New, looking for advice/guidance

[xenofeithrice]

Hello all, recently began my adventure into collecting retro consoles. Here is my brief history of what I had growing up:
NES, Sega Genesis, N64, PS1, PS2, PS3, PS4, Wii.

Everything has been given to family or sold at garage sales after I moved out, except the PS3, PS4, and Wii which I still have. I wish I had the others, but alas, that's life!

I just picked up a Sega Saturn in the box, with all original cables and manuals, Nights Demo and Bootleg Sampler in the box! Also has a second controller and a knockoff memory card, all for $120, happy with that acquisition!

Here are some of my questions:

1) Besides the Saturn, which seems to be one of the more expensive/harder US consoles to find CiB, what other consoles should I focus on now before time drives up the prices?

2) I have recently become pretty OCD, hence why I stalked the Saturn until I found the complete box. I'm a little bummed I don't have the boxes for my PS3, PS4 and Wii. I could probably get them on eBay, but will the OCD'ness that they won't have matching serial numbers consume me? Anybody like me in that regard?

Thanks, happy to join here!

[asmodean]

Let's just say that as an avid Complete-in-Box collector myself, me and my wallet are very happy that I'm not into collecting NES/SNES/N64 titles

Regarding the Saturn, be happy that you are in the US with the plastic cases. It's a nightmare here in Europe with the carton-boxes coming apart because of the bad glue used in production

[sworddude]

we in europe also have the improved cases wich are even better than the US plastic cases and look way better.

games like megaman x3 have sturdy cases furthermore inlay can be replaced with other boxes. If all cases were like that it would be a huge difference . Furthermore inlay is protected really well thanks to the sides wich prevent the inlay from sticking out.

Also sega sega saturn etc are all really high in price depending on what kind of games you collect, It´s BS that nintendo games are way more expensive than the rest. People always say that nes etc are more expensive but this only applies for the common and not sought after games since for all the quality titles all the older consoles also have those prices. the titles wich I am after are usually in the same price range as the more expensive snes nes games. I have to agree that for ps1 and ps2 gamecube it is yet not the case but for allot of the other vintage systems wich are popular to collect for it is

collecting cib is expensive unlesss you collect everything, buy in lots or buy smart.

[turf]

First things first, Welcome to our little corner of the internet.  Always love to see new people.

Boy, did you pick a bad time to start collecting. Prices are crazy high. 

Personally, I'd start with what I wanted to play.  If you have an interest in it, grab it.  Don't collect just for the sake of amassing a wall of games.  Don't go for high priced items unless you plan on going for complete sets. 

Enjoy the journey.  Collecting is a lot like a road trip with no real destination.

[kashell]

Welcome to the site!

Research the games you want to play and go for those first. That way you have stuff to play while other things you might be interested in have a chance to go down in price.

[tripredacus]

This is not the time period to enter the CIB console market. The prices are already up and the market cannot sustain itself. As time furthers, the prices will come down, not go up.

[bikingjahuty]

First off, welcome to the site and welcome to the madness that is video game collecting!

1) Unfortunately you are pretty late to the party and most retro consoles have been expensive to collect for, for years now. Pre-NES systems like Atari and Intellivision are really cheap to collect for overall, with the exception of some really rare games on those consoles. As far as post NES consoles, Genesis is still not too bad, and systems from last gen (Wii, PS3, 360) are still highly abundant, easy to find, and mostly cheap. If you have any interest in those systems I'd jump on that soon.

2) Boxes do not have specialized serial numbers, only the consoles themselves do. So grabbing a PS3 box in not going to be any different than the exact box from the same console someone else bought.

[ignition365]

First off, welcome to the site and welcome to the madness that is video game collecting!

1) Unfortunately you are pretty late to the party and most retro consoles have been expensive to collect for, for years now. Pre-NES systems like Atari and Intellivision are really cheap to collect for overall, with the exception of some really rare games on those consoles. As far as post NES consoles, Genesis is still not too bad, and systems from last gen (Wii, PS3, 360) are still highly abundant, easy to find, and mostly cheap. If you have any interest in those systems I'd jump on that soon.

2) Boxes do not have specialized serial numbers, only the consoles themselves do. So grabbing a PS3 box in not going to be any different than the exact box from the same console someone else bought.

I'm pretty sure the boxes do.  Retailers use the numbers on the box, system, and receipt to prevent consumer fraud.

[xsuicidesn0wmanx]

Like the others have said this is a bad time to get into game collecting. Too many resellers driving up the price on games these days. I see games I bought for $10-15 being listed on ebay for $100 all the time now. If you insist on collecting right now though, the two systems that have the least attention on them imo would be the original Xbox and the PSP. You can find almost any game you want on those systems for $5-20, with very few exceeding that cost. I think right now there are less than 30 games valued over $20 on the OG Xbox, not sure with PSP.

[tripredacus]

I won't go far to say it is bad to get into collecting. Video game collecting, as far as what is "popular" is not what you want to get into. NES, SNES, PC Engine/TG-16, Neo Geo AES/MVS, Japanese computers, Sega Saturn US/EU etc are all in the high water market and it is expensive. But there are still systems where the prices are ok to get in to.

For example, Sega Saturn is still ok to get into, if you want to play collect Japanese games. US Saturn has always been high because they are in low numbers compared to other systems of the time. Japan versions were always cheaper, and if you can stand waiting on the shipping, is a good way to bring the games over. You just need a Saturn and have it modded, or get the RAM cart that lets you play imports. But if you wanted to full set US Saturn games... It was a bad time in 2010 to start collecting Saturn, it is even worse now.

Then there are systems where the prices have gone down. Notable among those I have noticed are Sega Master System and big box PC games.

Now it might make sense to some people that see the value is high and expect that things will be worth more in the future. Its a big gamble tho, and you see indicators and people all over the place asking about/when/how bad the bubble is going to burst. That right there is your clue that it won't stay just the same way. A correction will happen, just like it did for baseball cards. And just like baseball cards, it doesn't mean everything will become worthless. Some items will still be worth good money. The whole trick is trying to figure out what those are.

[Warmsignal]

Maybe a stupid question, but are you collecting games or just consoles? I couldn't really tell by the way the question was worded.

As far as games, if it has to be complete. Original Xbox, or PS1. Maybe PS2. Or PS3/360/Wii. It just depends. Do you buy games according to taste, or do you buy them all? I wouldn't recommend trying to buy all games for one console. There are a lot of good website out there now, and Youtube channels where you can find out about the types of games you might like.

Like others have said, when it comes to really expensive games, I wouldn't bother. Half of the games exceeding $60 these days are totally not worth the money and have shot up for no real reason. There's still plenty of cheaper alternatives. Some of my best times with games came from cheap titles that no one gives a crap about. Unless you're super serial and have lots of cash to spend, then I'd look at what's still reasonably priced first.

[atrumlupus]

Actually Sega Genesis and Sega Dreamcast aren't too bad either. While both have their high end titles..there is a lot of cheap fun to be had on both systems. For Sega Genesis start out super cheap with "Six Pack" Has six great genesis games on one cart. On Dreamcast get things like Sonic Adventure 1, Sega Rally ,and Virtual Fighter 3tb. PS2 is a good system as well and lets you tap into the whole PS1 Catalog if you get lucky.

Finally don't fear the "Greatest Hits/Player's Choice" Lables. Yes they are ugly as sin we know. But chances are a Greatest Hits Re-print is going to be a lot cheaper than the original label and you have a decent chance of the game being something you actually want to play.

Anything worthwhile from the House of Mario isn't gonna come cheap. Even the most average NES and SNES games go for 10$ USD and up these days. More sought after titles can get into the 50-60 range fast.

Saturn, only on Sega's 32 bit console can you see people selling lots of sports games for 80 bucks..and getting it easy. I look for US Saturn to be the next Neo Geo.

Finally if you can find a working system, Atari 2600 games are cheaper than dirt.

[Warmsignal]

^^ This is true. Though, I would consider Genesis, Dreamcast, and Master System as well to be of moderately difficulty to collect games for. The bargain bins aren't that vast, but there also aren't that many people fighting over Sega stuff, other than Saturn and CD which are arguably the least essential Sega platforms. The plus side being that complete items for Sega consoles aren't quite as insanely coveted as Nintendo.

The NES has such a plethora of games, that there are plenty of gems to be had under $10, even excluding a lot of the staples and must-haves. But you can't get much of anything complete without a hefty price tag.

[necrosexual]

First things first, Welcome to our little corner of the internet.  Always love to see new people.

Boy, did you pick a bad time to start collecting. Prices are crazy high. 

Personally, I'd start with what I wanted to play.  If you have an interest in it, grab it.  Don't collect just for the sake of amassing a wall of games.  Don't go for high priced items unless you plan on going for complete sets. 

Enjoy the journey.  Collecting is a lot like a road trip with no real destination.

yep, yep, yep.
don't make a mistake of collecting a bunch of cheap crap for the sake of having a bunch of cheap crap. you can  have 1000 games, but if 800 of them are $1 shit titles, no one is impressed and neither will you be.
it's not worth it.

anyway, i personally collect for more modern consoles, and OG xbox... i would for psp, but my psp has a bunch of issues. i ought to cave and get a new one. sigh.
but retro consoles are just too expensive, and i don't honestly have much interest in many of those old games... i guess i'm just not that big a fan of side-scrolling and such. i AM, but not as much as many others.
i also suggest making sure, if you DO go for more modern games, trying for CIB... you'll kinda regret it if you don't. that doesn't go for those old cartridge games, imo. most of those can be bought loose and it doesn't feel awful, but getting disc-based games in generic shitty cases sucks. avoid it. when i first started collecting, i got all these games in generic crap cases... ugh. i had to rebuy some games, basically. it sucks.

and always remember: no matter how much you want a game, just wait for a good deal on the game. don't pay market price. just wait it out. you WILL find it cheaper eventually.

[tripredacus]

yep, yep, yep.
don't make a mistake of collecting a bunch of cheap crap for the sake of having a bunch of cheap crap. you can  have 1000 games, but if 800 of them are $1 shit titles, no one is impressed and neither will you be.
it's not worth it.

I do not collect for other people, instead myself. So I do not care if other people are not impressed by my 800 $1 games. :p