Strange

I’m a long time Pokémon fan and I’ve considered getting into purely the collecting side of Pokémon cards (as if I need a new hobby to collect for) but I don’t know anything about that whole scene.

I have a high pitched voice for a guy. It is what it is. I’ve been misgendered a few times. I can’t speak for you or for what sets you off, but I really just don’t let it bother me. This is the petty asshole in me speaking, but next time it happens you should totally misgender them back. I think I did that once or twice while I worked in customer service. It’s especially funny if it’s some gruff tough guy.

Sorry, I’m one of those people. Been chipping away at the Genesis black grid set.

Thanks for the replies all. Seems my fears about loose cart collecting/piecing together are confirmed, lol. I like @DefaultGen’s idea of having a cart copy and a boxed copy, but it would depend on feasibility with space and money (currently looking for a new apartment). I guess selling the cart to fund part of the complete copy is an option too. But being patient and going the CIB route and buying less frequently seems like the best option for my wallet.

I have no clue why the text showed up the way that it did, sorry in advance.

So I’m a relatively new Nintendo collector looking for advice from people who know way more than I do. Up until now I’ve collected cart only, but recently have become interested in collecting boxes and manuals too. The last few years I’ve been into Atari collecting, which is a totally different landscape. Parts of that library are incredibly easy to collect CIB (you could easily buy a $2 Warlords cart and get it CIB for $10 down the road). Obviously the Nintendo landscape is different, so my questions are: How often does the opportunity to buy just boxes/manuals come up? If you see a game you want that is cart only, do you buy that to play or bide your time and wait for a CIB one, even at a higher price? Just curious what other peoples’ strategies are.

Can I use this thread to complain about something I’ve seen lately in local game stores? I didn’t want to start a new thread. And again, someone feel free to tell me if I’m the one being unreasonable in this scenario. I love local game stores and will always go out of my way to support them. I have a great relationship with my favorite local one and luckily they don’t do what I’m about to piss and moan about. I understand that condition is a major factor in collecting. Not everything I own is mint. But lately I’ve noticed this flippant, bothered sounding, car salesman like tactic when trading in games to some local shops that has started to annoy me. They’ll look over my items and note any and all condition issues and tell me how the trade credit will be waaay less and act like they’re doing me a huge favor by even taking the item. Look, I get it. I didn’t come in expecting the moon. But I don’t need an itemized list nor a thesis of the things wrong with it. A simple “Hey, you may get less than this because of condition” is fine, fair, and understandable. Don’t sound bothered that I’ve brought you product. And for the record, I’m not trading in scratched discs or label torn carts. I’m talking normal, non-mint box wear or maybe crack or two in a Saturn/PS1 case that I’m getting these earfuls about. It’s especially annoying when the same stores that give me these lectures are selling less than mint copies of games for “mint on eBay” prices. Rant over.

A bit of serendipity after posting this... but I just had a local deal on a Power Base Converter come up that came under the price of the Power Base Mini and well under the current eBay prices. I’m happy that worked out. That said, I’ll probably still get the FM version of the PBM in the future just for that feature and flexibility with Model 2 Genesis/CDX systems. Thank you for the answers!

I’m getting into Master System and I value space right now so I was looking into the Power Base Converter for my Model 1 Genesis. However the Power Base Mini by Stone Age Gamer is an even cheaper option. I know you can’t play the card games with it, but are there any other drawbacks? Any positives? Thanks!

eBay link is here I realize the box and manual have both seen better days, and I tried to price it as such, AKA below the current eBay and PC rate for this game CIB. I don’t sell a lot of N64 games so I’m hoping I’ve priced this fairly, but I figured I would post here and let the VGS community take a look too. I’m also selling Iconoclasts for Switch on eBay as well.

My local game store opens in less than an hour and I plan on getting it then. As a kid who grew up a Pokémon dork, I’m very excited.

I always say I like playing games but don’t like gamers. There’s a difference. I’ve had some time to think about things and I really feel like the the divide between Pokemon fans is really a divide in overall philosophies. Rather than be upset about what isn’t there, I’d rather enjoy the good things that are there. I feel like most gamers today prefer to do the former which is why I don’t hang around many modern-focused gaming forums anymore. When I was a kid, we recognized the faults in games but if they were a good game we were still able to consider them a good game and I guess that transferred over to me as an adult. As far as public opinion in gaming today goes, if a game isn’t a 10/10 it’s a 0/10 because outrage gets clicks. I don’t know. I wish I could worry about them cutting Pokémon enough to rage all day on Reddit and Twitter about it, but I’ve got other things in my life that take a higher priority or that stress me out enough as is.

My best finds in the wild are Samurai Western for PS2 for 25 cents, a loose R.O.B. for $3, boxed Exocet for Atari 2600 (more rare than valuable), Stubbs the Zombie for $1.

You may be able to sell me on the 3DO, but the CD-i will be a harder sell...

Me: “I don’t think I’m interested in Sega CD. I don’t need to worry about collecting for that.” Also me: “Woah that’s an awesome cover!” Back to coveting Snatcher I guess. And a working Sega CD.

I haven’t checked the back of them yet, but those look similar to the Star Raiders and Haunted House pieces I posted earlier in this thread (which I ended up buying and forgot to post about here, oops).

It was inevitable with how they add a large amount of new Pokemon each generation. The jump to a new console was the right time to implement it, logistically. Please don’t take this as me shutting down your opinion or concerns because I certainly have my own concerns with the Pokemon franchise that I’ve voiced in the past. It’s totally okay to be disappointed by the trimming of the National Dex. But the “controversy” is way, WAY overblown. It’s an extremely loud online minority. Everyone I know in real life and talked to at stores or whatever has basically said “Yeah it sucks, but I’m incredibly excited for Sword and Shield.” Every person. This game will do well just like the rest. And frankly with the National Dex issue aside, the game looks incredibly enjoyable, but that’s up to personal taste I guess.

No manual unfortunately, but I was really excited to find a boxed copy from this relatively obscure developer. Some of their cartridges were only made with end labels and missing the top labels like this one.

Some Atari games, including an early Sega title CIB.

I loved all three Kingdom Hearts and their side games. Sue me. If you consider the Super Famicom/SNES era of Final Fantasy a trilogy, I’m a huge fan of 4, 5, and 6. I’d love to be able to say the Bravely trilogy but we’re still waiting on the third game.

Right now my favorite games I’ve got for it are Time Pilot - an early shooter from Konami and Venture, an arcade action game where you enter different rooms and fight monsters. The Atari 2600 got a version of Venture but it’s more limited. This was done on purpose by Coleco to make their version (and console) look better. Even though Atari, Coleco, and Mattel were competitors, they still ported games to their competitors’ systems. Potentially, depending on what you’re looking for. We can talk over PM!

When I was a kid I bought Haunting Ground from Gamestop and sold it back to them for $4 when I was done playing it. I sold off my Neo Geo Pocket Color thinking that would hurt but it didn’t. I just sold my Commodore 64 so we’ll see if I regret that later or not.

My “focus” is SNES/Genesis and down, with a bit of PS1/N64 collecting too. I’m always looking to add Atari, NES, SNES, and Sega stuff I’m interested in, but that’s on a broader scale. Right now: I just got a ColecoVision so I’m putting more effort into looking for those games at the moment to build my library. It’s such an interesting console to me, like a short bridge between Atari and NES. It’s got some MSX and Famicom titles on it like Antarctic Adventure, and some really early Sega stuff like Girl’s Garden (homebrew). The Cabbage Patch kids game is a Coleco-branded reskin of an earlier platforming game that I can’t recall the name of right now (they owned Cabbage Patch kids). What about you?

Collecting is a hobby that has always been a part of me - since I was a kid I was always collecting something. In college the idea to collect retro video games hit me and it’s stuck better than anything else I’ve ever collected. Now? I really appreciate the history behind the old cartridges and hardware and seeing the roots of the industry. Atari, ColecoVision, and Intellivision are an area I like to focus on, with NES, SNES, and Genesis included too.