Ok Mike, I don't know if we had this conversation yet.
I have two mvs carts in the mail as we speak and I believe I am at about 25 carts so far since my cmvs purchase in about a year. I have invested a good amount of money, but like yourself I see the value in what I love to play. I know those carts can easily resell for what I have invested. I recently have been taking a hard look at what I own and I realized that other stuff never gets touched. However, once I sell certain titles I soon regret it! I think you just have to find the right balance buddy. I sold the US bios AES and complete Garou I found to fund my cmvs. Either way you will have something to take pride in as a long-term financial backup if necessary. Think about 8man's collection. That is the best Neo set I think I have ever seen!
Also, you know if you do decide to sell some carts where to find me
There's enough competition for picking up AES carts already!
It is really fun though, and they look great on the screen and the shelf. Just something about getting a new game for that system that makes you feel... Rich as hell? I don't know. I've honestly had no problem playing them. But I also don't have anything heinously expensive. If you think that you're never going to play the expensive homecarts, I would consider not dumping off your MVS. I can imagine it could be hard to bring oneself to scratch up a copy of MS1 by playing it.
Buying the carts is exciting and frustrating. If you go away from the NG forums (and maybe a few others) the NG Price guide goes out the window. Hell, even the Neo Store is typically WAY off from that. So unless you're willing to wait some time for a good deal on the titles you want, expect to pay way more than the guide says. When you do get a deal close to the guide though, it makes you feel like you're really getting a steal though. Which is fun.
You should enjoy it! And while you're buying the homecart market dry, how about you and I start dealing on some of your MVS stuff?
Yeah, the southtown art almost feels legit, but just not quite to me, unfortunately - I truly wish it did.
For my SH3 boards, since there really isn't anything official, those shocks and art feel completely perfect for me. I wish I didn't have these cosmetic / aesthetic sillinesses in regard to the MVS or N64 loosies, etc, but I do. I think we all have them to varying degrees. Just like someone who has to have all the Castlevania games to complete a collection, even though some of them are not enjoyable.
Also, to clarify, anytime I use the word investment in the video game hobby, I am definitely not deluded to think game X will be worth $$$ in 20 years and it will help pay off my house. Not at all. What investment in this hobby means to me is basically, smart investment. If I buy the latest 360 game at $60, in most cases that game is worth $5 or less in a couple years. I mean, geez, these PS2 bundles have to make original owners sick when they put them on ebay, we all see these collections and probably worth $2,000 at purchase time and the seller gets $200 for the entire bundle a few years later. To me, a gaming investment is what Brad is referring to, I put $100 into a cart, if I end up not liking the game, or I simply need a quick $100 bill, I can get it right back, minus the shipping (rental) fee. I like that peace of mind.
I appreciate all the advice, I think where i'm leading is to slowly start collecting a few low and mid-range carts. I don't want to start at a place where I need to liquidate any MVS stuff to fund higher priced carts. That way, i'm sorta wading into it, if I find it is enjoyable and i'm liking the hunt and the adding to the collection, then we'll see where that leads.
mjmjr25 wrote:I appreciate all the advice, I think where i'm leading is to slowly start collecting a few low and mid-range carts. I don't want to start at a place where I need to liquidate any MVS stuff to fund higher priced carts. That way, i'm sorta wading into it, if I find it is enjoyable and i'm liking the hunt and the adding to the collection, then we'll see where that leads.
I was going to say something to this effect. If it were me, I'd start by grabbing some of those AES titles that you mentioned sell for less than the MVS versions. At least then you get a sense of whether or not the original artwork makes that much of a difference to you, and you would be making AES collecting into a potentially less costly endeavor. At least initially.
I really get where you're coming from. I can't stomach unofficial title sheets and manuals, no matter how high quality. Considering that those types of things weren't part of the MVS releases, though, I would prefer an MVS collection as the less expensive route.
Now in our talks, I mostly pointed out the cons of going into this in regards to your extensive MVS collection, so here is a visual aid to the contrary.
Even with my AES mini-collection, the cases do look aesthetically pleasing on the shelf. Plus the fact of them being the original legitimate article.
][/img]