Owning v. Selling?

[StanJr]

Which is better? To own an exceptionally rare game, or to sell and exceptionally rare game?

 

Is it better to have the game and the limited prestige that goes with that, or is it better to sell the rare game for loads of jack?

 

Let's say the game is stupid rare, NES Bubble Bath Babes. Now, I've seen this game, its not a game play marvel, its pretty much a turd. Yet due to its rarity, its worth a bazillion dollars. Would you rather OWN BBB, or SELL BBB?

[Cobra Commander]

Tough question. Do you need the money? Will it increase in value to potentialy a shit-load more money? I think about this alot since I frequent a lot of thrifts and junk shops, I'll ponder "what if I hit the jackpot?". I dont even know how to answer.

[Bruce Tomlin]

Well, duh, I want "one of each", so of course I'd keep it if I found it cheap in the wild. I collect for both completeness and for good games, depending on what something costs. Cost is mostly important to me for new systems (PS2, GC, etc.) when games will cost you $10-$50 and sometimes more, but that being said, I don't exactly go out of my way to buy expensive classic games either.

 

I also don't "need the money". Someone who cares more about playing games and has a thin bank account would be perfectly justified in selling it for whatever he could get.

[+else]

Good question, and something I've been wrestling over lately myself. I've got a bunch of rare-ish type stuff, but I now have two very small kids so I really don't have much time to play games any more. I'm thinking about dumping things such as my Intellivision collection and just keep my Atari and Coleco collections, etc. I've already unloaded most of my Apple II collection.

 

Of course, economic theory would tell you you should be indifferent (if you don't let your emotions cloud your judgement), since the price you paid for it reflected the optimal efficient market value already. In other words, it is a wash. Well, that's what the theory says -- of course, markets aren't always efficient....

 

You also have to consider that with something physical you run the risk of it getting damaged while in your possession (your water heater breaks and your basement floods, for example). If you took the money and put it in a mutual fund such as the Vanguard 500, you should be pretty immune to losing your money (the average market return over the last 60 years is around 12%).

 

Anyhow, to steal the George Carlin line -- "these are the things I think about when I'm home alone and the TV is broke"

[Flojomojo]

I've never played BBB, or even seen it outside of screenshot country. Instead of using your example, I'll talk about something I know: Battlesphere for the Atari Jaguar.

 

The hype for this thing grew over the 4+ years it remained in development. TIE Fighter came and went, replaced by X-Wing Vs. TIE Fighter. We got more cinematic Wing Commander games. The Playstation saw the Colony Wars games, as well as Darklight Conflight. Starfox 64, Rogue Squadron, and the Dreamcast came out. I think even Descent: Freespace came out before this game. The Jaguar wasn't available in stores anymore.

 

Then it finally released. Only those on the waiting list could have a copy, and there was much gnashing of teeth. I paid something like $80 for my first-run copy, and was happy to have it home on my non-networked Jaguar.

 

I kinda hated it. The sounds were primitive, and gameplay was a turn-fest. There wasn't much feeling of motion, just sit-n-spin. I sold it on Ebay for more than what I paid for it, but much less than what it would go for a few months later.

 

It's really not complicated. If you like it, keep it. If it's worth more to you to have than to sell, don't sell!

 

If I hadn't gotten my playtime out of Panzer Dragoon Saga or Radiant Silvergun, I wouldn't have sold them, either. I was finished with them and preferred the money, so off to Ebay they went as well!

[sega saturn x]

I dont sell any games really good or bad so i guess i enjoy owning them.

[JerseyDevil]

I only collect and keep games I like to play. If the game sucks, I sell or trade it whether its rare or not.

[hex65000]

Interesting... To answer the rhetorical Bubble Bath Babes question, I would very likely resell that because I am just not into the adult themed 8-bit games, (and the attached explanation I'd have to give the female counterpart) but there would be a part of me that would want to keep it just because of the novelty factor. I have a very bad habit of keeping the first of whatever it is I find in the wild/whereever and if a second one comes with a stack of things I want then it goes in the recycle pile. To me it's the nature of collecting. (IE: you find a stack of neat items, among them some good hole-fillers, but the seller doesn't want to break the batch up so you get a bunch of extra stuff in the process. -- And now, what do you do with it.... ummmm... )

 

And to answer the question of what BBB is like, you can prolly find a rom of it out there... it's an awful lot like a poorly implemented tetris clone. I played it long enough to get past the first level and don't plan to play that one again.

 

Hex.

[ Now if it was say a tengen Tetris the answer is Keep. ]

[StanJr]

see, I don't know what I would do if I came across something like BBB. Part of me says "keep it, few people have it and it'll be something unique to have and to show off around other dorks like you," while another part of me says "sell it, the game is a turd and its worth tons of loot."

 

If the game is fun and rare, I think the problem is much easier to handle.

[JB]

It would depend on my mood, honestly. Sometimes I keep stuff for the "OMG RAER!111" factor.

 

 

As someone currently without an eBay account, I'd be inclined to keep it.

 

If I had a decent way to sell it, it would probably be gone. I tend to go through bouts of purging the crap from my collection every so often.

 

...

 

Or just bouts of stupidity, like when I dumped a pile of about a dozen INTV boxes so I could fit my collection in about 1/20 the space(still have the manuals/overlays, I'm not a COMPLETE idiot. Heck, I didn't even chunk my dupe carts).

Yes, I am ashamed of my actions.

Yes, you would be justified to lynch me.

Yes, I would rather you not.

[Room 34]

If the game is fun and rare, I think the problem is much easier to handle.

That's it for me. I just sold a bunch of my rarity 4 2600 carts (granted, 4 isn't that rare, but my collection's not that extensive), because they were all, as you say, "turds," and I had no real interest in them. Of course, considering how little I got for them, it was a stupid move, but that's my own fault for making the BIN too low.

 

Since getting the GameCube, I've gotten much more back into being a "player" rather than a "collector." If the game's no good, it's money I could be using to buy another game that is!

[candiru]

I think it really comes down to individual personality and cash flow.

 

I do have somewhat of a packrat mentality so there is a certain satisfaction in owning a rare object. Right now probably the rarest game I have is Mr. Do's Castle for the 2600. It's not a great game, but I get more satisfaction out of owning it than the $50-$60 I could probably sell it for. Moneywise I draw the line somewhere around $100. If I had deeper pockets it would likely be more. If I happen to find a game I could get more than $100 for, I'd sell it --unless it were a really great game I couldn't play any other way.

 

Bubble Bath Babes would remain in my possession for a few months and then get sold.

 

I have surprised myself recently though. Primarily I've always collected for the 2600, with everything else running a distant 2nd. I really enjoy playing the games, but lately have been slipping slightly more to the collector side. Since I ordered a CC2 from Chad Schell's 2nd run, I haven't really had any desire to buy more 2600 games. Knowing I'll be able to play them all seems to have overpowered (at least temporarily) my drive to accumulate more carts. From now on I'll probably only acquire a few more cartridges of the games where I really like the artwork.

[sku_u]

It depends on whether you fancy yourself a collector or a gamer. If the game's only worth $100-200 I'd still keep it even if it's a turd of a game and you're not much of a collector.

[Dones]

Like many sellers are doing these days: Find someone who will shrinkwrap it for you and sell it claiming that it is new for even more what it should cost ebay!

[madmjennifer]

I'd keep BBB if I found it. My goal is to own all the U.S. released NES games with the exception of really rare things like BBB and Nintendo World Championships 1990. Of course, I'd happily take these rare carts if I came across them for cheap but I'll be content and call the collection complete without them. However, with other systems, like GBA, I'm more inclined to get rid of a not fun game in order to buy more fun games. Then a part of me is like, you know you'll regret selling that game sometime in the future. Then I get confused and frightened by all the choices and I go sit in my safe place..

[sega saturn x]

Keep in mind not all rare games are worth anything like scorcher a virtualy un heard of saturn game is worth next to nothing. Maybe thats because it's bad but it would seem many people buy bad rare agmes any way. I have learned that it is rare for a game to be both good and rare. Of course there are games like that guardian heroes comes to mind.

[maibock]

If the game isn't fun I'd honestly probably give it to someone who really wanted it for their collection, but couldn't afford the going rate. The way I see it, in a few years games are going to stop working at some point, why not let someone have a little joy with it until then..

[figgler]

see, I don't know what I would do if I came across something like BBB.  Part of me says "keep it, few people have it and it'll be something unique to have and to show off around other dorks like you," while another part of me says "sell it, the game is a turd and its worth tons of loot."

 

If the game is fun and rare, I think the problem is much easier to handle.

 

That's exactly it - fun. I paid $3 for an NES Action 52 about a week ago. A pretty rare cart I'd say, and certainly a great deal at that price. Anyway, if you have this you know that it is utter and complete shit. Of course I sold it almost immediately and used the cash to pick up 10 much more common titles for NES and PSOne that I actually wanted to play.

I'm sure I won't be missing that Action 52 anytime soon (or ever)

[SteveW]

I've almost never sold anything out of my collection. I once sold my Ms. Pac-Man for the Lynx around 1990, and not too long after Space Channel 5 came out on the Dreamcast, I injured my leg badly, and worked only a few hours a week, so I sold SC5 and Maken X to a GameStop for food money. And I'm about to sell off my Samba De Amigo Maracas to a fellow Atari Age member. That is, once I find a box long enough to pack that case in.

[Stingray]

Generally speaking I never sell any games out of my collection. I've been known to give away dupes from time to time. Now if this were a really rare game worth a lot of money, not something I enjoyed playing, and not a 2600 game, I'd consider selling.

 

-S

[EricDeLee]

I'm a prime example of selling off the rare games I find or get in order to get more of the commons that I don't have. One of the last Atari games I sold for a few hundred dollars, I promptly went to the flea market and bought three cases of Atari games. I got a few dupes out of it, but who cares, I increased my overall collection significantly (then found two other rare games in the bunch that made the deal even sweeter).

 

So, I usually sell them off to those that WANT to collect them. I'm not a big on things like 'sealed' and boxed items. That is why I'm getting rid of the Qbert Qubes I have. I've owned it before, felt bad after I sold it and then quickly got over it. This time, being that it is boxed, I may feel sick after selling it, but I know it will make someone VERY happy afterwords.

[Classic Pac]

I am facing this issue myself. It seems at least half of the games in my 7800 colection are rare ones. One member even boasts they bought one I just played yesterday for $61. OH, sure I could use the cash I need to buy a new PC. Buy yet I'm torn by selling the game I love to play.

[MattG/Snyper2099]

If I find valuable stuff for a system I don't care about like sega CD (ICK!!!), then off to ebay it goes. I got $85 for a mint copy of snatcher I paid $5 at a yard sale a few years back. I'm sure I spent the money on my 2600 collection though.

[joeybastard]

I don't care if a game is rare if I don't like playing it. I'd sell it and buy games I like. I do have some higher rarity games but they are ones I like so I'm keeping them for my own enjoyment For example, I see Q*berts Cubes for the CV fetches some dough on ebay but I LOVE the game so I'm not selling.

[Alexius Wronka]

This is a very very good question. For the longest time My brothers and I were in the world of selling. In which everything we bought would go on Ebay. Figured "eh it's on the dreamcast" but then suddenly we felt it was so much more fun to play these games for real. Now we have lots of games but still the question remains if I had a game like BBB is it worth it to own it. I my self would sell it as it is neither official, good, or tasteful (well that could be argued). I mean why have a 200 dollar rock on your shelf if you never do anything with it. However if I got something like Mr. do's castle or Qberts cubes I would definatley keep as I would play them regularly. (2600 versions)