At retro game stores, generally the rule of thumb i go with is 10% over price charting is the limit. If a game is more expensive than that, I wont get it. Also usually, a retro game store has either great selection but terrible prices or great prices but terrible selection.
Yeah normally I don't mind spending slightly over the trending price at stores cause I can see the game, can tell if it's in good condition and don't have to pay shipping costs and wait for it to arrive.
Even that is pushing it considering price charting goes off ebay prices which are always more than local stores. So they should really be LOWER than price charting.
They tend to get their games for pennies to the dollar on trade-ins. So even at or below price chart, they are making money. Their prices are higher because they have brick or mortar storefront which costs money on top of paying employee salaries. Whatnot has now become my new favorite app.
Sounds like gamestop in general when they have deals. 4 for $40... yet can't even find 4 games under $20 Same with the 4 for $20, 4 for $10. The next week they don't have deals... I magically find the games I wanted to actually add to my collection.
They used to be so easy to find "in the wild" or easy to collect. Now people are just money hungry 🤦♂️ people who don't even like games are buying and selling. Top tip number 1, only collect your childhood, don't buy something that's expensive, because it's expensive.
Because of videos like this. Honestly, the more video game collecting videos that come out or articles are released. The higher prices are going to go because you're bringing more attention to the fact that people think that they have retro gold hiding in their closet
For those on a budget or like collecting, it's okay to NOT have the original stuff. Wii Game CD cases work for Gamecube CDs that fit perfectly. Many sites have printable original box art with proper dimensions (you can even make your own!) and then add to the box. I have a full GC collection with boxes and custom art using wii cases (white instead of the black cases). Blank Wii cd cases sell for half the price of GC case/boxes.
I think it’s strange to purchase the booklets, boxes, reproduced art, etc. It seems artificial and disingenuous to me. Many also use this method to cheat people by repackaging these unoriginal components with a game and reselling it for inflated prices. If it’s about the game, why commoditise it? Supporting such things puts money in those grifters pockets. Now if you’re doing it for your personal use that’s different as you are creating it for you and you alone.
I'm 100% sure scalpers are pure evilness. They destroyed collecting games as a hobby. They don't love games, yet they take advantage of who really love them , and the actual game creators don't have benefits. It's funny and unfair that level 5 closed its operations in the west, but Yokai watch & professor Layton 3Ds games are +200 USD.
recently got into restoring my old consoles from when I was a kid, then wanted to start collecting some older video games and their consoles. The biggest problem I have with collecting older video games/consoles is how vast it is, like their is no end point because of how much money you'd have to dump into it. I think trying to define a range of what you want to collect can really help make it seem more achievable.
I did the same as you. My rule of thumb is to only pay the price i am confortable with, and only have a shortlist. Only buy game i really want to have. It s a decent way to limit money spent.
Its what I'm doing. Starting at the games I played as a kid and then slowly moving on to getting the greatest hits of whatever console or stuff friends recommend
Waiting is genuinely one of the best things, I got a ps2 game that I feared I was gonna have to pay hundreds for just the game, but just randomly I found it for about $50 complete in box online selling from a used bookstore. My favorite part of collecting oddly isn’t the game itself but that you can have a story for everything, looking for it, finding it, and the game itself.
Hey Zion, I just wanted to say that I really love these video game collecting videos you have been doing. Whether it's your recent pick-ups or collecting tips like this video, they are always a really enjoyable watch! :)
Loved the video! In my experience I have been, in the past, a collector wanting to complete a whole set of N64 games. I realised in the end there’s just no point in collecting games that I’m never likely to play so I sold them in bulk for a craaaazy low price compared to what they are worth today but I also paid a lot less for them at the time. Now I only buy the games that I want to play and plan on playing in the future. If I’m not going to play anytime soon then I just wait it out until I see one come up for the right price. Here in the UK we have car boot sales and charity shops, which are our equivalent to thrift stores as such. I’ve found many games and sold them in order to buy the games I actually want for my collection and with all intention of playing. I’ll never again be the kinda person to just collect for the sake of completing a whole library, it’s just not worth it. Not all games are worth your time playing. Only a couple weeks ago I found a copy of Dragon Force for the Saturn. Sold it and that financed my purchase for the Zelda Twilight Princess Ltd Edition set for the WiiU 😊
Part of the fun of collecting for me is trying to get the lowest price possible for games, while still getting stuff in good condition. Helps save money and adds some challenge
Recently, a game collector I know and have bought stuff from before, found himself in a situation where life priorites changed, and he decided to sell off his entire collection. I got myself a little stack of games that I had wanted for a long time, and for a really fair price. Chief among them was Thunder Force V for the Japanese Sega Saturn, a game I in no way could justify the going market rate for, but now I have this gem in my collection without breaking the bank thanks to him, CIB with spine card and everything, and I'm really happy about it!
This was such a positive uplifting description of how to collect games. The sad reality of retro gaming currently is unfortunately cutthroat and toxic, with collectors and dealers treating the games they buy and sell as a “get-rich-quick scheme” by tricking amateurs into spending 10 times more than they should, or buying them from naive people for dirt cheap. It infuriates me to see games that would be at some boot sale for just a few Dollars/Pounds in ok condition now being sold for hundreds in some stupid acrylic box and a “certificate” from some auction house. What used to be a simple, cheap, and fun hobby has been warped into such a complicated, expensive, depressing for-profit business.
Paper Mario thousand year door was about $40 3 or 4 years ago, and I thought that was nuts. I bought it because I sold my old copy. Now, I can’t believe how much it is. Insane
Hi Zion, this was an unexpected but welcome video from all of you at Nintendo Life!! I hope we can see more personal types of content like this from you in the future. Thanks for taking the time to make this!
Started rebuilding my PSP collection. With most current gaming systems requiring an internet connection, it's nice to embrace the retro and not have to wait for patches or updates to download. Plus, the PSP is such a great handheld in its own right!
My biggest hurdle in really going all in on collecting is that I don't really have room. My wife and I share a one bedroom apartment and we try to keep things not too cluttered. I'd almost need a whole separate room for it.
For people just just starting out, DON’T SELL YOUR GAMES. Games get most expensive years after they come out. I still have a few gamecube games that would have costed 60 a piece but I still have my original copies
Went on a float trip. My friend gave me…GAVE ME… CIB pokemon black 1 and white 2. Also gave me Pokémon sapphire. Didn’t want anything in return. He just said that he had them and they were just sitting in his closet and knew I would appreciate them. I have been looking for all the Pokémon games, so this was just stunning to me. I truly do not deserve him as a friend.
I’ve actually just gotten into seriously collecting games over the last year. I made it a goal of mine is to have a complete CIB of every mainline Pokémon game. I have a lot of them already, but recently I actually got Pokémon pearl, the last 4th gen game I needed! It was pretty expensive everywhere I went, but I ended up buying a loose cartridge on eBay from one person, and just a box and manual from another, and saved a lot of money by not buying CIB at a store or something!
I go to a vendor at our local farmer's market and buy retro games now. They've got 3 rooms literally stuffed floor to ceiling with retro video games, vintage toys and collectables, etc and you can just sift through cases and boxes of all kinds of stuff and the prices for the games I bought were fair. It's kinda overwhelming when you first walk in with the sheer volume of stuff they've got stacked about, but it's fun to explore and see what you can find.
My advice: don't start. And if you do, buy my collection first.Lovingly collected over many years, then drastically changed my life with new ideas of what is of value and what is not, and now I have an amazing collection... stored in my mother's house because I live in nature and don't want to bother selling it, but don't want to give it away either because even at reasonable prices I could buy my camper again by just selling some of my collection, or feed my dogs for a couple of years, or... Some of it I just don't think I can get rid of, especially GBA games hard to emulate like Boktai of Warioware Twisted, or my near perfect Zelda collection.
I just started getting into physical game collecting and I immediately subbed to your channel, you kind of remind me of my older brother actually! I'm very broke right now so even though they aren't proper retro games by most people's standards I'm starting out by asking for DS/3DS games for Christmas since I already have a 3DS, right now I have Pokemon White, Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth, Pokemon Y, Tomodachi Life, and 999: Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors on my list, I'm not expecting to actually get all of them but my brother has a tendency to spoil me whenever I ask for video games for Christmas so who knows lol
My advice for retro collecting. Go for the cheaper games first or try and find games in charity shops then work you’re way up to the more expensive games. And buy and sell. And use expected profit rather than you’re own money.
Really enjoyed this insight into your collection and tips for collecting! My collection's not real big, but I do enjoy it. I've been particular about keeping my game boxes and manuals since I was a kid, so I have a few items that are pretty nice. With the advent of digital sales (and less shelf space), most of my purchases these days are digital, though I will occasionally pick up a retro game disk/cartridge that I wouldn't otherwise be able to play. The most recent one of those was Yoshi's Cookie for NES--one of my wife's favorites from when she was a kid. Thanks again for sharing--great content!
My partner and I’s interest in retro gaming collecting started almost 10 years ago, when we were celebrating our first anniversary together and bought a Sega Genesis for $25 at a local novelty store that had a very small selection of retro games. Afterwards, we walked down the street to a video game store to pick up a few games for the system, which ended up being Jurassic Park, Sonic 2 and Mortal Kombat. Within a year, we were able to find a working Sega CD and 32X, both for under $100 (possibly under $50? Can’t remember the exact price for the 32X) and found really great games for both for pretty cheap. Lately, I’ve been thinking how lucky we were to start collecting when we did, but also how it’s now an expensive hobby for anyone who wants to join in, but the advice in this video is really solid. My personal advice I would add is collect what you want to collect. Don’t feel like you have to own a super rare game just because it’s rare.
At a retro game store I got Metroid prime loose for 20$ and was so excited because it's my one of my favorite Metroid games and i just recently got a GameCube to play it. That was a good day.
My most recent game hunt that I really loved was when I was visiting my better half and we both went to a game shop We checked, talked and laughed, when we calmed down, I saw Rhythm Thief on the 3DS for 10€ and was so excited! Can't wait to move in with my better half in the near ish future and do couple's game hunting trips
In an ideal world; buying games digitally on the Switch, would have been perfect. As is; it's really great as it seems I am able to get the best games from various past retro and last gen consoles (not just Nintendo consoles) through current retro collections or re-releases. However, because of ambiguous nature of DRM and how the backwards compatible feature of the next gen Switch will be implemented (if at all); it makes it risky to trust. If Nintendo and companies were to promise and ensure full digital ownership of all game purchases to your account (even if games get delisted and even if the console is no longer current); then it would be great as it saves space and I know what games I would want to buy and keep.
My last physical purchase was last weekend, I bought Split Second on the PS3 for £3! I went into town specifically to buy it and was excited for it. I'm surprised the online lobby's are full too. I'm also excited for my lunch break, I'm going into town again to buy Motorstorm Apocalypse for the PS3 for the price for £4. I have a 3D TV too to make the most out of the game. Fun times 😊
I'd recommend anyone around central Scotland look up "Forgotten Worlds" in Stewarton, near Glasgow. Incredible place with likely the biggest selection of Japanese retro games I've ever seen (and I've been to retro game shops in Japan). There's too much wild, ridiculous stuff to give you a full impression, but there's full trays of Sega Pico, Amstrad CPC, WonderSwan and Virtual Boy games. Last time I was there I saw a boxed Philips CD-i, Casio Loopy, PSX (the DVR PS2) and Pioneer LaserActive. I bought a Japanese Metal Gear Solid: Premium Package, and the contents looked like they'd never been touched. The time before that, I got a boxed Nintendo Scope (that's the European name for the Super Scope, and I'll insist on propagating it) and they had two more right behind it. It's an insane place in the middle of nowhere, and I think it's a mandatory stop for any retro gamers visiting the area.
I’ve been mostly a casual collector. Because of collecting, along with some emulation, I’ve fallen in love with the original PS1 library. My most favorite game that I’ve collected is probably Final Fantasy VII or Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation
Before COVID, I was lucky enough to get a GBA SP with a travel case and a few games for $29.99 at a Savers. I had lost mine when I was a kid (along with my copy of Pokemon Leafgreen) and I was absolutely thrilled to find one that looked similar to it for a good price. Absolutely made my day and I still use it frequently.
Cool I didn’t know Zion lives in WI. Nice to hear you were able to pick up something useful in Fond du Lac. I grew up there and the only cool thing was Chimera Hobby Shop.
last good thrift find was when i found a copy of Heartgold at goodwill for $6, in the year 2022, in a portland suburb. absolutely unheard of. i opened it up, and learned the cart was missing, i asked the employees if they had kept the cart in a case or something hoping they would have to prevent it from being stolen, they said they didn’t and they wouldn’t have put it out without the game… they said “oh well if the game isn’t there we’ll take it off the shelf.” I said I’d still take the case since everything else was inside. They marked it down to $.99. I ended up selling it to a collector for $40. They got a good deal on the case, I made a nice lil profit that healed the wound of just barely missing the game
Great video Zion! I’d love to see a video going through a specific strand of your collection - maybe a Zelda one or something similar? Maybe a console or character specific video?
Biggest thing I try to keep in mind collecting is that just because a game cost a lot of money, it doesn't mean it's something that's worth owning in the collection. Curate your collection to reflect what you want. I'm not a horror fan, i'm not a shooter fan. But somewhere along the line i had both Ju On for the wii and halo 3 legendary. I found a good trading partner for those ultimately but when I had them they did nothing for me. I've bought loose copies of games knowing the fact that trying to get them complete is almost more heartburn than the money difference to buy them complete. I physically age seeing the money it cost to complete them knowing that i'm gaining little I will spend time with. And at the end of the day, If you're in this hobby because you like playing video games, get games that are in a way that are playable. it's silly to basically turn your space into a storage area for someone else's benefit.
My biggest tip is: emulate and never look back. If you just want to play retro games, that’s really the only actually consumer friendly way to go about it and it doesn’t actually hurt devs whatsoever because they aren’t actually selling these games 90% of the time. Even if there’s a newer version for example, they very, very likely aren’t selling the N64 version anymore and aren’t preserving access to it. Even if you only emulate games not available in any form on the retail market, that’s still most of them
Great video. I was having fun in the past slowly collecting gamingrelics cases for my old cartridge based games. They have printed covers based on original box art, but are hard plastic cases. Now I'm left with an incomplete set because they stopped selling them with the printed covers (due to legal reasons i'm sure). Unfortunately, I have nowhere local that does a good job printing, and even if they did, I always mess them up cutting them.
I got Pokemon Sapphire and leaf green for $90 from a guy who met me in person and even sold me more stuff the next day. It was nice to meet someone who enjoys playing games and wasn't just trying to sell
I got Immortals Fenyx Rising for €8, which felt like a bizarrely good deal. I always try to go for physical whenever possible but my country seems to not import any other games than the basic titles (for the Switch atm), so that's a huge bummer.
At this point, after a system is over 15 years old, we are 100% justified in using flash carts and putting game files on SD cards/drives for systems that support it. I think retro gaming money is far better spent on (somewhat expensive) flash carts that are roughly the price of one rare game, plus the system’s original hardware & HD/upscaling devices. I’m thankful for the games/hardware I managed to accumulate in the 90s-00s-early10s, but that stuff is just absolutely not worth the inflated prices I see on pricecharting, to me personally. Maybe if I get rich someday, I will get back into CiB retro games but it’s not a priority.
If there's no swelling desire to put a game on a display shelf, I see no benefit in dropping the market speculation coin on a game that isn't going to help the creators make more. Panzer Dragoon Saga is nice but you can get a lot of other things for the cost of it being your roommate
I love this video! i’m late to the posting of this video. You made a lot of valid points. I’m one of those people who tends to wait for great deals and I’ve gotten great deals on some games. I’m still having a tough time trying to get some games & consoles I want but I know that everything will happen in great timing. Also I don’t mind / I do want to trade games for other games that I want to own & play. That’s something that should be more of an option. It’s important just like you stated before If it’s something will you play as soon as you get it or is it just going to sit on the shelf until you get around to playing that type of question is very important. Again, thank you for the video! Peace And Love
I lost almost all of my video game collection many years ago when I went off to college (classic story of mom threw them away.) I have been slowly trying to rebuild it recently. It can be pretty painful having to rebuy things at a higher price than they used to be, especially when you don't make a lot of money. There have been a lot of games that I just decided were too much and I had to let go of the dream of owning them. I understand why some people just completely opt out of buying older games. I think it's important to really think about the amount of work you had to do before spending money on entertainment. If it truly brings you joy to own things then maybe it is worth it. I paid $200 for a copy of Chrono Trigger this year and I don't regret it because it is my 2nd favorite game of all time.
My tipps for Retro Game Collecting: *Avoid FOMO, be patient* *Buy Games U have in bundle with Games U seek for cheap and resell the duplicates* *Get Games locally or without shipping costs*
Love your video! I’m not exactly a game collector, I buy the games I want to play, but that can be difficult sometimes with the prices going up. I live in the Netherlands and we have a game shop who sells games second hand for the “normal” prices, like what they would be based on the original prices. So some games never come in stoc (yet..), but I love just daily searching their website for any new added games. Also got a lot of coupons there, so for example I got Professor Layton and the Azran Legacy for around 20 euro’s (Goes here online for about 80) and yesterday found Assassins creed chronicles for PS Vita for 12 euro’s (goes for around 50 online). And fire emblem Awakening for around 20. Just love to browse everyday and see what might come up. As you state, you can only spend your money once! So be patient and the game you would like to play or collect will come by eventually! Thanks for the tips and keep up the amazing work 🙌🏽
When you mentioned Paper Mario The Thousand Year Door my heart ❤️ sank. Because that’s one of the games I waited on and waited far too long. 😭 Shoulda bought it when it was cheap. 😭😭😭
I felt inspired by your video from London when you bought some games. I spent an afternoon looking online for local stores that sell Nintendo Switch games and I found a copy of Streets of Rage 4, even though I bought it digitally I felt that it would be awesome to support a local store during their sale. Since then I have bought 2 more games from them because their service is just friendly and fun.
This was great advice honestly, this past year I have had such fomo with gamecube games in general and the wii u/ 3ds eshop closing has been making me buy games throughout the year. Thanks so much! Currently, downloading Mario Galaxy 2 and Metroid Prime Hunters hehe
a few years ago i was getting into retro collecting (and some switch stuff.) I ended up talking to my uncle about Gamecube games for a few hours. Later during christmas, he randomly suprised me with a copy of ttyd! Probobly my best experience yet with game collecting
I love flea markets. Yes, the scalpers are roaming, but I still catch them slipping or am there earlier, but I love scanning for unexpected games, merch, trading cards, and walk about :)
I recently bought a new 3dsxl from a retro store in Mobile, AL for $195.00. Probably not a fantastic price but for over a year I've been looking for one that I could afford and that was the best price I could find. It's in great condition. Almost looks new! I'm very happy with it! I play Story of Seasons on it every day 😀
Really enjoyed this video :) best recent purchase I made was at a Walmart. They had switch games on clearance. I walked out with Diablo 3, Dragon quest XI and Xenoblade chronicles for $5 each. Best feeling ever.
As I was watching this video, I went on Facebook marketplace just to see how the prices were here, the first thing I saw was a DS Lite plus Pokemon Emerald for 80 USD
I really dig these collecting vids that you do from time to time! They're a great insight into how others in the community may do things, and give some great tips on how to collect in a more cost effective way.
I bought a cartridge for Animal Crossing Wild World and a case soon after a few weeks back. It was around $40 in total, but now I have a CIB Wild World that's been fun to play
Last week I found a museum quality nes, Atari, with all the hookups, 84 Atari games (including some of the more expensive ones), and a Grey Zelda cartridge, all for $60 on the local online marketplace! I ended up gifting the nes to my younger brother, and am hoping it will help him start his collection!
I 1000% agree with your “ramble” near the end. I wish games were less about value and more about the experience. Games like GOW PS4 and BOTW are priceless to me even tho you can snag both physically for under 100$.
Waiting is a good tip and something I only recently made a point to do. I waited around for Fortune Street and recently ended up getting a sealed copy for $50 at a Madison shop. It was like buying a new Wii game a decade later and I intend to check it out!
good tips! these will be useful as im getting into collecting nintendo handhelds. now i just need friends who dont hate games that are new but have a pixel artstyle
I'll always remember getting Chibi Robo complete in immaculate condition with all the inserts for 5 bucks right around the time it reached a hundred dollar game, you CAN get lucky on some things here and there if you always keep your eyes peeled. I luckily got Thousand Year door, also totally complete in amazing shape for like $25-30 when it was still a $60 game, and i thought I'd have to buy a completely separate Luigi's Mansion to finally get a manual without feeling like i was paying such a premium, i went into a random mom and pop game shop I've never been to one day, found they had a complete copy, i asked if they'd be willing to sell the manual separately, and without hesitation, they said to go ahead and just take it, at that point I had to mention to them it happened to be my birthday, and thanked them for unknowingly giving me a bday present, what luck!! Now if that can only happen two more times for a Kirby Airride manual and a Brave Fencer Musashi manual, i've gone through finding 3 copies of Musashi in the wild for cheap af, but all 3 were missing the mannies, sigh, lol! You win some, you lose some. The gaming gods shine upon diligence, good luck out there brethren!!
The US is so lucky when it comes to retro game collecting. In Europe retro stores are pretty much all gone. Only the mainstream game stores are left that pretty much only have new games.
What are the stores in Madison, WI that you were referring to in your video and any other places In Madison, WI that is definitely the place to go, any hole in the walls(underrated places)
One time I found someone on Facebook Marketplace selling like 20 complete in box GBA games for $10-20 each including all 3 Pokémon games, most of the DKC and Mario Advance games and some licensed kids games. by the time I found it the only game I didn't have that was still available was Mario & Luigi Superstar Saga and it is now probably my favorite thing in my collection.
When I had to sell a good deal of my collection to make room for the kids... I was shocked how much people bid on ebay. I sold mostly the 8 and 16 but stuff and some games got me 100, 200 or even 500 euros. I paid 5 to 10 euros in the early 2000s for those games. I bought mint CIB consoles for 20 or 40 euro because back then nobody wanted the stuff anymore. Later the found new owners who were wiling to pay 10 times as much. During that time my collection clearly outperformed the stock market. Not only in terms of fun but also money. But I think this is over prices for the rare stuff are pretty high now. Younger consoles and games have been produced in much larger numbers. With a few exception I doubt they will ever be that expensive.
I don't really have IRL friends who are into game collecting so a lot of the collecting is on my own back. Saying that, that's one of the things I miss about my old job at CeX is the free stuff and like minded people to talk to about collecting. I'd be the person who would be like " I have something you might like as a fellow gamer"
It's funny you mention Paper Mario and the Thousand Year Door. I picked that up for $27 Canadian on a whim. Like someone i was subbed to back in the day was doing a playthrough and i thought damn i should grab that and it was very reasonably priced at the time. It's so strange I got ahead of the price skyrocketing because i picked it up just because I felt like it.
This was a very helpful video! I believe the last games I went into the store and bought in a little haul were Kirby Star Allies, Pokemon Shield, and Pokemon: Let's Go, Eevee at Target last week. As we approach the release date for Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, I hated missing physical copies for only two Pokemon Switch games, so I had to even out my collection. 😅 My niece (5) loves playing Kirby with me, so I saved up for another couch co-op option for our gaming sessions. Pokemon Snap will be the next buy for her. (Those games were on sale, and I added on my partner's Walmart discount, so I think it was about $130 for all three games.)
i've wanted thimbleweed park physically for years, but i missed out on the limited run games & fangamer versions. found the complete big box pc version for $40 plus shipping (what it retailed at) and the seller just had the switch, ps4, and pc versions and only kept the switch one. other sellers were charging $200+ when it did come up (pc cd rom is more niche i suppose) and i am so in love with it. framed the poster that came in the box.
My number one tip: only buy something when the deal feels good. Yes, price charting and ebay can be great tools to look up value. But at the end of the day it is you, as an individual, buying something you want to play for a price you feel comfortable with.
I started collectibg very good condition complete in box n64 game collection. Im up to 40 games at present. Very pleased with it. Huge variety in prices, some cost me 500 a piece, some cost me 50 a piece and everything in-between. Ive spent maybe 3k, maybe closer to 4k. Crazy. I feel like im definitely on the back end of the train for a normal person still being able to realistically collect a full conplete set in good condition. I feel like 5 years from now, its going to be unrealistic for most people are going to be able to do. Prices are rising all the time.
Question: I don't really care about the cardboard box some games come in, but I don't want to throw them away, since I know some people collect them. What's the best way to sell them online, and how do I know what's a fair price?
Thanks for the tips!! I'm currently collecting retro games, but only the ones I'm interested or missed out on. FOMO really is a pain in the butt. It also doesn't help that people are inflating the prices of these retro games. I think I will try one of your tips and collect the game in parts. Getting the game, case, and inserts separately. Because trying to get a game CIB (complete in box) is difficult because the price is too expensive. I'm trying to get Paper Mario and the Thousand-Year Door and Wario World.
I do get why the boxes started big, because the games used to be big themselves. Like the NES games. But ever since the handhelds, the boxes for the games are WAY bigger than the games themselves, so it's really bad for storage space. Don't get why they did it this way.
Great tips to for retro collecting. I have an unrelated question though, at 17:38 there’s a GBA Video box next to the Scott Pilgrim Collector’s Edition, what is it exactly? I can see some people on the beach and nothing else.
@@h3corptempbutevadinganass we didn’t do anything. Millennials got nostalgic for the games of their youth during the pandemic (which is perfectly normal), and then sellers took advantage of that and artificially inflated prices. Look at Pokémon Platinum for example! A game that sold millions and millions of copies, and has hundreds, even thousands of eBay listings. Yet- Platinum costs three or four times its’ launch price. Most popular games aren’t expensive due to limited availability. They’re expensive because they’re becoming an *investment*. A commodity.
I’ve always kind of thought people who build huge CiB video game collections to be perpetually stuck in childhood… with a dash of pure materialism. Personally, I’m trying to get rid of more stuff, not acquire more.
Retail game prices late 80’s mid 90’s weren’t much different than today prices, usually $59.99 each or approximately $132.64 in today’s money. Many factors that I take into account when adding to my collection like rarity & condition are considered but also someone cared for and stored them for decades so it difficult to put a piece on that. Simply going by inflation for values may work in some cases but obviously not all. I missed out on many games and although I’m not going for a complete set in any of my collections I do continue collecting. If I want it I buy it and in almost all cases it’s condition not price
At retro game stores, generally the rule of thumb i go with is 10% over price charting is the limit. If a game is more expensive than that, I wont get it. Also usually, a retro game store has either great selection but terrible prices or great prices but terrible selection.
Yeah normally I don't mind spending slightly over the trending price at stores cause I can see the game, can tell if it's in good condition and don't have to pay shipping costs and wait for it to arrive.
Even that is pushing it considering price charting goes off ebay prices which are always more than local stores. So they should really be LOWER than price charting.
Mine is both, their selection blows and they are more expensive than ebay
They tend to get their games for pennies to the dollar on trade-ins. So even at or below price chart, they are making money. Their prices are higher because they have brick or mortar storefront which costs money on top of paying employee salaries. Whatnot has now become my new favorite app.
Sounds like gamestop in general when they have deals.
4 for $40... yet can't even find 4 games under $20
Same with the 4 for $20, 4 for $10.
The next week they don't have deals...
I magically find the games I wanted to actually add to my collection.
They used to be so easy to find "in the wild" or easy to collect.
Now people are just money hungry 🤦♂️ people who don't even like games are buying and selling.
Top tip number 1, only collect your childhood, don't buy something that's expensive, because it's expensive.
Because of videos like this. Honestly, the more video game collecting videos that come out or articles are released. The higher prices are going to go because you're bringing more attention to the fact that people think that they have retro gold hiding in their closet
@@Synplex Yeah everyone thinks they're sitting on gold nowadays so they're quick to sell high and artificially inflate the market.
Scalpers are pure evilness. They ruined the collecting hobby, and they're ruining collector's edition games as well.
Well said!
For those on a budget or like collecting, it's okay to NOT have the original stuff. Wii Game CD cases work for Gamecube CDs that fit perfectly. Many sites have printable original box art with proper dimensions (you can even make your own!) and then add to the box. I have a full GC collection with boxes and custom art using wii cases (white instead of the black cases). Blank Wii cd cases sell for half the price of GC case/boxes.
I think it’s strange to purchase the booklets, boxes, reproduced art, etc. It seems artificial and disingenuous to me.
Many also use this method to cheat people by repackaging these unoriginal components with a game and reselling it for inflated prices. If it’s about the game, why commoditise it? Supporting such things puts money in those grifters pockets.
Now if you’re doing it for your personal use that’s different as you are creating it for you and you alone.
It’s wasted money. Rather not have that than repro sht
"Re-sellers do not raise prices maliciously"
God I wish I had Zion's good natured faith in people in these trying times.😞
LOL!
He is from the midwest…
Well, technically malice =/= greed
@@koba2348 Wait, huh? Greed and malice totally go together. Isn’t that the symbols for “does not equal”?
*laughs in 9.9 mint graded packaging*
I'm 100% sure scalpers are pure evilness. They destroyed collecting games as a hobby. They don't love games, yet they take advantage of who really love them , and the actual game creators don't have benefits.
It's funny and unfair that level 5 closed its operations in the west, but Yokai watch & professor Layton 3Ds games are +200 USD.
recently got into restoring my old consoles from when I was a kid, then wanted to start collecting some older video games and their consoles. The biggest problem I have with collecting older video games/consoles is how vast it is, like their is no end point because of how much money you'd have to dump into it. I think trying to define a range of what you want to collect can really help make it seem more achievable.
I did the same as you. My rule of thumb is to only pay the price i am confortable with, and only have a shortlist. Only buy game i really want to have. It s a decent way to limit money spent.
that's exactly what i decided to do
Its what I'm doing. Starting at the games I played as a kid and then slowly moving on to getting the greatest hits of whatever console or stuff friends recommend
Waiting is genuinely one of the best things, I got a ps2 game that I feared I was gonna have to pay hundreds for just the game, but just randomly I found it for about $50 complete in box online selling from a used bookstore. My favorite part of collecting oddly isn’t the game itself but that you can have a story for everything, looking for it, finding it, and the game itself.
Hey Zion, I just wanted to say that I really love these video game collecting videos you have been doing. Whether it's your recent pick-ups or collecting tips like this video, they are always a really enjoyable watch! :)
Loved the video! In my experience I have been, in the past, a collector wanting to complete a whole set of N64 games. I realised in the end there’s just no point in collecting games that I’m never likely to play so I sold them in bulk for a craaaazy low price compared to what they are worth today but I also paid a lot less for them at the time.
Now I only buy the games that I want to play and plan on playing in the future. If I’m not going to play anytime soon then I just wait it out until I see one come up for the right price. Here in the UK we have car boot sales and charity shops, which are our equivalent to thrift stores as such. I’ve found many games and sold them in order to buy the games I actually want for my collection and with all intention of playing. I’ll never again be the kinda person to just collect for the sake of completing a whole library, it’s just not worth it. Not all games are worth your time playing.
Only a couple weeks ago I found a copy of Dragon Force for the Saturn. Sold it and that financed my purchase for the Zelda Twilight Princess Ltd Edition set for the WiiU 😊
Part of the fun of collecting for me is trying to get the lowest price possible for games, while still getting stuff in good condition. Helps save money and adds some challenge
The more you buy games below market value the more you lower the market value of games overall which is good for collectors but bad for resellers
Yes! Smart glad we both on the same page!
Zion, loving this type of content. Very cozy and wholesome (and useful) 😇
Keep talking about the things you love 😁
Recently, a game collector I know and have bought stuff from before, found himself in a situation where life priorites changed, and he decided to sell off his entire collection. I got myself a little stack of games that I had wanted for a long time, and for a really fair price. Chief among them was Thunder Force V for the Japanese Sega Saturn, a game I in no way could justify the going market rate for, but now I have this gem in my collection without breaking the bank thanks to him, CIB with spine card and everything, and I'm really happy about it!
This was such a positive uplifting description of how to collect games. The sad reality of retro gaming currently is unfortunately cutthroat and toxic, with collectors and dealers treating the games they buy and sell as a “get-rich-quick scheme” by tricking amateurs into spending 10 times more than they should, or buying them from naive people for dirt cheap. It infuriates me to see games that would be at some boot sale for just a few Dollars/Pounds in ok condition now being sold for hundreds in some stupid acrylic box and a “certificate” from some auction house. What used to be a simple, cheap, and fun hobby has been warped into such a complicated, expensive, depressing for-profit business.
Paper Mario thousand year door was about $40 3 or 4 years ago, and I thought that was nuts. I bought it because I sold my old copy. Now, I can’t believe how much it is. Insane
Hi Zion, this was an unexpected but welcome video from all of you at Nintendo Life!! I hope we can see more personal types of content like this from you in the future.
Thanks for taking the time to make this!
Started rebuilding my PSP collection. With most current gaming systems requiring an internet connection, it's nice to embrace the retro and not have to wait for patches or updates to download. Plus, the PSP is such a great handheld in its own right!
I love collecting psp games. Not my biggest collection, but its always the first section i look at in stores
My biggest hurdle in really going all in on collecting is that I don't really have room. My wife and I share a one bedroom apartment and we try to keep things not too cluttered. I'd almost need a whole separate room for it.
For people just just starting out, DON’T SELL YOUR GAMES. Games get most expensive years after they come out. I still have a few gamecube games that would have costed 60 a piece but I still have my original copies
Went on a float trip. My friend gave me…GAVE ME… CIB pokemon black 1 and white 2. Also gave me Pokémon sapphire. Didn’t want anything in return. He just said that he had them and they were just sitting in his closet and knew I would appreciate them. I have been looking for all the Pokémon games, so this was just stunning to me. I truly do not deserve him as a friend.
I’ve actually just gotten into seriously collecting games over the last year. I made it a goal of mine is to have a complete CIB of every mainline Pokémon game. I have a lot of them already, but recently I actually got Pokémon pearl, the last 4th gen game I needed! It was pretty expensive everywhere I went, but I ended up buying a loose cartridge on eBay from one person, and just a box and manual from another, and saved a lot of money by not buying CIB at a store or something!
That’s also my main game collection goal. I only have two right now but slowly building up to it.
I go to a vendor at our local farmer's market and buy retro games now. They've got 3 rooms literally stuffed floor to ceiling with retro video games, vintage toys and collectables, etc and you can just sift through cases and boxes of all kinds of stuff and the prices for the games I bought were fair. It's kinda overwhelming when you first walk in with the sheer volume of stuff they've got stacked about, but it's fun to explore and see what you can find.
My advice: don't start. And if you do, buy my collection first.Lovingly collected over many years, then drastically changed my life with new ideas of what is of value and what is not, and now I have an amazing collection... stored in my mother's house because I live in nature and don't want to bother selling it, but don't want to give it away either because even at reasonable prices I could buy my camper again by just selling some of my collection, or feed my dogs for a couple of years, or...
Some of it I just don't think I can get rid of, especially GBA games hard to emulate like Boktai of Warioware Twisted, or my near perfect Zelda collection.
I just started getting into physical game collecting and I immediately subbed to your channel, you kind of remind me of my older brother actually!
I'm very broke right now so even though they aren't proper retro games by most people's standards I'm starting out by asking for DS/3DS games for Christmas since I already have a 3DS, right now I have Pokemon White, Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth, Pokemon Y, Tomodachi Life, and 999: Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors on my list, I'm not expecting to actually get all of them but my brother has a tendency to spoil me whenever I ask for video games for Christmas so who knows lol
Great advice, I've been wanting to rebuild my childhood collection lately and this has been good motivation for doing it right
My advice for retro collecting. Go for the cheaper games first or try and find games in charity shops then work you’re way up to the more expensive games. And buy and sell. And use expected profit rather than you’re own money.
Really enjoyed this insight into your collection and tips for collecting! My collection's not real big, but I do enjoy it. I've been particular about keeping my game boxes and manuals since I was a kid, so I have a few items that are pretty nice. With the advent of digital sales (and less shelf space), most of my purchases these days are digital, though I will occasionally pick up a retro game disk/cartridge that I wouldn't otherwise be able to play. The most recent one of those was Yoshi's Cookie for NES--one of my wife's favorites from when she was a kid.
Thanks again for sharing--great content!
My partner and I’s interest in retro gaming collecting started almost 10 years ago, when we were celebrating our first anniversary together and bought a Sega Genesis for $25 at a local novelty store that had a very small selection of retro games. Afterwards, we walked down the street to a video game store to pick up a few games for the system, which ended up being Jurassic Park, Sonic 2 and Mortal Kombat. Within a year, we were able to find a working Sega CD and 32X, both for under $100 (possibly under $50? Can’t remember the exact price for the 32X) and found really great games for both for pretty cheap.
Lately, I’ve been thinking how lucky we were to start collecting when we did, but also how it’s now an expensive hobby for anyone who wants to join in, but the advice in this video is really solid. My personal advice I would add is collect what you want to collect. Don’t feel like you have to own a super rare game just because it’s rare.
At a retro game store I got Metroid prime loose for 20$ and was so excited because it's my one of my favorite Metroid games and i just recently got a GameCube to play it. That was a good day.
My most recent game hunt that I really loved was when I was visiting my better half and we both went to a game shop
We checked, talked and laughed, when we calmed down, I saw Rhythm Thief on the 3DS for 10€ and was so excited!
Can't wait to move in with my better half in the near ish future and do couple's game hunting trips
In an ideal world; buying games digitally on the Switch, would have been perfect. As is; it's really great as it seems I am able to get the best games from various past retro and last gen consoles (not just Nintendo consoles) through current retro collections or re-releases. However, because of ambiguous nature of DRM and how the backwards compatible feature of the next gen Switch will be implemented (if at all); it makes it risky to trust. If Nintendo and companies were to promise and ensure full digital ownership of all game purchases to your account (even if games get delisted and even if the console is no longer current); then it would be great as it saves space and I know what games I would want to buy and keep.
My last physical purchase was last weekend, I bought Split Second on the PS3 for £3! I went into town specifically to buy it and was excited for it. I'm surprised the online lobby's are full too.
I'm also excited for my lunch break, I'm going into town again to buy Motorstorm Apocalypse for the PS3 for the price for £4. I have a 3D TV too to make the most out of the game. Fun times 😊
I'd recommend anyone around central Scotland look up "Forgotten Worlds" in Stewarton, near Glasgow. Incredible place with likely the biggest selection of Japanese retro games I've ever seen (and I've been to retro game shops in Japan). There's too much wild, ridiculous stuff to give you a full impression, but there's full trays of Sega Pico, Amstrad CPC, WonderSwan and Virtual Boy games.
Last time I was there I saw a boxed Philips CD-i, Casio Loopy, PSX (the DVR PS2) and Pioneer LaserActive. I bought a Japanese Metal Gear Solid: Premium Package, and the contents looked like they'd never been touched. The time before that, I got a boxed Nintendo Scope (that's the European name for the Super Scope, and I'll insist on propagating it) and they had two more right behind it. It's an insane place in the middle of nowhere, and I think it's a mandatory stop for any retro gamers visiting the area.
That's great to know, thanks - how intriguing it sounds! I occasionally visit friends & family in Glasgow so hopefully I'll get to check it out!
This video was SUPER informative! Thanks, Zion! Makes me want to get into collecting. I just might one of these days! :)
I’ve been mostly a casual collector. Because of collecting, along with some emulation, I’ve fallen in love with the original PS1 library. My most favorite game that I’ve collected is probably Final Fantasy VII or Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation
Before COVID, I was lucky enough to get a GBA SP with a travel case and a few games for $29.99 at a Savers.
I had lost mine when I was a kid (along with my copy of Pokemon Leafgreen) and I was absolutely thrilled to find one that looked similar to it for a good price.
Absolutely made my day and I still use it frequently.
What is savers??
@@Biscuitdough it's a thrift store chain here in the US, I think it's called Value Village in other countries
Cool I didn’t know Zion lives in WI. Nice to hear you were able to pick up something useful in Fond du Lac. I grew up there and the only cool thing was Chimera Hobby Shop.
Thank you for the knowledge you gave out that day!!!
last good thrift find was when i found a copy of Heartgold at goodwill for $6, in the year 2022, in a portland suburb. absolutely unheard of. i opened it up, and learned the cart was missing, i asked the employees if they had kept the cart in a case or something hoping they would have to prevent it from being stolen, they said they didn’t and they wouldn’t have put it out without the game… they said “oh well if the game isn’t there we’ll take it off the shelf.” I said I’d still take the case since everything else was inside. They marked it down to $.99. I ended up selling it to a collector for $40. They got a good deal on the case, I made a nice lil profit that healed the wound of just barely missing the game
Yeah…it’s wild people making profit of game cases. Good you made it work for you, but the commoditisation of these things is one of the issues.
Great video Zion!
I’d love to see a video going through a specific strand of your collection - maybe a Zelda one or something similar? Maybe a console or character specific video?
Biggest thing I try to keep in mind collecting is that just because a game cost a lot of money, it doesn't mean it's something that's worth owning in the collection. Curate your collection to reflect what you want.
I'm not a horror fan, i'm not a shooter fan. But somewhere along the line i had both Ju On for the wii and halo 3 legendary. I found a good trading partner for those ultimately but when I had them they did nothing for me.
I've bought loose copies of games knowing the fact that trying to get them complete is almost more heartburn than the money difference to buy them complete. I physically age seeing the money it cost to complete them knowing that i'm gaining little I will spend time with.
And at the end of the day, If you're in this hobby because you like playing video games, get games that are in a way that are playable. it's silly to basically turn your space into a storage area for someone else's benefit.
My biggest tip is: emulate and never look back.
If you just want to play retro games, that’s really the only actually consumer friendly way to go about it and it doesn’t actually hurt devs whatsoever because they aren’t actually selling these games 90% of the time. Even if there’s a newer version for example, they very, very likely aren’t selling the N64 version anymore and aren’t preserving access to it. Even if you only emulate games not available in any form on the retail market, that’s still most of them
Great video. I was having fun in the past slowly collecting gamingrelics cases for my old cartridge based games. They have printed covers based on original box art, but are hard plastic cases. Now I'm left with an incomplete set because they stopped selling them with the printed covers (due to legal reasons i'm sure). Unfortunately, I have nowhere local that does a good job printing, and even if they did, I always mess them up cutting them.
I got Pokemon Sapphire and leaf green for $90 from a guy who met me in person and even sold me more stuff the next day. It was nice to meet someone who enjoys playing games and wasn't just trying to sell
I got Immortals Fenyx Rising for €8, which felt like a bizarrely good deal. I always try to go for physical whenever possible but my country seems to not import any other games than the basic titles (for the Switch atm), so that's a huge bummer.
At this point, after a system is over 15 years old, we are 100% justified in using flash carts and putting game files on SD cards/drives for systems that support it. I think retro gaming money is far better spent on (somewhat expensive) flash carts that are roughly the price of one rare game, plus the system’s original hardware & HD/upscaling devices. I’m thankful for the games/hardware I managed to accumulate in the 90s-00s-early10s, but that stuff is just absolutely not worth the inflated prices I see on pricecharting, to me personally. Maybe if I get rich someday, I will get back into CiB retro games but it’s not a priority.
If there's no swelling desire to put a game on a display shelf, I see no benefit in dropping the market speculation coin on a game that isn't going to help the creators make more. Panzer Dragoon Saga is nice but you can get a lot of other things for the cost of it being your roommate
I love this video! i’m late to the posting of this video. You made a lot of valid points. I’m one of those people who tends to wait for great deals and I’ve gotten great deals on some games. I’m still having a tough time trying to get some games & consoles I want but I know that everything will happen in great timing. Also I don’t mind / I do want to trade games for other games that I want to own & play. That’s something that should be more of an option. It’s important just like you stated before
If it’s something will you play as soon as you get it or is it just going to sit on the shelf until you get around to playing that type of question is very important. Again, thank you for the video! Peace And Love
I lost almost all of my video game collection many years ago when I went off to college (classic story of mom threw them away.) I have been slowly trying to rebuild it recently. It can be pretty painful having to rebuy things at a higher price than they used to be, especially when you don't make a lot of money. There have been a lot of games that I just decided were too much and I had to let go of the dream of owning them. I understand why some people just completely opt out of buying older games. I think it's important to really think about the amount of work you had to do before spending money on entertainment. If it truly brings you joy to own things then maybe it is worth it. I paid $200 for a copy of Chrono Trigger this year and I don't regret it because it is my 2nd favorite game of all time.
As a game collector myself.......god I love emulation esp with todays prices
My tipps for Retro Game Collecting:
*Avoid FOMO, be patient*
*Buy Games U have in bundle with Games U seek for cheap and resell the duplicates*
*Get Games locally or without shipping costs*
“Video games can be expensive”
Me, who just bought a copy of the thousand year door: *y e s .*
Every day I wish I grew up in the GameCube era. Would've saved me so much money now
I've never heard of Gameye and this is the dream app I've been looking for. Great content!
Love your video! I’m not exactly a game collector, I buy the games I want to play, but that can be difficult sometimes with the prices going up. I live in the Netherlands and we have a game shop who sells games second hand for the “normal” prices, like what they would be based on the original prices.
So some games never come in stoc (yet..), but I love just daily searching their website for any new added games. Also got a lot of coupons there, so for example I got Professor Layton and the Azran Legacy for around 20 euro’s (Goes here online for about 80) and yesterday found Assassins creed chronicles for PS Vita for 12 euro’s (goes for around 50 online). And fire emblem Awakening for around 20.
Just love to browse everyday and see what might come up. As you state, you can only spend your money once! So be patient and the game you would like to play or collect will come by eventually! Thanks for the tips and keep up the amazing work 🙌🏽
When you mentioned Paper Mario The Thousand Year Door my heart ❤️ sank. Because that’s one of the games I waited on and waited far too long. 😭 Shoulda bought it when it was cheap. 😭😭😭
Me too
I felt inspired by your video from London when you bought some games. I spent an afternoon looking online for local stores that sell Nintendo Switch games and I found a copy of Streets of Rage 4, even though I bought it digitally I felt that it would be awesome to support a local store during their sale. Since then I have bought 2 more games from them because their service is just friendly and fun.
This was great advice honestly, this past year I have had such fomo with gamecube games in general and the wii u/ 3ds eshop closing has been making me buy games throughout the year. Thanks so much! Currently, downloading Mario Galaxy 2 and Metroid Prime Hunters hehe
LON LON Ranch Intro brought me back my man!
Anyone know what black bookshelves he is using? His games fit perfectly
I just checked Price charting. Im going to cry.
a few years ago i was getting into retro collecting (and some switch stuff.) I ended up talking to my uncle about Gamecube games for a few hours. Later during christmas, he randomly suprised me with a copy of ttyd! Probobly my best experience yet with game collecting
I love flea markets. Yes, the scalpers are roaming, but I still catch them slipping or am there earlier, but I love scanning for unexpected games, merch, trading cards, and walk about :)
My local retro game store uses Ebay as a metric when selling me his games. Ive never really understood if that's a fair metric or not LOL
I recently bought a new 3dsxl from a retro store in Mobile, AL for $195.00. Probably not a fantastic price but for over a year I've been looking for one that I could afford and that was the best price I could find. It's in great condition. Almost looks new! I'm very happy with it! I play Story of Seasons on it every day 😀
Really enjoyed this video :) best recent purchase I made was at a Walmart. They had switch games on clearance. I walked out with Diablo 3, Dragon quest XI and Xenoblade chronicles for $5 each. Best feeling ever.
As I was watching this video, I went on Facebook marketplace just to see how the prices were here, the first thing I saw was a DS Lite plus Pokemon Emerald for 80 USD
I found Thousand Year Door at a thrift store for 3 dollars once.
I really dig these collecting vids that you do from time to time! They're a great insight into how others in the community may do things, and give some great tips on how to collect in a more cost effective way.
I bought a cartridge for Animal Crossing Wild World and a case soon after a few weeks back. It was around $40 in total, but now I have a CIB Wild World that's been fun to play
Great video! As someone who only really *collects* stuff that I want to play and enjoy, this came in really handy.
Last week I found a museum quality nes, Atari, with all the hookups, 84 Atari games (including some of the more expensive ones), and a Grey Zelda cartridge, all for $60 on the local online marketplace! I ended up gifting the nes to my younger brother, and am hoping it will help him start his collection!
been buying up a few physical wii u games I missed out on and genuinely want to play for such little money lately, its awesome!
I 1000% agree with your “ramble” near the end. I wish games were less about value and more about the experience. Games like GOW PS4 and BOTW are priceless to me even tho you can snag both physically for under 100$.
Are you a WI native? You reference going back there and visiting there a couple of times. Cool shoutout to the retro gaming scene in WI.
Waiting is a good tip and something I only recently made a point to do. I waited around for Fortune Street and recently ended up getting a sealed copy for $50 at a Madison shop. It was like buying a new Wii game a decade later and I intend to check it out!
good tips! these will be useful as im getting into collecting nintendo handhelds. now i just need friends who dont hate games that are new but have a pixel artstyle
Take some time to PLAY your games. Getting them is not the end. Keep learning from them. Enjoy.
I'll always remember getting Chibi Robo complete in immaculate condition with all the inserts for 5 bucks right around the time it reached a hundred dollar game, you CAN get lucky on some things here and there if you always keep your eyes peeled. I luckily got Thousand Year door, also totally complete in amazing shape for like $25-30 when it was still a $60 game, and i thought I'd have to buy a completely separate Luigi's Mansion to finally get a manual without feeling like i was paying such a premium, i went into a random mom and pop game shop I've never been to one day, found they had a complete copy, i asked if they'd be willing to sell the manual separately, and without hesitation, they said to go ahead and just take it, at that point I had to mention to them it happened to be my birthday, and thanked them for unknowingly giving me a bday present, what luck!! Now if that can only happen two more times for a Kirby Airride manual and a Brave Fencer Musashi manual, i've gone through finding 3 copies of Musashi in the wild for cheap af, but all 3 were missing the mannies, sigh, lol! You win some, you lose some. The gaming gods shine upon diligence, good luck out there brethren!!
That Megaman and Bass is freakin Sweet!
The US is so lucky when it comes to retro game collecting. In Europe retro stores are pretty much all gone. Only the mainstream game stores are left that pretty much only have new games.
Where in Europe? Europe is a big place - let’s not generalise.
I'm a ds/3ds collector. I was happy when I found a case for my loose Wild World cart.
What are the stores in Madison, WI that you were referring to in your video and any other places In Madison, WI that is definitely the place to go, any hole in the walls(underrated places)
One time I found someone on Facebook Marketplace selling like 20 complete in box GBA games for $10-20 each including all 3 Pokémon games, most of the DKC and Mario Advance games and some licensed kids games. by the time I found it the only game I didn't have that was still available was Mario & Luigi Superstar Saga and it is now probably my favorite thing in my collection.
When I had to sell a good deal of my collection to make room for the kids... I was shocked how much people bid on ebay. I sold mostly the 8 and 16 but stuff and some games got me 100, 200 or even 500 euros. I paid 5 to 10 euros in the early 2000s for those games. I bought mint CIB consoles for 20 or 40 euro because back then nobody wanted the stuff anymore. Later the found new owners who were wiling to pay 10 times as much. During that time my collection clearly outperformed the stock market. Not only in terms of fun but also money. But I think this is over prices for the rare stuff are pretty high now. Younger consoles and games have been produced in much larger numbers. With a few exception I doubt they will ever be that expensive.
I don't really have IRL friends who are into game collecting so a lot of the collecting is on my own back. Saying that, that's one of the things I miss about my old job at CeX is the free stuff and like minded people to talk to about collecting. I'd be the person who would be like " I have something you might like as a fellow gamer"
It's funny you mention Paper Mario and the Thousand Year Door. I picked that up for $27 Canadian on a whim. Like someone i was subbed to back in the day was doing a playthrough and i thought damn i should grab that and it was very reasonably priced at the time. It's so strange I got ahead of the price skyrocketing because i picked it up just because I felt like it.
I found Sushi Striker for the switch for 10 dollars at GameStop it was awesome!
This was a very helpful video! I believe the last games I went into the store and bought in a little haul were Kirby Star Allies, Pokemon Shield, and Pokemon: Let's Go, Eevee at Target last week. As we approach the release date for Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, I hated missing physical copies for only two Pokemon Switch games, so I had to even out my collection. 😅 My niece (5) loves playing Kirby with me, so I saved up for another couch co-op option for our gaming sessions. Pokemon Snap will be the next buy for her.
(Those games were on sale, and I added on my partner's Walmart discount, so I think it was about $130 for all three games.)
My dad keeps say just buy digital, it annoying as heck
YOOOO you’re mentioning all my Wisconsin towns!! I love you even more now Zion
which reminds me- there are a few retro game stores in Mauston and Baraboo. Check them out the next time you’re in wisco!
Truly love Zion's videos!
I had a GameCube year's ago with a few dozen games. Fast-forward 20+ years now im trying to recollect what I had and wow has it got outrageous
i've wanted thimbleweed park physically for years, but i missed out on the limited run games & fangamer versions. found the complete big box pc version for $40 plus shipping (what it retailed at) and the seller just had the switch, ps4, and pc versions and only kept the switch one. other sellers were charging $200+ when it did come up (pc cd rom is more niche i suppose) and i am so in love with it. framed the poster that came in the box.
My number one tip: only buy something when the deal feels good. Yes, price charting and ebay can be great tools to look up value. But at the end of the day it is you, as an individual, buying something you want to play for a price you feel comfortable with.
17:38 what is that Pikachu plush on the shelf? It’s rare that a vintage Pokemon plush actually looks good and now I want one 🙈
I started collectibg very good condition complete in box n64 game collection. Im up to 40 games at present. Very pleased with it. Huge variety in prices, some cost me 500 a piece, some cost me 50 a piece and everything in-between. Ive spent maybe 3k, maybe closer to 4k.
Crazy. I feel like im definitely on the back end of the train for a normal person still being able to realistically collect a full conplete set in good condition. I feel like 5 years from now, its going to be unrealistic for most people are going to be able to do. Prices are rising all the time.
Question: I don't really care about the cardboard box some games come in, but I don't want to throw them away, since I know some people collect them. What's the best way to sell them online, and how do I know what's a fair price?
Thanks for the tips!!
I'm currently collecting retro games, but only the ones I'm interested or missed out on.
FOMO really is a pain in the butt. It also doesn't help that people are inflating the prices of these retro games.
I think I will try one of your tips and collect the game in parts. Getting the game, case, and inserts separately. Because trying to get a game CIB (complete in box) is difficult because the price is too expensive. I'm trying to get Paper Mario and the Thousand-Year Door and Wario World.
I do get why the boxes started big, because the games used to be big themselves. Like the NES games.
But ever since the handhelds, the boxes for the games are WAY bigger than the games themselves, so it's really bad for storage space. Don't get why they did it this way.
I found Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin complete in box when I was looking for other games. It's probably my favorite in Castlevania series now.
Great tips to for retro collecting. I have an unrelated question though, at 17:38 there’s a GBA Video box next to the Scott Pilgrim Collector’s Edition, what is it exactly? I can see some people on the beach and nothing else.
Number one tip: just don’t
agreed!
YES
. AND IM A COLLECTOR.
MORESO EX BECAUSE WTF DID ZOOMERS DO TO THIS MARKET no offense zoomies
@@h3corptempbutevadinganass we didn’t do anything. Millennials got nostalgic for the games of their youth during the pandemic (which is perfectly normal), and then sellers took advantage of that and artificially inflated prices. Look at Pokémon Platinum for example! A game that sold millions and millions of copies, and has hundreds, even thousands of eBay listings. Yet- Platinum costs three or four times its’ launch price. Most popular games aren’t expensive due to limited availability. They’re expensive because they’re becoming an *investment*. A commodity.
I’ve always kind of thought people who build huge CiB video game collections to be perpetually stuck in childhood… with a dash of pure materialism.
Personally, I’m trying to get rid of more stuff, not acquire more.
There’s also a saying ‘he who hesitates is lost’ 😂
Retail game prices late 80’s mid 90’s weren’t much different than today prices, usually $59.99 each or approximately $132.64 in today’s money. Many factors that I take into account when adding to my collection like rarity & condition are considered but also someone cared for and stored them for decades so it difficult to put a piece on that. Simply going by inflation for values may work in some cases but obviously not all. I missed out on many games and although I’m not going for a complete set in any of my collections I do continue collecting. If I want it I buy it and in almost all cases it’s condition not price