Your Wildest Collecting Story

[fcgamer | 4,750]

Let's share some of your wildest collecting stories here.

Perhaps you hopped a plane after work and flew halfway across the country to meet up and score an item, only to take the next morning off from work whilst making your way back home. Walked into what you thought was a pawn shop only to eventually realize that it was a front for organized crime? Traded some expensive carts to a lunatic with a kind heart to obtain your white whale, hoping he'd mail you your dream item before needing his next fix?

I don't know about everyone here, but some of my best finds were made based on trust and patience, even in untrustworthy situations.

Let's here about the extremes you went through to obtain some amazing gamez.

[AirVillain | 490]

"Give me these really expensive games now and I'll mail you one later?". Sounds legit.

I don't have any fun and exciting stories like that but I'm here for the ride. 

[Code Monkey | 2,012]

1 hour ago, fcgamer said:

Let's share some of your wildest collecting stories here.

Perhaps you hopped a plane after work and flew halfway across the country to meet up and score an item, only to take the next morning off from work whilst making your way back home.

It was all the way across.

I have a few stories but this one is usually what I tell people to give them a story. I used to browse Kijiji (Canadian Craigslist) looking for games and I saw one listing with a few SNES games on a table. I skimmed the games, nothing I liked so I ignored it. An hour later a friend messages me asking if I've seen the listing so I clicked his link and told him I already saw it. He then asks me about the Ninja game so I look at it more closely and I see a very good condition Ninja Gaiden Trilogy complete for $60. This is an hour after I initially looked at it so it's gone for sure right? I don't know how I missed it the first time but I message the guy with no hope it's still available and he tells me it is. I tell him I'll be by right after work.

I get to the A&W where this guy wants to meet and he shows me the game, I don't know how this is still available at this price. I check it out and it is the real deal. He also tells me, "Well, someone actually messaged me that I was selling this too low so how about $120?" Normally I would tell him to pound sand after changing the price but it was still less than half its value so I bought it. I got home and took a few pictures to post my amazing find on Nintendo Age.

When I open up the "Post Your Latest Pickup" thread on Nintendo Age, I see someone else posted they just picked up a complete Ninja Gaiden Trilogy for $60 and I see their location is the same as mine. That's weird. I ask them the details and they post a link to the same Kijiji sale so now I know I have them in a lie. I call them out for pretending to have gotten the good deal when I in fact got the deal but then they start posting time stamped photos of their game with their username and everyone on the forum turns on me for accusing him of lying. I text the seller and ask him how many of these he had and he replied, "You got my one and only baby! LOL" or something to that effect.

To this day I don't understand what happened, if he had two, why it was so cheap, why nobody else bought it, who was lying. It remains the most confusing purchase I've ever done and I still own the game though I'll be unloading it soon.

 

[Code Monkey | 2,012]

Just now, Code Monkey said:

It was all the way across.

I have a few stories but this one is usually what I tell people to give them a story. I used to browse Kijiji (Canadian Craigslist) looking for games and I saw one listing with a few SNES games on a table. I skimmed the games, nothing I liked so I ignored it. An hour later a friend messages me asking if I've seen the listing so I clicked his link and told him I already saw it. He then asks me about the Ninja game so I look at it more closely and I see a very good condition Ninja Gaiden Trilogy complete for $60. This is an hour after I initially looked at it so it's gone for sure right? I don't know how I missed it the first time but I message the guy with no hope it's still available and he tells me it is. I tell him I'll be by right after work.

I get to the A&W where this guy wants to meet and he shows me the game, I don't know how this is still available at this price. I check it out and it is the real deal. He also tells me, "Well, someone actually messaged me that I was selling this too low so how about $120?" Normally I would tell him to pound sand after changing the price but it was still less than half its value so I bought it. I got home and took a few pictures to post my amazing find on Nintendo Age.

When I open up the "Post Your Latest Pickup" thread on Nintendo Age, I see someone else posted they just picked up a complete Ninja Gaiden Trilogy for $60 and I see their location is the same as mine. That's weird. I ask them the details and they post a link to the same Kijiji sale so now I know I have them in a lie. I call them out for pretending to have gotten the good deal when I in fact got the deal but then they start posting time stamped photos of their game with their username and everyone on the forum turns on me for accusing him of lying. I text the seller and ask him how many of these he had and he replied, "You got my one and only baby! LOL" or something to that effect.

To this day I don't understand what happened, if he had two, why it was so cheap, why nobody else bought it, who was lying. It remains the most confusing purchase I've ever done and I still own the game though I'll be unloading it soon.

 

Part 2 of this story.

After I gave him the money for this game, we were still hanging out by my car and I ask if he has any more games for sale. He says he has a Dragon Warrior III so I ask to look at it and he runs across the parking lot, across a field and over to his house. We're meeting here to keep his location a secret but I can literally see where he went to get the game. He runs back with it, it's complete except for the manual and he wants $50. Sold and I still have it. I ask what else he has, he runs home again and comes back with a few more but nothing else I wanted.

Such a bizarre encounter.

[Code Monkey | 2,012]

I could go on for days but I'll just post one more for now and let someone else have a turn.

I was at a girl's house that had rooms full of games she sold on Kijiji and eBay and was left alone while she went into the other room to get something. There was a bin of unpriced Atari 2600 games at my feet so I started going through them to pull out ones that looked interesting. I got about 10 gagmes I didn't already have and I picked up Berenstain Bears specifically because I read the books as a kid, I had no idea it was a game also. We agreed on $3 each for those games and when I got home I looked up values. I was amazed this Berenstain Beears game was worth about $200, I had no idea until that moment.

Edited February 14, 2023 by Code Monkey

[Nesmaster | 402]

I had sold my collection in early 2007, only kept roughly 15-20% of what I had. I was happy being "done" for over two years.

Now, as a kid, I had a Nintendo Power subscription. I get the issue with the Millennium 2000 giveaway. I love the controller and fantasize about owning one, but the draw date comes and goes, and I never enter to start with.

Some years go by, building the collection. Never really thought much of that controller again. Never looked for one for sale or post an ISO.

Roughly 2 1/2 years after the selloff, Summer 2009. I end up browsing Digitpress, where I had spent a lot of time in the pre-selloff period. I find a post, maybe a day or two old, from a low post count member in the buy/sell forum. Millennium 2000 for sale.

After some back and forth messaging, I end up buying the Millennium 2000, the NP100, and the DK64 Banana from the user, all at once. Very nice condition on the Millennium 2000.

I still have them, and while the Millennium 2000 isn't the rarest or most expensive item by any means, then or today. The timing of it all, at that point, the fact that it was not sold yet. The unattainable feeling it carried as a child, when that giveaway came and went. It all felt pretty wild at the time, and it is still one of my favorite stories, and items.

Edited February 13, 2023 by Nesmaster

[Tanooki | 4,950]

Nothing new here, but here's a little.  All three from California when I returned for a few years just as prices and hostility went south on old games.  These stand out, even now to me since I was all in at that rate trying to stay ahead of the curve.

1) 2011~ Flea Market.  Setting, spanish speaking ladies table with a lump of clothes, a pile of sealed up PC cases of EA sports, a pair of SNES games, one common, and at a distance out it was either BoB...or...  Yup...Earthbound.  Cut my friend off ;), sped over, asked how much holding it, she puts up 2 fingers, and I give it to her, thank her, and walk away clamly.

2) 2012 I find a post that went up, $80 for a SNES lot, front row right MMX3 a couple back King of Dragons, a few others, mostly good commons.  I was already like 3rd in line, he was willing to deal, but I had to make sure(having an infant) I could get free, had the dough, yes and yes.  Called back, hung up on, twice.  In that time the poor guys email overloaded and voice mail dead too.  He was PISSED.  I was honest, told him the truth, guessed and he said the samee a bunch wanted MMX3 and said $10 was a fair deal for it...not.  At the time $80 was fair, I told him so, and a bit of the others, as I figured I'm likely done so f the predators.  Instead he graciously thanks me, calms, said his brother wanted no more, and because I wasn't a dick and had the kid, he brought it to me and we had a nice chat.  Yup honesty paid and punished.

3) 2012 ...so-cal was loaded with scumbags early on.  Posted, craiglist, nintendo tv, 7 games, gun, $225.  I saw it first, without question offered to pay, but I'd have to come to him.  That was nearly a 2hr drive each way.  Thankfully the owner was retired USMC, he still lived by a code of honor.  I drive up, he told me if i want it it's mine, but you should know I've been non stop harassed and argued with, offered a lot more, but I'm not like that.  Seems resellers from both LA and SD county and between were all over going nuts over it being their right to have it.  He had nothing to do with the disrespect, we chatted for a bit about various things, and I brought it home.

 

Those 3 stand out to me, but I've got more, including my 7mo journey to a full set plus of the VB library and for under $1K.  That would take a bit of typing but man that effort was worth it and improved my repair abilities a lot.

[Ankos | 461]

I mostly shop online for games since I mainly focus on imports. As a result I do not have many interesting stories to tell, but I'll tell one that stuck with me. When I was pretty young my friends and I would talk about Pokemon games. Eventually we got to the subject of "Pokemon Diamond and Jade", games that we knew existed but were not officially recognized. Years down the line I was talking to a different friend on the bus, who offered to help me get a copy of Diamond. I believe he said he had family with copies of these sorts of things up north. He was unable to find his copy of it unfortunately, and he decided to give me this green cartridge. I felt grateful that he gave me something I doubt I could have found on my own for nothing in return, and gave him some of my DS games as a gift later down the line. I no longer have contact with that person, but I still have the green cartridge, which was the start of me getting serious about collecting unlicensed gameboy games. Here is a picture of it.

For those curious the game is a platformer made by company of former Sachen staff. It is pretty low quality (it crashes if you beat the first level), but I still have a fondness for it

[fcgamer | 4,750]

I had been game hunting one weekend down in Tainan, about three or three hours or so from where I live via the general trains. I saw a Famicom Final Fight game there at one of the shops, but didn't buy it, didn't really think anything of it and I wasn't interested in the series at that point, as I had just started collecting again.

The next week, a friend of mine from Switzerland ended up mentioning to me in conversation about a Final Fight 3 game on the Famicom. Back then, we'd talk just about every night, and after I saw a picture of the cartridge, I could have sworn it was the same game that I had seen in the shop, and my friend said it was quite hard to find. Needless to say, the next night, after getting off work at 6, I took the first train down to Tainan, went to the shop, grabbed the game, and literally ran back to the station just in time to catch the last train northbound to where I was living at the time. 

[phart010 | 1,708]

I didn’t find anything particularly remarkable but there have been several occasions that craigslist sellers have told me they have gotten much larger offers but they would honor me for being first. Id even offer them more money to close the gap, but they would insist that they want to honor their original sell price… and in cases even wait several hours for me to finish getting off work before meeting them. 

There are still honorable people out there.

Edited February 13, 2023 by phart010

[mlbfan10 | 340]

Went to a video game auction in NC in 2013 and what do I find rumbling through the bins?  A Donkey Kong competition cart in a mixed lot. When then lot came up for bid I won the lot for $120. Was absolutely thrilled, got home and verified the board and tested the cart, it played perfectly. I sold the cart several months later for $500. Wish I never sold it but was cool to own for a little bit nonetheless.

[final fight cd | 187]

Found a sealed copy of Double Dragon II for the NES at a goodwill back in 2008/2009.  Only paid a couple bucks for it.  I might have gotten there at the right time because after I had it in my hands this dude saw me with it and said to me, "Is that sealed?"  I was thinking to myself you better not be a sore loser and tell the goodwill workers about their pricing mistake.  Honestly, would a Goodwill worker even care? Probably not.  I sold it at auction on eBay for around $80.

I found a game lot on Craig's List.  The address took me to a rough part of town.  The streets were poorly marked and nobody walking on the street would help me or given me directions.  I turned down a dead end street and I start driving slower than usual because I am trying to read the numbers on each house.  As I am driving, looking from one side of the street to the other, I hear some dude yell from a porch, "There he is."  I had no idea if he was talking to me and if he was, what he meant.  But with this street being a dead end I would have to turn around and pass him again.  I turn my car around and again the dude from the porch yells, "Right There" and he is pointing to the house across the street from his.  I'm thinking to myself, "Am I buying from an old lady and the old lady told this dude and he is just helping her out by being a lookout? And by the way I am driving and looking about he just assumed I was the one buying the game lot?"  So I stop my car in front of the house the yeller was pointing at.  And out of the house come two rough looking men  They approach my car and like an idiot, because I am blinded by the thought of the game lot, I ask them if they are the ones selling the game lot.  No.  They were not.  I sped away.

The assumptions I made:

• Nobody wanted to help me because they probably thought I was an undercover cop.  
• The dude on the porch was a lookout.  But it was for a drug deal, not a game deal.  

This is late 2000s, so smart phones really weren't a thing.  I likely used mapquest for directions.  So while I believe there actually was a game lot, I am thinking I drove myself to the wrong part of town and put myself into a potentially sticky situation.  

Craig's List ain't worth it.  

Edited February 14, 2023 by final fight cd

[Code Monkey | 2,012]

38 minutes ago, final fight cd said:

Found a sealed copy of Double Dragon II for the NES at a goodwill back in 2008/2009.  Only paid a couple bucks for it.  I might have gotten there at the right time because after I had it in my hands this dude saw me with it and said to me, "Is that sealed?"  I was thinking to myself you better not be a sore loser and tell the goodwill workers about their pricing mistake.  Honestly, would a Goodwill worker even care? Probably not.  I sold it at auction on eBay for around $80.

I found a game lot on Craig's List.  The address took me to a rough part of town.  The streets were poorly marked and nobody walking on the street would help me or given me directions.  I turned down a dead end street and I start driving slower than usual because I am trying to read the numbers on each house.  As I am driving, looking from one side of the street to the other, I hear some dude yell from a porch, "There he is."  I had no idea if he was talking to me and if he was, what he meant.  But with this street being a dead end I would have to turn around and pass him again.  I turn my car around and again the dude from the porch yells, "Right There" and he is pointing to the house across the street from his.  I'm thinking to myself, "Am I buying from an old lady and the old lady told this dude and he is just helping her out by being a lookout? And by the way I am driving and looking about he just assumed I was the one buying the game lot?"  So I stop my car in front of the house the yeller was pointing at.  And out of the house come two rough looking men  They approach my car and like an idiot, because I am blinded by the thought of the game lot, I ask them if they are the ones selling the game lot.  No.  They were not.  I sped away.

The assumptions I made:

• Nobody wanted to help me because they probably thought I was an undercover cop.  
• The dude on the porch was a lookout.  But it was for a drug deal, not a game deal.  

This is late 2000s, so smart phones really weren't a thing.  I likely used mapquest for directions.  So while I believe there actually was a game lot, I am thinking I drove myself to the wrong part of town and put myself into a potentially sticky situation.  

Craig's List ain't worth it.  

Someone lured you there to rob you.

[nrslam | 477]

Wouldn't call it wild, but it is a true story...

I'd made arrangements to buy an Amiga 3000 from someone on Craigslist. They lived about an hour away in a very rural part of the state, so my wife went along for the ride. About 80% of the way there, I get a call from the seller; someone else had shown up for a different ad, spotted the Amiga, and offered $50 above the agreed on price. Seller said he'd save it for me, but only if I matched the higher offer. This didn't sit well with me, so I declined.

Since we were already out in the country, we decided to drive around a bit, enjoy the sights, and get some lunch. Then I spotted a box sitting on the curb by an abandoned looking house on a little used road. Had an N64 sticking out of it and a "Free" sign. A quick u-turn and I grabbed the box, which also turned out to have a SNES, Genesis, Gameboy, and about 50 random games for those systems. Went to the house to give them some money (and ask if they had anything else) but the place was clearly abondoned.

Didn't get anything rare, but free is free. Thanks, Amiga dude.

[Tanooki | 4,950]

I got to thinking about the post I did earlier ago and it got me thinking about since moving back here and almost in more recent years.  Late 2018-2019 was a hell of a good point of time for two reasons.  Both thanks to a specific goodwill location near by fouling up pretty nicely in my favor.  These two came in order...

1) Walked in one day and well seconds later my eyes popped, what do I see?  Pokemon Red, then I did a double take...it didn't just still have shrink on it, it was sealed.  Price? $100  Was I annoyed at a thrift for that?  Yup, but when I checked it was then worth $300, so despite the distaste I grabbed it.  Up until later 2022 I held onto it as a piece of wall art, but the hard climb in value it got, I felt uncomfortable with it.  I eventually sold locally for around a $1500 profit (valued $2K online at the time for the shape it was in/version being 2nd print with corrected back.)

2) Feeling like the place was worthwhile to visit again, I started popping in on the weekends and luck struck yet again in January.  In another of their glass cases to the other side this time, I'm browsing and see random junk, then a crap looking plastic brief case but under poor lighting I see the distinct part of a red virtual boy shell staring back...oh sh...  hey can I look at that and test it out??  They wanted $75, not sure at the time, I couldn't get it to work, then I did get it on and 1/2 eyes worked (left out.)  Checking the case I find everything but a stand, ac adapter+tap though, and to my surprise 3 games and boxes too (no manuals.)  Galactic Pinball, Mario Clash...and Mario Tennis?  Wait... Mario Tennis didn't have...oh damn!  Marketing Display Only Box, with shrink on it too (all did.)  The system, tap, battery box, had blockbuster stickers.

I came to find checking further outside after buying, the Mario Tennis box was worth $100 at the time, I was already ahead.   And yeah I still have it and more, that charm I have is still accurate.

---

Being tipped off it can be repaired, met someone online in VA I ended up befriending.  He fixed it for $10/eye and shipping both ways priority mail ($60 total).  From there we talked, got to trying to work on more of them.  Between his efforts, and eventually mine as he taught me the soldering techniques to fix them, it got interesting.  I could detail it all in steps, I saved a text file for the ride.  He also mailed me a few freebies to get started, a better quality Pinball, Baseball, and Red Alarm, and another tennis.

Went on to buy a box lot w/all inserts for 6 games of which one got damaged so partly refunded, got a 2nd VB with a stand to get one for mine finally and another better yet Tennis.  Mailed that 2nd vb off for a repair/profit share.  It went that way repeatedly over a period getting 5 broken VBs to repair mailing to him or doing myself.  This turn and burn got me more games from lots, missing parts to CIB most, a blockbuster intact case, etc.

 

The short of it.  Paid $1560.50, refunded/repaired to sell earned $640, got all I have for $910.50.
-- That's 11/14 CIB (13/14 w/manual) US games, V-Tetris, Bound High, first print Hyper FIghting, Rental case w/manual, a 2nd backup VB I kept that's complete too.

[Armageddon Potato | 124]

15 hours ago, fcgamer said:

Let's share some of your wildest collecting stories here.

Perhaps you hopped a plane after work and flew halfway across the country to meet up and score an item, only to take the next morning off from work whilst making your way back home. Walked into what you thought was a pawn shop only to eventually realize that it was a front for organized crime? Traded some expensive carts to a lunatic with a kind heart to obtain your white whale, hoping he'd mail you your dream item before needing his next fix?

I don't know about everyone here, but some of my best finds were made based on trust and patience, even in untrustworthy situations.

Let's here about the extremes you went through to obtain some amazing gamez.

You just opened my personal pandora's box, lol. I have way too many of these stories and they are really, really insane stuff lol. I travel a lot to hunt for game collections and oddities. I'll post up some stories once I find some free time!

Edited February 14, 2023 by Armageddon Potato

[DarkTone | 988]

3: Became good friends with someone here from [NAME REDACTED] who helped my gamecube collection. He mentioned he was missing one final piece to complete his woolworths batman forever set. 5 minutes later I found it on ebay. He was so thankful, he gifted me my favourite NES game CIB, Kirbys adventure! 

2: I got outbid for the Miya 2000 by £1! Completely forgetting about it until 12 hours later when the owner sent me a PM. He asked me if I wanted to buy it outright for the price I bid. I asked him what happened. Apparently the winner got disqualified for not living in England, which was part of the rules. Immediately paid him and to this day its still the strangest gaming peripheral made! 

1: while looking up going prices for the wu tang controller, someone was selling the memory card. I've never seen or heard of it before so was hesitant. With 0 bids and 10 seconds left I pulled the trigger and won from the opening bid. £1, free shipping. What makes this my favourite is because 1 second later, I found a £1 coin on the floor! Free rare memory card! 

[PuppyWaffles | 1,853]

A few years ago I drove 1600 miles round trip for some Bobbleheads. Got off work, drove 8 hours, grabbed them, drove 8 hours back, went straight back to work. Paid more in gas than I did for the bobbleheads, but I think it was worth it...

Edit: 1,000 miles not 1,600. Ignore my fat hands not being able to type

Edited February 15, 2023 by PuppyWaffles

[goldenpp72 | 1,235]

One time my fiancee and I were on a multiple month long work trip in Connecticut and discovered a chain called Game X Change. During our time in that trip we kept going to do a loop of all 7 existing stores at the time and probably accumulated around 1000 games across mostly the Xbox, Ps2, DS and Wii. It was at this point I decided to go much deeper in every console I collect on and spend my life earnings for a solid 8 years. We basically became like gaming pickers during the time, unfortunately it's pretty dry these days. Maybe not a crazy story but it's unique I think. 

We still share a lot of the hobby burden and good together, we made these up today actually, almost sad that it's basically over though. The wallet will thank me however. We live in the same area now as well for about the last 6 years. 

Edited February 14, 2023 by goldenpp72

[Code Monkey | 2,012]

I went to a local flea market here and one of the resellers had a complete Dragon Warrior IV on his table but I just walked right past without even asking how expensive this game was. I knew it was more than I wanted to pay. The following week my dad had come to visit and early afternoon we were looking for things to do so I figured I would take him by the same flea market. They usually start packing up at 3pm and we got there at about 2:50pm so I didn't expect to find much. I walked by that same reseller's booth and the Dragon Warrior IV was gone but directly across the aisle it was sitting on another reseller's table. That's odd.

I know this guy much better so I asked him how much he wanted for it, thinking it would probably be even higher since he had to buy it off the first guy and it's the end of the day with everyone else already passing on it. He says he wants $50 for it. SOLD!

I have no idea how he got it so cheaply from the first guy, why everyone else passed on it, why he wanted so little for it. Just confusing.

Edited February 14, 2023 by Code Monkey

[Code Monkey | 2,012]

Last one for today. I was at a completely different flea market here with my parents visiting, same period as my previous post. I had left them and was walking around on my own but didn't find much. My dad eventually finds me and asks if I saw that funny gold coloured game. I didn't know what he meant so he brought me back to a booth I had already been in and up high on a spinner rack was Ultimate Stuntman with a hand made label. I had no idea what it was but I had to have it so I gave the guy $80 for it. I have contacted multiple people on Facebook with the same name but none of them were developers for Camerica.

 

[Andy_Bogomil | 815]

I met a local collector on NA back around 2013 when I was posted away for work. We got chatting about games and as the conversation continued it became almost eerie about our life similarities. We had the same first name, were born only a few days apart at the same hospital/city, both got our BSc from the same university and graduated the same year (was likely in some of my intro classes), had moved to this relatively small city at the same time for work, had long term girlfriends with the same name and we ended up knowing a few mutual friends/people and this was the first time I had every met or talked to this guy. I made a thread about it on NA back in the day as it was almost unbelievable.

 

[Mega Tank | 974]

7 hours ago, PuppyWaffles said:

A few years ago I drove 1600 miles round trip for some Bobbleheads. Got off work, drove 8 hours, grabbed them, drove 8 hours back, went straight back to work. Paid more in gas than I did for the bobbleheads, but I think it was worth it...

Nice Target exclusive bobbleheads! 

[inasuma | 1,203]

i love a good "bought games in a crack den" war story

[final fight cd | 187]

3 hours ago, Andy_Bogomil said:

I met a local collector on NA back around 2013 when I was posted away for work. We got chatting about games and as the conversation continued it became almost eerie about our life similarities. We had the same first name, were born only a few days apart at the same hospital/city, both got our BSc from the same university and graduated the same year (was likely in some of my intro classes), had moved to this relatively small city at the same time for work, had long term girlfriends with the same name and we ended up knowing a few mutual friends/people and this was the first time I had every met or talked to this guy. I made a thread about it on NA back in the day as it was almost unbelievable.

 

“Almost eerie”? More like straight up “how in the mother f’in world.” .