The very basis for what makes a good collecting hobby is that it is available to a wide variety of people at a wide variety of price points.
For around $50 you can get a well made Korean game system that will play SNES, NES, and Sega Genesis games. Its a great start, and you can buy the actual vintage systems later for 50-100 bucks in NEW playing condition. There is a guy I know on the net that even opens up the NES's and replaces parts, its amazing(more on him later, or email me if you're interested).
The actual game collecting is where your choices are. There are those that we'll call "barebone" collectors. They want a working game because they want to play them. They do not care about the bells and whistles as long as the game can be put into the system and played with friends and family.
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| From Game Collecting with Rick |
You bring $50 with the intent on collecting barebones and you will leave with a very nice and very impressive collection of great games. Some classics such as Sonic 2 or Donkey Kong Country can be gotten for $2 online. If you're going barebones you might find yourself running out of games you KNOW pretty quickly. You might want to go a step up.
A step above this(and where my personal collection goals stand) is the Completionists. They want pretty much everything that came with the package. It adds a level of difficulty in the hunt for games that many find fun and challenging. You can't just go into a flea market expecting this, and you can't use just any old game website either. Your collection does grow slowly in comparison, and many Completionists have barebones collections as well.
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| From Game Collecting with Rick |
This kind of collecting can add very little or a lot to a game's price. The Sega Genesis games came in sturdy cases that were used to store the games, and they can be found in great condition because of this. SNES, NES, and many PC games came in cardboard boxes that quickly deteriorated or were simply thrown away. It costs much more for an SNES with all the included materials than it does for a Genesis game.
The final type I am listing here are the Unopened collectors. These collectors look for the crem de la crem of the collecting world. They want the unopened boxes, unopened jewel cases, anything that has been untouched and unplayed is their bread and butter. They also pay large premiums for such. Because of this, there is a huge black market of fakes out there, especially for NES games. Entire books on the kinds of seams, the plastics, and the original serial numbers have been created to support this market.
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| From Game Collecting with Rick |
This game was rated by the VGA. Like comic books, baseball cards, and other rare collectables, video games collectors have their own authentication companies. You send your games in, they rate them, charge you money and upsale you expensive casing, all so you can sell your 100 dollar game for 800 dollars. You should exercise caution with doing this, as there are a number of things collectors do not know about this practice, I will have a post on it later(its not a scam in my eyes, there are just some cautionary things you need to know)
As with anything else I've posted, almost everyone is a mix of these types. My dream is to have a small collection of VGA rated games, but my collection of barebone games that I can loan to friends and grab and play with my nephews without hesitation is my largest goal.
You mix and match as you can, and you make sure you have FUN. Unopened collectors find the fun in the hunt. Barebones collectors find the fun in the play. If you mix them all you have a nice fun collection to play that took you many years of having fun hunting them.
The number one rule is to always have fun and never discriminate against someone for what they find fun. Get together, enjoy your games in all the ways you can, and be brothers and sisters of the game collection community.
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