Brand new retro consoles?

[nightwalker]

I was looking around on ebay and found out a lot of people that were selling brand new unopened turbo grafx, turbo grafx express, sega nomad, gameboy's, etc. I mean why do people do that and then sell it. Passing thru all that trouble of keeping that machine in pristine order and occupying space in your house and the wife ranting about it. (for those of you that are married like me know what I mean) I know I got an original gameboy unopened but I ain't gonna sell it its got sentimental value. Do you guys have one console that you haven't opened yet and are planning to sell it? Just want to know you guys opinion about it.

[retrogamer]

Yes, I know what you mean. I have a brand new factory sealed NES with the grey Zapper. I bought two of them many many years ago when a store called Bradlees went out of business. I would never part with them. In fact I want to be buried with the sealed one, sort of like a time capsule. Just kidding. It makes me wonder what it will be worth in 50 years from now.
Maybe I will open it 50 years from now and play some Super Mario Bros/Duck Hunt at the old folks home.

[Jimmy Yakapucci]

There could be a lot of reasons. Lost interest, need money, need space, feel now is the time to sell, etc. The way I look at it is, if you are never going to open it, why bother to have it?

JY

[extrarice]

There could be a lot of reasons. Lost interest, need money, need space, feel now is the time to sell, etc. The way I look at it is, if you are never going to open it, why bother to have it?

Usually the collectors who must have everything sealed/complete/etc. sell their collection because it's complete. The challenge is over, the thrill is gone, sell it all to fund collecting the next set.

From a historical perspective, I can understand the desire to keep it preserved/sealed/complete, so the complete experience is passed on through time. For example, I'm getting back in to collecting GameBoy games, and I can't believe how hard it is to find *boxes* for these things, let alone a complete boxed item with all the paper inserts AND snap-case.

[alexkidd]

very morbid, but the first generation of video game fans are now dying, some just because they're old.

If you were in your twenties/thirties when pong hit, you're a senior citizen or at least pushing it. I saw a guy the other day who died and his wife eBayed his near complete transformers collection for... wait for it... A MILLION dollars!

Estate sales might start being good places to score old school games and systems.

[fastbilly1]

Yeah but that guy who collected Transformers died in the 80s due to a disease complication (atleast the articles Ive read said that).

I keep the boxes for my games and systems because of the packrat nature in me. I do have several old systems with the boxes, but they are far from NIB. My three dollar Bently Compuvision and my nine dollar Oddessy (which is in the mail) will probably never get play time, or taken out of the box other than for display purposes, but I do enjoy the 70s art design. This is ofcourse till I do get married and the wife starts to mandate things. Hopefully she wont mind the arcade games to much...(note to self find mythical gaming wife)

[RadarScope1]

I'm a collector, but I just look for stuff that's in the best possible condition, and has box/manual when possible. I can't imagine buying two of everything (or most things) just to keep them in a box, sealed, in a closet. We're talking about mass-market retail products that were produced in the millions here, not a Picasso or a Warhol. Games were meant to be played!

[The Apprentice]

I agree with Radarscope, I may be buying Saturn games brand new, but I don't intend to keep them that way.

[GagaMan]

Too right. I only keep games I know I'm going to play, not simply because they're rare or worth a lot of money. If I pick up a game that turns out to be rare and I dont end up liking it, I'll sell it =P

[Gamerforlife]

Yeah, I'm not the type to buy a game and keep it sealed and unplayed. However, I am thinking about getting into the whole Saturn back-up thing since I don't want to run the risk of damaging a rare game and having to pay way too much money to buy another copy off Ebay. Some of these games have already been resold on ebay and gone through too many hands already. That's one thing I LOVE about cartridge games, they are so tough to really damage so I don't have to worry about it.

I remember people telling me all my life that I was too much of a packrat and needed to get rid of lots of my stuff, then Ebay hit the scene and now people realize that being a packrat has its benefits. Don't always listen to what other people tell you. Do what you want. One of the most important things I've learned in life

I don't really understand people who sell a complete collection because the thrill is gone. I colllect games because I absolutely love them and I appreciate their history. It isn't simply for the challenge of it. I know that just seeing a complete collection of all the classics for any system on a daily basis would always bring a smile to face, if I ever managed to do that. I mean would you drop a great girl you've been after for awhile once she finally decides she wants to be your girlfriend because the challenge is gone? I guess maybe some people would. Seems weird to me though

Speaking of which, hearing people talk about the wives telling them what to do is disheartening. One more reason for me to avoid marriage. I've never really understood the point of marriage(probably because I don't see kids in my future), but the only kind of girl I would marry has to appreciate some of the stuff I like. Otherwise, I just don't see why I'd want to spend the rest of my life with her. If she's got a problem with the game collection, then she's not the one