So, who is responsible for hyping up Punky Skunk?

[Warmsignal]

I was recently thinking about the phenomenon of games that have no value, suddenly being worth something over night. It led me back to thinking of the PS1, which is a console that still has a lot of cheap games on it.

One such cheap, rather obscure game is Punky Skunk. When I researched the PS1 library this year and drew up my battle plans, Punky Skunk was definitely a back burner title and I jotted down that the average value at the time was $5. Something happened around July and now this random obscure PS1 game is going for $25 - $30.  Something had to happen. People didn't just decide to start paying more for it overnight. Someone must have hyped it up. I suspect it was probably a popular YouTube channel, but I don't know which.

I present you with exhibit A from April of 2014 where a few vultures were seen duking it out over $5 - http://www.ebay.com/itm/Complete-Punky-Skunk-PlayStation-1998-Used-/161264938088?rmvSB=true&nma=true&si=flsrKaVE2ZBXOF%252BnAxN%252FzkM54K0%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

Now I present you with exhibit B, a current auction where several vultures are now duking it out over $20 - http://www.ebay.com/itm/Punky-Skunk-Sony-PlayStation-1-1998-/271718791507?pt=Video_Games_Games&hash=item3f43b3b953

So why, I ask the jury of VG Collect... why, are five people currently duking it out to pay $20 for Punky Skunk? We simply don't have a legit reason, and that is why I ask you to find eBay sellers guilty. Guilty of shill bidding in the second degree!

I bothers me because I know this doesn't just decide to happen. Someone, or something, makes it happen. Now there is one less $5 game in PS1 the catalog. I just hope my local game store hasn't done inventory and updated their price, because I'm pretty sure they've had a copy for some time.

[razorbeamz]

I think I heard about it on Game Sack. This video made it look interesting.

I don't know if that's what's responsible for it though.

Mod abuse: Fixed Youtube embed.

[Warmsignal]

Damn you GameSack! Must the world know of every nook and cranny?  I need to personally thank Joe for killing off another hidden gem.

[bikingjahuty]

This has been happening with a lot of pS1 titles. While it was never worth under $10, XMEN vs Street Fighter used to be a $20 game, not people are paying $60 to $70 for it. The PS1 is rapidly becoming the next SNES; people are looking for the next thing to collect for since the SNES is becoming too expensive for new collectors and old collectors are equally tired of having to pay a premium for the more obscure titles. The PS1 is in many ways the spiritual successor to the SNES, and it wouldn't surprise me to see games like Strider 2 or Castlevania Chronicles go for over $100 in a couple of years. There are a good 30 games on the PS1 I am after and want to get them out of the way ASAP before this happens.

[Warmsignal]

This has been happening with a lot of pS1 titles. While it was never worth under $10, XMEN vs Street Fighter used to be a $20 game, not people are paying $60 to $70 for it. The PS1 is rapidly becoming the next SNES; people are looking for the next thing to collect for since the SNES is becoming too expensive for new collectors and old collectors are equally tired of having to pay a premium for the more obscure titles. The PS1 is in many ways the spiritual successor to the SNES, and it wouldn't surprise me to see games like Strider 2 or Castlevania Chronicles go for over $100 in a couple of years. There are a good 30 games on the PS1 I am after and want to get them out of the way ASAP before this happens.

You are scaring me. Basically, what I need to do right now is go on a PS1 buying spree of all the dirt cheap ones I've yet to get. Seems like a good idea. Surely they won't stay under $10 forever. It's strange because I seem to recall a PS1 collecting craze back in the mid to late 2000s with games like FF 7 that were going for $80, and stories of people hoarding copies of an Easter bunny game because it was one of the last releases, then it all kind of crashed, basically as everything Nintendo was starting to take off.

Strider 2 confuses me. My local store has one and he's asking $100 for it already, but he's usually on par with current online prices. When I checked eBay, it's kinda all over the place but still going for $50 - $60.

[bikingjahuty]

This has been happening with a lot of pS1 titles. While it was never worth under $10, XMEN vs Street Fighter used to be a $20 game, not people are paying $60 to $70 for it. The PS1 is rapidly becoming the next SNES; people are looking for the next thing to collect for since the SNES is becoming too expensive for new collectors and old collectors are equally tired of having to pay a premium for the more obscure titles. The PS1 is in many ways the spiritual successor to the SNES, and it wouldn't surprise me to see games like Strider 2 or Castlevania Chronicles go for over $100 in a couple of years. There are a good 30 games on the PS1 I am after and want to get them out of the way ASAP before this happens.

You are scaring me. Basically, what I need to do right now is go on a PS1 buying spree of all the dirt cheap ones I've yet to get. Seems like a good idea. Surely they won't stay under $10 forever. It's strange because I seem to recall a PS1 collecting craze back in the mid to late 2000s with games like FF 7 that were going for $80, and stories of people hoarding copies of an Easter bunny game because it was one of the last releases, then it all kind of crashed, basically as everything Nintendo was starting to take off.

Strider 2 confuses me. My local store has one and he's asking $100 for it already, but he's usually on par with current online prices. When I checked eBay, it's kinda all over the place but still going for $50 - $60.

I remember that as well and it seemed to be only on a handful of RPGs that carried a lot of nostalgia, mostly Final Fantasy, Lunar, and Tales from what I remember. Now, collectors are scanning the whole library and games that once completely flew under the radar are getting more attention, such as Strider 2. I found my copy about 3 years ago and I remember at the time is was about $25-40 game. It just blows my mind to see what certain games are going for now, both ones I have and ones I don't. Sadly, some games have outgrown my desire to pay what they are going for. Misadventures of Tron Bonne is one of them. When I first was eyeing this game it was going for around $60, now there are copies that sell for $200 used. So yes, I highly recommend to anyone who has an interest in PS1 collecting, start now because the storm is coming, and coming fast lol

[starbronze21]

Man, this keeps happening to me. I just got into collecting PS1 cause I used to play PS1 games as a kid and I got a nostalgia itch. Just as I was dipping my toes into what else the PS1 has to offer (like the excellent Lunar Sliver Star Story) it seems like all the collectors starting noticing it too. I used to be super big on collecting NES and then things started getting ridiculous. Now I can't find any NES treasure because the DFW area seems to have dried up. I hope the same doesn't happen to PS1 cause that's when Gamechasing loses some of it's fun. :/

[Warmsignal]

Man, this keeps happening to me. I just got into collecting PS1 cause I used to play PS1 games as a kid and I got a nostalgia itch. Just as I was dipping my toes into what else the PS1 has to offer (like the excellent Lunar Sliver Star Story) it seems like all the collectors starting noticing it too. I used to be super big on collecting NES and then things started getting ridiculous. Now I can't find any NES treasure because the DFW area seems to have dried up. I hope the same doesn't happen to PS1 cause that's when Gamechasing loses some of it's fun. :/

Oh it's not nearly as "fun" as it used to be, regardless of console. So much has changed in all of this since I first started. Rarely can you run across anything in the wild, and every single game now has it's own predetermined value to most stores and sellers on eBay. There is no flat prices for less popular games anymore, that was a nicety of the old days. Heck, you could get a decent deal on eBay back in the day. Now that idea is laughable. Once upon a time people used to charge differently according to condition or completeness, but that is no more for the most part.

[byron]

the DFW area seems to have dried up.

Oh god it has. This place was a game collecting paradise six years ago. Now you can't get a copy of Super Mario/Duck Hunt without a blood sacrifice. Even the Movie Trading Co. has jacked up their prices and started sucking. I remember when they charged the same price for boxed games as loose ones. Good times.

To think that this was once Happy Valley! Now it's Gruesome Gulch.

[bikingjahuty]

the DFW area seems to have dried up.

Oh god it has. This place was a game collecting paradise six years ago. Now you can't get a copy of Super Mario/Duck Hunt without a blood sacrifice. Even the Movie Trading Co. has jacked up their prices and started sucking. I remember when they charged the same price for boxed games as loose ones. Good times.

To think that this was once Happy Valley! Now it's Gruesome Gulch.

I blame the Game Chasers mostly. They've been hyping that area up for years as this mecha of cheap retro games (Little Smason for $10, Flintstone's 2 for $5) and now I'm sure every collector within 200-miles makes it a point to bleed the area of any potential deals. It isn't all their fault though, it's bad everywhere because of how popular the hobby has become. I hear the worst place to hunt for games, at least on the cheap, is the east coast. I have no idea why this is, but I've heard many people say how horrible it is and how slim the pickings are.

[starbronze21]

I blame the Game Chasers mostly. They've been hyping that area up for years as this mecha of cheap retro games (Little Smason for $10, Flintstone's 2 for $5) and now I'm sure every collector within 200-miles makes it a point to bleed the area of any potential deals. It isn't all their fault though, it's bad everywhere because of how popular the hobby has become. I hear the worst place to hunt for games, at least on the cheap, is the east coast. I have no idea why this is, but I've heard many people say how horrible it is and how slim the pickings are.

Dude I hear ya, they especially helped ruined my favorite Flea Market, Trader's Village. That's where they found Little Samson and man did that give the place attention. It's esp bad because the places reputation attracted the resellers. It used to be you could find $5 NES systems, $25 Boxed Colecovisions, all the games were like $3 a pop, it was paradise..was. I've talked to some of the vendors now and I always her the same thing, "Yeah we did have games but some guy came up and bought all of them. He took them over to his booth over there." It is very disheartening to hear that, but that is becoming the norm. It's not fair you know, it's all gone before we even get there.

However I can't blame the two guys with a YouTube show for what's happening to retro gaming cause it was bound to happen anyway. It's a tread that happens with any hobby and in a way it's good that  Retro Gaming is so popular now. I like that communities like this one are growing and that the love of all these forgotten games is being found again. Sure it's harder to find the treasure, but in a way that makes the hunt and reward mean more. I mean I haven't given up, there's still stuff out there.

[redblaze57]

I blame the Game Chasers mostly. They've been hyping that area up for years as this mecha of cheap retro games (Little Smason for $10, Flintstone's 2 for $5) and now I'm sure every collector within 200-miles makes it a point to bleed the area of any potential deals. It isn't all their fault though, it's bad everywhere because of how popular the hobby has become. I hear the worst place to hunt for games, at least on the cheap, is the east coast. I have no idea why this is, but I've heard many people say how horrible it is and how slim the pickings are.

That's because there's Jack shit around here. The closest non gamestop video game store near me (at least since the play trade closed near me) is a little over 30 minutes away then I swear it seems like I got to cross state lines to find another. Even though there are at least 3 easily accessible  flea Markets near me. I pretty much got the closest one wiped out of games, another's mainly resellers, and the last one I haven't been to enough to really say how good it is... just wished I grabbed that Mallrats movie poster the last time I was there...

[bikingjahuty]

I blame the Game Chasers mostly. They've been hyping that area up for years as this mecha of cheap retro games (Little Smason for $10, Flintstone's 2 for $5) and now I'm sure every collector within 200-miles makes it a point to bleed the area of any potential deals. It isn't all their fault though, it's bad everywhere because of how popular the hobby has become. I hear the worst place to hunt for games, at least on the cheap, is the east coast. I have no idea why this is, but I've heard many people say how horrible it is and how slim the pickings are.

Dude I hear ya, they especially helped ruined my favorite Flea Market, Trader's Village. That's where they found Little Samson and man did that give the place attention. It's esp bad because the places reputation attracted the resellers. It used to be you could find $5 NES systems, $25 Boxed Colecovisions, all the games were like $3 a pop, it was paradise..was. I've talked to some of the vendors now and I always her the same thing, "Yeah we did have games but some guy came up and bought all of them. He took them over to his booth over there." It is very disheartening to hear that, but that is becoming the norm. It's not fair you know, it's all gone before we even get there.

However I can't blame the two guys with a YouTube show for what's happening to retro gaming cause it was bound to happen anyway. It's a tread that happens with any hobby and in a way it's good that  Retro Gaming is so popular now. I like that communities like this one are growing and that the love of all these forgotten games is being found again. Sure it's harder to find the treasure, but in a way that makes the hunt and reward mean more. I mean I haven't given up, there's still stuff out there.

I believe that it will get a lot worse before it gets better. Like all collecting fads, especially dealing with old collectables, they rise and fall like clockwork. People try and say that video game collecting is different than comic books, toys, baseball cards, or any of the previous collecting trends that came and went, but they really aren't. Essentially what is happening is people who grew up with the NES, SNES, Genesis and other 3rd, 4th, and 5th gen systems are getting to the point where they have disposable income due to careers and many are not at the point where they have a ton of financial responsibilities just yet (mortgage, kids, car payments, insurance, ext). So all this extra money is feeding their itch to rekindle the things they had or did not have growing up. The next phase is that many of them will take on these responsibilities and as a result the collectables will be one of the first things to go. When less people are buying and everyone is selling the prices will start to plummet on all but the most rare games. I feel like it will happen within this decade, at least with 4th gen and 3rd gen consoles. At that point, most of the resellers will have moved on as will many of the collectors, leaving more games available to those with the interest and passion for the hobby once the bandwagon has came and went. Again, this is a trend seen in many other vintage collecting trends and video games are absolutely no different. As I said before, 5th gen will continue to gain momentum when previous gens start to slow, as will 6th, and maybe 7th in 4 or 5 years. That is my theory at least, and I'm pretty confident in it.

[gf78]

"PlayStation was the spiritual successor to the SNES."  Yeah, I have to agree with that.  When Nintendo stuck with the cartridges, every developer under the sun moved to the PlayStation and tons of series from the NES/SNES just continued on there.  Breath of Fire, Chrono Trigger/Cross, Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, Castlevania, Metal Gear...so many great series just moved right over.

On topic, I've noticed people snapping up PS1 games like crazy too.  There is one local game store that's not Gamestop and I've found some gems there.  But I've pretty much bought up just about anything they get for PS1 that's complete and in decent condition.  I try to stop in just about every other day because they are constantly getting new stuff in.

If I didn't care about cases and manuals, I could pick up some great games.  Right now, I know they have Tomba, FFVII, FFVIII, FF Tactics, Mega Man Legends 2, Vagrant Story, Final Fantasy Chronicles and several other Squaresoft titles. 

A little something you guys (& gals) may or may not know about Strider 2 is that it comes on two discs.  Ok, you probably knew that.  But the first prints were printed on the wrong disc.  So Strider was on the disc for Strider 2 and Strider 2 was on the Strider disc.  I don't know if that was fixed later or if the game had just one print run and it was never corrected, but that is how mine was that I had bought new the day it was released.  I specifically remember that because my OCD was driving me mad trying to play Strider 2 and having to put the Strider disc in!   

[argyle]

I've been trying to rebuild my PSOne RPG library lately and things have definitely gotten pricier. I had both ToD games once but sold or traded them, and I know I got nowhere near the value out of them that ppl are asking for them now.  Granted, a lot of that is also due to the Tales series finally taking off in the US. But I've seen it in other prices as well.