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Which Parts of Collecting Do You Hate Most?


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It is one of the reasons that collecting for the NES is interesting. Albeit frustrating at times.

 

For me, the bigger question is Caltron/Myriad. Label variant? But it's two different publishers. Different games? Then every variant is a separate game.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Well, I have only 2 parts of collecting I don't like. The first is people saying the "bubble is going to pop", which I have been hearing for at least 10 years now and prices just continue to go up and up and up. I kinda just tune them out, so it doesn't bother me much anymore. Second one is hard to ignore - I have a real problem with "collectors" who enter the scene and buy up a bunch of high demand games, show them off and then either sell them in an attempt to profit or sell them because they spent all their money and are burned out/desperate. This kinda shit has been happening for so long and it has ruined people's lives. I think it's really bad for the hobby. There used to be a lad from Canada on Nintendoage who showed up out of nowhere one day and started posting pictures of new pickups, almost always the most pricey stuff on Nintendo's consoles. Then, he disappeared for a while. Then he returned out of nowhere and started selling off his entire collection. Then he tried to say he was selling duplicates. Then he disappeared again. To each their own, but this kinda crap is just lame and I'll never be able to accept the new guy who shows up and has to show off no matter what the burden on his finances are.

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Trying to find information on PS4 imports. I know there are plenty of games that have only gotten physical release in countries outside the U.S., but actually trying to figure out what is available is a pain, since as far as I know no one has been keeping track. For example, only until maybe a month ago did I find out that This War of Mine had a physical in Europe. It was a game I really wanted to play and until then was disappointed that there wasn't a physical release. Going through PlayAsia only gets me so far. 

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Lets see... Here is my "Top 5" list:

1) Self-entitled people: I don't care what a person collects or how they collect it. And I don't care what type of preference somebody has when it comes to gaming. But I do have issues with those who act like they are superior when it comes to anything they create for themselves. It's both a quick way to ruin a fandom and many have made it my biggest hurdle in the past. Thankfully nobody is like that here.

2) Anxiety: I have a variation of Asperger's that has this pop up from time to time. So it always feels like if I cannot get this goal done within a specific time-frame then it cannot be done. Or if I get really far into what I have accomplished only to find issues, then it cannot be done. Stuff like that just puts me in a position where collecting is not possible in the end.

3) Game hunting in "unknown" stores: I love hunting down games that are on my check-list. Both online and offline. But I absolutely do not like buying games when I cannot determine the overall condition. Or have to rely on a store's grading system. The latter is a perfect counter-argument when it comes to grading companies. And I am dreading the offline part later this year.

4) Grading companies: One of my favorite things about this hobby is seeing well displayed graded video games. What bothers me is how annoying it is to get a game graded these days. VGA no longer offer photos, nor offer a means of knowing that you need to pay extra for a custom case. And WATA needs you to contact them if you cannot use their form. It's... Ugh.

5) Doing a niche focus: All I can say is that I have been doing this for less than a month and it has mentally burnt me out. To the point that I might actually have to change everything I was planning to do if I want to stay in this hobby. And because of that I salute those who have the willpower to not jump ship because it is any level of frustration for them. (Especially those who only collect first print copies of any game for any system.)

Edited by FenrirZero
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On 5/10/2020 at 10:38 PM, DoctorEncore said:

I do admit that I have never seen any strong evidence to indicate the game was recalled, but there is some circumstantial evidence.

  • Reliable sources (Howard Phillips) have indicated that a minimum run of 10,000 cartridges was required by Nintendo for any official release. Phillips also does not recall any sort of special arrangement or release for Stadium Events.
  • We can safely assume that at least a few games sold poorly and only received a single 10,000 unit print run, yet SE is significantly more scarce than any other title. If it received a standard print run, it had to have been recalled after release (or destroyed prior to reaching retail).
  • No non-Nintendo published game was ever released in a limited test market scenario
  • It was purportedly sold in multiple markets indicating a somewhat large initial release
  • Nintendo has always had a strict approval process and would have known everything about the FFF mat and games prior to release. Why would they approve a full release of the mat and FFF Athletic World, but then arrange for a special limited release of the Series 2 game, Stadium Events? More likely someone at Nintendo realized they wanted the mat and series so they stopped shipments of the game and/or recalled it after a standard print run.
  • Tim Atwood's (admittedly blurry) case photo looks like a standard release in every way

hqdefault.jpg.b700e1483b46cc7fc8ca0a5606d6a439.jpg

For me, this is enough to support the theory that the game was probably recalled and destroyed or the carts were used as donors for repairs.

Obviously none of this is concrete, but there is literally zero evidence for a limited print run beyond the fact that such a small number of them exist.

Just my two cents.

Not to derail the thread too much into this discussion, but a few thoughts to add to the above;

10,000 sounds like a large number, but it's very feasible that there was a 10k production run without recall. The best way to benchmark production run is probably to look at similar items where we have an approximate indication of production numbers based on serial number. We can use the following list of rare NES games in collectors' hands, and compare SE vs. Myriad ownership:

http://archive.nes.science/nintendoage-forums/nintendoage.com/forum/messageviewac39.html?catid=5&threadid=50116

The list has numerous duplicate listings for Myriad (based on the serial #), but we can assume that the same applies to the SE list (owners selling games w/o notifying OP), so we can ignore that in the comparison. Myriad's highest known number is just under 1000 IIRC, so let's assume 1k production run. There are noticeably more SEs in the list above, roughly 50% more. That might indicate a production run of 1.5K units. But -- if you look at the Myriad serial #s, you'll notice a large share of them being +/- 500. What many probably don't know is that, similar to Cheetahmen II, new old stock of the Myriad game was found late 1990s and sold directly into collector's hands. I believe that those copies had serial #s around 500. This is an event that AFAIK never occurred for Stadium Events (except for the rumored Tim Atwood confidential new old stock sales, which would not be included in the list above anyway), and, if we look at Cheetahmen II, where such an event did occur, we can see that it has a drastic effect on % of produced units in collectors' hands. I therefore believe that the SE-to-Myriad production run ratio of 1.5, based on the above list of units in collector's hands, is underestimated and likely to be higher. 10 to 1 is certainly not impossible. 

Also, there are various NES-related retail releases (think accessories, for instance) that must have had production runs of at least 1k+, with a handful or less (sometimes just 1 unit) surfacing publicly in the last 15+ years. We also know from serial #s that there are likely to have been around 4000 NES Hands Free units produced, yet far far fewer have been found to date than SE units (and there was even a stash of new old stock Hands Free units found that went straight into collectors' hands).

To connect the above to the thread --> one slight pet-peeve of mine in the hobby is when collectors try to turn assumptions into facts, especially when motivated to do so for financial gain. Great examples are the existance of only 200 copies of SE, 90 copies of the grey NWC 1990, Blockbuster-exlusive story of Flintstones 2, etc. We all like a good story, but I think it's important that, when sharing those stories, they should not be stated as facts unless there is strong supporting evidence available.

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49 minutes ago, Speedy_NES said:

Not to derail the thread too much into this discussion, but a few thoughts to add to the above;

10,000 sounds like a large number, but it's very feasible that there was a 10k production run without recall. The best way to benchmark production run is probably to look at similar items where we have an approximate indication of production numbers based on serial number. We can use the following list of rare NES games in collectors' hands, and compare SE vs. Myriad ownership:

http://archive.nes.science/nintendoage-forums/nintendoage.com/forum/messageviewac39.html?catid=5&threadid=50116

 

And to continue not derailing.. That 10k production minimum was definitely negotiable and not absolute (in many respects to many nes games.) And it wouldn't surprise me if that 10k minimum number was enacted around 1988/19899 when the NES was really at its peak in the US.

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3 hours ago, Speedy_NES said:

Not to derail the thread too much into this discussion, but a few thoughts to add to the above;

10,000 sounds like a large number, but it's very feasible that there was a 10k production run without recall. The best way to benchmark production run is probably to look at similar items where we have an approximate indication of production numbers based on serial number. We can use the following list of rare NES games in collectors' hands, and compare SE vs. Myriad ownership:

http://archive.nes.science/nintendoage-forums/nintendoage.com/forum/messageviewac39.html?catid=5&threadid=50116

The list has numerous duplicate listings for Myriad (based on the serial #), but we can assume that the same applies to the SE list (owners selling games w/o notifying OP), so we can ignore that in the comparison. Myriad's highest known number is just under 1000 IIRC, so let's assume 1k production run. There are noticeably more SEs in the list above, roughly 50% more. That might indicate a production run of 1.5K units. But -- if you look at the Myriad serial #s, you'll notice a large share of them being +/- 500. What many probably don't know is that, similar to Cheetahmen II, new old stock of the Myriad game was found late 1990s and sold directly into collector's hands. I believe that those copies had serial #s around 500. This is an event that AFAIK never occurred for Stadium Events (except for the rumored Tim Atwood confidential new old stock sales, which would not be included in the list above anyway), and, if we look at Cheetahmen II, where such an event did occur, we can see that it has a drastic effect on % of produced units in collectors' hands. I therefore believe that the SE-to-Myriad production run ratio of 1.5, based on the above list of units in collector's hands, is underestimated and likely to be higher. 10 to 1 is certainly not impossible. 

Also, there are various NES-related retail releases (think accessories, for instance) that must have had production runs of at least 1k+, with a handful or less (sometimes just 1 unit) surfacing publicly in the last 15+ years. We also know from serial #s that there are likely to have been around 4000 NES Hands Free units produced, yet far far fewer have been found to date than SE units (and there was even a stash of new old stock Hands Free units found that went straight into collectors' hands).

To connect the above to the thread --> one slight pet-peeve of mine in the hobby is when collectors try to turn assumptions into facts, especially when motivated to do so for financial gain. Great examples are the existance of only 200 copies of SE, 90 copies of the grey NWC 1990, Blockbuster-exlusive story of Flintstones 2, etc. We all like a good story, but I think it's important that, when sharing those stories, they should not be stated as facts unless there is strong supporting evidence available.

Really appreciate this. It's the sort of thing that will get you flogged and flamed for mentioning, but I totally agree on it, if it's not 100% confirmed then why is it being passed off as gospel?

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3 hours ago, Speedy_NES said:


To connect the above to the thread --> one slight pet-peeve of mine in the hobby is when collectors try to turn assumptions into facts, especially when motivated to do so for financial gain. Great examples are the existance of only 200 copies of SE, 90 copies of the grey NWC 1990, Blockbuster-exlusive story of Flintstones 2, etc. We all like a good story, but I think it's important that, when sharing those stories, they should not be stated as facts unless there is strong supporting evidence available.

Two things we know about the gray NWC is 1) the serial numbers suggest that there were hundreds originally made, and 2) a few people reported getting them from event employees rather than the finalists. While we may never have exact numbers, it does seem to suggest that there are/were more than 90 originally. How many more? Who knows for sure.

 

Edited by Tulpa
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30 minutes ago, Tulpa said:

Two things we know about the gray NWC is 1) the serial numbers suggest that there were hundreds originally made, and 2) a few people reported getting them from event employees rather than the finalists. While we may never have exact numbers, it does seem to suggest that there are/were more than 90 originally. How many more? Who knows for sure.

 

Well it makes sense that they could come from the employees aswell because they would've needed them to organize the events and if it wasn't clear beforehand the exact number of events that would take place. And on top of that a certain amount that acted as spares too. Afterwards they got discarded because no one thought anything of it because it was just obsolete tools.

Someone must've greenlighted/commissioned them in the first place and someone produced them but yeah who the fuck knows that info anymore. Even if it was documented at some point it's very possible it has been deleted until now.

 

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Editorials Team · Posted
On 5/4/2020 at 5:41 PM, Deadeye said:

Speaking of shelving, Game Dave covers a product in an episode for metal shelves that go on a custom peg board with slots.  Looks like is may be the answer for some people.  

See, that seems like a good solution to me, and I don't think it looks that bad.  Terrible aesthetics?  I guess that's in the eye of the beholder.

I'll be moving to a new house with a game room next month, and I was wanting something customizable and with a lack of wasted space.  That could be a good solution.  Maybe in black.  Maybe with 4 inch shelves.

I'll probably just do lumber and brackets, but I'm exploring all similar possibilities.

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Definitely selling games and grading games. The grading part for me right now is more of a necessity, I hate the process, but the end results can be satisfying (sometimes).

Selling games and everything to do with it is something I absolutely dread. From packing to shipping to parting with things that quite honestly I'd rather just keep (including duplicates), I just can't do it because of the space. In my collecting life I think I've only sold like 10 games? and I have a very large collection. 

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I got one, probably nothing new... lack of consistency.  I mean this in layers too.

- Lack of the ability to find things consistency to enjoy in  your area (scarcity, too many resellers, locals love 2nd hand shops to dump stuff...)

- Value offline and online can widely swing depending on the store, but online can be at least excused to hot button fickle buyers.  Local though?  Did the shop pay too much, looking for a sucker?

- Lack of not just buying power, but lack of consistency with facts, stories, and information about stuff (which was touched on before like the guesses on games production runs etc.)

 

I guess in the end it's all ... Step 1: Consistency  Step 2: ???  Step 3: Profit! 😄

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Trying to reacquire games: I unloaded my 200+ game GameCube collection a few years ago to fund a major purchase. I love my purchase but I miss my GameCube games, my favorite system besides SNES. Trying to get back my favorites is discouraging when they’ve seemingly doubled or quadrupled in price in 3 years. Thankfully I held on to my GameCube controllers, component cables, and some other accessories. 

Edited by Jmbarnes101
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On 6/2/2020 at 8:29 AM, LaytToTheParty said:

It's probably been said before, but people who try to defend their expensive purchases and claim that they're "hidden gems".

Hagane isn't the next Ninja Gaiden. It just isn't.

This mostly annoys me when clearly the person hyping their own purchase hasn't played the game and is just parroting it's reputation from Youtube or whatever. That said Little Samson is actually the bomb, so fight meeeee.

  

On 5/10/2020 at 5:15 PM, Tulpa said:

It is one of the reasons that collecting for the NES is interesting. Albeit frustrating at times.

For me, the bigger question is Caltron/Myriad. Label variant? But it's two different publishers. Different games? Then every variant is a separate game.

Can we hire a think tank to figure this one out? We need to throw out the old NintendoAge lists and start over from scratch. Caltron vs. Myriad 6-in-1 isn't any more special than Capcom vs. Ubisoft Empire Strikes Back on Game Boy, but 6-in-1 appears twice on all lists and Empire Strikes Back certainly doesn't. Publisher variants making it onto game lists just because they're rare and collectible is the worst. The more I've thought about it, the more I've fallen into the Myriad is "just" a variant camp. Not that it's any less interesting to collect, but include all or nothing if you make a list of something.

Edited by DefaultGen
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On 5/5/2020 at 5:13 PM, ThePhleo said:

I JUST did that.

I bought a lot from a former video rental store owner who passed away recently. It had some real gems and real common games all CIB.

The Gems of the lot were Addams Family: Pugsleys Scavenger Hunt, Kings Quest V, Mario Is Missing, and Fire n Ice all CIB! Then there were another 30 or so NES CIBs, a dozen SNES CIBs, and a dozen Gamecube CIBs.

... guess which games had the laminated manuals and stickers on the labels and boxes.

The gems of the lot of course. Lol.

I must be one of the few people that enjoys rental games.  My new kick is getting rental boxes and games for the NES to have a setup in my game room that looks like an old video rental store.  I’ve found a few blockbuster case games but most have been from smaller video stores.

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2 minutes ago, Penguin said:

I must be one of the few people that enjoys rental games.  My new kick is getting rental boxes and games for the NES to have a setup in my game room that looks like an old video rental store.  I’ve found a few blockbuster case games but most have been from smaller video stores.

that's awesome - I'd love to see pics.

Years ago, I was very "CIB or nothing," about my collection. Then I sold a lot of it off, and played a lot of digital stuff. I've been slowly re-collecting over the past few years now. Though, really I collect in the sense that I buy games I want to have to play, and sell/trade ones that I'm not into. So I'm more gamer than collector proper. At any rate, nowadays I'm pretty much about getting the CHEAPEST copy of a game that I want and can get my hands on. So where I used to want games to be complete and look really pretty, I've now taken this weird stance that whatever beat up copy of a game finds its way to me at a price I'm willing to play, now has more of an aesthetic value to me.

Meaning, whatever condition the game is in, it's MY copy of the game. It's the one that found its way to me. There's maybe even a story behind it, be it a good trade, or awesome yard sale find or whatever. But I digress.

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3 hours ago, Penguin said:

I must be one of the few people that enjoys rental games.  My new kick is getting rental boxes and games for the NES to have a setup in my game room that looks like an old video rental store.  I’ve found a few blockbuster case games but most have been from smaller video stores.

I collect them too! I have a handful from local places 🙂 

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On another note, two publishers = two entries, no matter what the game. Definitely not a variant, and all lists should be updated to reflect such.

The only possible time I'd disagree would be with the Bic / realtec famicom stuff, as in some cases the carts are identical, only the box is different, and I personally don't agree with the idea that all loose carts = version A, even if you remember getting version B back in the day and just lost / tossed the box.

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21 minutes ago, fcgamer said:

On another note, two publishers = two entries, no matter what the game. Definitely not a variant, and all lists should be updated to reflect such.

Better start convincing people on those white label Majesco SNES games. My guess is the number of people who count those is so close to 0% it might be negative.

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1 hour ago, DefaultGen said:

Better start convincing people on those white label Majesco SNES games. My guess is the number of people who count those is so close to 0% it might be negative.

Are the majesco games different publishers or different manufacturers though? 

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