Is the collecting bubble shifting?

General and Gaming > Classic Video Games

<< < (5/7) > >>

atarileaf:
Dirt cheap atari games were always dirt cheap but some of the mid range rarity games like say your Tapper's, Spy Hunter, or Pengo for example used to go for a lot more than they currently are. They were $50 - $60 games or more and now are around $25 to $30.

As for the rest, it's hard for me to personally gauge as EVERYTHING from the NES forward is still sky high around my area.

dreama1:
Conspiracy theories. Why is it all these retro collectors on youtube are spreading the same narrative. Why has not a single person took the opposite stance? or everyone just follows the crowd these days? I don't believe any bubble will pop, and there's no reason why it should. They probably want people to sell off their collections so they can goyim them.

bikingjahuty:

--- Quote from: dreama1 on December 17, 2016, 09:55:24 pm ---Conspiracy theories. Why is it all these retro collectors on youtube are spreading the same narrative. Why has not a single person took the opposite stance? or everyone just follows the crowd these days? I don't believe any bubble will pop, and there's no reason why it should. They probably want people to sell off their collections so they can goyim them.

--- End quote ---

While I will not deny I'd love to see all games, retro and modern drop in price significantly for everyone due to decreased demand, I've seen enough in this hobby after being in it for nearly a decade (started collecting in 2008) that leads me to believe there is a bubble and it will burst eventually. Actually, it would be more accurate to say it will likely deflate gradually as I'm seeing now with many NES, SNES, and Genesis titles. Games like Punch Out, Metroid, and your standard fare must have titles have been showing up a lot more in my area and I've noticed that many of them are selling for slightly less then they were a year ago. Games like Wild Guns, EVO, and Little Samson are still ungodly expensive and will probably always be due to their rarity, but I can see them dipping in value over time.

Like I mentioned, I've also seen a lot of collectors, online and locally leave the hobby for many different reasons and because of that supply is returning to the market, meaning prices will go down. I also know many collectors that are still in the hobby, but they are no longer after the common and uncommon titles for specific consoles, meaning that it one less collector out of the market for a game like Super Mario 64 or Mario Kart.

And also, every collecting fad over the past 25 years has followed the same cycle; people in their mid-20s to early 40s get careers, have more disposable income and want a piece of their past, creating a market of collectibles. This exact same thing happened with vintage toys, comics, sports cards, Atari, and other items as well. Eventually as these people took on more responsibilities (kids, car payments, mortgage, ect) the time and money to indulge these hobbies diminished, leading collectors to leave their once beloved hobby, often selling what they had acquired. Eventually these hobbies became less and less popular until supply outpaced demand and prices dropped, sometimes significantly.

I do not know when precisely, but I expect at least classic Nintendo collecting to gradually burn out more and more over the next 5-year until games like Contra and Punch Out, hell, even games like Ninja Gaiden 3 go for at least 50% less than what they currently sell. Even games like Little Samson I can see dropping to around $500 by this time. Some might see this as a bold prediction, but as stated above, we've seen these collecting fads before and we all know how they end.

Warmsignal:
Not that I follow that closely anymore, but from what I've noticed, it seems like sales of NES games have been decreasing steadily. The prices? Not so much. I've actually noticed a few recent price spikes on obscure relatively uncommon games like Rad Gravity, WURM, and Zen which until this year were kinda cheap games that nobody cared about. If that kinda stuff is still happening, which it is, then I say no to any popping speculation. Sadly. SNES seems to remain as the most popular console to collect for currently.

Is a bubble developing across later platforms? Probably, it wouldn't surprise me. The funny thing is PS1 was the only console to decrease in value after the collecting craze began, and now it's going back up? N64 I could see that happening, thought it already happened.

My comment on Atari 2600 is - I think it's a generational thing. I think there was probably a group of people who grew up on Atari, at maybe just the right age where they grew tired of video games by the time NES came around. Obviously not all of them, but I've met plenty of people who fondly remember Atari, but never got into Nintendo or Sega or anything that followed. They might have been responsible for the Atari bubble that eventually did pop. I don't know if I'd expect to see the same thing among the groups who fondly remember the NES, among many other consoles they also played later on down the line - the multiple generation console game collectors, of which there are tons now. They're a bit of a different story. Almost like gens 3 - current are all their baby, and I don't see them severing the love for any one console. That's my thought, anyway.

dreama1:

--- Quote from: bikingjahuty on December 17, 2016, 10:31:42 pm ---
--- Quote from: dreama1 on December 17, 2016, 09:55:24 pm ---Conspiracy theories. Why is it all these retro collectors on youtube are spreading the same narrative. Why has not a single person took the opposite stance? or everyone just follows the crowd these days? I don't believe any bubble will pop, and there's no reason why it should. They probably want people to sell off their collections so they can goyim them.

--- End quote ---

While I will not deny I'd love to see all games, retro and modern drop in price significantly for everyone due to decreased demand, I've seen enough in this hobby after being in it for nearly a decade (started collecting in 2008) that leads me to believe there is a bubble and it will burst eventually. Actually, it would be more accurate to say it will likely deflate gradually as I'm seeing now with many NES, SNES, and Genesis titles. Games like Punch Out, Metroid, and your standard fare must have titles have been showing up a lot more in my area and I've noticed that many of them are selling for slightly less then they were a year ago. Games like Wild Guns, EVO, and Little Samson are still ungodly expensive and will probably always be due to their rarity, but I can see them dipping in value over time.

Like I mentioned, I've also seen a lot of collectors, online and locally leave the hobby for many different reasons and because of that supply is returning to the market, meaning prices will go down. I also know many collectors that are still in the hobby, but they are no longer after the common and uncommon titles for specific consoles, meaning that it one less collector out of the market for a game like Super Mario 64 or Mario Kart.

And also, every collecting fad over the past 25 years has followed the same cycle; people in their mid-20s to early 40s get careers, have more disposable income and want a piece of their past, creating a market of collectibles. This exact same thing happened with vintage toys, comics, sports cards, Atari, and other items as well. Eventually as these people took on more responsibilities (kids, car payments, mortgage, ect) the time and money to indulge these hobbies diminished, leading collectors to leave their once beloved hobby, often selling what they had acquired. Eventually these hobbies became less and less popular until supply outpaced demand and prices dropped, sometimes significantly.

I do not know when precisely, but I expect at least classic Nintendo collecting to gradually burn out more and more over the next 5-year until games like Contra and Punch Out, hell, even games like Ninja Gaiden 3 go for at least 50% less than what they currently sell. Even games like Little Samson I can see dropping to around $500 by this time. Some might see this as a bold prediction, but as stated above, we've seen these collecting fads before and we all know how they end.

--- End quote ---
I think gaming is still a relatively young industry and still growing. It's becoming very trendy and now even a pop culture thing. In fact it's a way life; we are what we love. Meaning also more people are joining the hobby everyday. And at least a good number of them are universal gamers. They'll play on any system in history, and chances are likely they won't own a single retro system. Of course gravitation exists as he said the people in their 20s with income are going back to the systems of their childhood thus a influx. But the universal gamer is also a separate entity in all this. They keep things at a certain flesh-hold.

I think this because I saw a young boy awhile ago who was very passionate about the atari 2600 for some reason yet had no exposure. Be it probably rare thing. The Atari generation isn't being wiped out or pushed off into the night like a stranger to be forgotten, it still has it's roots. And the roots of Nintendo even deeper than Atari ever managed. For the roots to disappear then a bubble would pop, but I don't think it ever will. I believe there will always be new passionate gamers who universally take interest in all gaming consoles. Thus the roots will always be strong. Gaming just like any culture is defined by it's history, and it's roots. And people will always go back to their roots be them old or young.

Lastly I made a discussion a while ago how long would cartridges or discs last? And well even the consoles. The comments were.. well rather grim to say the least. Retro games are disappearing every day (it's sounding like a humanitarian crisis when I say it like this) yet there's more and more people wanting to experience the golden era's of gaming, and less copies available everyday, and there will be a day not just because they have been bought up but because they don't exist anymore. I don't think we even need to wait a century for that to happen. We get to the view the tragedy in our lifetime likely. 20-50 years from now and the Atari gamers will be like the last veterans from the war of the states or something.

Navigation

 Message Index

Go to full version