Does anyone go for full sets anymore?

[LeatherRebel5150 | 1,056]

Ive been wondering for a while if Im the only one left that collects for full sets? Seems like everyone else gave up on it a long time ago as prices exploded. While it’s certainly caused me to slow down over the years, it’s never deterred me from my end goal.

Anyone else out there still doing it?

Edited December 31, 2023 by LeatherRebel5150

[a3quit4s | 4,097]

I finished the sets I was going for and now just buy whatever. Full sets are a grind, especially when you figure like 70-80% of a given library is junk and you are just throwing money away on them. I’m much happier now but it’s not like I didn’t enjoy running down the sets while I was doing it. I probably also suffer from not having enough patience and blowing through full sets really fast. 

[O.G. CIB | 415]

I will forever collect full sets although I the grind of it at times has me at a pause until I’m ready to go full speed. I’ve got 3-5 more sets I may want to accomplish before I hang it up….. you not alone.

LONG LIVE FULL SET COLLECTORS! 

[nrslam | 475]

There have always been systems I collect full sets for, and others I just pick up what interests me.  Most of my full set systems are older and I rarely find anything for them anymore (I only collect in the wild) so nearly all my current acquisitions are in the second category.  There are no current systems that I have full set interest in.

[WalterWhiteJr. | 1,162]

I’m still here baby. 14 away from the full N64 CIB set. Going on 7 years plus. 

[Estil | 1,264]

I do full sets (and sometimes master sets!) of baseball cards; for example I got a sequence of Topps baseball sets from 1974-2013 and Topps football sets from 1980-2000, Donruss from 1981-98, Fleer from 1981-95 among many many others...does that count?

@The CountSo I take it you'd want to count all my sets or even better, all 100K+ of my cards?   I don't think Sesame Street (at least classic/20th century/pre-Elmo era) very seldom if ever went past 40 (and they never had numbers "brought to you today..." over 20)...I guess they thought teaching very young kids up to 100 was asking too much or something?

Edited January 3 by Estil

[DefaultGen | 5,405]

I've got the ones I was going for and have don't want to pay today's prices for the ones I don't have. I can buy ten nice CIB Zelda: ALTTPs for one CIB Super Bowling, and I don't even enjoy owning Super Bowling as much as one ALTTP.

I think the price increase and gold rush on nice CIBs of common games has made owning "good stuff" more desirable. Just a few years ago, the average Super Mario Bros was $30 common junk to most collectors. Now that it has a perception of value, it might be cooler to own all-time-classic Super Mario Bros than never-even-seen-a-Youtube-video-about-it Arkista's Ring for the same price.

Edited December 30, 2023 by DefaultGen

[BirdDogGaming | 218]

Been working towards my first one for a long time and I'll see it through, but after that I'm gonna take a break to focus funds on important titles I'm still missing from my collection.

Heck, I should just do that now. Why am I set collecting again??

[DefaultGen | 5,405]

22 minutes ago, BirdDogGaming said:

Heck, I should just do that now. Why am I set collecting again??

[Tanooki | 4,933]

If not for the Virtual Boy, and perhaps other smaller (sub-300~) game libraries which are largely easily accessible and mostly not price toxic yeah I'd say some people would go for it as it's not too bad, and could be far more costly over time compared to a drinking, smoking, or drug habit...perhaps others less seedy like old car restoration and so on.

I wouldn't touch it anymore, but I started that journey before the scalpers squatters and resellers made it into the decade and some ongoing circus.  I had attempted it last as this mess started, saw writing on the wall and stopped it cold.  It just doesn't make sense for price, and given a library size the epic costs involved.  Throw in these wonky yet licensed small run outfits doing little pushes that people get just to scalp for stupid prices and I pity anyone going anywhere near that hot mess, say like, the Switch being a prime example of that.

[Tabonga | 2,317]

Never really been into full sets for games (I do for some other things I collect).  The only format  that ever tempted me was the Sega CD - those blue spines display really nicely.  I have about 75 (including all of the heavy hitters as far as I know - never really actively monitored them) so it would not be a stretch to finish that set fairly reasonably.   

[Nugfish | 652]

XBOX & XBOX 360, but with so many variants in the newer disc-based systems, it becomes harder to define full-set than any of the cartridge-based systems, which I find a little deflating at times

[OptOut | 8,884]

I have a couple full sets, but I draw the line at paying 1000 USD for any single game. I've never paid even half that for a game in my collection at this point, and I can't see myself ever leaping that hurdle...

So, while I would like to complete a couple more sets, in addition to the ones I have unless I get extremely lucky I doubt I'll ever complete anymore.

But that's fine, I guess, my backlog is bloated as it is! 

[Splain | 2,569]

Yep, still some fullsets I'm going for. I'm trying my hardest to maintain a curated list of N64 games I want, so that I'm not trying to collect them all. Same with Japanese GB games. But since that list is subjective and I'm the one that defined it, I keep pushing the boundaries out and out and out. It's really nice to have a definite finish line.

[Brickman | 3,984]

Yep still going strong with the fullest collecting.

Got the Japanese GC set and almost done with N64 (I’ve been slacking off due to my focus on GBA). Going hard on the Japanese GBA set currently but the grind is real and I’m just a bit over halfway (thankfully it’s not as big as the US set).

Also collect a few other sets when I need a distraction or see a good deal.

You should get a poll up, it would be interesting to see where the community is with full set collecting.

 

[Rhuno | 107]

I've been working on the US Dreamcast set for a number of years. I'd like to finish that at some point and perhaps NES, minus Stadium Events. I'm mainly collecting cart only for NES, except for games I really enjoy or just happened to still have the boxes/manuals for.

I'm not really close on either set, but I'm in no rush.

[LeatherRebel5150 | 1,056]

4 hours ago, Brickman said:

 

You should get a poll up, it would be interesting to see where the community is with full set collecting.

 

I tried to add one, no idea how to work it, nothing came up after the edit

[final fight cd | 186]

I have “full set” coursing in my blood. It’s part of my genes and my kids will inherit it.  I could never, ever buy only my favorite games on a system.  It’s all or nothing.  And that is what is stopping me from buying other games; I don’t want to fall down another rabbit hole.

[Tulpa | 3,494]

1 hour ago, LeatherRebel5150 said:

I tried to add one, no idea how to work it, nothing came up after the edit

When you hit edit, look at the black bar. There's a tab for content in white, and poll in black. Click poll, and you get to add the poll to your OP.

[Ankos | 439]

For systems with smaller libraries that only have one or two "grails" I'd be tempted to go for a full set if I got my hands on one of those. I don't think I'd ever try to full set something with a large library. I think I'd get too attached and would wind up expanding my definition of a full set over and over without ever moving on

[fcgamer | 4,723]

I'm a full set mentality guy...if you don't go for a full set, what's the point of collecting for a console? Otherwise, it's just simply a gamers set which should consist of your childhood favs and other games you want to play from after that point. 

[Rhuno | 107]

On 12/30/2023 at 10:33 AM, WalterWhiteJr. said:

I’m still here baby. 14 away from the full N64 CIB set. Going on 7 years plus. 

Oh man, so close! It's not something I'm actively pursuing, but I have a hard time buying anything cart only for N64. I just have so much N64 from my childhood that are CIB. Best of luck completing the set; 2024 could be your year!

[RegularGuyGamer | 2,013]

I would love to go for a full set of 3DS games but the cornering of the market of completely useless and garbage titles makes it impossible. I still keep every game I find in the wild that I don't have as long as it's reasonably priced but those "halo" trash can titles really put a damper on the prospect of a full set. 

I think generally, the idea of a full set for any modern console is just too daunting and muddy with all the bouquet releases. With the size of modern libraries, it's no wonder full sets aren't even on incoming collectors radars. 

[Code Monkey | 2,009]

Of course but now it's so damn expensive it's getting slower.

I only needed 1 more for the $1000+ NES games (except the crazy Little Samson) and I got Panic Restaurant last month so I'm pumping the brakes a little now. Everything else is currently sub-$1000 so I'm taking a break but I'll be back at it soon.

• Stadium Events (I consider it a variant)
• Little Samson (not paying this much for a game right now)
• Bonk's Adventure (already have the box, just need the cartridge)
• Panic Restaurant (just bought it)
• Bubble Bobble Part 2 (got it complete)
• The Jetsons (got it complete)
• Sqoon (got it complete)
• the rest not worth as much......

[TheGreatBlackCat | 20]

On 12/30/2023 at 9:00 AM, a3quit4s said:

I finished the sets I was going for and now just buy whatever. Full sets are a grind, especially when you figure like 70-80% of a given library is junk and you are just throwing money away on them. I’m much happier now but it’s not like I didn’t enjoy running down the sets while I was doing it. I probably also suffer from not having enough patience and blowing through full sets really fast. 

This is exactly why I am not shooting for full libraries anymore. I can feasibly complete my PlayStation and Sega Saturn collections for a few thousand each at this point; I own mostly every game anybody would want to play for those systems. I do not have the space and, outside of a few pricier odds and ends, I mostly need shovelware to create a complete library.

For Saturn, I basically need House of the Dead, Mega Man 8, X3, Resident Evil, Lunacy, Sonic R, and one more higher end game.

Playstation: Koudelka, Klonoa, Team Buddies, and one or two more higher priced games.

After those small lists it would all be sports, wrestling, and shovelware titles. I am not dedicating space for video games I have zero interest in ever playing. Even if I wanted to brag about it, no one cares about my collection and it's even less likely that one of my friends would be impressed with a complete library.