NeoGAF

Originally Posted by bjork

Out of curiosity, if anyone's really deep in this: what's the price difference between an original release and the ones with the gold ribbon? I'm wondering if the gold ribbon ones are all cheaper, or if somehow one of those is some low-print point of interest.

"Gold ribbon" is basically just the SNES's greatest hits line. I've never noticed any real price difference between ribbon vs no ribbon versions of games.

Originally Posted by Chacranajxy

Nah, it's the SNES in particular that seems to be affected. Saturn games, for example, can be pricey, but they're in line with where Japanese Saturn games are. Same with PS1 games. Same with.... most systems. But the SNES for whatever reason seems to be extremely expensive, by comparison. Maybe dudes just have more nostalgia for the SNES.

I think the whole "SNES IS THE GREATEST SYSTEM EVER" thing you see pretty commonly on the internet contributes to it a lot.

Originally Posted by Lettuce

Here's my collection....






Got myself some of those, Sentinel Protector Boxes so will look forward to putting all my games in those. Have also just acquired Metal Warriors aswell!!

That's a lot of nice cardboard.

I was going with cardboard for N64 at once point, but I got sick of how hard it was to actually find boxes in good shape. Ebay sellers don't seem to ever put good pictures up.

Originally Posted by Quackula

That's a lot of nice cardboard.

I was going with cardboard for N64 at once point, but I got sick of how hard it was to actually find boxes in good shape. Ebay sellers don't seem to ever put good pictures up.

I know what you mean. My obsession gets to a point where I end up buying the game again since a CIB listing on eBay usually has a perfect condition box.

Originally Posted by Quackula

That's a lot of nice cardboard.

I was going with cardboard for N64 at once point, but I got sick of how hard it was to actually find boxes in good shape. Ebay sellers don't seem to ever put good pictures up.

Yep the bane of my life!! Luckily i started collecting back in 2004 time when eBay prices were a lot lot more reasonable than they are today

Originally Posted by thekonamicode

Personally, I use the universal game cases from mediashelving.

http://www.mediashelving.com/Merchan...duct_Code=USCG

Wait... These don't hold NES games? :/

Really saddens me to see eBay high prices for these games. Makes it harder to collect.

I already own Earthbound, Yoshi's Island, Super Mario RPG.

Now, I am going after a game I've wanted for a long long time to complete my Soul Blazer trilogy collection. Terranigma. The Pal version will sadly cost me $70 or so. But this week I finally think I'll purchase it. I'll also need a Pal SNES too.

How long are SNES controllers? When I was a kid, I was glued to my small 13 inch bedroom TV. Now I have a huge plasma and with wireless controllers. It's not a big deal.

How do you guys handle it?

Man, this thread is gonna be bad for wallet :(

Originally Posted by entrement

How long are SNES controllers? When I was a kid, I was glued to my small 13 inch bedroom TV. Now I have a huge plasma and with wireless controllers. It's not a big deal.

How do you guys handle it?

Man, this thread is gonna be bad for wallet :(

You could always look into buying an extension. I haven't used one myself but it should do the job.

http://compare.ebay.com/like/1606482...Types&var=sbar

Originally Posted by entrement

How long are SNES controllers? When I was a kid, I was glued to my small 13 inch bedroom TV. Now I have a huge plasma and with wireless controllers. It's not a big deal.

How do you guys handle it?

Man, this thread is gonna be bad for wallet :(

Even with wireless, I still sit close and play on a relatively small television. My current tv is a 24", anything beyond that feels too big to me. I think coming up on 9" and 13" tvs just trained my brain that way and I never untrained it, heh.

Originally Posted by thekonamicode

Personally, I use the universal game cases from mediashelving.

http://www.mediashelving.com/Merchan...duct_Code=USCG

I use those as well. I finally ran out of my initial 100 bunch. I just ordered a new batch of them.

Originally Posted by El Pescado

Wait... These don't hold NES games? :/

Sadly no. You have to modify them. That's what I did. The easiest approach is to use a soldering iron. Just be warned, it takes a while. I spent an hour yesterday modifying ten cases. Takes about 5 or so minutes per case. Biggest issue is sometimes I accidently rest the cylinder part on the case and melt part of it.. But I haven't messed any up too badly yet.

Originally Posted by bjork

Even with wireless, I still sit close and play on a relatively small television. My current tv is a 24", anything beyond that feels too big to me. I think coming up on 9" and 13" tvs just trained my brain that way and I never untrained it, heh.

Ideally, if I were to get into SNES collecting, I'd get a CRT. However. I live in a tiny apartment, so I wouldn't have the space for another setup.

Originally Posted by entrement

Ideally, if I were to get into SNES collecting, I'd get a CRT. However. I live in a tiny apartment, so I wouldn't have the space for another setup.

I have a 19 inch HDTV that plays SNES games amazingly.

Originally Posted by Lettuce

Here's my collection....



Got myself some of those, Sentinel Protector Boxes so will look forward to putting all my games in those. Have also just acquired Metal Warriors aswell!!

Amazing collection, man. Some really rare stuff in there too. Awesome to see that sort of thing.

I highlighted the Konami collection here because the artist that did a lot of the Konami covers from those days was awesome. Does anyone know the name of this artist? Would love to look into his work.

edit: Also, sad story. I traded in mint boxed copies of Zombies Ate My Neighbors and Ninja Warriors back when the N64 came out so I could get money for Wave Race. Wave Race is awesome as shit and I love it, but I wish I had come up with another solution.

It seems like the hardest thing about collecting is finding a deal or a fair price even. We have a pretty expensive hobby and are no strangers to buying consoles and games new. I'm sure that a very large % of people here could just say eff it and buy whatever game they want today right now even but no one wants to do that. That takes the fun out of it. We all want to find some garage sale box of Hagane, Earthbound, Super Turrican 2, Mega Man X3, Chrono Trigger etc for $50 total because outside of those who aren't gamers and those who just see it as junk, everyone is watching the internet and setting prices accordingly. It's late now. Gone are the days when you could go to Blockbuster and buy rare games for $6. I feel that Gamestop buying out all the small game stores is also partially responsible. Luck is almost required now.

I sold off a bunch of carts a couple of years ago (was trying to secure a car), thinking I'd be able to buy the stuff back pretty easily.

No way could I have predicted how crazy inflated the prices on stuff would suddenly get in such a short time.

Originally Posted by entrement

How long are SNES controllers? When I was a kid, I was glued to my small 13 inch bedroom TV. Now I have a huge plasma and with wireless controllers. It's not a big deal.

How do you guys handle it?

Man, this thread is gonna be bad for wallet :(

buy wireless controllers
http://www.amazon.com/SuperRetro-Wir...=snes+wireless

2 controllers, $30. i have some, haven't used them a whole lot, but they do work and feel okay. i don't play fighting games so hard to say if they're okay for that stuff.

Originally Posted by Stumpokapow

buy wireless controllers
http://www.amazon.com/SuperRetro-Wir...=snes+wireless

2 controllers, $30. i have some, haven't used them a whole lot, but they do work and feel okay. i don't play fighting games so hard to say if they're okay for that stuff.

Hm... wonder what the board on the inside looks like? If you could put the shell of an OEM SNES controller on them they might be worth checking out.

Man...you guys remind me that I need a copy of Zombies ate my Neighbors. D:

It's funny how SNES games prices have skyrocketed, but N64 games are still relatively cheap. If N64 games ever become more expensive, do what I did, and start buying some of them now.

This brings back memories. Quoting one of my first posts on GAF from 2007. I never actually actively collected SNES games. These are all games I bought retail, used, or got through trades back in the day. And I actually beat all of those games, unlike the shameful backlog I amassed from PS2 onward.

Originally Posted by George Claw M.D.

Okay. I'll play. All boxes, shown, are complete with their original games, manuals, and inserts. Yes. Even Earthbound is complete, including the guide with scratch and sniff stickers.



These are all I have, on hand, at the moment. My other games are on loan, indefinitely, to my sister. Seriously. She borrowed most of my non-RPG games for a slumber party, years ago, and I've never made the effort to get them back. I'm sure most, or all, of them have gone M.I.A, anyway. I don't know what happened to my missing RPGs, though. I used to let a few friends, who were also RPG fans, borrow games. Although I've kept a list of all my games, I'd never kept a list of games I'd loaned out. I've learned my lesson, since. My biggest loss is not a game, but my Nintendo Guide for Final Fantasy III. It was my favorite game on the system, and that particular guide was the best one ever created for the game. I loaned it to a friend, whose dog got to it, and I got it back all torn up, and ruined by dog slobber. Thank goodness he already had the game, and didn't need to borrow that, too.

Anyway, with a heavy heart, here are my games that are M.I.A.:

Donkey Kong Country
Final Fantasy III Nintendo Guide
Flashback
Lagoon
Lufia
Lufia 2
Mario Paint
Mega Man X
Mega Man X 2
Mortal Kombat
Mortal Kombat II
Out of This World
Pocky & Rocky
Rock N' Roll Racing
Soldiers of Fortune
Street Fighter II
Street Fighter II Hyper Fighting
Sunset Riders
Super Bomberman Party Pack
Super Empire Strikes Back
Super Mario All Stars
Super Mario Kart
Super Metroid
Super Return of the Jedi
Super Star Wars
Tecmo Super Bowl
The Legend of Zelda: LTTP
The Magical Quest: Starring Mickey Mouse
Tiny Toons: Buster Busts Loose
UN Squadron
Weapon Lord
Yoshi's Island
Young Merlin

I also had a Japanese cartridge Dragon Ball Z fighting game, that was given to me by a friend. I don't know which one it was, since I don't read Japanese. I thought it was fun, back then, even though it often boiled down to who had the fastest finger in fireball fights. I broke off the inner cartridge tabs of my SNES just to play that one game. I don't know what happened to that game.

Originally Posted by entrement

Ideally, if I were to get into SNES collecting, I'd get a CRT. However. I live in a tiny apartment, so I wouldn't have the space for another setup.

I use a 27" Toshiba for my retro stuff with most systems going into a component switcher.

For SNES, I use a GC cable with s-video, its noticeably more crisp and vivid than composite.

Originally Posted by BarrelMakingPenguin

I was looking to sell my lot of old SNES games...I don't have the box for any of them but I was wondering if there was a good website to kind of judge what a good price for them would be. It's not an impressive collection by any means but there are some good ones. Can anybody help me out in that respect?

Check the completed listings that have sold recently on ebay.

Originally Posted by BarrelMakingPenguin

I was looking to sell my lot of old SNES games...I don't have the box for any of them but I was wondering if there was a good website to kind of judge what a good price for them would be. It's not an impressive collection by any means but there are some good ones. Can anybody help me out in that respect?

http://videogames.pricecharting.com can be a good guide. It gives an updated list of how each game are selling in general.

I never knew Demon's Crest was so rare. I picked it up at a flea market for fifteen bucks.

It's on Amazon and eBay for about a hundred bucks, if that helps.

Originally Posted by GulAtiCa

It's funny how SNES games prices have skyrocketed, but N64 games are still relatively cheap. If N64 games ever become more expensive, do what I did, and start buying some of them now.

There on the way up now, at least the more well known ones are. Clay Fighter Sculptor's Cut was always considered the rarest non-variant/NFR game, but until recently the cart wasn't all that expensive. Now it regularly goes for well over $100.

"Nintendo Preimum" sucks and really drives things up. Just take a look at how cheap Genesis stuff is in comparison to SNES.

Originally Posted by Weiss

I never knew Demon's Crest was so rare. I picked it up at a flea market for fifteen bucks.

It's on Amazon and eBay for about a hundred bucks, if that helps.

The price on that game in particular has skyrocketed over the past 2-3 years. I remember seeing it on eBay for about $20-25 not too long ago.

Originally Posted by Weiss

I never knew Demon's Crest was so rare. I picked it up at a flea market for fifteen bucks.

It's on Amazon and eBay for about a hundred bucks, if that helps.

yeah price jumped up on it like crazy bought it over a year ago and it was only $20 loose cart then dont know how its popularity went up but now its going for about $90 loose cart

It's funny because you would think the flea market is great for picking up some snes games but some of these guys have the carts way overpriced. Street Fighter 2 for $30? lol

Yeah, a lot of flea market vendors still don't know what they have when it comes to individual carts and their value, but their prices have increased across the board.

Pretty shitty.

It's funny how a thread like this would have the exact same comments 10 or so years ago. It's weird too. With all the major games mostly available through online stores, retro compilations, and remakes, I thought this would have died down by now.

Good luck to all of you starting a collection. Starting one now must not be easy as there are no more video stores or stores in general dumping their old stock.

I think part of the reason the SNES is more collectible than the 64 is because the games are 2D.

2D games hold up better and as a whole are much more playable and enjoyable than early 3D games are today.

I've always loved the SNES, and I enjoy collecting for it. Those boxes are difficult to keep in good condition due to the fact that they're made of cardboard. But tracking down those things in pristine condition can be a lot of fun, too. And expensive.

Here's a crappy photo of all the CIB SNES games that I own(and a few other consoles as well).


Cart only, not pictured: The Adventures of Batman & Robin, Tetris Attack, Illusion of Gaia, Breath of Fire, Mega Man Soccer, R-Type III, Sparkster, Hagane, Final Fight III, Pocky & Rocky, Super Mario All Stars w/ Super Mario World, Street Fighter Alpha 2, Joe and Mac, Marvel Super Heroes: War of the Gems, Tiny Toons: Buster Busts Loose, Animaniacs, Ren & Stimpy: Fire Dogs, Earthworm Jim, Earthworm Jim 2, Ranma 1/2, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, X-Men: Mutant Apocalypse, Battletoads in Battlemaniacs, MK2, MK3, Mario Paint, Road Runner's Death Valley Rally, NBA Jam, Maui Mallard, The Lost Vikings, Super R-Type, Darius Twin

Over the years I've sold off a lot of the common titles that I never feel compelled to play anymore due to space restraints, so these days I pretty much try to stick to games that I personally enjoy. Though I envy those who are able to amass complete collections.

In a lot of ways, 8 and 16-bit games are like the baseball cards of our generation. Kids who grew up in the 50's and 60's made Topps cards from that era expensive collectibles when they became adults with disposable income, and kids from the 80's and 90's are doing the same thing with their video games.

The whole box collecting thing has always been very weird to me. I understand systems with cases like PCE, Genesis, Saturn. But, what is the appeal of boxes for things like GB and SNES...they just look terrible all ratty?

Probably at least half of my SNES games were purchased new, and I never really throw anything away, but, boxes and stuff take up way too much space, so I just flattened them down and stored them in boxes in my basement along with the manuals. I haven't checked, but they probably got lost/left behind/thrown out in my move last year too. Kind of sucks, but not the end of the world. I'm more concerned with having the games to play. And, considering the amount of games that I have, and the amount of space that I have to work with, as I said, boxes just take up too much space. I know I'm a horrible person.



In any event, I'm at 135 SNES games, including stuff like Earthbound and most of the other SNES RPGs, as those are my favorite types of games, and most of them were purchased when they came out as well. Still adding to it as well though. I wouldn't really call myself a "collector" - everything's purchased with the purpose of playing it, not just collecting it - but, the SNES is my favorite system, and there are so many great games out there still yet to discover.

Originally Posted by Yes Boss!

The whole box collecting thing has always been very weird to me. I understand systems with cases like PCE, Genesis, Saturn. But, what is the appeal of boxes for things like GB and SNES...they just look terrible all ratty?

I really wish I could tell you...I guess I like it because it is nice to have the boxes just for completeness, I can pull it out and look at the back of it...and stuff. At times I wish I didn't have this problem and could buy just loose carts but...ahhh well!

I've also been very fortunate to get some boxes in pristine shape like my Kirby Dreamland 3 box, that thing was in like new condition!

I just really enjoy the art on the boxes, whether they're in good condition or not. Ideally they're in good condition, but if the price is right I'll take a boxed copy every time.

Originally Posted by tiggerkiddo

I really wish I could tell you...I guess I like it because it is nice to have the boxes just for completeness, I can pull it out and look at the back of it...and stuff. At times I wish I didn't have this problem and could buy just loose carts but...ahhh well!

Yeah, that, and having the box and manual can increase the value of a game by several times.

Originally Posted by Yes Boss!

The whole box collecting thing has always been very weird to me. I understand systems with cases like PCE, Genesis, Saturn. But, what is the appeal of boxes for things like GB and SNES...they just look terrible all ratty?

It's the same deal for me. I don't give a shit about the boxes. I did buy up a bunch of plastic cases for my carts, though, and have been meaning to print out some covers for them, but yeah, the cardboard boxes are more or less garbage. Well, aside from the value they provide if you're gonna sell the game.

Originally Posted by SonicMegaDrive

Yeah, that, and having the box and manual can increase the value of a game by several times.

But that doesn't really matter any if one isn't planning to sell them, and only makes the cost of acquiring them higher.

I'm not saying I don't understand people wanting game boxes - I have a number of Baseball cards which are, of course, nothing more than pieces of cardboard as well, I understand having things for the purposes of collecting/looking at - but, their impact on the value of it only really matters if one is planning to sell them at some point, which I would never do with my games.

Originally Posted by SonicMegaDrive

I've always loved the SNES, and I enjoy collecting for it. Those boxes are difficult to keep in good condition due to the fact that they're made of cardboard. But tracking down those things in pristine condition can be a lot of fun, too. And expensive.

Here's a crappy photo of all the CIB SNES games that I own(and a few other consoles as well).


Cart only, not pictured: The Adventures of Batman & Robin, Tetris Attack, Illusion of Gaia, Breath of Fire, Mega Man Soccer, R-Type III, Sparkster, Hagane, Final Fight III, Pocky & Rocky, Super Mario All Stars w/ Super Mario World, Street Fighter Alpha 2, Joe and Mac, Marvel Super Heroes: War of the Gems, Tiny Toons: Buster Busts Loose, Animaniacs, Ren & Stimpy: Fire Dogs, Earthworm Jim, Earthworm Jim 2, Ranma 1/2, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, X-Men: Mutant Apocalypse, Battletoads in Battlemaniacs, MK2, MK3, Mario Paint, Road Runner's Death Valley Rally, NBA Jam, Maui Mallard, The Lost Vikings, Super R-Type, Darius Twin

Over the years I've sold off a lot of the common titles that I never feel compelled to play anymore due to space restraints, so these days I pretty much try to stick to games that I personally enjoy. Though I envy those who are able to amass complete collections.

In a lot of ways, 8 and 16-bit games are like the baseball cards of our generation. Kids who grew up in the 50's and 60's made Topps cards from that era expensive collectibles when they became adults with disposable income, and kids from the 80's and 90's are doing the same thing with their video games.

I'm so jelly. As soon as I'm able to, I'm going to get more space and collect a lot of CIB NES, SNES and N64 games.

Originally Posted by terrisus

But that doesn't really matter any if one isn't planning to sell them, and only makes the cost of acquiring them higher.

I'm not saying I don't understand people wanting game boxes - I have a number of Baseball cards which are, of course, nothing more than pieces of cardboard as well, I understand having things for the purposes of collecting/looking at - but, their impact on the value of it only really matters if one is planning to sell them at some point, which I would never do with my games.

Yeah, it's the same deal as baseball cards. Like, what's worth more, a 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle with dented corners, or one in near mint condition? Same basic thing applies to old games. It's really a matter of these games becoming older and becoming rare to find, especially in good condition. Of course, unlike baseball cards, you can actually 'play' a video game, so people who collect just to play may have a different perspective.

Well,

To be fair, I always keep the instructions to flip through...but invariably I'll keep the boxes on the shelf for a few months to a year then just dump them. If the game actually comes with a case then I consider it part of the game (and that gets kept).

Originally Posted by Linkhero1

I'm so jelly. As soon as I'm able to, I'm going to get more space and collect a lot of CIB NES, SNES and N64 games.

It'd be a worthwhile investment to get started now, prices are only going to go up as time goes on. I definitely hear what you're saying about lacking in space, I'm in that same boat. I often buy stuff because it's neat or rare and then I run into the problem of figuring out where to store or display the darn thing.

I gave up on collecting SNES CIB. It's just too rich for my blood. Only CIB I have is Illusion of Gaia. So I collect cart only, occasionally manuals too when I can get them reasonably.

Originally Posted by Seik

Today I took a little walk to see what's up in the stores SNES games-wise, found this for 40$ and it's pretty much in perfect shape (the colors seems washed out but it's because of the cam's flash). :)

I needed this one badly, just forgot about it with time. Already 1 hour in, fuck yeah. I already went through the DS version but now I'm hyped for the real thing.

That is $40 now? Good lord.

Picked this up a few years back for only $7 I got really lucky on a mis-pricing at a blockbuster. Looking online now, it goes for way too much.

Originally Posted by Bururian

Picked this up a few years back for only $7 I got really lucky on a mis-pricing at a blockbuster. Looking online now, it goes for way too much.

http://i.imgur.com/FiNfDrI.jpg

Yep, the prices changed in a bad way during the last 5 years. :(