Why does no one care about SNES Slotted vs. Slide carts?

[T-Pac | 7,560]

If people care about NES screw variants, it would only make sense that they care about SNES slot/slide variants, but here's my theory about why this isn't the case:

In the initial 2000s retro game collecting boom (maybe around 2007), everyone was collecting NES games, and many people were going for full (or almost-full) sets. It was more feasible at that time, financially and from a game-hunting perspective. This led to a mass of NES collectors who managed to get all the games they were after, but weren't quite ready to give up on hunting cartridges for their favorite system. In comes screw-variants: the perfect way to continue collecting NES games beyond the standard "get a copy of each game" goal.

So why didn't this variant-hunting transfer seamlessly to SNES collecting? I think that's because the heyday of SNES collecting didn't come until years later, maybe around 2012-2015. By this time, retro game collecting had fallen into the mainstream, loose prices were starting to skyrocket, and consequently, full-set collecting started to die off. SNES collectors were happy just to nab a copy of each game they were after - they didn't have the luxury of fussing over variants because the market was becoming so volatile.

Basically, I think people would care about slot/slide variants if SNES collecting rose to prominence in the mid-2000s alongside NES. But back then, game collectors just didn't care as much about 16-bit platforms.

-CasualCart

[LostLevel83 | 85]

2 hours ago, CasualCart said:

Basically, I think people would care about slot/slide variants if SNES collecting rose to prominence in the mid-2000s alongside NES. But back then, game collectors just didn't care as much about 16-bit platforms.

CasualCart, I was expecting another badass illustration. This is an interesting perspective!

I’m with you, but with the qualifier that beyond the timeline we must account for the fact that the NES was first and a cultural icon. There is something extra about things that are the first.

[NESfiend | 1,515]

Always liked the later release look better. Didnt ever occur to me it may affect value. Most of my carts are later release. I'm guessing thats just because its easier to find later releases in very good condition. 

[Weltall | 0]

I care. Kind of. Like if I had a choice of the same game at the same price in the same condition, I'd pick the fat one, without the divot.

[GPX | 1,370]

17 hours ago, CasualCart said:

If people care about NES screw variants, it would only make sense that they care about SNES slot/slide variants, but here's my theory about why this isn't the case:

In the initial 2000s retro game collecting boom (maybe around 2007), everyone was collecting NES games, and many people were going for full (or almost-full) sets. It was more feasible at that time, financially and from a game-hunting perspective. This led to a mass of NES collectors who managed to get all the games they were after, but weren't quite ready to give up on hunting cartridges for their favorite system. In comes screw-variants: the perfect way to continue collecting NES games beyond the standard "get a copy of each game" goal.

So why didn't this variant-hunting transfer seamlessly to SNES collecting? I think that's because the heyday of SNES collecting didn't come until years later, maybe around 2012-2015. By this time, retro game collecting had fallen into the mainstream, loose prices were starting to skyrocket, and consequently, full-set collecting started to die off. SNES collectors were happy just to nab a copy of each game they were after - they didn't have the luxury of fussing over variants because the market was becoming so volatile.

Basically, I think people would care about slot/slide variants if SNES collecting rose to prominence in the mid-2000s alongside NES. But back then, game collectors just didn't care as much about 16-bit platforms.

-CasualCart

I think the topic has 2 separate angles:

1. Are these SNES cart variations similar to the NES cart screw variations? The answer would probably be “yes”.

2. Is it fair to compare or extrapolate NES collecting to that of SNES collecting? The answer would probably be “no”. And I tend to agree in similar lines to the quoted post above.