WTB: Super Mario 64, Other N64 Carts

[dvertov | 210]

My 9 year old has been watching YouTube and decided he’s into Nintendo 64, so I’m looking to buy nice condition carts of N64 hits, especially Super Mario 64. I’d also entertain offers for a decent Mario 64 CIB.

 

Edit: Found a CIB at a local shop.

Edited May 18 by dvertov

[RH | 5,121]

Unless he’s that rare, young child that wants to really takes care of stuff, even if he uses it, I’d probably get him games with slightly damaged labels, or with label wear.  If he’s wanting to play them then there’s no reason to get him really nice conditioned carts to have him wear out.

Generally I’m against bootleg carts but if all he wants to do is play games, I think if you find the right source (possibly Aliexpress?) you can probably get games for about $10 each.  For a kid to use and play like it’s 1997, I might recommend that option.

I also recommend going to a recycle center and/or check Craigslist and look for an “old box TV”, but don’t search for CRTs.  If someone offers a CRT, they mean to sell it to a gamer.  If they list it as something like an “old TV”, “tube TV” or “box tv”, they are probably getting rid of it for free or $10.  Anyway, get him a small 12”-18” and you won’t regret. I specifically recommend picking up a CRT because of all main, old consoles, the N64 looks the absolute worst on a modern display because of the interlacing.  This is unnoticeable on an old TV because it was made for it, but on an HDTV, he’s going to see a lot of combing and it’s super distracting.

[dvertov | 210]

2 hours ago, RH said:

Unless he’s that rare, young child that wants to really takes care of stuff, even if he uses it, I’d probably get him games with slightly damaged labels, or with label wear.  

Thanks for the advice. I was hoping someone might have a few spares they wanted to dump, as I’m definitely not looking for top condition. I also wanted to stay away from repros- I’m enough of a collector that it looks like it’s rubbed off on him, because he’s definitely interested in the original materials. (I’m not sure if that’s a good thing.) Thankfully, I managed to find a dinged-up Mario 64 CIB at a local reseller that works perfectly. Now that we’ve got Mario, he’s agreed to use an everdrive until he gets a better idea of what else he’s interested in.

Regarding CRTs, I am very familiar with those… I already have a half dozen small gaming TVs stashed around my house. My wife says that’s enough.

Edited May 18 by dvertov

[Jeevan | 9,150]

23 hours ago, dvertov said:

Thanks for the advice. I was hoping someone might have a few spares they wanted to dump, as I’m definitely not looking for top condition. I also wanted to stay away from repros- I’m enough of a collector that it looks like it’s rubbed off on him, because he’s definitely interested in the original materials. (I’m not sure if that’s a good thing.) Thankfully, I managed to find a dinged-up Mario 64 CIB at a local reseller that works perfectly. Now that we’ve got Mario, he’s agreed to use an everdrive until he gets a better idea of what else he’s interested in.

Regarding CRTs, I am very familiar with those… I already have a half dozen small gaming TVs stashed around my house. My wife says that’s enough.

destruction derby 64, thank me later