I have started my collection 3 times...

[wclem]

First of all, I am an older gamer (35) so things like this may not have happened to you. I would like to hear other stories from other people also.

I got married at 20, like a fool. Brought along with me my collection of games. All carts back then LOL. Anyway I had all the good ones, the Megamans, Final Fantasies and such. Though I spent very little to no time with them I was complained at constantly about the room the wee taking up, all three boxes of them. So I sold them, like a fool for next to nothing. 3 years later I was sold for another man LOL.

Ok, I am a supreme dumbass here. At about 28 I got married again!!! By this time I had built a huge collection, guys I tell you I had at least 600 NES titles and tons of dupes. It was awesome. Probably 200 or 300 each of SNES and Genny games too. Consoles all over the place. Needless to say I was happy. Well four years and another divorce later my games were gone. This one would not let me enjoy them, even complained when I would clean them. So they went in boxes and one day when she had spent every cent we had and bouned checks all over town I had to sell my stuff. Of course it went to the local used game store at a huge loss and for next to nothing. Games gone, shortly later woman gone. Not because of the games mind you, there is tons more I wont touch on here.

A couple of years ago - this crazy girl at work starts taking an interest in me, She turned out not to be so crazy and was actually the best thing that has ever happened to me. One day we are at a flea market and I see a Saturn for ten bucks, I buy it thinking maybe I will get a couple games for it but nothing more. By this time I had given up collecting my games. So I buy it, and slowly games start turning up, then more systems and then more games. She is buying them and encouraging me to play them. Then she starts playing too. Some time goes by (we are living together) and she puts up a shelf for me in the bedroom. A display for my game stuff. Now I have a whole wall full of stuff. Mainly systems but some games also.

I told her I wanted to complete a cart collection and of course she wants me to try. So I am going to try. I think I have decided on SNES but I may do Genesis instead. Not too sure yet. Some of you may have seen this over in buy/sell/trade. I thought it was better posted here. I want to enlist the help of my fellow gamers and see what you guys had to sell me, hopefully at a good price break, maybe even some "donations". I am not looking for complete boxes and manual and games can be dirty and crappy as I repair and clean and if needed relabel them. I go every weekend to goodwills, yard sales, flea markets and such. I have accumulated about 30 Genesis and 10 SNES games.

I am hoping that if this takes off that we can get another topic on the homepage called something like completed or near completed collections from Racket memebers. I am very sincere in this and will continue trying on my own, but it is slow going. After typing this I am thinking of doing the SNES set more so than the Genesis set. I bet many of the people here know where I have been and what I went through, or know someone who has. At the very least thanks for listening to my story.

[SpaceBooger]

First of all, I am an older gamer (35) so things like this may not have happened to you. I would like to hear other stories from other people also.

I got married at 20, like a fool. Brought along with me my collection of games. All carts back then LOL. Anyway I had all the good ones, the Megamans, Final Fantasies and such. Though I spent very little to no time with them I was complained at constantly about the room the wee taking up, all three boxes of them. So I sold them, like a fool for next to nothing. 3 years later I was sold for another man LOL.

Ok, I am a supreme dumbass here. At about 28 I got married again!!! By this time I had built a huge collection, guys I tell you I had at least 600 NES titles and tons of dupes. It was awesome. Probably 200 or 300 each of SNES and Genny games too. Consoles all over the place. Needless to say I was happy. Well four years and another divorce later my games were gone. This one would not let me enjoy them, even complained when I would clean them. So they went in boxes and one day when she had spent every cent we had and bouned checks all over town I had to sell my stuff. Of course it went to the local used game store at a huge loss and for next to nothing. Games gone, shortly later woman gone. Not because of the games mind you, there is tons more I wont touch on here.

A couple of years ago - this crazy girl at work starts taking an interest in me, She turned out not to be so crazy and was actually the best thing that has ever happened to me. One day we are at a flea market and I see a Saturn for ten bucks, I buy it thinking maybe I will get a couple games for it but nothing more. By this time I had given up collecting my games. So I buy it, and slowly games start turning up, then more systems and then more games. She is buying them and encouraging me to play them. Then she starts playing too. Some time goes by (we are living together) and she puts up a shelf for me in the bedroom. A display for my game stuff. Now I have a whole wall full of stuff. Mainly systems but some games also.

I told her I wanted to complete a cart collection and of course she wants me to try. So I am going to try. I think I have decided on SNES but I may do Genesis instead. Not too sure yet. Some of you may have seen this over in buy/sell/trade. I thought it was better posted here. I want to enlist the help of my fellow gamers and see what you guys had to sell me, hopefully at a good price break, maybe even some "donations". I am not looking for complete boxes and manual and games can be dirty and crappy as I repair and clean and if needed relabel them. I go every weekend to goodwills, yard sales, flea markets and such. I have accumulated about 30 Genesis and 10 SNES games.

I am hoping that if this takes off that we can get another topic on the homepage called something like completed or near completed collections from Racket memebers. I am very sincere in this and will continue trying on my own, but it is slow going. After typing this I am thinking of doing the SNES set more so than the Genesis set. I bet many of the people here know where I have been and what I went through, or know someone who has. At the very least thanks for listening to my story.

I am 33 and as a collector of comics and video games and can relate. I have only restarted my collection(s) once though. At 27 I moved in with a girl who then became my finance, but never my wife. We lived in a little apartment and had no room for the games and comics I had collected since my early teens. She was annoyed when I spent time with my hobbies instead of her and convinced me that for the sake of "living" space the many boxes of comics and games should be let go... so I sold them dirt cheap.

At 30 I bought my own house and started collecting over again. I also have an awesome wife that encourages me to have hobbies to keep me sane. She is not a fan of me spending lots of money on my collections, so she is always willing to go with me to bargain hunt (flea markets/yard sales/etc).

I would help you with your collection, but I am not one who has extras of games or a SNES. The only system I had left after the mass sale was my PS1 and Dreamcast, since then I have collected a Saturn, Genesis/CD, PS2, Wii (not classic I know) and built a MAME arcade cab with many systems emulated on it. I may be able to help in the future though... I think you should make a list of what you have and us bargain hunters who find common games cheap can help.

[wclem]

I knew I wasnt the only one out there LOL. Man that is terrible, and it was done for no good reason either. You are right though, if I get enough response I will post a starting list and can track progress through pics and such. Damn this would be sweet to pull off. I would like to put together the stories in a binder with the collection.

As for the younger gamers, you are welcome to join in maybe you can learn and help keep this frm happening to you. Also for the females out there, this is not a knock on you or women in general. This is just about life happenings and making a comeback.

[MrPopo]

Your story helps me with my resolve to never let a woman make me choose between video games and her. These things have been my constant companion since I was 5, and you're not going to separate me from them. I was lucky in college to meet a girl who was just as into video games as I was, so I know I can find someone again who can accept the hobby, instead of being annoyed by it.

I wish you luck with the new collection. I suspect that you can probably complete a set of Genesis carts for cheaper than you can with an SNES collection, so you might want to go that road.

[wclem]

I am thinking it might be worth the extra cost to complete the SNES. I love the Genny but the titles on Snes were better. Still debating and researching though.....

[josekortez]

Your stories are exactly why I'm never getting married.

[SpaceBooger]

Your stories are exactly why I'm never getting married.

My marriage story is good. She reads on the couch next to me playing games - she calls it "together time." Works for me.

[Ack]

I'd like to think that I have a rule with my girlfriend. No matter how bad things get, no matter how poor we can be, we do not sell the games. WE DO NOT SELL THE GAMES. We have to keep our priorities straight, after all.

[ZeroAX]

as my girlfriend put it "i prefer you have a hobby like video games or train modeling (was playing railroad tycoon 3 when she said that), than you making a hobby of drinking, or cheating"
man it's good to have a girl with a brain.

and btw tough break man. i wish you good luck

[deathclaw]

I'd like to think that I have a rule with my girlfriend. No matter how bad things get, no matter how poor we can be, we do not sell the games. WE DO NOT SELL THE GAMES. We have to keep our priorities straight, after all.

well..sometimes there are situations, when there's something much more important than having a nice collection. Remember - you can always buy videogames that you sell. But there are some things, that just can't be bought later, can't be reversed...And as much as I love videogames - I would NEVER give them the first place in my life. Because I know many some people, that have a LOT of videogames (or other stuff) but are really sad...As my friend once said - I would trade my videogames and movies collection for a girl that would love me, and that I would love. Because he has really nice collection of PSX,PS2,PS3,GC,WII,Xbox 360, PSP, DS and GBA games, but has bad luck in love..and that makes him really sad.

Sorry for my broken English