Boxed or not?

[KaineMaxwell]

Caps lock isn't your friend Anthony.

[video game addict]

I like boxes, but I'd tend to agree it really all depends on what you want. There is no wrong or right answer to it. Me personally I'd much prefer boxed games in a 'collection' but from thrift experiences, it's very uncommon to find them. So ebay becomes your friend if that's your thing. I've always bought whatever I could find even if it wasn't in top condition, and regardless of whether a box was included or not. So long as the price was right I bought. I've bought and then sold off my collection several times now, just from my local finds, needing money towards something else and not having a lot of money tied up in them. Was always easier to do since I knew I wanted boxed games anyway, so I would have needed to buy all over at some point.

 

So if the money's tight, but you're wanting to collect, I'd say go loose, becuase hopefully you're wanting to play some too, and loose carts are cheaper, allowing your money to go further. Get a decent sized collection, and when money allows switch to boxed. Or try to get all of one company boxed as Kaine mentioned above. I'm working on a complete Activision collection right now. I'm 9 boxes away, and I've went out and bought alot of the same games over to get them complete, but I can always sell or trade off my dups later, so I'm not any worse off. I've just bought some of the same games twice.

 

The 2600 is probably the hardest system to collect for if you're hung up on completeness. Even the NES with it's 770 something games boxed would not compare to the high number of rarities out there for the 2600, AFAIK no one yet even has a complete CIB collection NTSC or otherwise, although there are a few very close. To go only boxed, you'd either need lots & lots of money, or you'll be watching lots of auctions ending to high and you out of the running. Could get depressing after awhile,

 

I think the 7800 is the best Atari system to collect CIB. It's a small library, mostly common, and alot still available NIB for $5 and under. Just a small handful of rare titles, that are mostly sub $50 purchases CIB.

 

The 5200, which is my favorite would be next, still a small library, but with a few more rarities mixed in. CIB is very achievable, but there are a few $100+ titles and several in the $50 range. Both the 5200 & 7800 are cake compared to the 2600 thou. That's why you'll see more people going after those CIB, and then just taking what the can find on the 2600.

[Atari Charles]

Whenever I buy from Ebay or trade, I go with boxed games. When a game still has it's box, instruction, etc. it tends to be in better condition than loose carts. I can generally always find loose carts at garage sales and thrift shops. I'll buy them if they are cheap, but I still prefer boxed carts. I don't care if the box has never been opened, though.

 

When I was a teenager, I threw away all my boxes for my Atari games. Stupid, I know. At least I kept the manuals and catalogs.

 

Remember collecting anything is a fun hobby and good way to get to know people with the same interests. Collecting Atari stuff should be relatively inexpensive and shouldn't bankrupt a person.

 

I don't collect everything Atari, just certain games I liked as a kid.

 

Atari Charles

[Rockin' Kat]

I like getting boxes and manuals when they don't add too much to the cost... but if I can't get them or they add to the price to a ridiculous extent I don't care enough to pay a whole lot for them... anyway, my room would look very dull if I didn't have any boxes to display. But most of my games are just loose games.

[weezle]

Boxes look great all lined up and displayed...but its such a hassle to get em out when you wanna play.

[Voch]

I have boxes for about a third of my games but they're stored in temporary garbage bags in my closet until I get get another barrister shelf in my new place. Then they're all going to be displayed grouped by platform (Atari 2600, Intellivision, etc.), manufacturer and style (and I want to color group the older Atari ones ).

 

The boxes themselves are empty. The carts are stored in my cart drawers and the manuals are in binders. I want it to be easy to play a game and don't want to hunt through the boxes...

 

Voch

[YOK-dfa]

I want it to be easy to play a game and don't want to hunt through the boxes...

 

As in: "I want to play Missile Command, but i have no clue in which box it is"

 

Cheers,

Raymond

[video game addict]

I want it to be easy to play a game and don't want to hunt through the boxes...

 

As in: "I want to play Missile Command, but i have no clue in which box it is"

 

Cheers,

Raymond

 

I have a bad habit of missplacing my dvds & cds whenever I get something new, they don't always go into the correct case. Maybe Voch has a similar problem with Atari.

[Philflound]

It's been a long time since I've been on here, and actually came on for a totally different reason. But seeing this post made me think.

 

When I first started out, I bought games without boxes. This was more by circumstance than choice. I was finding games without the box. As the collection grew and I started getting duplicates, I began running across boxes. So of course, I added boxes to the collection.

 

As for storing boxes, they don't take up as much room as you might believe. Of course, it is the case of whether or not you collect only 2600 or 30 other systems. But if you are a collector of only 2600, and if you even limit yourself to only US released games, your collection won't take up that much room. My Atari collection, consisting of about 625 games, I believe is made up of about 350 boxes and the rest loose. Some games never had a box, other boxes are oversized. They all fit along with Intellivision on 2 bookshelves in my computer room.

 

Now, I'm a loon collecting all vintage games I can get my hands on, but here is my pitch on boxes.

 

Just because you own a box, does not mean you don't have to play the game. If the game is shrinkwrapped, don't be afraid of slicing the very top of the shrinkwrap and opening it up. Some games are boxed but not sealed at all, or has been opened by a previous user, so you have the box, and you can play the game.

 

The thing I like most about the boxes is the art. Sometimes the art is better than the game itself. I may be repeating myself from a previous post in this thread, but I didn't have the time to read them all. But if someone else pitched the art, bravo! Sometimes the label is boring, with just text, or a screen shot. With a box, you can show off the art.

 

I do find the instructions to be useful. It's a lot easier to just hold instructions than to goto your computer to lookup how to do something in the middle of the game. I guess you can always print them out, but then the paper is usually bigger than the original instructions, so aren't you defeating the purpose?

 

Anyone interested in games, please visit my website. I think I have about 300 loose cartridges, though that includes some label variations. Prices can be negotiable on most games listed, so just email me and ask. Since it's been awhile, I don't even know what my signature says, so here is the info in case it is different.

 

My email is now [email protected]

 

My website is http://gpdcomics.tripod.com

 

Though the website has been giving me problems, where I can't update any information, all games listed there should be in stock. I am 99% sure of this.

 

Anyway, my vote is for boxes if you have the room. Though I do have a suggestion of definitely displaying on a bookshelf to prevent them from being crushed.

 

I have enclosed a couple of photos to give you an idea.

[Chris++]

Your pictures make me SO not want to be at work right now.

[Voch]

I want it to be easy to play a game and don't want to hunt through the boxes...

 

As in: "I want to play Missile Command, but i have no clue in which box it is"

 

Cheers,

Raymond

 

Yeah. That's what I meant. A few of my boxes have seen better days...I don't want to damage them any more by shaking the cart out of them, opening and closing the flaps, etc.

 

Voch

[Whisper]

*drool*

 

I drool too much over other people's games. It's a bad habit haha

[Philflound]

Your pictures make me SO not want to be at work right now.

 

I had to laugh when I read this. The funny thing is that the pictures I'm showing are well over a year old, so my collection has grown a little since these photos were taken. Not much, but I've added a few more boxes.

 

Phil

[Philflound]

I had been entering my entire video game collection in MS Access. I did the entire Atari 2600 US released games that I own and don't own along with instructions, boxed, and whether or not it was sealed. I always put a comments section in case there is something added, such as the Superman box with wallet, or variation of an Atari red box or something.

 

Anyway, on US released games, I own 227 boxes in all. Add some of the foreign I own, and I probably will be about 250. I guess that isn't too shabby. Also, I haven't been too active buying in the past couple of years because we've been putting most of our money towards our wedding coming up in 5 months. Plus most of the games I need boxes for are getting costly. The actual carts I need are extremely expensive, and should run me a minimum of $30-50 for the cheapest ones on my list, up to of course the rare of the rare, though I've gotten some of those already.

 

Phil

[Voch]

Upon further review (actual counting) I have boxes for less than 1/4 of the games I own but I have manuals for more than half of what I own (and 60% of my Atari 2600 games). I've never really sought boxes for the games I already have (but I'm always on the lookout for manuals).

 

Atari 2600:

273 cartridges

165 manuals (one for a cart I don't have: Sears "Race")

64 boxes

 

All systems (2600/5200/7800/Inty/CV/O2/Atari 8-bit):

456 cartridges

266 manuals

107 boxes

 

I have a bad habit of missplacing my dvds & cds whenever I get something new, they don't always go into the correct case.    Maybe Voch has a similar problem with Atari.  

 

Nope. My few DVDs are organized and I burned all my CDs to MP3 a while ago...

 

Voch

[Philflound]

When all is said and done with my Access program, I'll have a total count of what I own. I can almost definitely say with a 99% accuracy that I have over 2000 games. Between Atari and NES alone should be half of that. I haven't really pursued Nintendo with a passion, and only started them about 4 years ago, and have accumulated about 400 games so far. It was pretty easy when Funcoland or whatever they are called with its affiliates carried these games heavily and most at cheap prices. I believe I own at least 80% of Atari 5200, 7800, Astrocade, Intellivision, and Colecovision systems. Maybe even the Master System. I'll have total numbers on everything eventually.

 

I moved into some of the newer systems such as 3DO, Jaguar, and TG-16 (which is one of my favorites), but besides money, I had a problem with space. So I never pursued getting SNES and Genesis along with any other system that those companies put out besides the first two. I'd rather shift towards the smaller systems with less games so it's easier to complete. Eventually I may get the others once I own my own house in a few years and hopefully have more room and more money.

 

Phil

[Voch]

I can almost definitely say with a 99% accuracy that I have over 2000 games.

...

I moved into some of the newer systems such as 3DO, Jaguar, and TG-16 (which is one of my favorites), but besides money, I had a problem with space.

 

Might I suggest, oh, an airplane hangar. I couldn't imagine having all of that stuff in my humble game room.

 

Voch

[Shannon]

Just my humble opinion, but I feel that the box artwork and the manual make up a good percentage of the "atmosphere" that makes classic gaming so great.

 

With no box or manual, might as well be playing on an emulator.

[oldgames]

One of the things I'm enjoying most about this site is the great mix of people and approaches to the hobby. We've got collectors for the sake of collecting, collectors going for a particular segment, pure gamers who just love to play the games and seek out those games they enjoy most... and probably a host of other niches and peculiarities.

 

I love to collect and also to play my old favorites. I guess my priorities look like this.

 

1) Do I have the game yet?

2) Rarity (only really matters to me if 6 or above. Guess this really is another reflection of #1, huh)

3) Condition and completeness (label, box, manual)

4) How much fun is the game or is this one I haven't played before.

 

As I 'upgrade' the completeness or condition of a game that I already have, the extra goes in my trading fodder or eBay stack. Boxed games that I really enjoy and play a lot, I keep an extra one loose in one of those neat Atari game centers that I use with my console.

 

My advice is to determine what is important to you and then apply the necessary measures of persistance and patience to make the hobby as enjoyable as it can be for you.

[video game addict]

Upon further review (actual counting) I have boxes for less than 1/4 of the games I own but I have manuals for more than half of what I own (and 60% of my Atari 2600 games).  I've never really sought boxes for the games I already have (but I'm always on the lookout for manuals).

 

Atari 2600:

273 cartridges

165 manuals (one for a cart I don't have: Sears "Race")

64 boxes

 

All systems (2600/5200/7800/Inty/CV/O2/Atari 8-bit):

456 cartridges

266 manuals

107 boxes

 

I have a bad habit of missplacing my dvds & cds whenever I get something new, they don't always go into the correct case.    Maybe Voch has a similar problem with Atari.  

 

Nope. My few DVDs are organized and I burned all my CDs to MP3 a while ago...

 

Voch

 

That's quite a few boxes for someone who doesn't like them, I think you need to send them to me!

 

 

 

Counting a few ebay purchases I'm waiting on, my 2600 collection looks something like this:

 

236 total

143 boxed

21 homebrews (no boxes)

 

 

So I still need around 75 or so more boxes to games I already own.

 

And ironically enough I'm missing all sorts of common games, completely! no carts or anything. No Casino's or Video Pinball's or Backgammon or Othello, I think all the Atari board games are missing! LOL

[Osmeroid]

I guess the whole box or not thing is completely a personal preference. if you're only intersted in playing the games, don't bother with boxes. Personally I loved boxed games but then again, I do open & play my boxed stuff as well as display them

[Shannon]

I guess the whole box or not thing is completely a personal preference.  if you're only intersted in playing the games, don't bother with boxes.  Personally I loved boxed games but then again, I do open & play my boxed stuff as well as display them

 

Huh? No one said you have to "keep" them in the box when not in use!!

 

I take the cartridges out and store them for convenient use.