Too much expensive shit

[MCF 76]

Life is a waste of time!

I hope I die and turn into a video game.

A beat em up i presume? I know: "Andsuchisdeath" would be a great title screen for a beat em up btw.

Intro logue: A fight of no triumph, no defeat, only a empty pail, a slate rubbed clean, a merciful putting away of what has been. Go ahead dauntlessly make rapid progress you fool.

Actually ASID you could be Altered Beast 2 that never was w/ some mixed capcom lines lol.

 

[Pasky]

Wise from your gwave ASID

 

[Xian Xi]

I used to think shit was expensive until I really thought about it. I'm only really into one thing at a time so I never keep a mass collection of more than one thing. Got rid of my NES collection years ago to dive into the Neo, sold off the Neo games I don't really play. My Neo collection is only about 20 games big, maybe less. After having kids, I don't think there's any point of having a complete collection of anything. I'd prefer to have just the games I really enjoy, that's how I treat my arcade PCB collection.

 

[ThGame]

I used to think shit was expensive until I really thought about it. I'm only really into one thing at a time so I never keep a mass collection of more than one thing. Got rid of my NES collection years ago to dive into the Neo, sold off the Neo games I don't really play. My Neo collection is only about 20 games big, maybe less. After having kids, I don't think there's any point of having a complete collection of anything. I'd prefer to have just the games I really enjoy, that's how I treat my arcade PCB collection.

Video game collecting can be expensive but i always look at it as anything retro (rarely new games) i buy is worth at least what i paid for it and in most cases it is more likely to appreciate. Its just the amount of games one is willing to hold before off loading.

I think anyone is doing it right if they are happy and comfortable with what they put in and get out of thier hobby. Its the people that hopelessly buy when they cant afford or hold on to games when they really need the cash that are the ones with the issues.

 

[vincewy]

Besides NGDEV and Neobitz releases, I haven't looked into AES and MVS games for a long time until recently. Once I did, I was like WTF? It's not just North America where prices are going insane, go to stores in Asia, I saw one loose copy of Ninja Masters MVS in really crappy condition (but genuine with serial number), for about $100 US, sure, I'll take it. Besides MVS creeping into AES price level back in the 90s, they're becoming difficult to find just like AES games before.

 

[ThGame]

Besides NGDEV and Neobitz releases, I haven't looked into AES and MVS games for a long time until recently. Once I did, I was like WTF? It's not just North America where prices are going insane, go to stores in Asia, I saw one loose copy of Ninja Masters MVS in really crappy condition (but genuine with serial number), for about $100 US, sure, I'll take it. Besides MVS creeping into AES price level back in the 90s, they're becoming difficult to find just like AES games before.

Aes is its own beast that commands a premium but mvs still has lots of room to grow. As this huge flow of new retro collectors buy everything up in sight every month there are more and more people discovering what neo geo is for the first time or wondering what that stupid expensive system was they saw when they were young and now want one.

As people flood retro collecting people want to have bigger and better collections and neo geo is that forbidden fruit as it has a notorious rep for being expensive but badass. Mvs is the only affordable route currently and will be desired by alot of new incoming people. Cmvs sales will increase and prices will rise over the next few years even more. Id be curious to know how many new members have been trying to join this site over the last 6 months vs 3 or 4 years ago.

 

[Late]

It's not only neo geo, prices on most retro gaming is going up and up. resellers are cancer.

Is castlevania 4 really worth 70 DOLLARS?

I saw a mint CIB PAL Castlevania Vampire's kiss for 800€ in a store in Paris.

 

[F4U57]

So... about that Money Puzzle Exchanger...

Huh...? Where?!

On your list too, mate?

 

[DNSDies]

Sports and books are a waste of time?

I mean consuming sports or books.
Depending on how you define the meaning of life, yes.

Is our only prerogative in life to reproduce, and pass on things to the next generation?
Are we meant to build great things?
Should we strive for material success and wealth?
Should we colonize the stars?

If so, the vast majority of books won't help you there, nor will watching a bunch of sweaty men fight over a ball.
maybe we're all supposed to get really really good at Metal Slug. Maybe when we die, St. Peter will make us do a no-death run of Metal Slug X.
Scrubs not allowed in Heaven, sir.

 

[wyo]

Huh...? Where?!

On your list too, mate?

LOL, yeah I think OP mentioned it in teh first post. Gotta try, right?

 

[xsq]

Life is a waste of time!
I hope I die and turn into a video game.

sig'd.

 

[NeoSneth]

I've already made it to the point where I start selling stuff that never sees the light of day. I don't really regret it because I barely remember what I sold.

There becomes a point when all this plastic stuff becomes a burden.

Do I regret selling some items? Sure, but that's the minority. You'll find plenty of stories here of people that have dumped their collections, picked up a multicart, and are happier than ever.

 

[Kef9]

I have just recently started selling stuff that I don't need or want. At the end of the day I just thought that you cant take it with you.

I don't plan on ever selling my neo geo stuff and I plan to give it to my kids. If they don't want it then that's fine and I will sell up when I'm old and my hands don't work anymore.

Prices on everything are absolutely crazy at the moment. I'm just glad I made a decision a few years ago to get everything I wanted before this recent madness.

 

[Kef9]

TRUTH. I'm now constantly walking around my house trying to decide what else can I can throw away. At a certain point last year I found that I had 37 cups in my cupboard.

I am 100% behind this. I have become obsessed with what I can get rid of.

I have shit loads of star wars Lego NSIB of everything in the movies you can think of which I bought years ago which is now worth insane money. I will sell it but to be honest I cant be arsed with the hassle and wish I had never bought it in the first place even though I stand to make a killing.

 

[mjmjr25]

You'll find plenty of stories here of people that have dumped their collections, picked up a multicart, and are happier than ever.

...and plenty of stories of the exact opposite.

 

[ChuChu Flamingo]

More people into retro gaming = more demand for an already limited supply = prices go up.

I don't understand why people complain about how prices have increased... this is basic economics at work.

For people who just want to play the games, check out the Wii and the quite large library of Neo Geo games. For people who want to collect, be prepared to fork over the dough.

Basic economics doesn't factor in people doing shady things and manipulating stock. In fact, if people were doing that in economics, they usually get shrek'd. With this in mind, look at all the hoarders of games. Some people say one person can't affect it, but the evidence proves otherwise. Look at how STV has affected yahoo japan auctions, namely arcade pcbs. And yes it takes two people to tangle and make these prices, but lets be honest here ebay sets the example, not forums like us unfortunately.

I'm very familiar with another collector hobby called magic and know very well what happens when the game gets more popular and more people start to get into the game. Seems like the same thing is happening with retro gaming and like many have said, it will only start to get worse from here on out.

Magic the gathering finance people are hilarious. On one end, we have wizards who want the game to be competitive. On the other hand, we have starcity games and other fucknuts speculating what will be "rare" or "sought after" and buying up all the stock.

Take this snippet from MTGLion

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wEs2j7NqNOA

the Tl;dr of this is the same as what is starting to happen to video games. Starcity has bought up all stock of fetchlands then shit on them or resell. Does this sound familiar to you? You bet it does, as i've seen the same shit happening with video games now. People hype up a card or video game that may be worth a lot more in the future.

Hopefully Wizards of the coast does reprints to blow the fuck out of these speculators.


I think the real problem is everyone wants to push the envelope with prices. I add my tax and shipping charges, second person does that and now we have a retarded price.

Bubble or not, we are in a very stupid time period for buying games where people have more money than sense.

 

[Mephisto]

Dumped it all to buy an omega seamaster watch, it'll hold its value just as good.
I built myself a small arcade machine and just use the MVS emulator carts or multi jamma boards, some are rubbish but I consider the fact technology has moved on so when you want to play the games it's very easy to do.

Collecting is a different thing to gaming and investing is a different thing to both of those so I'd say you need to be clear what it is you're after, if it's gaming you don't need original carts, if it's investing...well there's the stock market or gold, bonds etc.

 

[Turbogfx]

I sold 2 CIB SNES Donkey Kong Country games a few years ago for a total of € 60. Could I have gotten more out of it if I would have hung on to those games for a few more years? Probably yes. Do I regret that? No, because those € 60 allowed me to complete my European Vectrex collection with 2 more games (at the time they sold around €30 per CIB game). In the end, I couldn't care less about those DKC games. I'm just glad I could sell them to someone who did care about the games, so I could in turn buy stuff that I cared about.
Right now I have a cool collection if I say so myself, small in size, but "valuable" to me specifically for gameplay and sentimental reasons.

 

[tacoguy]

That video was pretty spot on. And while I don't like what Star City and those other major distributors are doing, I also be putting the blame on people. If there were less people that bought stuff at those stupid marked up prices, then it would become a less viable strategy and we would be seeing less of stupid practices like that. But no, people dont question anything or even try to haggle a bit they just throw money at what they want without thinking about the situation. I mean people can do whatever they want with their money, but they should really try to educate themselves a bit more before they buy. When the cost of one deck in older formats like Legacy or Modern start costing on average in the $2000-4000 dollar range, that tells you how bad it has gotten.

The thing with magic is that Wizards has the ability to reprint any cards they want and it wont cost them much more if anything than printing the newer stuff, but they seem ok with how things are in the secondary market. They even wanted to make modern a more accessible format by reprinting many of the most expensive and popular cards like goyf and bob. That would have been a great idea if they didnt make it a very limited print run. The result was that everything went up.

Back to video games, even on craigslist, people are sticking to ebay mid to high prices and they dont leave much room for negotiation. They dont even take away what they lose from shipping or the 10% that ebay takes. You would think that because you have cash, are buying now, and are willing to meet them at their place would make it so that they budge a little bit but no they just tell you that you're low balling them. Idiots! They just keep saying the same shit, "they sell this for a lot more at the game store" or "this is what they go for on ebay". Hey fucker! If i wanted ebay prices I would go to ebay!

Luckily it hasnt been all that bad. I recently got a DC with 16 games (no case, only manuals) 4 controllers, and 2 guns for $120 (talked the guy down from $200). And also got a gamecube with 4 controllers and two crappy games for $60 (they wanted $100) at a swap-meet. There are still some reasonable people out there that will be flexible and work with you on the prices. But they are harder to come by. There are also some awesome deals or collections that show up from time to time, but those feel like a waste because some other guy beat me to the punch.

 

[Bill Kilgore]

I feel like waiting for the prices to go back down is a lost cause. I gues prices will only go up so i'm glad i got my AES and Vectrex when it was still "cheap". Now i just stick to games i really like; ie mostly Neo Geo games.

Life is a waste of time!

I hope I die and turn into a video game.

I hope for your sake it won't be Legend of Success Joe.

 

[BerryTogart]

NTM is awesome, of course it does not soar in price because it isn't hyped via yt and "collectors" will never know because they don't play their Games.

 

[itsofrustratin]

Ebay buy it now is cancer most of the time.
I stand by the post I made earlier, "never pay more than $20 for a computer game."

The most disgusting offender is Earthbound, considering it's actually almost FREE on Wii-U, and scalpers are still trying to sell ragged ass dog-chewed and iron branded by blockbuster copies for $200+ and there's regularly like 50 or more of them up for sale YEAR ROUND.

I just browse the auctions ending soonest and snipe anything that seems like a good deal. It seems to have worked out rather well so far. I spend about $150 a month doing this and get 10-15 good games.

One day I will find Earthbound for cheap. ONE DAY.

Like most of the expensive SNES games its not particularly rare, but its in extremely high demand. Earthbound is the worst offender because it wasnt particularly well regarded game when it first game out, but 20 years later people decided its the holy grail of rpg gaming. The original Super Smash Bros played a significant role in pushing its value up. Im sure South Park Stick of Truth has pushed the value up as well, since its large inspired by Earthbound.

 

[vincewy]

I am seeing another disturbing trend on eBay. Real auctions are almost gone, nearly all items are "BUY IT NOW" with sky high asking prices, and the crazy part? Some MVS games are disappearing at any cost (Pochi Nyaa).

 

[YodaChips]

If you want to sell, try to ask yourself if you're gonna regret it after. Its not easy since I sold twice my Neo collection and regret both times. The first time I was young and stupid(1994) and the second time(1996)...same thing. When I found this forum back in 2001 I've restarted collecting and playing this console and never looked back. The only difference is that(like someone else said) with a family I can consider now selling the games that I don't play and the ones I have many copies of. Now it's not about quitting the Neo, it's making sure I can play the games I like in the way I used to.

 

[xsq]

I am seeing another disturbing trend on eBay. Real auctions are almost gone, nearly all items are "BUY IT NOW" with sky high asking prices, and the crazy part? Some MVS games are disappearing at any cost (Pochi Nyaa).

Lots of those BIN auctions work like this: offers are coming in via private messages, the seller writes back and forth with all interested parties to determine the highest bidder that way (pitting everyone against each other of course) - then he pulls the auction to circumvent fees.