At what point do you think someone has a serious game collection when it comes to a single system?
Lets say someone has a super nintendo and collects games and memorabilia. At what point is a collection serious...100, 200, 300 or 400+ games and a couple action figures?
I'd say maybe 30+ CIB games, with all the extra papers and promos included, everything in good condition. I'd consider that a serious collection. Because it's much harder, there's a lot more money involved, and lot more time spent and a lot of attention to detail. This is all speaking on the collecting aspect purely, and is not a judgement of what games, or how many games. Just how "serious" the person is about collecting/cataloging games.
Personally, I mixed standards, lazy habits, little focus, and I'm very selective. So I don't really consider my games to be a proper or serious collection. It's just my library of games, I guess. Stuff that I like, and stuff that I don't like is excluded.
I disagree.
Since some guy can buy a random lot of 30+ cib games not for collecting purposes but to relive his childhood and sell it on since he just wanted to play.
While collectors who take the time and even after allot of effort still only have 20 cib games the true collectors.
Serious collectors are not about quality or quantity, collection can be put together with or without serious effort and hunting for games is not a must.
Who knows. I think people who are very into the collecting aspect and who try to obtain games A-Z complete, in good condition, perhaps even VGA graded are the serial ones about collecting, not about the games, but just about collecting. I don't consider myself a serious collector because I don't follow the protocol. For example if I were into coins I wouldn't just hunt down certain years, and be content to have all sorts of gummed up ones and say that I was serious about coin collecting.
According to some I'm a collector, because I never get rid of things. Although I'm probably more of a hoarder than a collector, as I keep things I don't need, and I buy things I don't need. Not of any desire to fill in a space on a shelf, but more an obsessive compulsive thing, then I never get rid of it because reasons. There really isn't much thrill left in the hunt for me, I kind of hate it. I want to be "finished" hunting or obtaining more games.
Maybe denial ain't just a river, but I struggle to find the term fitting for me.
I consider myself to be a serious collector nowadays but in the past I was a beginning hoarder, I collected everything (comics, metal cars stones beer caps plastic ornaments etc etc) but I decided to throw everything away and only keep what I truly wanted thanks to game collecting since I realised that allot of stuff is junk in my eyes wich I am glad of that I finally have seen the light!
For example If I would compare cool games like fire emblem and smash bros with stuff like beer caps etc it's junk why did I collect it? Only some pieces are not junk in my eyes so in the end I did keep some metal cars and comics but only the ones that truly mattered and were awesome looking to me as for the other stuff all gone.
My collection might not be to big but that's mainly because I only collect games that are worth playing or that just give a nice appeal to me.
If I collected everything my collection would be 6 times bigger at the very least than it is since I just pass on allot of games in the deals I make, I do not collect filler titles they do not look nice on the shelves and they just take up allot of space since filler titles are pretty much 85% or more of the total for most consoles. Furthermore they give me the same feeling to me as the other junk I collected in the past.
I also only collect stuff for the right price I hunt for deals buy huge lots to keep the stuff that I want.
I do only collect cib stuff. I also keep spare cardridges of games (extra's) but I do not consider those to be part of my collection but they do come in handy and are still nice to have.
The games that I buy do not have to be mint since that is a pretty much an impossible task but I settle with excellent upwards condition wich is quite a challenge for cardboard released games.
Condition is always a challenge but I have to keep myself to that so I passed out on allot of great cib games in the past due to condition issues.
I also only collect first releases black label etc since I do not like platinum and greatest hits releases at all. They look really bad and are never an option for me to keep even if I do not have the game.
The only players choice release I have is my original copy of super smash melee wich I had as a kid.
I also collect different variant of good games with different art etc.