Tips for New/Newer Collector's

[scott]

When I see someone's "epic" Saturn collection that is i games, three of which are Panzer Dragoon Saga, Burning Rangers, and Shining Force 3... I see a Saturn collection that will be up for sale in a year.

Oh good, I only have 2 of these 3. So my collection is safe from being on sale.

Well, you did sell a lot of yours, didn't you? jk. This would be for newbies. For some reason I did not type a collection of 10 games. Instead I typed a collection of i games. If someone has a collection where a majority are "holy grails", they often times sell soon after from being burnt out and spending too much.

I did sell off some dupes and was looking to thin it down to the "essentials", but mostly that was filler/sports games. I ended up changing my mind, because:

A: I really do enjoy the Saturn
B: I do believe I have a pretty impressive collection for it.

[sin2beta]

When I see someone's "epic" Saturn collection that is i games, three of which are Panzer Dragoon Saga, Burning Rangers, and Shining Force 3... I see a Saturn collection that will be up for sale in a year.

Oh good, I only have 2 of these 3. So my collection is safe from being on sale.

Well, you did sell a lot of yours, didn't you? jk. This would be for newbies. For some reason I did not type a collection of 10 games. Instead I typed a collection of i games. If someone has a collection where a majority are "holy grails", they often times sell soon after from being burnt out and spending too much.

you keep mentioning "i games".  What is that?

Typo. I meant to type 10 games. If someone has 10 games, 3 of which are super rare, then they are hunting the rare stuff specifically.

[sin2beta]

When I see someone's "epic" Saturn collection that is i games, three of which are Panzer Dragoon Saga, Burning Rangers, and Shining Force 3... I see a Saturn collection that will be up for sale in a year.

Oh good, I only have 2 of these 3. So my collection is safe from being on sale.

Well, you did sell a lot of yours, didn't you? jk. This would be for newbies. For some reason I did not type a collection of 10 games. Instead I typed a collection of i games. If someone has a collection where a majority are "holy grails", they often times sell soon after from being burnt out and spending too much.

I did sell off some dupes and was looking to thin it down to the "essentials", but mostly that was filler/sports games. I ended up changing my mind, because:

A: I really do enjoy the Saturn
B: I do believe I have a pretty impressive collection for it.

Yeah, I was just picking on you. Whenever, I've looked at your collection, I always noticed you have a great Saturn collection. It's well rounded. With 71 (if memory serves me right) games, you SHOULD have some of the "holy grails". All three games are great and system defining.

[turf]

My advice: Don't

Don't start collecting games. It's a rabbit hole you don't want to venture down. It's like heroine, only less likely to cause you to offer "favors" in trade.

The best tip I can throw out there is set  a spending limit and stick to it. It'll force you to look for a deal and haggle. It's more fun that way. Don't go nuts on eBay. It's easy to do.

[90snostalga]

My advice: Don't

Don't start collecting games. It's a rabbit hole you don't want to venture down. It's like heroine, only less likely to cause you to offer "favors" in trade.

No comment on this.

[90snostalga]

Don't go nuts on eBay. It's easy to do.

This is truly excellent advice. 

[scott]

When I see someone's "epic" Saturn collection that is i games, three of which are Panzer Dragoon Saga, Burning Rangers, and Shining Force 3... I see a Saturn collection that will be up for sale in a year.

Oh good, I only have 2 of these 3. So my collection is safe from being on sale.

Well, you did sell a lot of yours, didn't you? jk. This would be for newbies. For some reason I did not type a collection of 10 games. Instead I typed a collection of i games. If someone has a collection where a majority are "holy grails", they often times sell soon after from being burnt out and spending too much.

I did sell off some dupes and was looking to thin it down to the "essentials", but mostly that was filler/sports games. I ended up changing my mind, because:

A: I really do enjoy the Saturn
B: I do believe I have a pretty impressive collection for it.

Yeah, I was just picking on you. Whenever, I've looked at your collection, I always noticed you have a great Saturn collection. It's well rounded. With 71 (if memory serves me right) games, you SHOULD have some of the "holy grails". All three games are great and system defining.

Ha, ya I figured you were. Thanks! Seeing a major Sega collector compliment my Saturn collection makes me happy. I do wish I could continue to add to it. There are still a lot of those grails that I really want to play.

[pacpix]

Decide what area you want to focus your collection on.  When I first started collecting I bought any game I could find for cheap and ended up with a shelf of Genesis sports games.  I find I enjoy the hobby a lot more now that I have become more selective and I actually play the games I buy.  With that said, it is still fun to just pick up a random game that you have no knowledge of and see if you find a hidden gem.

[MJMaranan]

I might have mentioned this before in a different thread but it is the main reason for my collection.  Buy a video game because you continually enjoy the gameplay and/or nostalgia that you remembered from it.  Video game collecting should not be about numbers but the enjoyment found in each one.  As others have stated/warned, this hobby requires time, patience, and money.  Especially considering what sellers on eBay/Amazon/Craigslist can ask for their items.

[karyann]

I second everything already said. Great advices!

My only real advice.  Everyone has their own thing but do what you enjoy and what makes you happy

This is usually not stressed enough - some people collect everything because they think that "it's how it's done". "How it's done" depends on you and only you, there are no guidelines to game collecting. You set your own guidelines according to what you like!

[soera]

I dont know what I could add here. Almost everything I would say has already been covered here. But my personal rules are these

1) Cardboard and paper are just that. Paying $100s of dollars for the paper and cardboard that came with a game is silly as hell. Nintendo/Sega/etc never meant for these things to be collectible so none of it was done with any sort of special stuff. It was the cheapest material they could use and rightfully so.

2) Set a limit and stick to it as strictly as possible. My limit has always been the Benjamin and Ive only broken it twice (My PS3 was brand new and I bought a lot of special editions with it ... and my arcade machine was $200 but that included a 50 mile drive delivery plus it was my childhood arcade game that I had been searching for years to acquire). Ive had the option to buy stuff like Dragoon Saga and Magic knight Rayearth and Little Samson but once you break your limit for something thats not really all that important, you find the following times it gets easier and easier and you end up broke with stuff you can live without.

3) Do what you like. If you want to collect every single copy of Shaq-fu you can find, go for it! Dont let all the "cool" collectors out there tell you what you should and should not collect. I personally am a big fan of stuff like copies, repros, etc and I couldnt care less who else likes it or not. I have replacement labels on some of my NES games. It makes my game look better and thats all I care about is what I personally like.

Thats about all I can add right now.

[disgaeniac]

Good idea for a thread/topic.

I think that just about all of the things that I would say...have pretty much, already been said.

The only thing that I can think of to add would be this:

If you're already here (at VGCollect) and reading this topic ==> make use of the people & topics here!

In other words...don't be afraid to ask...about anything 

'tis cliche -but- "the only stupid question is the one not asked" 

There's decades worth of experience, a wealth of knowledge, and a pretty friendly community of people here who would be glad to help new members & new collectors by answering their questions...Hell...We've even got a thread/topic telling just *WHAT* the different member's here areas of knowledge/specialization are 

[blipcs76]

Unless you live somewhere that gives you access to lots of thrift stores, garage sales and flea markets, concentrate on one system or one console maker.  Collect Nintendo games and consoles, or Sega, or PSX.  Trying to collect a little bit of everything can be maddening.  I do it, but I still focus mostly on Nintendo, SNES, N64 and GC, as well as Game Boy.

Unless you have a lot of disposable income and/or patience, avoid collecting CIB or boxed games.  Some will run you as much as 10x more than the cart alone (Urban Champion, for example).  Don't hesitate to grab one if you see it in the wild at a good price though.

[stethebubble]

Play and enjoy the games you buy.
its nice to have them on the shelves and look at the art work but playing the game is the main thing for me. everything from the level design to what your character does if you leave the controller alone

[scott]

Play and enjoy the games you buy.
its nice to have them on the shelves and look at the art work but playing the game is the main thing for me. everything from the level design to what your character does if you leave the controller alone

Right? I love just wandering around in some games and watching dust/dirt kick up when they run. Or checking out water effects, I could watch water falls and rivers in Skyrim all day long.