The Philosophy, Art, and Social Influence of games
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robbievgb
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Re: Why is everyone selling everything right now?

by robbievgb Wed Aug 03, 2016 1:45 am

theclaw wrote:A long hard lesson. I've found over the years joy from owning games I clearly no longer or will never play is fleeting at best. They waste priceless space lined up, stacked, and boxed away.

This. I've filled up numerous shelves and it hurts to box things up and never touch them. Games are meant to be played not stored away.

I find it a lot easier to part with stuff I havent touched in years or inherited from lots. If I don't have a strong memory attached to it (which is hard given how much games have been intertwined with life experiences) it's worth it to use the extra cash to treat those things I do care about in my collection with more attention, like buying UGCs, getting boxes / manuals, or video mods for the consoles, etc.

I also am trying to do this while the prices are still high. I cannot believe how things have inflated even within the last 2-3 years.
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Kaneda
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Re: Why is everyone selling everything right now?

by Kaneda Thu Aug 04, 2016 11:04 am

Hello everyone I'm new to RB, so will put my first post on here..

I'm buying. I sold off my mint CIB snes collection for peanuts in 1996 so I could pay a fortune to get it all back now. DOH!!!!

I must say any games I purchase now that I didn't own previously I would not pay the silly prices for, and I do resent paying more than the original retail price for a game I once owned, although I've had no choice but to do that on a few titles such as Zombies and Probotector, damn it hurt.

I feel a bit like the sacrificial lamb putting myself on here, baaah, people prefer to brag about paying a dollar Earthbound, but I suppose I have a genuine reason for the splurge. The sellers usually say they are parting with the games since the market is at a peak, which makes sense, and although reluctant to sell at least they are getting good prices, unlike me who got £80 for a boxed snes and 20 mint games 20 yrs back.

Does it feel good to have the games back? Debatable. Sentiment is lost (I know the game looks the same but it's NOT the SAME one) however it's nice to have that sense of occasion back with the physical copies, both playing them and enjoying the box art.
Do not repeat the tactics which have gained you one victory, but let your methods be regulated by the infinite variety of circumstances.
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Octopod
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Re: Why is everyone selling everything right now?

by Octopod Wed Aug 17, 2016 3:45 pm

I'm buying too. I've had a few retro collections in the past that I ultimately sold off but I've decided to proceed with a different perspective this time. Before I would just grab anything that was available and affordable for me and I ended up with a large portion of my games collection being full of mediocre or bad games. I'm no longer interested in "rare" but shitty games or complete sets of anything. I just want games that I know I will enjoy to have more of a library than a collection. I suppose it is still a collection but whatever. I want to own games that I will want to play from time to time for the rest of my life. I'n not buying out of nostalgia, I'm buying legit good games that stand on their own, imo.

There are always exceptions to rules though :lol: . I recently bought Muscle Bomber for the SFC for example. Now I have zero interest in wrestling or wrestling games but I have an interest in George Kamitanis work and I know that his first job at Capcom was working on sprites and animations for this game so I wanted to check it out. I suppose the history behind a game can make me want it even if just for a bit only to sell it on.

Right now I am focusing on Nintendo and Sega 8- and 16-bit games. I don't even have any original retro systems currently, just a Retron 5. I suppose I have a Wii U collection as well as small Wii and PS3 ones. Primarily though I am trying to get the SFC heavy hitters I want out of the way first - Knights of the Round, King of Dragons, Super Metroid, etc.. as well as some NES staples like Castlevania 1 & 3 and Zelda 2, all games I've picked up over the last month. I've been slowly selling off my book collection to fund it so I don't mind the current prices too much. Nightshade, Subterranean and Centipede Press books have done really, really well for me :D . Next up are my Clark Ashton Smith Collected Fantasies HC's, Sub Press William Hope Hodgson and maybe some Wandering Star Robert E. Howards. Whatever.

I'm just sucking it up and paying the going rates on eBay or whatever deals I can get on there. I value my free time more than the money I guess and I have no time to be running around to thrift stores, flea markets and garage sales. I have a wife and four kids to spend the bulk of my free time with. I know some people think the retro game bubble is going to burst and prices will drop but I disagree and I think they will continue to rise indefinitely. Even if a lot of people get out of it there are too many speculators and resellers that will snatch up those copies to keep the prices high. Some people have been working way to hard at boosting game prices for the past decade or so to let them drop back down. They aren't going to let their retirement plans go that easy.

I am primarily collecting cart only for NES, Famicom and SFC though so that helps some. I did grab Super Metroid complete though. I felt like that game deserved it. I would guess that there are probably less than 300 games from the 8- to 32-bit generations that I actually want to own. Most are probably belt-scroll action games and side-scrolling action platformers.


Edit: This post ended up quite a bit wordier than I intended.
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Kaneda
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Re: Why is everyone selling everything right now?

by Kaneda Wed Sep 14, 2016 7:16 am

Awesome, I guess too many people buy games as some sort of retirement plan, then lose interest or realize they had no connection with those titles. If you owned titles from new or you remember playing them years back it's a lot harder to part with.
Do not repeat the tactics which have gained you one victory, but let your methods be regulated by the infinite variety of circumstances.
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Exhuminator
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Re: Why is everyone selling everything right now?

by Exhuminator Wed Sep 14, 2016 8:13 am

In preparation for a move, this year I've sold/given away about 200 Wii, Xbox, GameCube, PS2 and PC games, and I'm still sorting out more to sell. I'm about to start downgrading the size of my game shelves to focus on only having enough room for the best stuff.
PLAY KING'S FIELD.
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noiseredux
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Re: Why is everyone selling everything right now?

by noiseredux Wed Sep 14, 2016 8:53 am

Exhuminator wrote:I'm about to start downgrading the size of my game shelves to focus on only having enough room for the best stuff.


it's a tough thing to get yourself to do (with games, books, movies, etc). I still try to go through my stuff every few months and ask myself, like "do I love this?" Or "do I really need this?" Or "will I actually USE this?" or whatever. But I think if you can get away from a shelf full of games/books/movies/CD's/whatever and instead focus on a shell with only games/books/movies/CD's that you really really love, it's a pretty awesome feeling. It's just hard to shake that collector mindset. I've gotten much, much better about it over the years (especially as I have a lot of digital stuff now) but there are certainly still tendencies there that I still have to fight.
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ElkinFencer10
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Re: Why is everyone selling everything right now?

by ElkinFencer10 Wed Sep 14, 2016 9:24 am

I'm a shameless hoarder. Sell me your shit. XD
Exhuminator wrote:Ecchi lords must unite for great justice.

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Kaneda
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Re: Why is everyone selling everything right now?

by Kaneda Wed Sep 14, 2016 11:44 am

One thing I've learned looking at other peoples collections is that I'd rather have a smaller collection of excellent titles I play every so often in nice boxes than a room full of random games/sports titles in tatty boxes. I like the idea of having a full set but it's not for me, plus for the most part it just looks messy.
Do not repeat the tactics which have gained you one victory, but let your methods be regulated by the infinite variety of circumstances.
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Exhuminator
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Re: Why is everyone selling everything right now?

by Exhuminator Wed Sep 14, 2016 12:43 pm

Kaneda wrote:I'd rather have a smaller collection of excellent titles I play every so often in nice boxes than a room full of random games/sports titles in tatty boxes.

The latter is what I've had for years, and the former is what I'm striving towards. Although beyond just games I would still play, also games I seriously plan to play, rather than "well maybe someday I'll check this one out I don't know". I'm pushing for a more utilitarian dork cave.
PLAY KING'S FIELD.
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noiseredux
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Re: Why is everyone selling everything right now?

by noiseredux Wed Sep 14, 2016 12:45 pm

this is why I've gotten into the habit of really only buying a game when I'm ready to actually play it. Sure I might spend more on that one game than I could have had I deal-hunted, but I save money but not buying 10 other games that same week that I'll never play just because I got a good deal.
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