The current console collecting market

Mindl3ss

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This is just a bit of a rant.

I've been collecting video games for as long as I can remember. I always loved picking up systems and games from Goodwill and local pawn shops.

I could say I more actively started collecting games when I was around 18, as I got a job and had access to more. This was in 2005. I remember seeing stuff like Stadium Events going for a few hundred and thinking that was pretty crazy. I worked at a game store, so I would buy just about anything. I didn't have focus.

I started getting more focused a few years back and now I primarily collect Nintendo and Sony. The current market is making me think even more.

I don't collect for value. I Don't care what my games are worth. I collect because I love the systems and I'm a fan of gaming in general. I'm really cheap. I don't think I've spent more than $5 on any single NES game with exception to a few CIB titles from my favorite series. If I ever sold everything off I would try to hook people up with sweet deals (unless I were selling because I really needed the money).

Recently Stadium Events has sold for as much as $2500, and keeps going up. Games like Little Samson have doubled in the last few months.

Is this a bubble? Will these prices stay steady? I want to have every (licensed) game for the NES, but I don't want to spend that much money on them. My two rarest games for NES are probably R.C. Pro AM II and Contra Force. I paid $0.50 and $0.35 respectively. Even less for Contra if you factor in the systems that came in the bundle I got. They aren't super rare, but they aren't common by any means.

Maybe it's just because the local market sucks. I moved down here in September. There are no pawn shops around with anything but a few crappy PC games, and the closest thrift store checks Amazon and doesn't even look at the actual asking price, just the original MSRP.

I'm hoping garage sale season helps out, but I have over 280 NES games now; it's getting more and more difficult to find stuff I don't have in the wild.

Whenever I buy duplicates I try to hook up people who don't have them. I bought a Mega Man X3 (currently around $50-70) for a great price. Since I already had it so I sold it to my cousin for less than the going rate. This was before I moved though, so now I haven't even found anything remotely close to that.

I've almost given up hope. I want them all, but I honestly can't see it happening. I can't justify hundreds on a single game (arcade game not included).

Well... rant over I guess...
 
i just received a sega genesis with a bunch of games in a trade.
i gave it away to someone. 22 pound box of stuff....

if consoles are worth a lot, i can't picture why.... everyone has a hobby i guess.
 
i just received a sega genesis with a bunch of games in a trade.
i gave it away to someone. 22 pound box of stuff....

if consoles are worth a lot, i can't picture why.... everyone has a hobby i guess.

Sega Genesis aren't really worth much.

They are worth a lot because the people who grew up with them are starting to get jobs and can afford the things they never had as kids... it's the nostalgia thing I think.
 
Stadium Events $2500? Maybe a bare cart, a factory sealed one went for $41300.

Just seems to me that the saying "More money than brains" isn't just a saying, it's real.
I mean how many people do you know who you think of as total morons, and yet they somehow have jobs that pay them FAR more than they should? I can think of at least 5 people I know...

It's the reason we've been in a recession, overpaid idiots are the norm this side of the world.
 
Yeah, $2500 loose was the most recent sale I know of.

I don't think the sealed one actually sold for $41K. The one that popped up a few years ago and went that high ended up not being paid or something. I think it actually ended up going for closer to $22K.
 
Ah....collecting....anything for that matter.

I used to collect sports cards as a kid, you know the ones that came with a stick of white powdery gum in them....:p Well once the sportscard market started its ascent I jumped right out of it, I lost any passion once the "investment" types got into it.
Same thing happened to me with comics, once they were put into boxes and "graded" I was gone....I collected for the fun and not the value, it was nice to know if one was worth more than others but it wasn't my focus or the point I collected.
Console games though I have always only collected what I like and couldn't care less on what that value may be, I don't "hunt" for games but buy them if the price is good and I will actually play the games.

I have like 4 copies of NHL94 for the Sega Genesis, yep I know a highly desired game...:p....I have them only because I love the game and when I see a copy sitting there at a yard sale or swap meet for 50 cents I feel like it needs a home from someone who cares about the game. Besides, have you ever seen the instruction manual for NHL94? Those were the days when they spared no tree's in the printing process...:p
Suffice it to say thought that no one is going to strike it rich from inheriting any of my collectibles...:D
 
I'm really cheap on console stuff as well, but I don't really worry about the expensive stuff I see sell online or in the news.
 
Ah....collecting....anything for that matter.

I used to collect sports cards as a kid, you know the ones that came with a stick of white powdery gum in them....:p Well once the sportscard market started its ascent I jumped right out of it, I lost any passion once the "investment" types got into it.
Same thing happened to me with comics, once they were put into boxes and "graded" I was gone....I collected for the fun and not the value, it was nice to know if one was worth more than others but it wasn't my focus or the point I collected.
Console games though I have always only collected what I like and couldn't care less on what that value may be, I don't "hunt" for games but buy them if the price is good and I will actually play the games.

I have like 4 copies of NHL94 for the Sega Genesis, yep I know a highly desired game...:p....I have them only because I love the game and when I see a copy sitting there at a yard sale or swap meet for 50 cents I feel like it needs a home from someone who cares about the game. Besides, have you ever seen the instruction manual for NHL94? Those were the days when they spared no tree's in the printing process...:p
Suffice it to say thought that no one is going to strike it rich from inheriting any of my collectibles...:D

That's exactly how I feel. Too many people are looking at this stuff as an investment.

I've thought about getting out of it, but I enjoy what I have too much. I collect because I love to play, but I also like to collect what I don't really care for because it's neat to have a set. There is a finite number of games, so why not be able to complete a set? Doesn't sound too hard...

I'm probably just going to keep going at my slow pace. I've got some very rare stuff for very low prices, so I know deals do happen... but they are few and far between and getting even more so.

N-E-S ZERO ZERO ONE... IT IS WORTH $10,000! OMGWTFBBQ.

Tired of seeing that too... although it seems like it's going that way. Just because one game is worth more doesn't mean all are...
 
There's a ton of those old games floating around, they're only going for a decent amount because most of them are still sitting in parents attics and they haven't caught on to the high prices.
 
I'm not so sure that they haven't caught on yet. With the recent popularity of shows like Storage Wars happening a lot of people are starting to "research" what they have. And consider that on two different shows NES pop up and quote an extremely high prices. You can find ads on Craigslist where people quote the prices from the show. I think some are fake, but I have to assume some people legitimately fall for the shows.
 
I've thought about getting out of it, but I enjoy what I have too much. I collect because I love to play, but I also like to collect what I don't really care for because it's neat to have a set. There is a finite number of games, so why not be able to complete a set? Doesn't sound too hard...

If you still have the "thrill" for the hunt then I'd say keep collecting, as far as completing a set I would say you will need a good deal of patience and perseverance and you have a shot at it, I get bored too quickly, I do still pick up game steals and deals when I see them but I know I don't have the patience for the long term to achieve those goals.;)
 
gotta say i love to repair arcade machines and what not but yea if someone said hey i have some old spiderman comics how about a trade. hell yea i would pop but thats because i just dont see the point in dropping a few hundred for an old book. yea i have old ones like spiderman number 7 and 9 from the real first series but all i have left r the books from like 100 and down. thats my first passion and then there are my arcades. :0) just rammbling here
 
Hmmm, I don't think that many people at all buy these games as investments, except for the super expensive ones like Stadium Events, World Championship carts, Flintstones Surprise at Dinosaur Peak, etc. Most people paying the high prices aren't buying to speculate or resell, they're buying for their own personal collection.

It's definitely mostly the nostalgia factor, the people who grew up with NES consoles are now coming into more disposable income, and there's increasing demand for these games. There are loads of videos on Youtube of people who collect for their personal collections and post videos of their collections and pickups, so retro hunting is enjoying a craze at the moment. The popularity means there are less and less rare finds to be made, but they are still out there.

The trend will roll to the later console generations. SNES console prices have doubled over the past 18 months, prices for Earthbound in the big box have skyrocketed. And some PSone games are now trending upwards into super expensive territory, eg Suidoken II, Tombi/Tomba.

Early 80's stuff on the other hand the prices have leveled out, or even fallen, as demand for them drops off and the people with nostalgic for them have families and their priorities change, and the younger generations who have memories of them being cr4ppy compared to their shiny NES have little interest in them.

I am pretty sure the price of the majority if NES stuff will level off too. The super rare expensive stuff will probably always be able to command high prices among collectors, but less and less of them will change hands.

- James
 
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It's definitely mostly the nostalgia factor, the people who grew up with NES consoles are now coming into more disposable income, and there's increasing demand for these games.

Not only that, but all those KO consoles that can play NES, Genesis, SNES etc games add to that as well.
 
They are worth a lot because the people who grew up with them are starting to get jobs and can afford the things they never had as kids... it's the nostalgia thing I think.

It's definitely mostly the nostalgia factor, the people who grew up with NES consoles are now coming into more disposable income, and there's increasing demand for these games.

I wish it were only the nostalgia sometimes.

One of the more common reasons I hear for people to start collecting is "I used to play games, I found these in my parent's garage and was going to sell them... then I learned how much some of them are worth and decided to collect them"

Those are the ones I consider dangerous. I see them pop up all the time.

A lot of resellers are this way too. Pawn shops that see a TV show where a game is "appraised" by some retard for $10K or something, so they start marking up the prices and hoarding them.
 
I wish it were only the nostalgia sometimes.

One of the more common reasons I hear for people to start collecting is "I used to play games, I found these in my parent's garage and was going to sell them... then I learned how much some of them are worth and decided to collect them"

Those are the ones I consider dangerous. I see them pop up all the time.

A lot of resellers are this way too. Pawn shops that see a TV show where a game is "appraised" by some retard for $10K or something, so they start marking up the prices and hoarding them.

Retailers aren't the problem, if there weren't fucking retards with bottomless wallets out there willing to pay a 10000x markup, they wouldn't get their asking prices....like $30k for an NES game, or a Neo Geo AES game.

It doesn't bother me though, it's not like they're even actually "rare", Stadium Events is just World Class Track Meet and show me an AES only game? AES games are identical to the MVS games...just with home menus.

Both of those high dollar sales are beyond retarded...given what they are, which is not rare at all, just in the exact format they are in.
 
I can't argue how stupid it is to pay a price for something, because I have a room (well, currently boxes) full of plastic. Value is 100% perceived.

Trying to put blame on sellers or buyers is just a retarded cycle. However, I would say there are more sellers who would rather hoard games and hold them ransom for ridiculous prices compared to people willing to shell out those ridiculous prices.
 
The rise of the internet gives more people access to lists of "valuations" for these kinds of games, which are usually made from records of people paying high prices for a single game on eBay. The availability of this information pushes up the price that people ask for games.

Resellers and game shops like GameExchange know which common titles are the most popular and they can charge a premium for.

You pay higher prices from these channels for the convenience of not having to search for the title you want.

Deals are still there to be had from bulk pickups, if you are willing to search.

- James
 
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The rise of the internet gives more people access to lists of "valuations" for these kinds of games, which are usually made from records of people paying high prices for a single game on eBay. The availability of this information pushes up the price that people ask for games.

Resellers and game shops like GameExchange know which common titles are the most popular and they can charge a premium for.

You pay higher prices from these channels for the convenience of not having to search for the title you want.

Deals are still there to be had from bulk pickups, if you are willing to search.

- James

I agree.

The main reason I have become frustrated could be lack of "hunting ground."

I just moved in September last year and I have yet to see anything video game related pre-GameCube locally. I search, so I doubt I'm missing much.

The "local" craigslist is a wasteland. It's generic to cover "Eastern Oregon" without sub sections, so it covers pretty much 5+ hours in any direction. And there are STILL no posts for older video games. Posts in the video game section are days apart in general.

The thing that sparked my complaint is still a huge concern. In the last two years Earthbound went from a sub $100 game (which it had been for many, many years) to $150+ regularly. And Little Samson in the last six months has gone from $100-150 up to as much as $300-400.

I know that information is becoming more available, but those are some steep increases.

Some say it's just a "bubble" and exponential increases like this don't last. I have been around collecting long enough to know this is happens based on trends, but I have yet to see it first hand.

I want the bubble to pop. I want games to be as worthless as comic books (from the 90s).

For now I will continue my hunt. As garage sale season rolls around I'm going to be out as many weekends as I can with a wad of cash. I will be posting more and more "wanted" ads on Craigslist... (I have yet to actually get anything from a local want ad)
 
The reality is that the NES is now heading towards 30 years old. It was a historically significant system that revived the home video game boom. The internet has really opened up the marketplace to everyone over the last decade, both in terms of availability of market information, and putting more people willing to buy in touch with people willing to sell. That sort of connected market does indeed push up prices, especially when we're dealing with often rare hardware is so long out of production that has such high nostalgia factor. People who had these old systems are more likely to have already found out their worth and found people who pay good money for these systems (or had someone approach them who asked them to sell) and have moved them on. (Or, someone in the know found out they had these systems, and made them an offer...)

That's the sad fact. These items are worth whatever someone is willing to pay for them, and there are people out there with seriously deep pockets shelling out for some of the rare games.

There are also shows like Game Chasers, Retro Hunters, AVGN and Pat the NES Punk who push the collecting/hunting culture on Youtube, and encourage people to go hunting for bargains. There is a retro collecting culture, and shows like this add prestige to the rare finds. Game Chasers finding a copy of Little Samson for peanuts on their web show may have inspired more collectors to go out hunting for copies and pushed the price up. AVGN may have had a hand in pushing the absurd prices for Stack Up.

Collectors who pay high dollar for these items aren't going to part with them unless they can recoup most or all of their investment. So you don't see prices drop for the rarest items, you just see these games disappear from the used game market. You will see collections and rare titles come up at collector prices from someone getting out of the hobby, but there will unlikely be any bargains as they are usually selling to recoup funds to start a family or buy a house.

At some point, the well has to have been drained pretty dry.

- James
 
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