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Thoughts on Complete Sets


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4 hours ago, LaytToTheParty said:

I'm assuming the top part is directed at me, 

All of it is. Welcome here and relax and have fun 🙂 

4 hours ago, LaytToTheParty said:

How are the unofficial guidebooks? Are they well designed and thought out?

Some are, some maybe not.  There is no standard and there is no set. That’s why I think they’re interesting. Some bill themselves as guides, or “how to win at _____”, or tip books, or unauthorized. They’re unique, and as good or as bad as they are, I like reading them. Pop culture bootlegs have always fascinated me. 
The current equivalent of those books is a social media account with much parroting of prior work and it just seems lazy. But I give respect to bloggers and unique websites who actually type out their personal reasoned opinions.

Again though: that’s just one example. If you have the collecting bug, there are many avenues you can go down. imo it’s better to explore those, than to reiterate what you have already done. Ancillary products include books and magazines, clothing (if you’re looking for something to chase, vintage Nintendo t-shirts are big), so many paper products (trading cards, trapper keeper stuff, Nintendo comic books, ads) and other promo material (video tapes). Some people collect store demo kiosks, and others collect the original paintings and sketches that were created to produce box art. 

Outside all of that. if you have the collecting bug, it doesn’t have to be only video games. [extensive  tangent even more pointless than the above redacted lol]

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Full set or bust. That's my mentality, and it is also one of the reasons why some consoles (such as Super Famicom) have almost zero appeal to me...it's basically the Wii of it's time, imo, with a huge library of garbage.

I initially started collecting in the days when everyone used the Etler list, and by extension, most everyone went full set as prices were cheaper, and games were easier to come by. Although I could be a product of the times, I'd argue that my reasons for going full set have merit.

1. Like @Dr. Morbis mentioned, if you have a full set or are going for one, you can pull any game off the shelf after hearing something about it or talking about it, and then give it a go, check out a newly discovered secret, etc.

2. Going along with number one, I think we all have our favourite gaming genres, and then there are those that we are ambivalent to, or maybe even hate. As such, if we look exclusively at games that appeal to our general preferences, when purchasing games, we will miss out on some great games from a genre we don't particularly fancy. In other words, I don't really like rap music but I'm sure over the years I've heard a few songs from the genre that I've enjoyed quite a bit, but I'd never have discovered them if I didn't look outside my general preferences.

3. Artwork. I love the artwork on many of these games, even if the games themselves are mediocre at best. I think the artwork captures the spirit of the times, something that drives me with my GB / GBC collection.

4. Historical perspectives. Another collector-oriented viewpoint, but I enjoy the history of the games. There are plenty of historically significant games, which are also bad. 

5. I think this point is one of the most important for me, and it somewhat sums up my opinion of @OptOut's change in collecting, from the time I've known him until now (sorry to use you as an example mate). I actually witnessed this myself while collecting Famicom, too.

Many people intially start out by rebuying their childhood favourites, as well as games they always wanted as children yet couldn't get. The next step is to flesh out the set more, by getting other popular titles, first party gems, etc.

The problem though is that one quickly runs out of games fitting inside this criteria, especially depending on the game library. So if you enjoy 3D N64 platformers, the next step might be to then go for second-tier platformers. 

It starts to become a natural growth, and after awhile, you become interested in the machine and it's library  as a whole. At this point you want to try to notoriously bad games, are they really as bad as what people make them out to be? And what about the goofy fishing game on N64 with the wonky controller, yeah it'll never be a favourite, but to me it sounds like some mighty fun could be had playing it with some mates and a six-pack on a boring afternoon some weekend.

To expand this idea further, if you homebrew games, then it's important to explore the library even more. You can even draw ideas and concepts from obscure games in the gaming library, yet expand upon them and improve upon them, to truly make something great.

But this sort of stuff is only possible if you go full set. It's the only way to truly get to know the machine as a whole, get to appreciate it and know it deeply, rather than just having a shallow knowledge of it. 

 

 

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42 minutes ago, Foochie776 said:

I’ve been deliberately saving one bad game that’s rather common for my final few games. I just hope that my last NES game isn’t anything expensive lol

I need to do this; I don’t even want to calculate my costs for the last 2 weeks of finishing up the n64 set and it’s cheaper than the earlier generations

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2 hours ago, fcgamer said:

Full set or bust. That's my mentality, and it is also one of the reasons why some consoles (such as Super Famicom) have almost zero appeal to me...it's basically the Wii of it's time, imo, with a huge library of garbage.

I initially started collecting in the days when everyone used the Etler list, and by extension, most everyone went full set as prices were cheaper, and games were easier to come by. Although I could be a product of the times, I'd argue that my reasons for going full set have merit.

1. Like @Dr. Morbis mentioned, if you have a full set or are going for one, you can pull any game off the shelf after hearing something about it or talking about it, and then give it a go, check out a newly discovered secret, etc.

2. Going along with number one, I think we all have our favourite gaming genres, and then there are those that we are ambivalent to, or maybe even hate. As such, if we look exclusively at games that appeal to our general preferences, when purchasing games, we will miss out on some great games from a genre we don't particularly fancy. In other words, I don't really like rap music but I'm sure over the years I've heard a few songs from the genre that I've enjoyed quite a bit, but I'd never have discovered them if I didn't look outside my general preferences.

3. Artwork. I love the artwork on many of these games, even if the games themselves are mediocre at best. I think the artwork captures the spirit of the times, something that drives me with my GB / GBC collection.

4. Historical perspectives. Another collector-oriented viewpoint, but I enjoy the history of the games. There are plenty of historically significant games, which are also bad. 

5. I think this point is one of the most important for me, and it somewhat sums up my opinion of @OptOut's change in collecting, from the time I've known him until now (sorry to use you as an example mate). I actually witnessed this myself while collecting Famicom, too.

Many people intially start out by rebuying their childhood favourites, as well as games they always wanted as children yet couldn't get. The next step is to flesh out the set more, by getting other popular titles, first party gems, etc.

The problem though is that one quickly runs out of games fitting inside this criteria, especially depending on the game library. So if you enjoy 3D N64 platformers, the next step might be to then go for second-tier platformers. 

It starts to become a natural growth, and after awhile, you become interested in the machine and it's library  as a whole. At this point you want to try to notoriously bad games, are they really as bad as what people make them out to be? And what about the goofy fishing game on N64 with the wonky controller, yeah it'll never be a favourite, but to me it sounds like some mighty fun could be had playing it with some mates and a six-pack on a boring afternoon some weekend.

To expand this idea further, if you homebrew games, then it's important to explore the library even more. You can even draw ideas and concepts from obscure games in the gaming library, yet expand upon them and improve upon them, to truly make something great.

But this sort of stuff is only possible if you go full set. It's the only way to truly get to know the machine as a whole, get to appreciate it and know it deeply, rather than just having a shallow knowledge of it. 

 

 

Whilst I agree with your reasoning for collecting full sets, I’d also argue that the same reasoning can be applied to collecting 2 or more partial sets. Also, the enjoyment factor in going for full sets versus partial sets can be exactly the same.

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4 hours ago, zeppelin03 said:

I got in a mood and started going after a complete N64 set. I quickly gave up and sold the extra stuff I bought.  If you aren't confident that you want a complete set I would hold off.  It's a commitment. 

Oh yeah man, this is also CRUCIAL advice! When it comes to collecting, whether full sets or otherwise, clear goals and direction and focus is essential!

There's so much stuff out there, a lot of it super cheap, it's easy to just start buying lot after lot of crap! You keep up in that direction and you'll burnout fast! Much better to spend good money on good stuff you're going to appreciate and enjoy (even just to look at) than to bulk up your shelves with garbage and hate yourself!

In a related point, it's also good to be sure of some of the finer details before you start too. For example, when I first started buying Japanese N64 games they were so cheap to buy loose I bought a bunch of games before I realized that what I REALLY wanted to do was collect boxed. Fortunately I didn't waste TOO much time and money on that, but it always feels a little lame rebuying a game you already own, just so you can get the box, lol! 😅

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8 hours ago, zeppelin03 said:

I got in a mood and started going after a complete N64 set. I quickly gave up and sold the extra stuff I bought.  If you aren't confident that you want a complete set I would hold off.  It's a commitment. 

^ This.

The last time I aimed to do a complete anything it involved all Japan releases of the portable Dragon Quest games. All I can say is that committing to even just a game series can lead to burn out, or even anxiety (in a case like mine). Because the CIB game might have a bonus item that will be extra hard to find or replace. And other games that might allow a set to be complete might exceed your budget's comfort zone.

So my advice is that if you are set on continuing the hunt just write down ideas on what you might want. And then test each idea out until you find something that will allow you to continue without any concerns related to your "best of" collection. It might result is something you may not have originally envisioned, but it will allow you to continue doing what you love to do.

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If you're doing it just because... don't do it in my opinion. I didn't find any of the same satisfaction of buying lots of filler or crap games I'll never play compared to games I actually wanted. It's not even worth the time to sell some of this stuff so unless you're really invested into getting a full set you're just throwing time and money away.

I sold a few hard to find NES games to a guy locally last year. I said they were all clean and in good working order and he grabbed the bag and said he didn't care and threw them in the back without even looking at them. He said he was getting tired of collecting but had 600+ NES games but really wanted to finish the entire set. It was bizarre to me considering this guy just spent $200+ and seemed to hate what he was doing.

I'd work on getting better condition stuff of what you have or put your money into other hobbies than buying just for the sake of it. 

Edited by Andy_Bogomil
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1 hour ago, BortLicensePlate said:

Are your games lose? Find the boxes and/or manuals if you really need to blow your money. At least then it's related to the games you care for. I think the only person who should go for a set is the one that knows 1000% they want to, and it looks like you're not.

My rule is if it's a cartridge, I go loose. If it's a disk, I go CiB. I have started to complete some of my loose games, but some of the boxes are really up there if you don't want one that's crushed. Like Earthbound, it's like $200 for a loose cart, and $500 for the box alone. Thanks for the suggestion! I'd honestly rather have a few good games complete than a hoard of random shit loose. I've never thought of it that way.

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On 5/21/2020 at 12:36 PM, Gloves said:

 

Complete sets are PURELY bragging rights. I'd certainly never go for one, waste of time, money, and space. 

I disagree wholeheartedly with this statement. I got the majority of the NES set in the 90's for less than a dollar a game and I had a blast going to funcolands and other places hunting them.

For some people the hunt is the best part. Just because it's not for you doesn't mean it's not for everyone.

And a complete NES set looks amazing on display. Not a waste of space at all.

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Homebrew Team · Posted

It's not for me, but I can see the appeal and or understand the rational behind it.  I would rather invest my time, energy, and money into the the games I want to play.  Sure I take gambles on games, not nothing if I will like them, but generally I play all the games I buy.  If I was going for a complete set, it would be with a purpose behind it.  As in play though the entire set, document the entire set, review the entire set, etc.

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3 hours ago, AlfPogs said:

I disagree wholeheartedly with this statement. I got the majority of the NES set in the 90's for less than a dollar a game and I had a blast going to funcolands and other places hunting them.

For some people the hunt is the best part. Just because it's not for you doesn't mean it's not for everyone.

And a complete NES set looks amazing on display. Not a waste of space at all.

You're living in the past, man 😛 Hunting these days (for the last 5+ years) is just depressing. It went from finding something of note almost every time I went out to maybe finding something once a month to just giving up even though I was looking for less. I agree that full sets on display look pretty killer though if it's nice and tidy. I really did want a full SNES set at one point but couldn't pull the trigger on  a lot of the $40-$100 games even with the majority of the 'heavy hitters' out of the way.

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3 hours ago, AlfPogs said:

I got the majority of the NES set in the 90's for less than a dollar a game and I had a blast going to funcolands and other places hunting them.

 

Funcoland, RIP.

Most games have disappeared from yard sales and swap meets in favor or eBay, or the people selling them want $100 for a banged up copy of SMB because they saw a news story about how "YOUR GAMEZ ARE WORTH GOLD!!!!1"

It's 2020.

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I always aim for complete sets but I am an opportunist and I will go whichever way the market leads me. For example, if I only need 10 games for PS1 and have a chance at them, but I walk into a game store and I see a hell of a deal on a pricey Sega Genesis game that I am far from a complete set, I will grab that instead. That kind of mentality has caused me to have a lot of near-sets, but I prefer it personally. I always go for the opportunity as my first priority before completion. I also don't see the point of hitting a complete set on anything newer than 4th or 5th gen systems. There are constantly new titles emerging that nobody knew about. I still laugh about someone who claimed they had a complete DS set and then title after title emerged and said person would start posting WTB threads desperately looking for the game. I guess he didn't have a complete set after all!

And then there's always the "completionist dilemma" which is like being surrounded by a dome that you're inside and it keeps expanding outwards. Take any console, NES for example, and ask yourself what are the ingredients to the NES complete set. Therein lies the dilemma.. what is a complete set? Whatabout unlicensed games? Whatabout PAL games? Whatabout the hint books or strategy guides? Accessories? If you are able to identify what a complete set consists of and stick to that definition, then I say its good for you to aim for. But if you're someone who is constantly evolving and growing your view of things, then this can become a very problematic thing. Will you get every NES game, cart or CIB and will you then say "I have a complete set" or will you then start messing with trying to get every homebrew game or all the mail-in hint booklets that were offered? It's a real issue that many experience. So if you're going to spend years of your life and thousands of dollars on this goal, you need to have an end game in mind, otherwise you'll find yourself in encapsulated in a neverending race.

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Administrator · Posted
18 hours ago, Reed Rothchild said:

I have 98% of a set.  Nothing to brag about since it just proves I have the ability to turn cash into plastic.  But I'm that rare guy who extensively played all of them

What is the other 2% you need to finish the set?

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5 hours ago, Reed Rothchild said:

ISS

ISSD

Aerofighters

The competition, combo, MACS carts

Those last few aren't required for a complete set, are they? I know DKC and Super Weekend aren't, since they're competition carts. Unless it's something about them being liquidated through NP magazine.

Edited by LaytToTheParty
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