MiamiSlice's hunting thread

[MiamiSlice | 3,092]

Multiple hunts arrived today!

1. I felt like I had missed the boat on this one since the CE has gone up in price a lot recently. It's hard to find now I guess. This one isn't in great shape but I was able to nab it for $65 on Mercari. I plan to actually open it and maybe iron the box a little. This is one to play!

2. This one used to be easy to find but it's getting more difficult. Had to wait and wait for a clean CIB to finally show up on eBay at a decent price. Paid about $20 for Scribblenauts with the bonus DVD and got Rabbids Land for $10 from the same seller. You know me, I'm dumb for the bonus pack-ins. Can't help myself. 

3. This one I'm stoked about. Popped up on the bay for about $12. Insta-buy. It looks like it was stepped on and then stepped on again, but it's still an uncommon variant! I can't even find much information online but I know some of you have this... what can you tell me? 

4. This last one was a real surprise. I didn't even know about this variant until I saw it come up for sale from someone I know who sells a lot in Facebook groups. I don't even know if the price was good, I just needed to pull the trigger. Here's the Target exclusive Napster offer variant of Metroid Prime 2. And before you ask, yes, the only difference here is the sticker on the case. That's it. That's all there is to it. 

A good day all around!

Edited April 8, 2021 by MiamiSlice

[Reed Rothchild | 9,521]

We need a game room tour at some point.  It must be rather impressive in size by now.

[MiamiSlice | 3,092]

3 minutes ago, Reed Rothchild said:

We need a game room tour at some point.  It must be rather impressive in size by now.

Nah it's pathetic. I have my collection split up across 3 rooms. Most of it is just kinda stored as best I can. I can share some pics of my office though, that's where I have the good stuff. But it's still a mess. Soon!

[MiamiSlice | 3,092]

I’m gonna need to sell a lot of stuff

 

[MiamiSlice | 3,092]

You have got to be kidding me 

[Aguy | 772]

On 3/2/2021 at 8:02 PM, MiamiSlice said:

4. This last one was a real surprise. I didn't even know about this variant until I saw it come up for sale from someone I know who sells a lot in Facebook groups. I don't even know if the price was good, I just needed to pull the trigger. Here's the Target exclusive Napster offer variant of Metroid Prime 2. And before you ask, yes, the only difference here is the sticker on the case. That's it. That's all there is to it. 

A good day all around!

I used to have one of these. I bought it at Target back in 2007 or so on clearance for $7.98. I had it sealed but a few  years ago my daughter got to it and started unwrapping it. She just got a corner off but it wasn't "sealed" any more. I auctioned it off on NA shortly after. I think it went for $42.

[MiamiSlice | 3,092]

3 minutes ago, Aguy said:

I used to have one of these. I bought it at Target back in 2007 or so on clearance for $7.98. I had it sealed but a few  years ago my daughter got to it and started unwrapping it. She just got a corner off but it wasn't "sealed" any more. I auctioned it off on NA shortly after. I think it went for $42.

Crazy I paid $80 for this 

[Aguy | 772]

53 minutes ago, MiamiSlice said:

Crazy I paid $80 for this 

This was years ago. If we think back to all the games we sold back then compared to what they're worth now, we'd all go crazy.

[MiamiSlice | 3,092]

Got these 6 Wii U games for ~$69 all in!

Found a sealed Alliance Alive CE for $39.99 free shipping 

And here’s my haul from the recent 50% off deal at GameStop, each game was $9.99 or less with free shipping. I doubled up on some just to make sure I would get them CIB. Amazingly both copies of Trüberbrook came with the cover art and manual. Already started playing it and I’m in love.

[MiamiSlice | 3,092]

OK I owe everyone an explanation on this one. Was too busy the past few days to actually post but here goes. 

I acquired a grail piece and spent way more than I ever thought I would spend on any kind of collectible: 

The story goes back a ways: I've been having some conversations with @Grondorr and hanging around high-end collecting discussions over on Facebook for quite a while and spent some time thinking about, if game collecting is a serious investment now, and I'm willing to put in a lot of money into games that could be going to stocks or crypto or whatever instead, then what exactly am I putting my money toward? If I could choose, for equal value, would I rather have lots and lots of games or one really valuable game? Well, I haven't been itching to chase the high value stuff, but a couple weeks ago this popped up on Facebook from someone who happened to be in my state, asking $3k or best offer, and my immediate response was "Man, I wish." But then I gave it some serious thought... why is it only "I wish?" What's stopping me from buying it? Because aside from the sticker shock of the price tag, I know I could sell stuff from my collection to cover the cost, so why wouldn't I trade some of the stuff I have toward owning this??? If I'm going to have stuff in my collection that I have no intention of playing, just because it's "worth something" and might be worth more in the future, why not have something that I think could be worth a LOT more rather than a little more? So I decided I would at least reach out to the seller and see where the conversation might go. 

Initially I offered $1k just to get an idea of what he was thinking, and he came back and said that would be way too low compared to what he paid, which surprisingly he admitted was $2.3k. So I took some time to think about it and offered $2k, and he said "how about $2.3k?" At this point I had done my homework and I knew that a similar one had gone for $3k on eBay back in January, so I felt confident that getting this for $2.3k would be a good deal. Keep in mind he was only willing to go this low because I would be driving over and doing the deal with cash. So now I just needed to plan making the trip. Also, he had almost gone with someone else to make a deal, but the other party was offering a trade deal for a TG16 prototype which the guy I was talking to was very interested in, but it sounded like he felt the deal was too unfair (he would have had to pony up cash + this to get the TG16 prototype, which he said was asking too much) so he was happy to move forward with a cash deal with me. 

So then I needed to talk to my wife about this. For most purchases I don't bother, and she usually doesn't care, but I was about to drop 4 figures after the biggest purchase I had ever made in the past was less than 4 benji's. Her response was surprising, because she basically said "it sounds like you are talking yourself into this" and left it at that. So it sounded pretty good to me. 

Well I had planned to go pick it up last Tuesday afternoon, and I was getting ready to head out when I was talking to my wife about it again and she basically was like HOLD UP. So she freaked out and I freaked out and I was like "if you are not OK with this then I'm not doing it." So we had a whole conversation about it and I told the seller "I'm sorry, I couldn't make it today, I'll be in touch and I understand if you decide to do a deal with someone else." Surprisingly the seller was cool with it and he was patient. So I spent the next day discussing it with my wife and explaining that this was not just something I would be buying just to have, like a hobby, but that this is an investment and I don't think of it as spending a certain amount of money but rather I'm acquiring something worth X and I may be able to sell it for X+something later on, but even if I end up selling it for a loss later on, I don't think I'm going to be burning the full amount (yes, I used the "it's not going to be worth nothing" defense). So I made plans again last Thursday to finally go pick this thing up. 

Oh, did I also mention that the seller didn't want to meet face to face due to COVID? No, I didn't mention that. The seller wanted me to drive to his house and he would put it on the doorstep before I showed up, and I would put the cash in the mailbox. I kid you not. Yes, this contributed to my wife's extreme hesitation, and yes, we talked about the risk of me getting robbed at gunpoint, etc. But I talked to the seller and he had good rep so I was not concerned about that. 

So Thursday I drove to my local bank to withdraw $2.3k in cash, stuffed it in an envelope in my coat pocket, and then drove an hour away to a stranger's house to sit on his doorstep and examine an unmarked package, drop the money in the mailbox, and then get back to my car so he could come out to check that the money was all there, and that was the story of how I ended up with an Animal Crossing Pioneer disc in my possession (no calendar or letters though). Apparently this is the "Andrew M." copy, one of only 250 ever made, and possibly less than 250 still exist. 

If I ever do a shipment to Wata in the future, this will be in there. 

And yes, I'm selling a bunch of stuff

[MiamiSlice | 3,092]

p.s and I forgot to mention, I was talking to my mom on the phone about this after I picked it up, and she seriously asked me, I kid you not, "so are you going to play it?" LOL

Edited March 8, 2021 by MiamiSlice

[MiamiSlice | 3,092]

Nice little $20 mail call! The NFC reader is sealed although it has a minor water stain along the bottom.

Crazy that at one point you could not give these readers away and now they are going for a decent amount.

[Tanooki | 4,933]

Andrew M copy?  I guess there's more to the story of this bizarrely unique animal crossing other than what appears to have the disc say not for resale.

I still have that memory card, game is long gone, and personally I think I don't like hte price on it as it was like a $10 dumper not too long ago.  Plus knowing I couldn't get back those epic NES games and the rest (my old game I made my basement into a NES game room) I kind of just put it off.  I still appreciate that original one more than the others, the lack of over complication, over decision, and just simple right amount of variety it had was just well...right.

[snes_collector | 56]

What is the story on the Animal Crossing disc? Never heard of that variant before

[MiamiSlice | 3,092]

34 minutes ago, snes_collector said:

What is the story on the Animal Crossing disc? Never heard of that variant before

Here: https://nookipedia.com/wiki/Animal_Crossing#Animal_Crossing_Pioneers

I don't have the calendar or letter. 

[snes_collector | 56]

Very cool! Thanks for the info. Definitely a very cool piece for the collection, congrats!

[bowser | 598]

When the wife says something vague that sounds like a yes it actually means no 

Congrats on the acquisition!

Edited March 11, 2021 by bowser

[MiamiSlice | 3,092]

Another successful hunt! Over the moon about this one, didn’t think I would ever find it. 

[Tanooki | 4,933]

Wow not bad, all jewely cool mama there, and the unknown to me Animal Crossing story of pre-release copies to generate early online buzz before that was a thing people did to attention whore and peddle product so much as they do now.  Nintendo showing an odd rare case of being ahead of the curve (online.)

[MiamiSlice | 3,092]

$16 local find! When the seller showed me the stylus was included, I decided I wouldn’t even try to talk her down on the price. These styluses are stupid hard to find.

[MiamiSlice | 3,092]

On 3/5/2021 at 4:26 PM, MiamiSlice said:

You have got to be kidding me 

OK, I'm finally back with an update on this haul. This was posted in a Facebook group for $200, with shipping I paid $240 total: 

But when I received it, Pokemon Colosseum was no where to be found, and the seller had deleted the listing. So when I reached out about it, he tells me "sorry, I sold that one to a friend locally and I thought I had mentioned in the posting that it was no longer included." Well I won't give you the whole convo but basically I come to find out he sold it to a friend for $30 and didn't understand why I was making a big deal about it. So when I told him it goes for $120 complete he obviously understood a bit better. I stuck to my guns and said I wanted a $100 refund or the game, and he tells me "I'll just get the game and ship it to you." At this point I'm thinking either he's gonna come up empty handed because his "friend" is not going to want to give it back, or he's lying and I'm not going to hear from him again. But sure enough, like 5 days later, I get a small bubble mailer with Pokemon Colosseum!

Overall this isn't a great haul. Most of the games are missing their booklets, have damaged cases, etc. The console has no cords, and all the peripherals are filthy. I need to clean everything up, test it, etc. etc. But there's a good chance that I'll be able to keep the Wavebird + 1 receiver, and the one game that is actually complete (DBZ Budokai 2) and let go of the rest, and probably make back the $240. We'll see!

Edited March 18, 2021 by MiamiSlice

[MiamiSlice | 3,092]

Oh, re that GameCube bundle above: I forgot to include a CIB, but water damaged, Mario Kart Double Dash. Overall not a bad haul. 

Here's another haul, bought two Wii U bundles, spent about $370 altogether: 

Don't know yet if it was a good deal. The 8 games on the left side are all CIB and going into the collection, that's 8 more towards a full set. There's 7 games along the top left that are sealed, although Rayman has a puncture and a couple other sealed games have wear on the seal. Then the rest are all CIB and most are in great shape. 

I have 51 titles to go for a complete North American Wii U set. If anyone has games to trade, or can help me track down some games at good prices, I would appreciate that! I still need to get some of the big box releases like Disney Infinity (all 3 versions), Lego Dimensions, and Skylanders Trap Team, and some of the expensive titles like Devil's Third, Turbo, Book of Unwritten Tales, and Hello Kitty Kruisers. 

Edited March 22, 2021 by MiamiSlice

[MiamiSlice | 3,092]

Mail call! Found another DS variant. Wish it was in better shape but whatever.

[bowser | 598]

On 3/21/2021 at 12:45 PM, MiamiSlice said:

I have 51 titles to go for a complete North American Wii U set. If anyone has games to trade, or can help me track down some games at good prices, I would appreciate that! I still need to get some of the big box releases like Disney Infinity (all 3 versions), Lego Dimensions, and Skylanders Trap Team, and some of the expensive titles like Devil's Third, Turbo, Book of Unwritten Tales, and Hello Kitty Kruisers. 

I thought Hello Kitty dropped in price after a late reprint. I remember it was at $20-30 some time ago.

[MiamiSlice | 3,092]

1 hour ago, bowser said:

I thought Hello Kitty dropped in price after a late reprint. I remember it was at $20-30 some time ago.

Yeah, it's still under $40. Just mathematically speaking, looking at the range of games I still need to complete the set, it's one of the few that's "expensive" compared to the rest. And it's harder to get in a trade or lot buy, so I just want to purchase it and get it out of the way.