MiamiSlice

I am so jelly... I cannot believe they did the same bundle for 3 different releases!

Ok I need this

Is that a Pocket Dogs bundle???

My Nintendo just announced an event in Super Mario Bros. 35 that can earn you 350 platinum points: https://my.nintendo.com/news/f75c197fec437f69 Looks fun but FYI you need an NSO subscription to participate.

OK so I revived this thread the other day because I had a couple crazy stories of my own to share. But firstly, I've been following online listings, Facebook groups, Reddit, etc. etc. for a year solid now, it's like my hobby, just whenever I'm bored I pop out my phone and I'm looking at this stuff day in day out. So I have some thoughts. One thing I've noticed is that "available supply" has been scarce since COVID lockdowns started. Some items that used to be readily available are near impossible to find now, and not because people are buying them up - I mean you just don't even see listings for these things. One example is the Gotcha Force strategy guide which I wish I had picked up a couple years ago when you could find it on eBay for $35 - $40. I haven't seen a listing for one in months. Finally one popped up on eBay recently but it's an auction and the seller is asking a crazy price. It's so frustrating. I mean if you haven't been doing this for a long time then you could really be led to believe that these things are super rare. Doesn't matter where you are looking, local game stores or online, the stuff just isn't there. Another item I rarely see now is Kirby's Dreamland 2 CIB. I also recall Mario Party 2 CIB got hard to find. I can name a bunch of items that I've been searching for that used to be relatively common before last year and the "available supply" just dried up. So when you have inexperienced buyers who think prices only go up and are looking to acquire something quickly, they really don't care if something is actually rare or just "seems rare because I can't find many listings for it," they will pay up. That being said I do think some of this stuff was due to go up in value eventually. The way I look at it is this. Little Samson is kind of my barometer for NES values and mid to high end collecting in general. Little Samson cart only is kind of rare, not crazy rare, and that has been pretty consistently in the $1.3k range for the past few years. It hasn't exploded like other stuff has in the past year. So the way I look at it is, if there's a game in another console library that is pretty similar to Little Samson in terms of rarity, should it have parity? Should they go for the same price? Because if anything, the price difference is more about the demand for that console library and not so much a difference in supply for the games themselves. So like Gotcha Force CIB - similar rarity maybe? Maybe I'm way off here but if GameCube collecting is really hot then I wonder why shouldn't Gotcha Force CIB be a $1.3k game? Or a CIB Return of the Ninja. I mean my point is if another console library gets to be as in-demand as NES then I would expect a game of similar rarity to Little Samson would command a similar price. OK make of that what you will. Anyway, so, Co-signed. It's bad. I've been frustrated with some of the stuff I've been hunting for. Like, it doesn't feel like the effort is worth it. I know these things aren't that rare but it sure feels like it since they just aren't popping up. I'm also increasingly convinced that post-COVID, whenever that happens, we will see a lot more inventory show up on the market because people will finally be comfortable sending their stuff to the thrift or having garage sales or whatever and then maybe prices will really come down somewhat. Who knows. But I have to share a couple stories from the seller side that had me blown away a bit. Obviously I don't deal in high end stuff so I'm not pocketing big money like some people are right now. But here's two examples of sales I thought were just a bit too wild. 1. Some lady in a Facebook group was looking to sell a sealed Intec AV Switch & Speakers bundle for the GameCube. The one she was selling was black and she mentioned that she really wanted the purple one instead to match her GameCube. So I replied, out of the blue, what if someone had a purple one and would be willing to trade? Because seriously, I have a black GameCube and a purple AV Switch & Speakers set. I got the accessory from a GameCube haul I picked up a couple years ago that at the time I felt wasn't the best haul. I still have a spreadsheet of stuff I sold from that haul, like an Intec screen that had bad speakers (sold for about $60) and some games like a CIB Wind Waker I sold for $33. That's a $60 game now if not more. So I mention this because looking back at this list now it feels like I sold all that stuff for peanuts, even though those were the going prices at the time. I mean my brain can't really process these numbers now. So back to the accessory I still had, this lady was willing to actually trade me the sealed set for my loose set and just have me pay her $20 to cover her shipping, but then backed out of the deal. She ended up selling the set and then contacted me a few days later asking if I would sell her my purple set FOR $200. $200! Literally this: When I bought this thing 2 years ago I figured it was worth $50 at best. And I wasn't planning to sell it, but I thought about it a bit and decided I'd rather have the money and use a $20 AV Switch from GE instead (which I purchased that same night off Amazon). But seriously, have you seen what, like, the Intec screens and such have been going for? These things aren't rare! 2. I bought this bundle 11 months ago. Not even a year ago. On the bay. For about $160: At the time it seemed like a pretty good deal! I still have most of the stuff in that picture. But I did some research on the game in the middle and figured out that it's pretty uncommon and happens to be the first Game Boy game from the studio now known as WayForward. So whatever, pretty cool, into the collection it goes. (I also played the full thing in one sitting... it's good if you like puzzle games but nothing special). Anyway, so I'm hitting this point recently where I'm spending too much on stuff and feeling like I need to let some things go, and I decide I'd be willing to sell this if I can get a good amount for it. So to make a long story short, I had it on eBay for a bit at $299 with offers and I ended up with 8 watchers and ended up selling it to someone who offered $245. But here's the crazy thing. The buyer is in Europe, and eBay showed me the total the buyer paid with taxes and shipping. Fellas... it was $340 in total on their end. For this: It's not sealed and it's not mint, but I guess hey, it was the only copy on eBay aside from another copy from a seller in Europe that was asking like $800. It's just blowing my mind on multiple levels. Like I think back to the prices I was seeing a year ago, which to some of you were probably already getting too high, and thinking "why didn't I buy everything I could find then???" Anyway that went on long but I had to share this somewhere. I'd be happier if I already had all the items I wanted and wasn't still hunting. As it is, even when I'm selling stuff at great prices I'm still mad because I will have to pay up for the stuff I want. T_T

Pretty good price for a near-mint Aero the Acrobat CIB for GBA: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Aero-the-Acrobat-Nintendo-Game-Boy-Advance-GBA-2002-Brand-NEW/284095926971 Offers accepted too so maybe you get it for a bit lower? Tempted to pick this up myself but I'm really trying to focus on my wantlist! Gah! The seller has a bunch of other GBC/GBA games listed, either CIB or box only. Some prices aren't so great but most listings accept offers. Good if you were looking for any of those titles.

If you don't want to have to go custom, the Atlantic brand media shelves are great for typical NES / DVD-style / CD-style game boxes. I use these for my DS / 3DS / GameCube / PS2 and even Switch shelving: https://www.amazon.com/Atlantic-DrawBridge-Storage-Organization-Cabinet/dp/B0058O8F7I There's a bigger one, Atlantic Oskar, that would be great for a large space. I use Drawbridge because I have these under windows and didn't want to block the windows.

How are you guys feeling 5 months since this thread was last active? Craziness has not slowed down IMO. Not at all.

Added the Super Mario Pin Set #2, Smash Bros invitations and Splatoon Super Mario keychains

Such a crazy market we are in. No matter how many listings change hands on eBay, Mercari, Facebook groups, etc. people will continue to believe it's rare because that's what someone said about it. I had the same argument with someone about NCAA Football 2014. The rare game everyone has and continues to find in the wild. Makes no sense.

When I was shopping around for a family vehicle I tried both the Pilot and the Odyssey. They are very different. Pilot is pretty spacious for an SUV but nowhere near as spacious as the Odyssey. A minivan being lower to the ground means it's also much easier for kids or a pregnant mom to get in and out of. And space you have in the rear with the seats lowered is much bigger with the minivan. Plus being lower to the ground means much easier to load and unload. Etc. etc. I know SUVs are cooler but for practicality the minivan is much better. p.s. Aside from the Odyssey I drive an Atlas which is bigger than a Pilot

I love my Honda Odyssey. Super comfortable, spacious, well designed.

PM'd

pm'd

Agreed, it still confuses me

Probably 3 or 2.

Finally, after years of hunting, I completed the Mario Party set. All the games released in North America, all in their boxes. Whew this was more work than it should have been. I was close to being done and then Mario Party 9 spiked in price and Mario Party 2 became impossible to find at a price that didn’t make me want to puke. But it feels good to have finally reached this point! And now I will be selling 1+2+3 since I am done with N64 collecting

More pickups! Okami was a game I used to have, then I let it go for some reason, and finally I decided to get it back. Also picked up a sealed Walmart variant FFXIII-2 for cheap. And finally added a complete Kirby's Block Ball. And picked up a Nintendo promotional magazine for Winter 2020 that was a Japan exclusive. Added a few DS games for $10 each and got this carrying case from a lot buy that was really dirty but I cleaned it up and now it looks pretty good. My Ori CE finally arrived and I also picked up Robotics;Notes day 1 edition on sale from GameStop. Got this beautiful blue DS bag in a local deal for $5. Also finally nabbed Cooking Mama Sweet Shop off the bay. And got a great deal on a CIB Battletoads via Reddit although I probably won't be keeping it, hoping to trade it toward my top wants. Some Wii U/Wii games I needed... This OoT guide that I lived far too long without (also Okami, Mario Tennis and this guide were all from @jeffg)! And lastly this Sprint Pokemon Go Charging Station.

$5 local find! I’ve been looking for this exact bag for two years... I mean I could have nabbed it off eBay for $20 whenever but I really wanted to find a better deal

How’s this for a shelving solution?

What’s really crazy is I haven’t even ordered my copy yet

Yeah I mean if LRG published a Naruto game then sure, it could be a contender. What's funny is they published a Power Rangers game and people were like "meh." But Scott Pilgrim really is that game, it has that cult following.

None of you realize how popular Scott Pilgrim is!? They made a dang movie about it. How many graphic novels do you know that get movies?

Aaaaaah

OH MY GOODNESS