I've only been collecting for a few years now but I've learned a lot in that amount of time. Early on, I had a very common perspective for most casual collectors-- when I went looking for a copy of a game, whether just a cart or CIB, I wanted the first print run version. This is my primary desire for games I'm collecting where I'm not looking to get a complete set. However, after I started hunting down every original GB game, I found that there are some games that are either common or uncommon but their are certain variations that are extremely rare.
For the Game Boy, the market is still pretty niche. I imagine there's probably no more than 15-20 of us looking for every North American cart variation of the GB line up. Those aren't strong numbers and that would seem to suggest that this will continue to be niche and finding extremely rare copies might continue to be fun for those people who enjoy collecting for the sake of collecting, while not necessarily breaking the bank.
That said, the Game Boy is sort of the genesis of handheld cartridge gaming. A lot of what we experience today in mobile/handheld gaming is thanks to the Game Boy. The NES wasn't the first gaming system but it was the one that solidified console gaming as a mainstay for most of us. I think the same could be said for the Game Boy from a mobile/handheld perspective.
I'm not trying to argue the they GB should "have it's day" or that one day GB games will be looked at like NES games but with time I think there's a good chance that people will start branching out into other areas of game collecting and start knit-picking what's available. Taking note of the history of the Game Boy, specifically, is still very important and could lend new collectors to join the scene, who might start looking for the more obscure stuff.
With that said, do you guys feel like rare variant hunting today might pay dividends in the future? Generally, I'm not a for-profit collector, but I do frequently buy stuff that I feel is a good deal that I can leverage for future trades, or I can make a few extra bucks on that I'll sink back into the hobby. The GB is my wheelhouse so if I'm going to hunt for extras and stuff to collect, it's the system I'd like to hunt for.
You guys with more experience, what's your advicement on hunting down and hoarding the truly rare variants of very common to uncommon games that go for the same price as their common counterparts? Is this a worthwhile endevour?
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