VGCollect Forum
General and Gaming => General => Topic started by: Warmsignal on September 15, 2022, 11:57:49 am
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It's a common term that you hear a lot today in game collecting - getting priced out. It just becomes too expensive, so you admit defeat that you will never own that particular title. I typically bow out of any possibility to own a single holy grail game before reaching 300 bones these days. So there's quite a few games now that I would never be able to buy in today's market. Which games are you now priced out of owning?
One such game that does kinda sting for me, is OG PS1 Klonoa. I never dreamed it would reach the price that it has today and don't think I'll ever own it now. I've considered maybe selling some of my stuff in order to afford it, but even then it hardly seems worth it. It's just a collector's gem at this point. I wouldn't suspect anyone who just wants to play the game, is actually buying it at this point.
Another is Powerslave on the Saturn. I contemplated buying it many times when it was a $100 game, then again when it was a $200 game... and now it's selling for $400. Don't think it's justifiable anymore, although the PS1 version is still affordable. The Saturn version which runs on a different game engine, was a unique experience for the system and one that I had always intended to get around to buying, but never did.
The Panzer Dragon Saga ship sailed a while ago, but I'm not too bothered by that one, as I'm not a hardcore JRPG fan. Really, it's not my type of game as much as the rail shooter PD games are. Saturn unfortunately, has long been very much a collector's system. Many collect for it purely for the collecting aspect, and try to go for complete sets just because the library is relatively small, and that has always been a huge factor in driving the prices of Saturn games up.
I'm sure I probably have more examples, as I often revisit old wish-lists only to find something I wanted is now x10 the price of when I last checked.
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I always hold out hope of finding my priced out games in the wild for cheap. While very rare these days, it does happen occasionally. I've also had other collectors hook me up with hard to find, expensive gems I've been after for a while. Given, they aren't selling them to me for $2, but rather 50-75% of ebay which can make a huge difference depending on the game. But here are my priced out games I've essentially given up on with how stupidly expensive they've become.
Rule of Rose (PS2) - I'm not super upset about potentially never being able to own this one, but it's still one I'd have loved to at least tried out. I've had two opportunities to buy this for well under what it goes for now; once about 10-years ago for round $90 and again about 6 years ago for $250. Both times seemed too expensive, but had I known it was going to be like $1000 or whatever it goes for now I'd have happily bit the bullet.
Panzer Dragoon Saga (Saturn) - the sad thing is that I did own this one once, but sold it since I didn't feel like the quality of the game matched up with its price. I've since regretted doing this, but now of course the game goes for double what I paid for it several years ago. I'd like to own this one again, but really only if it goes back down to triple digits.
Gigawing 2 (Dreamcast) - another one I owned at one point, sold it during the great medical expense purge of 2017, and have since wanted it back again. Unfortunately it goes for 5x what I paid for it originally and while it's a fun game it's nowhere near that valuable to me.
Burning Rangers/Magic Knight Rayearth (Saturn) - The Saturn is one of the last consoles I actually have a desire to collect for, but unfortunately it's more overpriced than ever. Both of these grail games are ones I'd love to have, but they have always been too rich for my blood. It's like no matter how much extra money I make, the price of both these games will go up accordingly to where they're still out of my price range. These ones I might consider buying someday, but it would be a very touch sell.
Gotcha Force (GC) - I found this game for like $5 at a flea market a lot time ago, but unfortunately the disc looked like it was used as a drink coaster for a decade. I had little hope it would work and sure enough it didn't. I had it professionally buffed several times, but could not get it to work to save my life so I sold it on ebay as is. I've since come across it a handful of times at game stores and it's always insanely expensive. I'd love to actually play and own this game, but I'm not even remotely a big enough Gamecube fan to ever justify what it's going for now, not even half that.
Syberia Collection (PS3) - I remember when this game could be bought brand new on Amazon for like $40 and I stupidly said I'd get it some other time. Well, some other time didn't come until I was finally ready and it was no longer available to purchase new, at least from a distributor. Nope, it was going for like $200+ which considering I own these games on PC and XBOX already was way, way higher than I was willing to pay. This is one game that firmly fits into that category of I'm content never owning unless I happen upon a copy for under $100.
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Too many to count. I'm honestly extremely grateful that most of my collection was purchased pre-2020, some of the stuff I own would be impossible for me to purchase now.
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Chibi-Robo! on GameCube and Afrika on PS3.
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I've gotten most of my heavy-hitters, even if some of them are re-releases or digital releases. But Punisher on Genesis is the one that got away, for me. ☹️ I loved the arcade game, we had one at the 7-11 in front of our neighborhood and wasted many a quarter on it. Great beat-em up with lots of weapons and breakable scenery. Also used to rent the Genesis version.
And if we can throw consoles onto this: The Vectrex. I've always wanted to play one. But Classic Game Room (loved the show) gave it legendary status and it's been crazy pricey since.
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I thought a CIB Trouble Shooter for Genesis would forever elude me, but I just got it in a trade today that I only had $55 invested in total (look out for those black label ps1 variants, a lot are worth $$$) It's hard to really say never...
Honestly very few games that I actually still want and are on my current wishlist are "priced out" for me- I do plan to one day drop the 5k on a CIB Dino Park Tycoon so I can complete my 3DO Longbox set. But that's about the only game I would spend that much on besides perhaps a Daytona Netlink to "fully" complete my NA Saturn set. Keio will likely be spendy too once I bite the bullet on that one.
I'm probably priced out of ever owning a stadium events or nintendo world championship cart. probably a cib sculptor's cut too if it remains 10k or higher and a lot of the nes super-heavies cib- if I cared more about nes maybe I would change my mind. I'm also priced out of some of the super-heavies on original gameboy- I'm not going to be dropping 3-4k on a kid dracula or amazing tater anytime soon.
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Too many to count. I'm honestly extremely grateful that most of my collection was purchased pre-2020, some of the stuff I own would be impossible for me to purchase now.
Yep, when prices exploded, it became harder and harder to justify adding to the retro collection, especially when prices surged past that of current-gen new releases. It's almost surreal seeing the current prices of games I fished out from the bargain clearance bin years ago like Skies of Arcadia or Chibi-Robo.
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I thought a CIB Trouble Shooter for Genesis would forever elude me, but I just got it in a trade today that I only had $55 invested in total (look out for those black label ps1 variants, a lot are worth $$$) It's hard to really say never...
Honestly very few games that I actually still want and are on my current wishlist are "priced out" for me- I do plan to one day drop the 5k on a CIB Dino Park Tycoon so I can complete my 3DO Longbox set. But that's about the only game I would spend that much on besides perhaps a Daytona Netlink to "fully" complete my NA Saturn set. Keio will likely be spendy too once I bite the bullet on that one.
I'm probably priced out of ever owning a stadium events or nintendo world championship cart. probably a cib sculptor's cut too if it remains 10k or higher and a lot of the nes super-heavies cib- if I cared more about nes maybe I would change my mind. I'm also priced out of some of the super-heavies on original gameboy- I'm not going to be dropping 3-4k on a kid dracula or amazing tater anytime soon.
I mean, it sounds like you have the coin to drop on those sorts of things. It depends on how much money is an obstacle. A lot of us however, dropping 5k on any particular item for our game collection would literally be financial suicide. $500 on something frivolous would be dicey for me, which is why I can't afford Klonoa. My gaming budget for a month is usually no more than a couple hundo. I could go maybe 3 months of not buying a single thing and then pick it up, but meh.
Too many to count. I'm honestly extremely grateful that most of my collection was purchased pre-2020, some of the stuff I own would be impossible for me to purchase now.
Yep, when prices exploded, it became harder and harder to justify adding to the retro collection, especially when prices surged past that of current-gen new releases. It's almost surreal seeing the current prices of games I fished out from the bargain clearance bin years ago like Skies of Arcadia or Chibi-Robo.
I used to be really cheap back in the early days of collecting, and typically only bought when the prices were $5 and below on anything retro. I'd pass if someone were asking more. Seemed like a lot back then to pay $10 for a retro game. I wasn't making as much as I do now, but still I was super cheap. Whatever "outrageous" prices were back then, I'd gladly take em. I'm sure they weren't bad at all. Some of those games though, were clearly undervalued back then and didn't deserve the bargain bin. However, some of them DO still belong in a bargain bin are hella overpriced now. If we could just go back to pre-pandemic prices, that'd be great.
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Too many to count. I'm honestly extremely grateful that most of my collection was purchased pre-2020, some of the stuff I own would be impossible for me to purchase now.
I'm right there with you on being thankful I got into collecting when I did. I'd even go as far as to say I'm glad I had the bulk of what I wanted pre-2015 or so when this hobby exploded. Little did we know how bad it would really become in recent years, even back then. But I started out when few other people were collecting and those are the years I look back on most fondly and remember enjoying doing this the most. Outside a few instances here and there, collecting has been pretty shitty and unfun for the past 5 or 6 years, especially the last 2 or 3. That's why I've started to focus way more on playing games rather than buying them.
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I’m actually still having a bit of fun with collecting to this day. Yeah prices kinda suck, but I’ve been able to discover a lot of things which truly pique my interests which also aren’t too expensive. It’s not too big a deal for me to pick up a handful of $10 - $15 titles each week that have been on my radar for a while. It helps that I have several good shops which have pretty decent inventory and fair prices that I can still go to.
Like just yesterday, I stopped by one such shop and picked up Moto Racer 1 for the PS1. To me, as a fan of most any arcade racing game, it’s a game that’s totally worth the $12. I already own a lot of the higher profile games, so nowadays my collecting focus is more on this kinda stuff.
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Pricing has gotten outrageous on 2 series I’ve been wanting to try entries I haven’t played:
Pokémon - I had Blue, Gold, and Sapphire back in the day but didn’t buy any more for years. Got back into the series when my kids played Sword/Shield and I bought White from a game store shortly before the prices really went up. I want to try the other entries like X/Y, Sun/Moon, etc but they’re all extremely expensive now, plus many are for the 3DS which I do not own (the 3DS/2DS system is also very expensive by itself, but I’m working on getting one).
Dragon Quest - I finished the original NES Dragon Warrior as a tween but I didn’t really like it so I ignored the series for the next 15 years. I really liked DQVIII, but recently the extraordinary DQXI became one of my top RPGs ever and inspired me to try the ones I missed. But the older games, especially IV-VI, are way out of my price range. I’m hoping for a rerelease/remaster at some point.
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Not so much yet for what i'm interested in. I have no interest in many retro games. The cd-i, Playstation 2, Wii and 360 are still very affordable in Europe so it's still nice to collect. The NES, Saturn Playstation etc are not high on my list.
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So many games are way over my comfort level, but it varies from game to game. The most I like to pay for average retro games is 40 to 60 dollars then more desirable games I've been spending 100 to 200 dollars. I have gone higher for games I feel are rare and hard to find but I try to space my high dollar purchases out a little. The most I ever spent on a single game was 800 I think but I have bought whole collections or lots, off friends for as much as 3000 I always get better deals that way. But games like Keio Flying Squadron, Magical Chace, Stadium Events, Aero fighters and many more are realistically out of my price range.
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So so many things I've wanted to buy are now things I'm never going to buy, even though I really want them. I'd love to get physical copies of the PS1 Persona games, for example, but over $800 for two games is just insanity. I'm so glad emulation is a thing otherwise I'd never have tried out tons and tons of games because they, and their games, are just so damn expensive.
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.hack//Quarantine Part 4: I own the first three entries and have played the first two. Finishing the series is something I'd really like to do at some point. However, while I could make the fairly expensive purchase, there are other games I'd much rather purchase beforehand. Perhaps Bandai Namco will release the series in-full for modern systems, since they already have with the G.U. sequel series. I more than likely would actually buy it unless the original release dropped in value significantly.
Bonk 3: Bonk's Big Adventure: I believe that the series's second entry Bonk's Revenge was the first game I ever played, and I have a lot of good memories with it. The third entry's extremely high market value makes seeking an original copy unrealistic for a casual fan and not a for-profit collector, though.
Kuon: I own the other two infamously expensive survival horror games for PlayStation 2, so owning this game has always been an interest of mine since learning of it years ago.
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Too many to count. I'm honestly extremely grateful that most of my collection was purchased pre-2020, some of the stuff I own would be impossible for me to purchase now.
I'm right there with you on being thankful I got into collecting when I did. I'd even go as far as to say I'm glad I had the bulk of what I wanted pre-2015 or so when this hobby exploded. Little did we know how bad it would really become in recent years, even back then. But I started out when few other people were collecting and those are the years I look back on most fondly and remember enjoying doing this the most. Outside a few instances here and there, collecting has been pretty shitty and unfun for the past 5 or 6 years, especially the last 2 or 3. That's why I've started to focus way more on playing games rather than buying them.
Yeah, prices were still somewhat outrageous in the late 2010s, but nowhere near the level they are now. I got 85% of what I have now pre-2019 I'd say. I bought my first home in 2020 and since then, the entertainment budget is much slimmer and I try to spend less than 150 dollars a month on games / movies (though I sometimes deviate). I have bought a ton of blu-rays though, dirt cheap at places like 2nd & Charles.
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Too many to count. I'm honestly extremely grateful that most of my collection was purchased pre-2020, some of the stuff I own would be impossible for me to purchase now.
I'm right there with you on being thankful I got into collecting when I did. I'd even go as far as to say I'm glad I had the bulk of what I wanted pre-2015 or so when this hobby exploded. Little did we know how bad it would really become in recent years, even back then. But I started out when few other people were collecting and those are the years I look back on most fondly and remember enjoying doing this the most. Outside a few instances here and there, collecting has been pretty shitty and unfun for the past 5 or 6 years, especially the last 2 or 3. That's why I've started to focus way more on playing games rather than buying them.
Yeah, prices were still somewhat outrageous in the late 2010s, but nowhere near the level they are now. I got 85% of what I have now pre-2019 I'd say. I bought my first home in 2020 and since then, the entertainment budget is much slimmer and I try to spend less than 150 dollars a month on games / movies (though I sometimes deviate). I have bought a ton of blu-rays though, dirt cheap at places like 2nd & Charles.
I finished my Xbox 360 collection before the pandemic hit and prices shot up (luckily) seeing some prices now is like...whoa. I'm still looking for several PS3 games, that, if I don't get....no biggie...but a few on my psudo- want list are beyond what I would pay right now.
Congrats on your 1st home. I bought a new home 16 months ago and the house payments will be eating up my finances for the next 3 years. So, I totally feel ya there!
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I was priced out of many Game Gear games that I was hoping to collect such as Micro Machines. Each was getting well above $100 so I ended up getting the Game Gear's Everdrive. That wasn't cheap either but it was a one time buy to finish having access to a "complete collection".
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I think for me it's just Sculptor's Cut and Super Bowling 64. I already paid a guy for a repro of Sculptor's Cut because I am going to consider it a variant rather than a necessary title for a full set. No one's going to sway me otherwise, I'm not paying $1,000 for the game. Super Bowling last I checked was around ~$700. I might buy it one day, but that day isn't any time soon.
There are lots of games that are too expensive for me, but it has more to do with the fact that I'm that interested in the game in the first place, but at that point I'm not priced out so much as I don't care enough in the first place.
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Jack Bros. for the Virtual Boy. It's the only North American released game I'm missing for the set, but it was expensive back when I got the entirety of my VB collection for $200.
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I think luck and some effort is definitely a factor you can't say for certain it will never happen. unless where talking stuff like usa stadium events etc.
I've had many games which I thought I'd never score ever but I did get them for dirt cheap eventually.
some of the more pricy cib snes titles like demons crest or vampire kiss will be tough to get, but I think my odds while very low do still exist. I scored a cheap cib chrono trigger in 2022 so perhaps someday I'll score those titles aswell.
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I find myself feeling lucky that I acquired a lot of the items listed here when they were reasonably priced .... however there is one item I'm not sure I'm going to be able to afford it when it does actually appear available -
(https://s.pacn.ws/360/tk/playstation-4-cuh2100-series-500gb-hdd-eiyuu-densetsu-sen-no-ki-532011.1.jpg?qmce8y)
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At the current present:
Rule of Rose (PS2)
Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door (GC)
However, I'll never say never.
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I would like to get more Virtual Boy, Sega CD, and 32X games but so many of them have gone way up in price. I happened to find a Nuon at a Goodwill a few years ago but their is no chance in hell I'm getting a game for that thing with how prices are. All of those young adults nostalgic for the popular and beloved Nuon I guess :P
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I hope one day to maybe own copies of these games but highly doubt it...
disclaimer: I'm aware Ebay is not the cream of the crop for buying (retro) games. I'm just using it as an easy reference.
LSD: Dream Emulator
As of this posting it's $600-$1100 on Ebay. Given that it will be a bit before I'm free to just make purchases like that, I'm sure with the game not getting any less rare and rising inflation I just can't justify spending that much on a singular game. As cool as it may be, I don't know if its 1g cool :P
Pokemon Colosseum Pre-Order Bonus Disc
I've seen a few of these online at a few hundred on the low end. I'm a big fan of the 6th generation but just can't justify that much.
Persona 3 Collector's Edition
LSD DR wasn't bad enough so I wanted to include a game that could be considered financial harm. My lazy Ebay search yielded two results, a CIB opened copy at $500 and an sealed copy priced at $19,999.00 (with $20 shipping). Now, personally this isn't a game I feel I need a sealed copy of, but even $500 is a decent chunk to drop on a game that's only 16 years old. Even if it's an import P3 CE is still more than Path of Radiance.
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Dragon Quest 4-9
Strider 2
Lunar 1, 2
A man can dream, can’t he?
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I just might be able to afford some of my priced out holy grails, now that I've realized some of the JRPG stuff I bought years ago is now worth a small fortune. The question is, which of said grails are worth trading them off for?
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I guess I'm an outlier? I'm trying to think of games that reached the "priced out" point but I can't think of any.
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Off the top of my head, the only one I can think of that I would really like is Revelations: Persona. I do have the remake on PSP but would like to own and play the first one. Granted playing it wouldn't be an issue, but I certainly would like to own it
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The one game on my radar I'll likely never be able to own is complete in box copy of Dracula X (https://www.pricecharting.com/game/super-nintendo/castlevania-dracula-x) for the SNES. Maybe one day I'll be lucky enough and find one not in crappy condition for <$1k. From what I've heard Dracula X is an inferior port of the PCE original anyway. I got Rondo for much less and in like new condition so Dracula X can wait.
Been fortunate enough to find respectable deals on Rule or Rose (https://www.pricecharting.com/game/playstation-2/rule-of-rose) and Haunting Ground (http://), naturally Kuon (https://www.pricecharting.com/game/playstation-2/kuon) is on the horizon as well. I have better odds acquiring that versus Dracula X.
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The one game on my radar I'll likely never be able to own is complete in box copy of Dracula X (https://www.pricecharting.com/game/super-nintendo/castlevania-dracula-x) for the SNES. Maybe one day I'll be lucky enough and find one not in crappy condition for <$1k. From what I've heard Dracula X is an inferior port of the PCE original anyway. I got Rondo for much less and in like new condition so Dracula X can wait.
Been fortunate enough to find respectable deals on Rule or Rose (https://www.pricecharting.com/game/playstation-2/rule-of-rose) and Haunting Ground (http://), naturally Kuon (https://www.pricecharting.com/game/playstation-2/kuon) is on the horizon as well. I have better odds acquiring that versus Dracula X.
Castlevania Collection. I know it's not the cart, but at least it's an official way to play it.
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In all honestly, there was one thing that I really wanted but never had the opportunity to get at a reasonable price...
(https://i.ytimg.com/vi/JCuHBeyiX78/maxresdefault.jpg)
I still consider Uncharted 2 to be the best videogame of all time. Seriously. This game is right up my alley and I loved every second of it... including the multiplayer.
The one thing that I can say is that I've managed to buy almost everything the edition comes with. Almost... even a replica of the phurba dagger that sits nicely on my shelf. If you're interested, I bought it from this guy on Etsy a few years ago before he included the stand. Incredible detail:
https://www.etsy.com/listing/1215786611/uncharted-2-replica-phurba-dagger?ga_order=most_relevant&ga_search_type=all&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_search_query=uncharted+2+phurba+dagger&ref=sr_gallery-1-3&organic_search_click=1 (https://www.etsy.com/listing/1215786611/uncharted-2-replica-phurba-dagger?ga_order=most_relevant&ga_search_type=all&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_search_query=uncharted+2+phurba+dagger&ref=sr_gallery-1-3&organic_search_click=1)
(https://i.etsystatic.com/22110299/r/il/f8e996/3857949287/il_794xN.3857949287_qffd.jpg)
With the Fortune Hunter's Edition listed at a minimum of just over $8,200.00 US on eBay and upwards of an eye-watering $20,000.00 US... I think I'm finally at peace not owning this one.
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Castlevania Collection. I know it's not the cart, but at least it's an official way to play it.
Both the Anniversary and Advanced collection have been on the mind since I first heard about them. I prefer physical but I'm fine downloading digital depending on the context. Might snag a physical Limited Run release of the Anniversary Collection then download the Advance collection, assuming that doesn't get a physical release later. My Switch library is small at the moment, so it'll coincide nicely when I get Bayo 3 later this month.