A General Commentary on Collecting Sega

[Snatch1414]

This is somewhat of a commentary on the state of collecting as well but more so for Sega. Aside from the Genesis, is it just me or is it damn near impossible to find games for any other Sega console? I'm talking about finding stuff in the wild. Master System games I simply never see, Saturn games I simply never see, Sega CD games I simply never see, and Dreamcast games I'll see but usually disc only if I do. I am not counting the odd sports games fyi.

Now of course you can find just about anything on eBay and you will find lots on a handful of other sites as well, but I've been pounding the pavement pretty hard the last few months and have come up almost empty.

It seems like pre-Gamecube all I ever come across in general is common NES titles and Genesis games usually cart-only, and half of them are of the Jurassic Park/Lion King/Sonic variety. Obviously over time it's going to get harder and harder to find this stuff, but if I hit 2-3 promising flea markets/yard sales every weekend I'm lucky if I see anything other than what I just mentioned in this paragraph.

I actually like auctions but shipping costs turn a good deal into a 'I didn't really need it that badly' deal, and plus it's more fun to find stuff out there in person. Having a hard time building a Sega collection though. I had one nice find of about 17 games for $30, all CIB. Other than that it's been virtually dry.

[AppleQueso]

Genesis was by far the most popular of Sega's consoles. Nothing else they ever did even comes close. Simple as that really.

[brunoafh]

The Saturn was extremely popular in Japan, possibly as or moreso than the MegaDrive. Saturn games are dirt cheap and everywhere in Japanese game shops, and they aren't very expensive to import either (not counting shmups or ultra rarities).

I've also heard that the Master System was very popular in Europe. I don't have any first hand knowledge about that though.

But yeah, stateside Sega collecting outside the Genesis is pretty much a no go. DC games aren't too impossibly hard to find as it did decent here, but forget about Saturn games pretty much, outside sports game fodder.

[aaron]

if you find Saturn or Sega CD games in the wild (even sports ones), and they're in their cases, it would behoove you to pick them up anyway.

[Jmustang1968]

I find SMS least often in the wild. I see DC stuff all the time, and plenty of Saturn and Sega CD as well. I don't find much 32X though.

[pierrot]

The Saturn was extremely popular in Japan, possibly as or moreso than the MegaDrive.

Saturn did much better than the Mega Drive. The Mega Drive didn't fair all that favorably in Japan.

A lot of my Sega collecting is spent on imports, so I deal with online sources mostly, if I'm in the states. I do poke into a retro store near me every once in a while where there are quite a few Sega CD, Saturn, Master System, 32X and Dreamcast games, but they're usually in pretty rough shape, and his asking prices on them are way too high. (I did pick up some S-TV equipment and games for practically pennies there, though.) The only other place I've really seen with retro games within a 40-mile radius only has Genesis games, and crappy ones at that. (Although I passed up Socket, and now I'm a little upset by that.) All those games are pretty much at Ebay prices anyway, but I don't live in a very good area for local retro collecting, in the first place. Generally, if there were anything interesting, it would be in a condition that I probably wouldn't feel like wasting money on.

Nintendo stuff is about the only stuff that gets any respect in the retro-scape. It's just the nature of the beast, but who knows what you might find if you keep looking. I've heard that there are some areas of the country where more Sega stuff is available; Next time you're on vacation, try poking around a bit.

[Erik_Twice]

Dreamcast games should be common. Saturn is rare outside of Japan and I don't know how common they are in the US but I have no problems finding SMS games in Europe.

[bryan_65]

Next time you're on vacation, try poking around a bit.

I did just this and at a garage sale 12 hours away in Ohio I got a model one Genny and a model 2 Genny-CD combo and Virtual Racing CIB for the Saturn. All worked great and cost only $8.

My wife and I garage sale everywhere and are always looking, it is really fun when on road trips in other parts of the state or across country.

[SpoonyBard]

Genesis games are really prominent up here, and you can actually find some pretty decent titles complete. Our local pawn shop is flooded with them and they practically give them away.

Master System/Game Gear/Saturn/Dreamcast stuff is so few and far between up here though that it's barely worth looking. It just didn't sell very well up here, and aside from collectors, no one seems to have any of it.

It does make finding them in the wild a lot more fun though.

[BoneSnapDeez]

I only find Genesis games around here.