• Light/Dark
  • Ever wanted an RSS feed of all your favorite gaming news sites? Go check out our new Gaming Headlines feed! Read more about it here.

Game Collector's - How are you feeling right now? (The Prices...)

draculabyte

draculabyte

Video Game and Metal Mashup Shirt Design
Verified
Jun 20, 2019
469
Sold my stuff about 8 years ago (80% or more) and have really been regretting it this year as I try to get a few things back.

Wanted to see your feelings on the state of retro game prices, where you are getting your games for better deals and who is trying to cash out.

Also, please share your game collections with us as I'd love to see some ideas for setting stuff up, share what kind of shelves, tables, cabinets, stands and lighting equipment hyou are using as well if you want.
 
Fledge

Fledge

Member
Oct 27, 2017
21
Definitely not buying anything right now. I focus on PS1/PS2/GAMECUBE and the prices are absolutely insane. I think Wii/PS3/360 is still reasonable but anything older is not worth picking up unless you have reasonable trade offers. Like always, best deals will be local.
 
neonglow

neonglow

Member
Oct 25, 2017
790
I'm starting to get back into retro collecting now that this generation is winding down. I likely won't jump into next gen right away so it's a good time to look into getting some older games. Lots of people might have the same idea since prices seem to be on the rise nowadays.
 
Indelible

Indelible

Member
Oct 27, 2017
13,595
Canada
I'am pretty satisfied with my collection, The only games I want are ridiculously expensive like Rule of Rose and Haunting Ground on PS2.
 
OP
OP
draculabyte

draculabyte

Video Game and Metal Mashup Shirt Design
Verified
Jun 20, 2019
469
Fledge said:
Definitely not buying anything right now. I focus on PS1/PS2/GAMECUBE and the prices are absolutely insane. I think Wii/PS3/360 is still reasonable but anything older is not worth picking up unless you have reasonable trade offers. Like always, best deals will be local.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Yes, many decent "new" titles are going for at least 300, 400 and 500 and up.

Sonic 2 used sells for around 15 while new it goes for up to 900 new.

I believe a lot of it is resellers wanting to put 4000 bin with offers myself.

I use to pass on new games in the past even though they were actually reasonable in costs (NES zelda) 100 etc So I feel really disappointed in it as I would like to have a game room and collection and you nearly need to be a multi millionaire to even have a chance to collect big. I can't really find anything outside in my small town either.
 

Deleted member 23212

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 28, 2017
11,225
I haven't bought anything for a while, honestly I don't know if I will. I was thinking of selling a lot of my stuff because I won't ever play most of it.
 
Polioliolio

Polioliolio

Member
Nov 6, 2017
5,396
I lived in Japan for a few years and ended up with a massive collection of mostly loose carts.
I'm willing and interested in filtering and curating the collection into something more manageable, but I just haven't had the time to go through it, and even if I did, I have a lot of difficulty in making decisions. Where do I draw the line? Even getting rid of absolute trash games is impossible for me right now.

Before you try to reacquire everything, I do think this age of FPGA systems (and carts where you can load your own roms) means you may become comfortable having a digital collection running on almost perfect hardware on a modern television. That might just be a good compromise, though I'll leave it up to you if that's morally acceptable.
 

t26

Avenger
Oct 27, 2017
4,542
This is the worst possible time to buy most retro stuff, price is at an all time high due to COVID. Hold off if you can.
 
Deadpool_X

Deadpool_X

Member
Oct 28, 2017
2,103
Indiana
I'm not buying, but I'm loving what COVID is doing for my values. CIB Tales of Destiny 2 is up to $249, and loose cart Chrono Trigger Snes is $130+. In the last 2 weeks, my collection value has gone up a couple thousand dollars.
 
Bisonian

Bisonian

Member
Oct 27, 2017
480
I have been sitting on a large collection that has been stagnant for years waiting for the right time/process to sell it. Every time I check though, the prices seem to be skyrocketing. Even with the trend of re-releases and digital collections, there doesn't appear to be an end anytime soon. Seems like old/rare/unopened games will forever be priced out for most casual fans and collectors going forward.

It's a little unsettling deciding when the best time to sell is, to be honest.
 
DeadMoonKing

DeadMoonKing

Member
Nov 6, 2017
900
At the moment, I've got Harmony of Dissonance and the GBA Fire Emblems on the GBA list and Portrait of Ruin on DS.
I also gradually fill out my SFC and Saturn collections with RPGs I missed or want to have CiB as a huge fan of both systems.
Usually games for either aren't too expensive and Japanese used games are usually in amazing condition.

I probably going to rethink my "collection" strategies for next gen as, if my understanding is correct, the system doesn't actually use the disk to play the games, making it moot.

That said, I'm at the point where I seriously have a backlog that I run the risk of never, ever completing, but damn do I like games on the shelf....
 
TheWooniestWoona

TheWooniestWoona

Member
Oct 27, 2017
5,769
I have enough of a backlog to keep me buy for a while, and retro PC gaming is in a pretty good place right now, but I will be really glad when these prices die down.

There's a few titles I'd like to get for my GameCube that I've just given up on getting for the foreseeable future. I gave up on the Saturn and just bought a drive emulator. It's sad when buying one of those is cheaper than many of the games.

I'm not really sure how much my local places have been affected by the prices though, since going out to hunt for retro games does not in any way qualify as a necessity during a pandemic.
 
--R

--R

Being sued right now, please help me find a lawyer
Member
Oct 25, 2017
12,755
I lucked out big time and got a Gamecube with Melee and Double Dash CIB and Animal Crossing loose for 100 bucks. Looking at the prices right now, I don't think I'll be able to get many games soon.
 
watdaeff4

watdaeff4

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
2,451
I jumped into DS collecting this summer.

got lucky as GameStop had one of its stealth drops of all the Pokemon games so we're able to get them at reasonable prices (compared to eBay)

yeah some of the games are "relatively" expensive but I'm buying to play them not to invest so as long as it's within modern game prices I'll buy. (Like Solatorobo is a hard pass Lol)

edit:
Also anything that was available in WiiU VC was bought there even though I understand there are compromises doing it that way but the price difference makes up for it
 
TheWooniestWoona

TheWooniestWoona

Member
Oct 27, 2017
5,769
Deadpool_X said:
I'm not buying, but I'm loving what COVID is doing for my values. CIB Tales of Destiny 2 is up to $249, and loose cart Chrono Trigger Snes is $130+. In the last 2 weeks, my collection value has gone up a couple thousand dollars.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...


I just can't have that attitude. I'd rather prices stay low so that many others can enjoy the hobby too. I don't really gain anything by my collection's value being high.
 
JamesQuall

JamesQuall

Member
Oct 27, 2017
749
I'm pretty much over it. I've got a lot of what I want and the rest is out of reach.

I'd be open to unloading my Jaguar/Jaguar CD set up if I found a decent trade, but that's probably the only way I'll be adding anything considerable in the near future.

I've got a nice Virtual Boy library and a pair of systems that are mainly on display, but I think I'm too attached to the history to move them. Waterworld with instructions is easily my most valuable bad game.
 
--R

--R

Being sued right now, please help me find a lawyer
Member
Oct 25, 2017
12,755
watdaeff4 said:
Like Solatorobo is a hard pass Lol)
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

DS isn't region-locked, right? Why not get a Solatorobo copy from Europe? They're much much cheaper.

CXHHY3I.png
 
Damaniel

Damaniel

The Fallen
Oct 27, 2017
6,535
Portland, OR
I stopped collecting games about 4 or 5 years ago once everything got expensive and everyone started realizing what they had. When I first started collecting, a lot of my best finds (Little Samson, Caltron 6-in-1, Cheetahmen 2, etc.) came from mom and pop video stores, independent game stores, and even places like Craigslist. These days, everyone's looking at PriceCharting before putting something up for sale, whether it's on eBay, a retro game shop, or someone on Craigslist or Facebook Marketplace. It was always about the thrill of the hunt, but there's no thrill when everybody's charging the same inflated price for everything.

Right now, I have over 2000 retro games (worth about $50k) just sitting in storage bins in my garage. I haven't decided whether to keep them long term, but I'm more likely than not to rent a booth at next year's Portland Retro Gaming Expo and sell off as much of it as I can.
 
nny

nny

Member
Oct 25, 2017
4,261
I've been adding my collection to pricecharting, so I flipped through most of my games in the past few days - so many warm memories, that is something you can't put a price to. I'm quite satisfied with my collection, there's always something missing of course, but I like my library.

One thing I found interesting was the disparity in some prices between PAL and US - from the sample I saw, in the US there seems to be more demand so prices are higher. I have been buying some older games recently, but cheap ones - one of the best ways for me to save and get some of the games I'm missing is to invest in improving my Japanese - much nicer prices to the Japanese versions :P

The prices going up doesn't do much for me - I'm not looking to sell, so higher prices just mean it's more difficult (or plain impossible) for me to get ahold of certain games.
 
Last edited:
julian

julian

Member
Oct 27, 2017
16,741
I regret most everything I've ever sold, and seeing the prices on some of them whenever I think about playing one I forgot I sold (or maybe lost) just makes me sad. My Saturn collection is pretty decent as I grew up with the system, but otherwise it's a bit all over the place. I wish I had a good setup to show off but I never got around to fully arranging my stuff when we moved into our apartment and now the room where my games are will be turned into a nursery, so I have no fucking idea where these games are going. I'll probably get the Polymega, load all my games up on it and put the boxes into our storage room.
 
jay

jay

Member
Oct 25, 2017
2,274
It's absurd. The last older game I bought was Suikoden V, which is now almost twice as expensive a few months later.
 
pixeldreams

pixeldreams

Member
Oct 27, 2017
2,036
Started collecting GameCube last year because it was a console I never owned or even played before, at the time a lot of the first party titles I really wanted to play were $40+ and I wasn't interested in paying close to the price of a new current gen title for a decade old game, so I thought I would hold out and maybe catch a lucky break on one in the future. Now just about all the games I bought have nearly doubled in value, I haven't touched it in months after playing all the games I owned, plus I really dislike that controller.

Highly considering selling it off while the value is high. Even in the short time I was regularly hunting down games I saw it was going to get really expensive really fast, plus I found more enjoyment finding weird/obscure/unpopular games as well as strategy guides and both of those aren't nearly as pricey to go after. Not to mention I would find it really hard to justify the prices of a lot of older games especially when there are much easier and/or cheaper ways to play them.

Damaniel said:
These days, everyone's looking at PriceCharting before putting something up for sale, whether it's on eBay, a retro game shop, or someone on Craigslist or Facebook Marketplace. It was always about the thrill of the hunt, but there's no thrill when everybody's charging the same inflated price for everything.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
This got me out just as quickly as I got in, you will never find an actual deal anymore, even the local retro shops would normally be charging notably higher than eBay pricing.
 
Last edited:
entremet

entremet

You wouldn't toast a NES cartridge
Member
Oct 26, 2017
59,940
It's not fun anymore. I prefer retro releases these days, ACA, remasters, and such
 
mrbogus

mrbogus

Member
Jul 14, 2019
2,370
I find it kind of baffling that prices on retro games are rising during an economic crisis, but its happening.

I've got a lot of what I wanted prior to the pandemic, but there are some rare games I still want that might be out of my reach now. Oh well.
 
Rirse

Rirse

Member
Jun 29, 2019
2,016
According to the site you can put your collection in and it gets values mostly from ebay...I have 25,000 dollars in games!
 
modoversus

modoversus

Member
Oct 25, 2017
5,674
MĂ©xico
I don't think I have purchased any retro games this year. I switched to the mini consoles, flash carts and hopefuly next year, optical drive emulators, and will use the mini console USB controllers on a Mister setup.
 

Scruffy8642

Member
Jan 24, 2020
2,849
Kinda good actually. I was just getting into collecting and this all has put a stop to it lol. Probably a good thing tbh.
 
watdaeff4

watdaeff4

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
2,451
modoversus said:
I don't think I have purchased any retro games this year. I switched to the mini consoles, flash carts and hopefuly next year, optical drive emulators, and will use the mini console USB controllers on a Mister setup.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
I'm not into emulation but mini consoles, VC's and NSO have been great (not to mention retro collections being released)
 
mute

mute

â–˛ Legend â–˛
Member
Oct 25, 2017
25,062
I really try to avoid doing any collecting online as I have a problem where once I get started it is hard to stop. What I prefer to do at least a few years ago is find used shops and browse that way, prices are generally better and the extra step of getting out there prevents me from too many spur of the moment type purchases. Unfortunately for me a lot of the shops I went to are no longer around (to say nothing of current issues) so I haven't been able to do anything in a long time. Generally though I am pretty happy with what I have and there are a few grails left but I am in no hurry to find them. Also with the recent popularity of old games getting switch ports often I pick those up and it scratches the itch.
 
Laserbeam

Laserbeam

Member
Oct 27, 2017
6,439
Canada
I got in before Turbografx/PC Engine stuff started getting crazy and I still feel good about that.

I got a Turbo Duo and a stack of games for a song years back and it remains one of my favourite things. I then got a bunch of other games, and while I might not have a huge list of heavy hitters, I've got a few good ones.

I don't really track prices, but occasionally will browse/see stuff locally and am shocked at the going prices because I paid nowhere near that. It might not be as crazy as some SNES stuff, but I feel it is headed that way.

quick bad photos of most everything I have:

NGYrQlF.jpg


TmpdUqP.jpg
 
eraFROMAN

eraFROMAN

One Winged Slayer
Member
Mar 12, 2019
2,874
Collecting now is probably a losing situation, but my childhood collection of games is probably gonna make my great grandkids some cash, lol
 
TheZynster

TheZynster

Member
Oct 26, 2017
13,285
I was lucky enough to get my shadow hearts collection, xenosaga and stuff before the prices went through the roof.

Can't imagine what my entire dynasty warriors collection is probably garnering right now..........yeesh.


I'm not buying atm, but i sure as hell am not selling.....i like my games thank you lol.

Although i probably could have sold metal warriors for the SNES even more than what i did on here a couple years ago even with the video rental sticker on the front.
 
FreshYoungDoggo

FreshYoungDoggo

Member
Jul 3, 2019
963
I actually just rebuilt my N64 and Gamecube collection and am now working on the GB, GBC, and GBA. Besides a few very rare Gamecube games I haven't spent nearly as much as I thought I would.
It helps that I'm just buying lose cartridges.
 
TheAggroCraig

TheAggroCraig

One Winged Slayer
Member
Nov 6, 2017
5,903
I did the majority of my collecting before things started to get crazy, so honestly I have the majority of what I want for my collection. It has made me considered selling off somethings I don't really care about having, it'd be different if I was in a bind I guess.
 
Curler

Curler

Member
Oct 26, 2017
15,594
I haven't been actively looking at retro stuff since COVID hit. I love buying stuff more in person, and going to PRGE last year for the first time was great! I was looking forward to going to a local game swap event in March, and then yeah...

I've been buying more new games lately and buying stuff in my other fandoms, which I guess was good that I didn't bother looking up prices. Don't care how much stuff my games are worth right now, I'd rather not spend time in the future hunting them down again, so I'm happy with what I have. I do want to get back and look for skme rare stuff again, just not until these prices calm down.

I guess the irony is almost how we are at top unemployment right now, and yet collectors are paying top-dollar for games. I'll let the market value eventually relax on its own :/
 
TSM

TSM

Member
Oct 27, 2017
5,821
--R said:
DS isn't region-locked, right? Why not get a Solatorobo copy from Europe? They're much much cheaper.

CXHHY3I.png
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

DSi enhanced games are region locked. Solatorobo is DSi enhanced so it will work on an original DS or a DS Lite from a different region, but a DSi from a different region won't even acknowledge that the cart is in the slot. So whether you can use the EU version of this game depends on which version of the DS you intend to play it on.
 

Skulldead

Member
Oct 27, 2017
4,450
Indelible said:
I'am pretty satisfied with my collection, The only games I want are ridiculously expensive like Rule of Rose and Haunting Ground on PS2.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

Time to trade then, I think this is the perfect time for trades, but buying is no go right now... I still see PDS sold every week for 800-900 range.... this is not the time to buy..
 
Mandos

Mandos

Member
Nov 27, 2017
30,867
I stopped buying about 2 years ago cause things were already getting bad. You can search for my RTTP threads for pics or wait for my new RTTP streaming thread when I get in a retrotink! Got a solid Genesis/Saturn/n64/DC/GameCube/Xbox collection though
 
--R

--R

Being sued right now, please help me find a lawyer
Member
Oct 25, 2017
12,755
TSM said:
DSi enhanced games are region locked. Solatorobo is DSi enhanced so it will work on an original DS or a DS Lite from a different region, but a DSi from a different region won't even acknowledge that the cart is in the slot.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

What, really? Nevermind then watdaeff4. I thought the region lock was only for 3DS games.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.