dr.robbie

Was just putting some of my doubles in cases and came across some sealed goodness I stashed away behind them. I thanked my younger self for some decent titles in there lol. (Spyro, Azura's wrath, and Splatterhouse aren't sealed copies unfortunately).

Nothing against VGS, but I've been really missing NA lately. Seems like it's hard to keep up on this site and follow the active topics (maybe I'm just too old or not understanding it right lol). It was incredibly nice to just have a list of active topics to scroll through with people I've known for years. Anywho, I don't blame Dain for selling out. We all will at some point I guess. But I blame him for the fall of NA. I know he put his heart and soul into that site for years and it meant a lot to a lot of us. I guess it couldn't last forever. That said, I'm 100% neutral on Dain. I thank him for what he did for the hobby and for me personally. But I am still upset that NA is no more. I'd welcome him with a lukewarm "meh". (To be fair, I wasn't very active when everything went down. Took me quite some time to even catch on. So maybe I'm off on how things occurred. But this is from my understanding of everything. My feelings can change with new/more information though).

Thrilla's surfari is my number 1, but has been mentioned. Sculptor's Cut and Megaman X3 took me quite some time to find copies that were legit and had nice labels. Can I just say PS1 jewel cases in general? I feel like half if not more of the ones I come across are cracked or the hinges don't work correctly. Especially the 2+ disk cases. Seems like if one little thing moves into the wrong spot or at the wrong time, the case will never be the same.

I wish it was just on the case lol. No, this guy did it on the paper insert. Guess he really didn't like the PS logo. I did a couple trial cleanings on cheaper games and it just made it worse unfortunately. I went through them last night because of this thread and it looks like I only have about 8 to still replace, so not too big of a deal.

Super Mario World was the first one for me. I first played it on vacation when the condo we were in had a brand new SNES set up. I played that game the entire week we were there. Even when I wasn't playing, I was thinking about playing. Diablo II was the next one. That was the first game I would be playing randomly and be completely unaware that I had spent the entire night playing. That was a hard addiction to break and took over a couple years of college. Pokemon Go is the current one. The game is dumb and incredibly flawed, but it's simple and the grind is addictive. The collecting aspect definitely scratches a familiar itch. And it's fun when you run into people randomly that are already familiar with your trainer name.

For cart only (NES, SNES, and N64), I'm pretty picky. I'd rather wait for a good copy to surface than to settle on one I'll want to replace later. The only exception I've made so far was Thrilla's Surfari just because that label seems to always be trash. For my PS2 collection, I did let some games slide just to be place holders, but haven't taken the time to replace them yet. I had one collection I bought where the guy blacked out the PS logo on the spine of the cases with a sharpie. They do annoy me sitting there with visible damage, but I guess not enough to actively replace them yet. Definitely on my list of things to do at some point.

I stand corrected. Appreciate the clarification.

It's been years since I read into anything to do with him so I could be way off base, but wasn't he the one that had a good number of scores that were absolutely unattainable even with tool assisted runs? If so, not sure I would even care to hear his side of the story. Cheaters in gaming are basically on the same level as counterfeiters in collecting imo.

I've only had a handful of games get graded. Never really caught on with me (thankfully I suppose). Mario Galaxy I bought new from a Walmart shelf and sent in just to see what the process was like. Might be the lowest graded copy of that title lol. Pokemon Box I got from an NA member and really wanted to get it encased so I could display it without much worry. Mensa, MK8, and NSMB I had in my collection and thought they were in good enough shape to send in. I honestly can't remember where the .hack games came from - probably eBay randomly? Regardless, judging by my number of silvers, I never really had an eye for sealed game grading.

The NTSC version of FIFA 13 on the PS2 was unverified/unconfirmed for the longest time. I had a bounty on one for over a year until one finally turned up to complete the PS2 set. Even now that it's better known and the flood gates opened up down in Mexico for a while, I think I've still only seen less than 10 legit copies pop up.

Really depends on where you draw the line I suppose. There are a lot of reproductions that were made early on that I would say are collectible for sure like the ### in 1 carts or the Hong Kong carts for NES that seem to have their own following. As far as recently-made reproductions, I don't really see the value of them as a collector. When you start messing with the scarcity of an item, the it severely impacts the collectability. Reproductions completely flip the scarcity factor and imo destroy the collectability aspect. So, collectors in general will always want the original and that is where the demand will be.

I absolutely hate RPGs in general as I get bored easily and lose interest in just exploring quickly. The only exception for me is Legend of Legaia (PS). Not sure why, but this game totally absorbed by attention as a kid and has so many side things going on that it kept me intrigued. I was even able to go back as an adult and go through it again. I'd highly recommend giving this game a whirl for people not into the genre.

I completely agree that there are some high quality handheld games. Zelda LBW is definitely one of them - maybe the best. And then there are the other top notch games like the Marios, Pokemon, other Zeldas, Mario Karts, Castlevania, etc.. However, I also feel like handheld games are less significant like the OP said. Aside from the premium games, the replayability/enjoyability of handheld games is far less so than console games. It's hard to explain from my perspective, but there's not much enjoyment in searching for 4 AA batteries, finding a well-lite area, and firing up a low quality, difficult to see GB game on a mini screen. Part of the fun of the hobby is playing with others and that is also almost completely removed with handheld games. And if you don't collect CIB, they display horribly, which gives them another knock down from my collecting perspective. I guess I just see them as this "watered down" version in both collecting and playing like the OP was stating. Handhelds are the only part of my collection that I've seriously considered trimming from my collection and, if I had more free-time, they'd already be gone. On a completely different tangent - handheld games are also easy to get stolen. I've only had someone steal from my collection one time and it was all of my pokemon games. Sucks because it had to be family or friends, but obviously extremely easy to throw 8 cartridges in your pockets before walking out of someone's house. So, I guess easy theft can be added to my list of why I think lesser of handhelds

I remember picking up a repro of this a few years ago. It's actually a pretty fun game, but it was hard transitioning back to the Genesis controller for me. With a semi-official release, I think I might actually pick up another copy.

I still randomly enter the Age sites on accident from typing muscle memory. So many years spent in there and now, like you said, just a sad state. Welcome to the site! Hopefully this becomes your new home for collecting.

Comes with a sleeve too. I've only seen a handful of these and the ESA ones listed above.

Shoot, not sure if it's helpful or not, but here's the list I originally came up with when I completed the PS2 set. It had a spot on NA, but guessing it's unfindable at this point https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/ubvmvrvhi8s5hr69yf36l/PS2-NTSC-Master-Game-List-1794.xlsx?dl=0&rlkey=9qkcw8ayu80ryf33smgzrw5as

I'm on a desktop and can't see the most recent pictures. Regardless, looks like your room is turning out great buddy! Love the Zelda setup.

I suck at uploading pics. This is an ongoing issue

Randomly got two sweet items for Christmas this year. My mother got me the original sketch and my wife got me the signed nes cart. I guess they know me pretty well. Going to have to get some cases for these guys

What boggles my mind is how popular the game still is relative to its age. I work with teenagers / young adults and they regularly talk about getting together and doing stuff in the game. A game that probably came out half their life ago.

I know it varies from person to person, but the original GB was very difficult for me to get back into. I really liked the system growing up, but it's a lot harder for me to get interested in as an adult. I'm not sure if it's the lack of lighting, simplicity of the games, just a different personal perspective, or some combination of these, but the GB really doesn't do anything for me. And I was obsessed with it as a kid. However, I was able to get more into some of the bigger games (Zelda, Pokemon, DK Land) by using the Super Gameboy instead for what it's worth.

The end of the PS2 set was annoying because the last thing I needed weren't games, but a handful of manuals that were missing for some reason or another. I don't remember exactly which ones were in the last lot I bought (there were like 10), but I know Zatch Bell Mamodo Battles, Fairly Oddparents Shadow Showdown, River King, and Xiaolin Showdown were among them. Also had to pick up a case for Tourist Trophy at the same time since every other copy I went through were the GH version.

Honestly, I miss the old-school NA from back in the day. It was very active and felt like a close-knit group of people. That said, NA hasn't felt like that to me in a long time. And whatever that GoCollect thing that occurred was an abomination. This site is fresh and seems to be the start of something similar. I'm resistant to change, but working on it

Welcome buddy!