How to Start a Collection?

[Beak]

(I hope this is the right place for this; if this is the wrong place, please move me!)

After looking at all of your impressive game rooms and game collections, I grew envious, firstly, but curious. How do you start a collection like these? Do you just get on eBay and buy, buy, buy? Or do you just buy some when they're new and start from there? I'm interested in starting a Dreamcast, Genesis, and Saturn collection, but I never owned them when they were still in production. I don't know where to start; but I do own a Dreamcast and Genesis now, with most of the essential games, although none of them are exceedingly rare or in good condition.

So, I'm curious, how did most of you start your collections? Did you just suddenly want to collect all these things and started from scratch? Did you own a lot of games prior and base your collection there? Where do you collect, and how? Do you eBay for some stuff, buy local, trade, or what? Do you have goals of what you want to collect, or do you just get everything you know you don't already own? Also, why do you collect retro games? My friends, who are mainly concerned with current-generation consoles, don't understand why I'd want to collect something like a retro system. I know why I want to, but I'm interested in why others would do it; I don't personally know anyone who collects retro games and systems.

Please feel free to say how you personally started; I'm very interested, especially after seeing all of these pictures of game rooms.

[dedalusdedalus]

My advice when starting out a collection is to buy in lots and sell what you don't want. Saves you money on shipping, and buying in lots tends to be cheaper as compared to buying in individual pieces if you're patient enough to wait for a good deal. Plus, being able to acquire several games at a single time will allow you to get a feel for the system and decide whether it's something you really want to collect.

[girlracer]

eBay for me tends to just be someplace if i really want something and have to have it now.

A lot of my stuff comes from goodwills, pawn shops, & yard sales. i've been able to get such games as earthbound, chrono trigger, ff7, megaman x2, mario rpg, super metroid, secret of mana, etc. all these have be purchased for less than $5 each. But I will go to these places a couple times a week.

I search my local craigslist (I'm willing to drive a couple hours if the deal is good), although I don't really buy too much. I have been able to get a CDX for $40 and an arcade for $20.

Since I don't have retro game stores in my area, when I have a trip planned outside of town, I google goodwills and other stores and put them in my gps so I can visit along the way if time allows.

[Yukima]

My game collection started off as an offshoot of my growing interest in anime when I was 12. I bought an SNES and modded it to play Japanese games when I discovered all of the anime games I could play on it! This was around the time the PS1 and N64 were popular, and I saw a lot of games I liked but couldn't buy or play because they were expensive. I fell out of gaming after that because of school, and only recently just got interested again, and I never really liked anything after the PS2. Most of the new stuff out today fails to interest me unless it's something for the DS or Wii. I guess it's because of this that my interest really sticks with older 2D games - 16-bit RPGs, platformers, puzzle games, shmups, etc. and anime-styled/inspired games. And Japanese imports. Lots and lots of them! My main collecting focus is games and stuff for SNES/Super Famicom, and very soon, Sega Saturn.

When I buy games, I usually get them from local shops that sell retro games (there's at least 3-4 of them in my area) if they're common. For rarer/high demand games and for imports, I usually get them online because they're easier to find there and can sometimes be cheaper than expected, especially for Japanese games on Yahoo Auctions. I try to get games individually, because when I buy them in lots, I'm stuck with the games I don't want because no one else wants them either! And in the case of imports, getting too many things at a time from Japan is awful when it comes to shipping, so if I get a lot of games, they'd better all be ones I like!

[MrPopo]

My game collection is simply a collection of games I want to play. I see a new gaming coming out I want, I buy it. Someone here talks about how awesome Cannon Spike is, I buy it. Suddenly I've got 500 games and counting.

[Snickerd00dle]

My game collection is simply a collection of games I want to play. I see a new gaming coming out I want, I buy it. Someone here talks about how awesome Cannon Spike is, I buy it. Suddenly I've got 500 games and counting.

I find myself in a similar situation, I tend to look for the "rarer" games because those tend to be the best!! That is why they are so expensive, I have a little over 600 games right now, and I would say your best bet is waiting to find things cheap you can find plenty of copies of Chrono Trigger, but who wants to pay that much...patience has helped me get games like Suikoden 2 for 40 bucks. Most of the collections you see here have taken YEARS to build up...most since childhood...which leads me to another point, DONT TRADE IN YOUR CURRENT GEN GAMES, I made the mistake of doing this growing up and have since regretted, This is how I have built up my collection hope it helps!

[albfbr]

You first should find out what kind of collector are you. I took sometime so I could find what I like. I begin to trade and buy without order, than I lost a lot of time. Now I got 7 systems with some acessories, always taking sometime to choose.

[mas]

I would start getting the games that you would want to play for your system. If you have bills and kids and a house to pay for then take it slow. I know alot of people who collect games never play the game and let their bills pile up. If you have no bills then go nuts and get as much as you can get but collecting games take alot of time I would just pick a system that has the best games for you that you want to play stick with that system for 4 months or so get what you can then after 4 months go to another system and get what you want. This system works for me.

[(-_-)]

I think collecting was kind of a game itself. I discovered craigslist and suddenly realized how fun it was to haggle games down to practically nothing. It started with Ps2 and Eventually this expanded into ps1 territory, then dreamcast, then saturn, and now gamecube and xbox. Probably about 80% of the games in my collection cost me under 10$ on average. I think the fun of collecting it comes from just scouring the local eb/flea market/craigslist, and finding a game for 5$ that runs for 50+ on ebay and such. Racketboy also has lists of rare/hidden gems for just about every system that I've read. This is pretty much where my searches began.

[samsonlonghair]

My retrogaming collection started with my Sega Genesis in 1991. I still have that original console and most of my original games. I've since added to my collection. Now I have twice as many Genesis games as well as an NES, a SNES, a PS1, and a Gamecube, and games for all those systems. My advice is to start with just one system. There are lots of blockbuster titles for Genesis that you can buy for less than five bucks, so I'd start there. Making lists is a good idea; it helps you keep track of what you really want and helps you avoid buying lots of crap you'll never play. I like flea markets and yard sales more than ebay because the prices are better, because you don't have to pay for shipping, and because its more fun. Most of my friends react positively when they come over and see me playing an old video game they remember from their youth.