I was recently interested in collecting for this system. I would really like to collect with the box. The thing is: gameboy games with the box are almost always 10 times the price of the loose cart. I understand that maybe they are super rare, but at the prices you are buying it at there is no possible way you would ever get a return on your investment. So it seems to these that the gameboy collecting is for the serious collector who most likely have already bought the games at decent prices.
I was looking at Kid Dracula on ebay and some dude wants nearly $1200 for a complete in box. Nobody is rushing to buy it at that price, so if I decide to fork over that kind of money for it, I would likely be stuck the cost of it for a large portion of what I paid for it.
But that's not even the worst of it, even common games with the box people want $200 to $400 for the game, when the cart itself might be less than $40.

Have any of you collected seriously for this system at these prices?

I mean Kid Dracula has sold for $550 just this past august. $1200 is obviously the higher end and likely won't sell.

There is another on ebay right now for $750 which is closer to the average.

At the end of the day, games can't really be overpriced. People pay what it is worth to them, thus creating a market value that can fluctuate for a myriad of reasons. Games set too high will sit on ebay.

CIB collecting in general is not cheap for most systems and you pay a premium to have that cardboard.

And where you talk about getting a return on your investment, well there is your problem. Games are not good investments. You should buy games because you enjoy the hobby. You CAN invest in games, and you CAN make some money if you are smart, but there are better things to put your money in rather than games to make an investment.

So you have to decide, are the boxes worth the money to you? I can totally understand that being the case for some people, spending a ton on cardboard doesn't have an appeal to a lot of peopel. If not then just collect loose, or choose a different system to collect CIB for.

Bandwagon collectors are thinning out more and more every year. Just give it time for prices to come down

Yeah, the point is to buy games you want to play, which is what I'm doing, but I don't want to buy something that is worth half of the price I paid for it or even less, either. I want to buy games that hold their value or increase. I don't want to be gouged is my point.

What everyone is saying is true. I wouldn't even bother with boxes, its so stupid to get into. Fuck even if you DID have the money you'd be waiting a long time for some to even pop up.

All CIB cartridge games are over priced. If you have to question that, collect loose.

Before you make purchases, research what previous listings have sold for. Become sensitive to the condition of the items. Compare and contrast current listings and past sales. Make educated purchases. Be patient. If you become well educated and remain patient, you will make purchases that stand a far better chance to recoup their price if you decide to sell in the future.

Unfortunately, no, not every game you purchase will inflate in value 2 years from now. And, yes, if you really want a certain item in a certain condition, you may have to "overpay" vs the current average going rate. Gameboy CIB collecting is niche and difficult. Good luck.

I mean that is really on you the buyer though isn't it? To have the knowledge of what the average market price is for a game you want and trying to stick within that number and not paying a lot more by being smart about your purchases. And sometimes you have to pay a bit more if you want mint games. 

Games are going to be listed for hundreds more than they usually go for on ebay all the time. They usually just sit there for months to years because are they are asking for more money than people are willing to pay. 

At the end of the day you either are okay with paying big money for CIB gameboy games or you opt out and go for loos instead. It really comes down to what you want to spend. 

 

I mean yeah they tend to be overpriced but keep in mind they are hard to find mint CIB. The Gameboy was clearly targeted toward kids and what do kids do best? They rip open stuff, let friends borrow games, and do to their small size boxes/manuals/carts would often get lost.

It's something called "collecting" ...
 

CIB collecting (GB especially) isn't really for people who are worried about things being expensive. Stick to loose carts.

Also, educate yourself on current prices. You should never ever be paying 2x what somethings worth unless you got cash to burn.

There are overpriced BIN listings on ebay and amazon all the time. So that 1200 means nothing, don't bite on it.

Gameboy boxes are just harder to come by. Even fewer people kept them than for other consoles. It's portable so the games got carried around. NES games usually stayed at home in a drawer or whatever so more of the boxes lasted.

I've been collecting for the Game Boy for around 3 and 1/2 years and built up a collection of 654 carts and 152 CIB of which 1 is Kid Dracula.  I only paid £75 for mine in excellent condition.  I decided to collect the Game Boy as EVERYONE collects NES or SNES and wanted to be different.  I have a limit of £100 for buying games and I have got some great CIB games as well as the rarer carts like Amazing Tater and Spud's Adventure.  I notice you said looking for return on our investment, I'm a collector because I love collecting NOT for making money or scalping.  If you want to collect for the Game Boy you have to be patient (bargains do appear) set a price imit and do your research and you will do fine!
 

I agree with the folks that said to not even bother with the boxes. It is such a waste, even for regular consoles. Collecting loose is honestly the best way to go. The only vintage cartridge console I have some boxes for is the Sega Genesis, but that's because those boxes were made of quality material, and were meant to last.

Nothing new, the Donkey Kong Jr. Math box is worth over $1000 while the cartridge and manual combined are worth about $100.

Wow that is impressive. Yeah, I am kinda drawn to gameboy games because they are different and obviously because there are so great great games on them. I watched a video about gameboy games and the guy was breaking down the fact that the gameboy system had some of the most definitive ports to many games of any system. Plus the fact that some games, like Kirby, were their first releases.
So yeah, I am real interested in collecting games for the system to play on my Super NT with a Super Gameboy.

You can collect the plastic trays, they're cheaper.

Just be thankful that there isn't as much GB demand as NES or GB prices would be 3 to 5 times where they are already. The rarest GB games make the rarest licensed NES games (other than SE) look common. Some GB boxes you will just never get unless you pry them out of a collection with an above marker offer.

If you are solely worried about return on investment then stick to auctions not BINs. That doesn't mean they will appreciate but you typically get a more fair price at auction vs BIN. But then you have to wait for titles to come to you instead of getting them in the order you want.

As a Kid Dracula owner, if you can get it Near Mint CIB under 700 I'd say you did a good job. As a seller I wouldn't sell a Like New one for under 1000, too rare and in demand. Castlevania has a large following.

All games are overpriced  

If you have to ask this question, I would stick to a loose cartridge collection. CIB GB collecting can get expensive depending on the games you desire even though the cartridges a lot of times are fairly common.

If someone did buy that one for 1200 guess what the new standard is. Isn't always this straight forward but a lot of NES and SNES stuff pretty much doubled overnight because of this. One high auction or BIN and then every one listed after that was that price or higher. When there only a few to go around it gives the seller lots of leverage.

I mean, CIB collecting is expensive in general. For me, I have to REALLY like the game to justify the cost. Like what was said previously, there seems to be a slight downtrend. But that aside, just be patient, it will fall on your lap eventually. If you are worried about being gouged, then definately wait for a cheaper one to come up. That being said, auctions may be your best bet.

Depends if you are actually "collecting".

If you are just buying games you like and or want to play I would never even attempt to justify the cost of buying CIB because you can't unless you have an absurd amount of money to throw at it.

But overpriced?....Probably not it just is what it is, it is a collecting/used market.

Don't buy games as an investment. Problem solved! The way the OP is talking about it, they are already thinking about selling the games before they've started to collect. This kind of thinking will only make you poor AND sad, instead of just poor.

It's a struggle, I only collect CIB and got into game boy a bit lately, but it's so expensive and unlike the other Nintendo systems I didn't get a head start at all on collecting it. I find stuff every once in a while but just the common stuff. Also it's all really condition sensitive. They're expensive for a reason, wouldn't call it overpriced, but the lions share of it is just too expensive for me.