since then, from 2007 or so until now, I have acquired six. (PS3, XBox One, 2 Intellivisions, and a 2600) I was getting systems so fast that I didn't really get many games for any of them. For example, I got my Jaguar somewhere around 2005. It came with about six games. That was all I had for it until October of 2017 when I bought Raiden. I've had an N64 for years and still only have one game for it.

 

Since then, I've been a little more picky. Partly because of space, but also because of money. I've looked more for games that I want for systems I have, rather than systems I don't have. I've bought things like Ninja Spirit for the TurboGrafx, the aforementioned Raiden for the Jaguar, Contra, Life Force, and Xevious for the NES, Ys, Shinobi, and Altered Beast for the Master System, the Super Star Wars trilogy for the SNES, some of the Sly Cooper and Ratchet and Clank games for PS2, Ms Pac Man, Moon Patrol, and Berzerk for the 2600... The idea being that I'm looking more for games that I actually want to play. I mean, I've never been someone who buys a game just because I don't have it. I've never really considered trying to get a "complete" collection for anything. I do have several "meh" games that I don't really care for, but most of those were acquired as part of a bundled lot of games that came with a system or something. That's why I have games such as Magic Johnson's Fast Break for the NES, Ultra Vortex for the Jaguar, and Las Vegas Roulette for the Intellivision. Games that I don't really care about, and wouldn't have sought out or bought on their own, but they came with the bundle and I didn't have them, so I kept them.

 

But now, I think things may be changing again... I'm looking more at handhelds than I have in the past. Long ago, I had one of the clear original Game Boys. No idea what happened to it. Eventually I got a GBA and that was all I had for a while. Then got a DS Lite, then a DSiXL... the Mario 20th Anniversary edition one... Then a couple years ago, I got another GBA, then I got a Game Boy Pocket, then I got a Game Gear, now I have another Game Gear. I keep looking at the new 2DS now. I've also caught myself pricing the Atari Lynx..

Another change also is that I'm getting more into the repair of old systems... having to look hard at cost vs reward on some of these, though. Replacing the caps in a Game Gear was pretty cheap. As well as the 7805 voltage regulator in a Master System. But some aren't going so well... I have both a PS3 and an OG XBox with bad disc drives... I have a PS3 with the YLoD... a PS2 with a disc drive tray that won't open... and a 2600 with no video/output (maybe just a cable)... anyway, it seems things are changing again.

 

We'll see what the future holds.

 

TL,DR: History and evolution of my gaming and collecting life, from dumb kid to dumb adult. It's not as exciting as it could be.

[wolfy62]

Don't worry about it too much,just evolve with it and find out what you want to keep or get back for yourself.

[wolfy62]

While you appear to be growing it, time, a long ago loss, and just being able to skate by with help put a lot in perspective for me. What was once like you saying hey I have that, it's now more like, hey I have too much and don't use it and why? Maybe you'll get there, maybe not.

 

I still look, but it's less aggressive over all though far more less so in the real world (vs ebay etc online.) I'd rather not have dust bunnies but stuff I either have growing up memories tied too and a few more fun things keeping it in the lower/mid 100s over the 1000s. Space was a concern for years, now it's not, but time is and money. Those 1000s now I can do through multiple cart kits instead or be lazy and an emulator on this computer too. The sting always pretty much removed now from numbness over the years from the horrible original slowly drawn out impact, but also because i set a reward for myself. Arcade cab and carts, pinball machine, heavy handed computer to last for years, stuff like that I can't normally have. It adds value in other ways.

 

Right now I'm dumping more and more, but I decided to get back into the costly NEC market and picked up a Core Grafx II and have snapped up some games, but not aggressively on that as I'll get a kit there too from Terraonion for all those expensive discs and cards. I missed it, my last old school loss so it's awesome plus it has a world of discovery I've not felt in a very LONG time since the JP market had so much we got screwed on with the TG16/CD. Find whatever works for you, stick with it, but keep it managed so you're not overwhelmed in unfinished games vs limited time (and you, space.)

Great answer!

 

I am 55 and only collect for the Intellivision now.

 

So,I do have have games for many systems so if you folks are looking for games,pm me for what what system you are shopping for.

 

Time to unload some stuff at cheap prices!

Edited January 21, 2018 by wolfy62

[Tanooki]

Eltrigro, more into handheld -- very much relate to this going on 20 years now. You have a love for TG16, so wouldn't it be wise if you haven't already to get a Turbo Express?

 

 

wolfy: RIght now I actively only seem to outside of the Switch, just buy up random things from the Game Boy family, maybe a good deal on a single or small lot of PC ENgine games (loose or complete if cheap enough to override loose) and that's it. Last year I did get the external HDMI device for Gamecube so I grabbed up like 10 games for it over a few months and still snap them up local only if the price is low/right and that's it. I do have a MVS (Neo Geo) cabinet I got 2 years ago and I've picked up a couple dozen and some games for it and have a short list of things I'll get eventually but I'm not actively bothering for now. Also re-acquired a NGPC too but it came with a lot of most of what I once had, then got around 5 other games I did have, still need to pick up 1 that's good priced and 2 are asinine so I got a kit for it.

 

In the last few years I've picked up 2 NES games the most expensive at $10 for Rampage w/manual for my kid and I to play and then Ms Pac Man for $7 at a flea market. SNES has been about the same in the last few years just a complete Mario Paint and a complete big box Super Game Boy and that's all. For both of them along with the GB and also the Neo Geo Pocket Color I've picked up Everdrive/NGPC SD Kits all around. I still need to get the GBA everdrive too. No reason to feed crooks, but no reason not to enjoy the real hardware either.

 

That's how I bother with it anymore. Good deals alone or usually in lots, walk across a local deal which is rare but nice, or I use a kit because I just am over all the negative aspects of making things suck about old games now. I'd rather dump stuff I won't use and get things I would.

[spacecadet]

I also started actively collecting almost exactly 20 years ago... prior to that I played games, but when a new console came out I just tossed the old one and all its games. The turning point for me was when I walked into a store and sold my Sega Genesis and all of my games for a grand total of $15. I *immediately* regretted that and that was a surprising feeling for me. Before that, I'd have literally thrown that stuff out in the garbage when I got a new console, so $15 should have been better than nothing. But something at that time just switched on for me and I realized that the older games were just as good as they ever were, and were worth saving.

 

I did my first retro-buy of a console right around then, which was my Sears heavy sixer (which I recently sold, and I regret that too!). From that point, I was a collector.

 

I built up a pretty large and random collection of games and systems at that time, which was a time when this hobby was just coalescing and nobody really had a clear focus or goal (or thought they needed one). The number of systems and games seemed finite so I figured eventually I'd have everything I wanted and would stop. But of course, new stuff kept coming out and I kept discovering variants and whole systems I never knew existed, so I'd add them to my list. Eventually, I ran out of both space and to some extent money to buy all this stuff.

 

Since then I've done a couple purges, and while I think they were necessary, I still regret selling a few things. Even some items that I've now retro-bought as a collector have developed their own sentimental value for me, like that Sears heavy sixer that I miss, or my Neo Geo AES (that I only ever had one game for), or my NIB Derby Stallion Sega Saturn. I never owned these when they were current, but even having bought them later, I wish I'd never let them go again. But c'est la vie. I only have so much space, and I'm about up against that again now.

 

I'm trying to focus on just a few systems right now to save space (I have a bad habit of buying a lot more hardware than software, which takes up a lot more room), but it's difficult! There's still just a lot that I want to try that I haven't been able to yet, and a lot that I have tried but miss owning.

 

So it's just kind of a neverending tension between money and space vs. my desire to try out basically every vintage console and computer system ever made, and own at least most of them. It's a problem I never thought I'd have when I started out, but it seems pretty common now that a lot of collectors have accumulated as much as we have.

[leods]

I never actually started collecting, but I have a couple games I like to play. My PS2 collection is basically done, I have bought basically all games I intend on owning for the system. I am absolutely cool with that. I just want to play games.

 

The other ystems I own right now are MEga Drive and game boy. Mega drive is kinda terrible though. To me everything I'm interested in is just so damned expensive I don't really want to purchase anything. Game Boy is fine though. And those carts don't take too much space either, so that's a fun system to collect for.

 

Besides that just the normal influx of modern games.

 

Oh, and I am waiting for my Analogue Super NT. I do have some Super Famicom carts and SNES carts of back in the day waiting for a system to be played on. I guess can buy some Super Famicom games. Those are not that terrible. SNES in general is kinda expensive, but at least the more commong games aren't bad at all.

[Skippy B. Coyote]

I never actually started collecting, but I have a couple games I like to play. My PS2 collection is basically done, I have bought basically all games I intend on owning for the system. I am absolutely cool with that. I just want to play games.

 

The other ystems I own right now are MEga Drive and game boy. Mega drive is kinda terrible though. To me everything I'm interested in is just so damned expensive I don't really want to purchase anything. Game Boy is fine though. And those carts don't take too much space either, so that's a fun system to collect for.

 

Besides that just the normal influx of modern games.

 

Oh, and I am waiting for my Analogue Super NT. I do have some Super Famicom carts and SNES carts of back in the day waiting for a system to be played on. I guess can buy some Super Famicom games. Those are not that terrible. SNES in general is kinda expensive, but at least the more commong games aren't bad at all.

 

 

Now you've got me curious where you live that Mega Drive/Genesis games are expensive and Super Nintendo/Super Famicom games are affordable? In the US it's the exact opposite, most Genesis games are really affordable and Super Nintendo games are expensive. For games that were released on both systems the Genesis versions usually sell for half the price that the SNES ones do here in the States. Even the system exclusive RPGs that tend to be expensive and sought after are half the price on the Genesis that they are on the SNES; Phantasy Star IV versus Chrono Trigger for example. Both do have some pretty comparably expensive spaceship shooters (M.U.S.H.A. and Space MegaForce) but for pretty much everything else the Genesis/Mega Drive is almost always significantly cheaper to collect for in the States.

Edited January 21, 2018 by Jin

[leods]

 

 

Now you've got me curious where you live that Mega Drive/Genesis games are expensive and Super Nintendo/Super Famicom games are affordable? In the US it's the exact opposite, most Genesis games are really affordable and Super Nintendo games are expensive. For games that were released on both systems the Genesis versions usually sell for half the price that the SNES ones do here in the States. Even the system exclusive RPGs that tend to be expensive and sought after are half the price on the Genesis that they are on the SNES; Phantasy Star IV versus Chrono Trigger for example. Both do have some pretty comparably expensive spaceship shooters (M.U.S.H.A. and Space MegaForce) but for pretty much everything else the Genesis/Mega Drive is almost always significantly cheaper to collect for in the States.

 

Oh, the problem is, I am a Scrolling shooter fan. I also play other videogames, but I mostly don't like Mega Drive platformers. So the games I'd like to buy for the mega drive are mostly the shooters, and those tend to be expensive. I love fighting games, but to be honest I don't want to play those on either the SNES or Mega Drive.

 

I live in Germany BTW. The mega drive was popular around here, and you can buy tons of games on the cheap. Too bad most of them just don't interest me. The ones that did, I already got. So I mostly end up buying through e-bay when the prices are reasonable, which isn't often. On the Super FAMICOM on the other hand, if you're buying obscure japanese games they're quite cheap. And since I'm learning japanese, I have no problem with getting whatever game it is from JP.

 

Maybe I just need to learn more about the Mega Drive's library, to learn about some other games I could get, that are good and cheap.

Edited January 21, 2018 by leods

[Skippy B. Coyote]

Oh, the problem is, I am a Scrolling shooter fan.

Ahh, that explains it. I'm a shoot 'em up fan as well so I know exactly what you mean. I still need to re-buy the copies of Raiden Trad, Thunder Force III, and Truxton for the Genesis that I sold some years ago, and believe me my wallet isn't looking forward to it. It's an expensive game genre to play on most systems these days and I especially wish that I would have bought all the good ones on the PlayStation half a decade ago before the retro gaming community decided that they were worth their weight in gold bullion.

Edited January 21, 2018 by Jin

[HoshiChiri]

I actually picked up a Thunder Force 3 CIB for something like $20 last year. Turns out the pawn shop by my doctor's office has a notable retro gaming section. Who knew? And Lightening Force (aka Thunder Force 4) is one of my original Genesis games... had it since I was 9, and it's NEVER EVER GOING AWAY!

[AtariLeaf]

As of August this year, my current collection will be 10 years old. I re-started collecting after several years of not owning anything retro with two Atari's and 80 games that i found for $40 in a yard sale. After that I started going hog wild buying anything and everything I could get my hands on and have done several purges including a pretty big one last October that saw my collection halved. I've yet to miss any of it, even the coco collection I once held so dear. Now my collection has come full circle and is almost exactly like it was when I started in 2008, give or take. It's the collection I originally envisioned when I first started - the holy trinity of Atari (2600/7800/XL) NES and some gameboy. Only difference is a handful of SNES and Genesis which is literally a dozen games between the two.

 

Now I just plan on getting new or unique items, especially homebrews, as there's not much left for the systems I own that I haven't tried or want to own. I will also try new-to-me systems like the Atari ST and play around with them for a while and then resell them so as to avoid too much clutter again. This way I can experience them without tethering myself to them long term.

 

I'm also learning to repair some systems and am finding a lot of joy in bringing a dead system back to life.

[Silverfleet]

I know this feel!!!

 

I've been playing games ever since I got handed a Colecovision controller by my older sister back when I was 2 or 3 years old and figured out that it was actually not a telephone, but a thing that controlled what was happening on the TV sometimes. Since then, I grew up playing video games. They were a big part of my life.

 

Like many of you, I grew up in a unique time where the games grew up with us. I got my NES for Christmas as a 5-year old kid in 1987, entered the 16 Bit Era with a Genesis in early 1992, jumped to the awkward teenage years with a Saturn in 1996. There was about a year-long window where I let my interest in gaming lapse right around when I bought the Saturn, but I got back into it soon after, when nostalgia drove me to pick up a N64 to play the then-new The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. And not soon after, I picked up a Playstation so I could play Final Fantasy VII and Castlevania: Symphony of the Night.

 

Buying that Playstation was the moment I realized that I was a game collector. With new releases in long-storied franchises hitting the 32/64-bit consoles, I found myself looking back at the previous releases for the consoles I had packed away in the closet. I started filling holes with previous installments in my favorite franchises, picked up classic games I never had, and even started grabbing consoles I missed out on to play some of the games I didn't have as a young kid. Friends at the time who had gotten out of gaming also offered me their old stuff, which added to the collection.

 

Once I hit college in the early 2000's, I really started collecting hardcore. I would buy in bulk, because everything was dirt cheap! One of my first big hauls was my first Atari 2600. I got it from a coworker who had a booth at a flea market. I got a big box full of 75+ games, instruction manuals, joysticks, paddles, and a woody 4-switch for $35. I raided yard sales, and snagged deal after deal on all sorts of stuff. I even had the foresight to target games that I thought would be rare in the future, and hit on some (Klonoa, Lunar 2, Einhander, Tomba!) and missed on others (a sealed Fantavision for PS2). And after college, when I had a little money from joining the cube farm workforce, I hit up the flea markets and used game stores and stocked up, again, filling holes in the collection. I spent a lot of money at the Play N Trade store that was dangerously close to the office, and scored deal after deal until the place closed thanks to a Gamestop sprouting up across the street.

 

Soon after, I met my future wife, bought my own house, and got married. Then, adulting took over. I had less time and money to waste on game hunting and buying as priorities shifted, so I started to pick and choose what I wanted to buy when I had the time/money to hunt. I eventually moved the bulk of my collection into a small room in my house, and managing the collection has now taken precedent over buying more stuff.

 

I'm solidly into the "Collection Management" phase of collecting. I've gone through and cataloged about 95% of it using PriceCharting's online tool (yeah I know there are probably better ones out there). I have traded in duplicates toward stuff I didn't have at local stores, and still have more to trade. I've sold off other stuff as well to make room for new items. I'm also looking into the best ways to utilize the little space I have, and have re-organized a number of times.

 

What's next? I'm still on the lookout for deals on a few consoles I don't have (XEGS, Lynx, Turbografx CD, 32X) and some games I somehow don't have yet (Sonic 3, for instance). I just added a New 3DS XL and a Switch to the collection, so I want to play those. And I'm looking to upgrade the game room AV setup. I'm trying to convince the wife that we need a new living room TV so I can move our 42" Panasonic plasma in the game room and then replace the old 25" CRT with a smaller one for early and light gun gaming. We'll see what happens.

[BassGuitari]

I can definitely relate to most of this. I occasionally feel a little melancholy about my collection and the years I spent amassing it, although I can't pin down whether I should attribute that to the collection itself, the occasional bouts of depression I deal with, or just that maybe I feel like I'm ready to do something else with my life.

 

After 20 years of collecting and researching, there aren't too many stones left for me to look under. Unless I decide to go full-crazy (/full-bankrupt) and dive into the Jaguar, NeoGeo, or TurboGrafx or something. It used to bum me out that the thrill of the hunt isn't what it used to be--thrifts have dried up and, generally, everything's more expensive now...and chances are I already have anything I'm going to find in a thrift anyway--but I've actually come to appreciate that. It's forced me to become more selective and focused, which made me realize that some parts of my collection don't really mean as much to me as I thought, and that I can let go a little bit.

I never even set out to be a "collector" in the first place, BTW. I just never got rid of stuff. Turned out, my fascination with retrogaming wouldn't be confined to just one or two systems. Next thing I knew, I had what Webster's would unequivocally define as a "collection." I guess it can really sneak up on you, though. Most of the time I don't even think of it as "collecting" when I buy games*. Like if I buy a PlayStation game, I don't think of it differently than if it was still 1998 and PSX is just what I had, and I'd just gone to the mall and bought a used copy of Tomb Raider or something. Only now I have a lot more systems. I guess I'm kind of a tourist that way--most of my collections aren't especially deep, but I have a lot of them that I like to get a taste of now and then.

(*Except when I have specific collecting goals.)

There are a couple of systems I'd still like to check out, but not many, fortunately. NeoGeo Pocket Color and a 386 PC come to mind, but not much else. "Collection Management" is a good term for where I am now. I still get new stuff pretty regularly and even play it from time to time (hardy-har), but now I'm mainly concerned with maintenance projects, repairs, mods, upgrades, cleaning, restoration, etc. And there's no shortage of those, either.

Edited January 24, 2018 by BassGuitari

[godslabrat]

I'm one of those people who never really "became" a collector. I started buying NES when it was new, and just kept doing so. The only thing that changed was where I shopped. Now it's 2018 and I have hundreds of NES games, plus a dozen other systems.

 

I'm realizing it's time to thin the herd a bit. Ive changed my mind on a lot of key rules... I'm not a stickler for original hardware anymore, I no longer want a full NES set, and I do NOT love all eras equally. As a result, I'm going to make the following changes:

 

1- What time and money I used to spend buying NES will be moved to Gameboy. Way more bang for the buck.

 

2- Xbox, SegaCD, and other systems I only had a passing interest in will be consolidated. Emulation will be more of an option than ever before.

 

3- Modern Games will be bought on the Nintendo Switch. If it doesn't come out on Switch, I'm not a customer. I'm not buying multiple platforms for the next generation.

 

4- The reason for #3 is that I want to focus on games I can enjoy playing with my family.

 

5- time to get serious about flashcarts.

[StickerPeeler]

/\/\/\

Is a very good post. Very introspective even if those particular rules won't fit my "strategy". Seems like I gravitate more now to the systems that cater to my personality.

Atari 2600: My short attention span, easy gameplay, difficult to master.

N64: For the racing games.

NES: For the puzzle games, the platformers and the variety.

Sega: For my shmup cravings.

Colecovision: It's just timeless to me. Inexpensive, and those arcade ports!!!

It took me collecting to gain the insight to see what consoles excel at what and how that relates to me and my personality.

My Xbox one is a 4k Netflix player that I play cupbhead and Mortal Kombat on.

[Zookeeper]

State of the Collection: Stagnant.

 

Not enough money, too much overpriced poop. I miss the late 90s- early 2000s. Sealed Turbo Duos, Jags everywhere new in the box. Wish I'd gotten started in the early 90s; I'da been a rich zookeeper by now.

 

Trying to clear out some of the junk and keep the best items and stuff I may just have a soft spot for. Haven't been looking for games, except vtg. computer lots for resale (I know, shoot me).

 

Mostly I just wish we'd see more niche compilations or a GOG for 80s games...sigh I miss Turner's Gametap.

Edited January 27, 2018 by Zookeeper

[Tanooki]

I like that term as rough as it is, it's fair - stagnant.

 

If you're not really growing it but not letting it rot and decline either that fits. Add a little, remove a little, keep it just where it is by the numbers.

[Keatah]

I'm pretty happy with my stuff the way it is.

 

1- Apple II.

2- Ti-59 calculator, TRS-80 Pocket Computers 1, 2, and 4.

3- Classic 486 DX/2-50 & Pentium III @ 1.4GHz.

4- A couple of modern rigs for contemporary computing and emulation, among other daily tasks.

 

It could stand a little better organization and all that; my intention is make a nice photo database of everything in good time.

 

I have pretty much everything I want and need, there's only 2 or 3 bits of Apple II hardware I have yet to get. And these days I'll pick up an occasional manual or piece of software, maybe some misc repair/service type of parts. So it's pretty relaxed and just kinda sorta flows along. I'm happy to be out of the race to get everything, for many years now. Prices are ridiculous anyways.

 

I rarely get bored with this stuff. There's always so much to do. So much to learn. So many new projects to follow. And for the times I *do* get bored I just go do something else. This stuff will be here tomorrow.

 

Apple II disk preservation is kicking into high-gear and a lot of stuff is happening, as well as a lot of stuff remaining. So there's that. I have to defrag my emulator hard disk. And polish the clear plastic on my modems. Always something to keep me busy!

[Cepp]

Unsure how I feel to be honest. I've burned through the nostalgia now and what I'm left with is more games than I'll probably ever get round to playing. I don't care about completing sets or whatever either, I just bought stuff I wanted to play.

 

A return to late 90s/early 2000 prices would be nice but I'm past caring at this point, anything I buy will just rot on the shelf anyway.

 

Part of me wishes I could start from scratch with something simple like a PSX, small TV and a copy of Ridge Racer for example. Something about that just sounds very appealing.

[Keatah]

Excellent. Another take on getting back to basics. And something that is happening more and more frequently. I wonder what factors feed the fire for burning through nostalgia? What events or "state of affairs" is the ignition source? And what psychology professor said that nostalgia is a disease?

 

Part of me wishes I could start from scratch with something simple like a PSX, small TV and a copy of Ridge Racer for example. Something about that just sounds very appealing.

 

What stops this from happening?

[Cepp]

I think it's just a case of getting older, nothing is new or exciting anymore when it comes to retro gaming. I still enjoy it but I feel I should be directing more of my energy elsewhere.

 

What stops this from happening?

It just feels a bit redundant when I have a PS2 hooked up via my OSSC to a large LCD TV. I suppose I could purge literally everything and start over but it feels a little extreme. Then again I never do get round to playing on certain consoles even if I want to so who knows. I've finally passed the point of worrying about missing out with certain games now since it's inevitable so perhaps I should just get it over with and pair everything down.

[Keatah]

Well like I tell a lot of folks, maybe it's best to keep just a couple 3 or 4 systems, like I'm doing, and enjoy them periodically. You don't have to be all gung-ho and all-absorbed into the hobby.

 

Don't go baggiechasing every new homebrew, don't try to be a completionist, don't worry about missing game X.

 

I haven't touched my Ti-59 in years. But I'm sure I'll mess around with it in the future. Meantime it's not consuming me or much space. All of it can fit in a rubbermaid tub.