[True enthusiast] status: confirmed
FTFY.
Why so many nes sets? One not enough?
Nope. A car enthusiast has multiple cars. A gun enthusiast has multiple guns. An NES enthusiast has multiple NES consoles. Just like those other enthusiasts, I care about more than the average user (not that I’d shy away from loose games).
Here are the various uses I have for the extra NES hardware:
Unmodified original for baseline comparison, known-good spare/backup, Hi-Def NES with Blinking Light Win, NESRGB with expansion audio and BLW, Deluxe Set with ROB... for ROB (requires composite), twinFAMICOM for microphone games and expansion audio, AV Famicom to experiment with mods (already moved the multi-out to an NES-101 and 3D printed a replacement), my original Action Set from my childhood, a test console with ZIF sockets for troubleshooting others, two junk Famicoms for a wireless controller and HDMI project, multiple parts spares, extras for friends, family, coworkers, and acquaintances that come asking, etc.
OK, I will admit that the Challenge Set is just a box I rescued that I’ll probably sell if someone comes to me looking for a boxed set with SMB3 and doesn’t mind that the foam is missing. I’m putting my extra NES-101 on eBay tonight after upgrading it with Hi-Def NES. Just got the console last week with Mr Gimmick and Blazing Lazers, which I’ve wanted for a long time. We definitely don’t keep things around for no reason but I will do what I can to add value to the next proud owner.
...but that ain’t the half of it. This is what I see to the left of where I sit right now:
Again, having a reputation as an enthusiast means people come to me for consoles, modwork, and expertise. Never hurts to have extras when I rekindle their own interest.
These aren’t being “collected” to sit on a shelf like
madman might assume. Enthusiasm often leads to this kind of thing. I’ve seen the same thing play out with say, a Ford Mustang enthusiast who ends up with a workshop containing several project cars. Heck, I have four Ninja 250s because I needed parts and backups. I can justify those too: Working on one can take it out of commission for a while and I didn’t even own a car for four years. Another is a parts spare with a blown engine. Another is experimental track bike with modern parts on an older generation. The other was supposed to just be an engine but ended up coming with the rest of the bike (Craigslist deal; suspect it was stolen
).
Though we are primarily NES fans, our enthusiasm doesn’t stop there:
It was TWO rows of N64s a month ago but I have done 26 UltraHDMI kits since then (have 18 more to go). Most of those charcoal consoles are units I’ve had for years (dumped on me, received from coworkers, found for $5 at a thrift store, came with a bunch of games I wanted, etc). Until UltraHDMI demand wanes a bit I generally wont be using the charcoal consoles... except for parts. They’ve definitely proven useful. Even in the last few days, I needed an expansion pak door for a friend (shipped today) and I board-swapped an NS1 console for someone who wanted Voultar’s RGB mod (a couple days ago). There are are least two more charcoal N64s in my car trunk that got dumped on me at the fleamarket last weekend (didn’t want to mix them up)!
Same reason why I have two AES consoles and two MVS boards right now.
https://youtu.be/NeAUEI8KZaE
I don’t plan to keep them forever. In each case, I bought the extra broken and repaired it so that I can trade/resell and explore even more of the Neo library myself. Only reason I haven’t sold the extra MVS/AES yet is because I’m still sweetening the pot with UniBIOS, replica cases that I’m making myself (and plan to share), and more.
That reminds me:
Bought 12 SFCs so I could hunt down a strange issue that seems to be affecting a ton of older SHVC SNES/SFC consoles (ones with modular SPC700 sound module): RF only; no composite/S-video. Made it a personal vendetta after my friend in Puerto Rico lost everything to the hurricane while I was looking at his childhood SNES with that issue.
Haven’t gotten started on that yet but I have tested all 12 and made notes. Of those, three seem to work fine. A few definitely have the problem I’m looking for. In the course of finding out what’s wrong, I anticipate fixing most of the others just by swapping components with known-good ones and combining them. At $8 each (eBay 20% off coupon), I’d say it’s worth the risk. I’ve already saved several from landfills by telling people to test RF after they think their SNES is dead. I’ll definitely be sharing the fix if I do find it. I know someone else in Puerto Rico who has/had 47 consoles with this defect (yes, fourty-seven before the hurricane).
Call me a “collectard” all you want,
madman, but I like to think that someone will eventually appreciate what I do.
I want to hear more about this.
Someone borrowed our SNES with our entire SNES library in the late ‘90s. Never saw it again. Friend borrowed an NES with our only copies of several classics. Whole apartment burned down (doesn’t compare to his loss, of course). Rented with a roommate. Landlady’s daughter helped herself to all of our XBOX, PSone, GameCube, etc stuff ($3,800+ for a little weed). Lost a binder of 400+ discs (either taken from the car or carelessly set on top by a passenger).
I did recover my imported GBA, gold Zelda Limited Edition Game Boy Camera, and more from a crackhead who stole the case out of my car. It was a long shot because I didn’t even know what he looked like when I showed up in that neighborhood asking questions (stupid, I know). Thought it happened again a year later when my boss hid our even bigger case (HUGE) with two GBAs and a large library. I’m still seething about that. Screw that guy. We asked around for weeks and finally started rebuilding the library when he eventually admitted to it (excuse to buy a newly-released GBA SP, at least).
Lots of smaller incidents but those are the biggest I recall.
Lucky for you I’m sticking to Neo stuff or else you’d hear me drone on about pics of the 20x UltraHDMI I unexpectedly received Wednesday or the Voultar N64 RGB bypass I received and installed the day before or the HD Retrovision cables and adapters we got a few days before that or... you get the picture.
