Price of collecting...no longer worth it?

[JustLikeHeaven1]

I've been collecting games since I was a kid...but after I graduated college and got a job I started buying back many of my old favorites.  Over the years I amassed a fairly sizable collection of games.  

When I first got into collecting (around 2004) things were pretty good.  The price of games and systems were never absurd and places like ebay were a boon to collectors.  Looking back there were many games that I let slide through my hands that now cost a ton of money.  I still vividly remember letting a complete copy of M.U.S.H.A. go for $35 because I thought it was too much to spend.  I checked on that very game not too long ago and the prices are now astronomical.  You routinely see loose carts selling for $100. The same thing happened for the SNES game 'Demon's Crest'.  I once lost a bid for a complete copy for around $40.  Now a complete copy goes for upwards of $150.  Who would pay that?

When I first got into collecting you could buy an Atari Jaguar for dirt cheap.  Now they are slowly starting to creep back up in price.  I've noticed this for tons of systems.  Sure you can find systems in crummy condition for $10-$20 sold untested, but anything in decent shape feels like a ripoff.

I don't know what is causing the sudden boom in the classic games market, but it sucks.  There was a time you could get old games in complete condition at reasonable prices.  People used to just put stuff on Ebay with a starting bid of $1 and let it go.  Now everything is "buy it now" with high prices.  The golden age of collecting is certainly long gone.

Sorry for complaining...but I love my old gaming systems. This trend of games becoming more and more expensive to collect is rather aggravating.  

[matmico1]

In this strapped economy it certainly isn't easy. And I have seen what you are talking about.

I started thinking about this awhile back too. I've had many systems over the years. I realized the best option for me was to collect for the systems I really enjoyed. And 4 seemed like a reasonable number to me. So after whittling it down in some very hard decisions, I decided to go with the Atari 2600, Sega Genesis, Playstation 2, and XBOX 360.

I'd really like to collect for the Intellivision, Sega CD, Colecovision and most of all the Commodore 64 as I had such great memories of that, esp a few summers after I graduated HS.

So unless you've got lots of bucks, I'd suggest settling on a reasonable number (3-5?).

[Verm1]

Things change in value; I mean a Jaguar is probably much much rarer than it was back in 2004 (i.e 8 years ago).

[Blueguy1]

I usually collect N64 games on Ebay, and while some are reasonable (I got Wave Race for about 12 bucks), some of the prices are unthinkable (30 bucks for Banjo Tooie?!). Luckily I haven't dealt with this problem that much, but the prices of older games for older systems has prevented me from collecting Nes/Snes games/consoles.

[Burk1]

I agree,and disagree. I think the hardware is getting more expensive, but carts are very durable and hold up over time,whereas there are a lot of broken NES out there . A lot of it has to do with the current generation of buyers too. People in the 30-50 age group have the most expendable income, and are most likely to be interested in buying something from their youth. The prices are a natural part of a cycle,and will go down again. I also think your may be surprised at how many great games have actually gotten cheaper too, or at least stayed the same. MUSHA has remained relatively close to the same price it was 4 years ago,crazy expensive then also.But look up Castlevania SON,or super mario world. They are half the price they were 4 years ago. Check out this site, it tracks the selling prices over the last few years, you may be surprised.  videogames.pricecharting.com

[Sut1]

I do agree with Matmico I myself came to the conclusion to whittle down to one system per generation (although to be honest I still haven't sold my items from my 'cut' as I normally end up with sellers regret.

The big thing I have decided to do though (how long this will last I don't know) but I'mactually going to play my games I must have 50+ games I've never even loaded up never mind played. And I won't buy anymore until I have.

[JustLikeHeaven1]

Yea picking a few systems to collect for certainly isn't a bad idea.

Also I don't want to make it look like its impossible to find decent deals out there.  However, the market is certainly at a high point.  I'm hoping it crashes like baseball cards did in the 90s lol.

I'm sure it has a lot to do with shows like "Pawn Stars" "American Pickers" etc... being so popular.  If people all the sudden think they can make money on the junk lying around in their house then they will try.

Maybe I should try and hit some yard sales or local flea markets...perhaps the higher prices are just online.  Has anyone had any good luck finding stuff locally?

[Sut1]

There are still bargains to be had on car boot markets, flea markets etc.
But even these are not quite what they used to be, two extreme examples from same car boot: Picked up a Master System 2 for £2 - bargain, there was a c64 the guy wanted £120! Admittedly it was in good shape but you can almost get a current gen system for that, but the other one was a grubby, dirty Mega CD 1, which I wouldn't have held much hope of it working but would have taken a punt upto £10 on it - the guy wanted £70 for it ! His rationale is they go for £100 on eBay (they don't).

This backs up the first post that people are getting more aware and the chances of picking up an absolute steal are slimmer than previously, but certainly not impossible.

[James1]

[QUOTE=JustLikeHeaven]
Maybe I should try and hit some yard sales or local flea markets...perhaps the higher prices are just online.  Has anyone had any good luck finding stuff locally?[/QUOTE]
Unfortunately for me no. Once the hobby became slightly more mainstream and prices on NES, SNES, N64 and the like started to rise, local resellers scooped up most stuff excluding old PC games. Once I started getting into arguments with tools as to why their loose copies of Chrono Trigger which looked liked a dog pissed all over it were not worth $120+ I realized that what little was left wasn't worth my time.