I think a lot of collectors might use a combination of the two - at least, that is what I do.

Judging from the finds threads, so many collectors here go out and search for games, hoping to find a few gems for their collections, as well as other items to flip. But for the really rare games, there comes a point where the collector might just want to knock it out, say for example a Flintstones 2. If it is the last piece that you need for the collection, and you just aren't find it around your parts, it makes much more sense to save up for a few months and buy it online, saving the time hunting, and increasing the odds.

I know the games I collect quite well, and by now know what games show up and which don't. When the rare ones do appear, I might be more willing to pay more. But for the more common titles, I'll pass and wait to find them in the wild.

I don't LIKE paying full price and avoid it if possible, but honestly I am only interested in collecting Japanese releases and living where I do doesn't afford me too many options beyond auctions and forum sales. My collecting interests are fairly limited, so it isn't too big of a deal.

It is definitely fun to finally get a game I've wanted to own for a while and do enjoy finding a good deal and knowing that I paid a good price for a nice item, but I'm not a bargain hunter who takes great pride in amassing a huge collection for cheap.

In my 2-3 years of collecting for the SNES, I've literally only seen a handful of rare games out and about in my local "wild", and even then the person was asking full on retail for them and knew exactly what they had. At that point a person may as well just stick online.

For other systems like the Gamecube, PS2 and Wii and Genesis...I've come across good deals for solid games... so if I was collecting for those systems, I'd be all set hunting locally more then likely.

Online is really my only avenue to find boxes + manuals as well, sadly.

I hunt a lot for everything that i can find but then will pay retail with some of the money I make hunting to buy games which are important to me.

First, I think the polls are a little unnecessary and a bit polarizing, too black and white. I get the sentiment of the thread, but I think the overwhelming majority of the people here kind of fall into a shade of grey in between the two options on most of these. As responses have already shown, there's a lot of factors at play into how people approach their collecting. What do you collect, where do you live, just how easy/hard is it to find what you're looking for without clicking a BIN or walking into a game store are all factors that will color the answers. Financial stability and responsibility is a factor as well. If you're doing the paycheck to paycheck thing, you might be in a spot where you can spend the money now, maybe not getting the best deal, but couldn't in a week or two even if the item showed up significantly cheaper. That's less not taking things slow and steady, but more seizing a window. I'm just nitpicking here, but something about the poll options bugs me.

But as I said, I get the sentiment of the thread. For me, I live in an area where I've got plenty of non-ebay/retail options. Garage sales and flea markets are plentiful for about 9 months out of the year for me, and I'm out almost every weekend hunting for deals. I also don't have a particular strong focus on what I collect, so that makes finding something I'm interested in significantly easier than somebody looking for something very specific, be it stuff for a particular console or just a list of specific games. While the 8 and 16 bit stuff is what I consider my wheelhouse, I'll take an interested look at pretty much anything video game related I come across, and if whatever that is clears the fairly arbitrary coolness factor bar in my head and I like the price, I'll pick it up. It's not often I pay retail for games, I don't own a current gen console as of yet (though E3 has me considering a Wii-U) and there's really nothing from the last gen that I'm desperate enough to play to walk into a store and buy a new copy, so actual new games are a non-factor for me. Retro stuff, there's been a handful of occasions in the past few years I've wanted something specific bad enough right now to drop current market value at a store (Super Metroid leaps to mind as a fairly recent example, really wanted a copy, didn't want to wait for a random find any longer, paid full sticker price with a smile), but for the most part I'm pretty content to wait and see what comes my way. I have a want list, sure, but there's usually not anything on it that I feel I absolutely must have immediately, so I'm content to bide my time.

Though another factor here is what makes the collecting hobby fun for you. I'm sure there's plenty of people here who like having the games, whether it's to play them or just to have a cool looking display, and that's the hook for them. If that's what makes you enjoy it, then I say more power to you, and I don't think that crowd really cares if they decide they want something and click a BIN five minutes later. I like having, displaying, and playing my games a lot too, but for me the actual hunting process is something I really, really enjoy. As I said above, I'm out almost every weekend, and it's something I look forward to doing every week. I'll catch myself daydreaming about it sometimes, wondering if this is the week where I'll come across some jaw-droppingly good deal on something I've been wanting to have for years. And even when the finds aren't particularly amazing (which is usually the case), I still like the act of actually running around and trying to find stuff, talking with the sellers, haggling, and when I do get something at a great price I think it's a great feeling. Hell, I almost enjoy trying to get the stuff more than I actually like having it (almost ). But at the end of the day, if I come across a copy of Little Sampson for $5 and somebody else clicks a BIN for $700, once the transaction is done, we're both at the same spot ultimately, neither copy is any better or worse than the other. We've all got our own ways of going about this, but as long as you're happy with the end result, that's the important thing. There really isn't a wrong way to do it if it puts a smile on your face.

Allow me to sum up a certain variety of nintendoage collectors: "Only stupid people pay retail prices" Meanwhile they either have an ebay store, or they, themselves, are paying retail for certain items.

I make a point to always pay above retail, that way games always climb in value.

its not the same. anyone can buy a little samson for 500-600. The thread he said was boastful acting like he did something that should be impressive. You arent looking at it right.

no one goes around saying hey guys I bought my family dinner for 60 bucks tonight check it out because everyone expects that would be possible and not impressive lol.

Today's retail is tomorrow's steal.

I don't mind paying "retail" or whatever you crazy kids are calling it these wacky days if I am getting something that I know I am going to fully enjoy. Well, also, if I can afford such a luxury

I really just don't think that any of us are in the position to tell someone how to collect. If somebody wants to spend decades picking up a game here or there at yard sales, that's one way of doing it. But just because someone has money and doesn't feel like waiting 25 years to get a complete collection doesn't mean that their collection is any worse or better than someone who has the luxury of abundant flea markets, thrift stores, and yard sales in their area. I, personally, live in an area which has literally no options for craigs list, thrift stores, or flea markets. So I am forced to buy my stuff online.

having just started to avidly collect again, I'm definitely spending more money then I need to while I try to get a handful of games that I really want.

That said, since most of my collecting was done around 2002-2004 and most of it was at flea markets I'm miles ahead of my investment.

Yeah I find that an extremely hypocritical undercurrent on a lot of people here.

I've seen one guy go in a Price Check thread for an n64 item on here awhile back and belittle the original poster for paying close to retail... while they themselves have the same item at retail on their Ebay store.

And I agree with the second part of your statement: for some items they are simply far too uncommon or are genuinely rare that you're going to HAVE to pay retail to get ahold of them (reliably). Wishing upon a star and picking 4 leaf clovers may work in the movies and Harry Potter books, but the real world is a very different place, and with more sharks/collectors/resellers out there now then ever before, those 5$ Little Samson's or Mountain Bike Ralley/Speed Racers may very well be a thing of the past.

I want to point out that I personally didn't think the thread was boastful, but some other members did. I actually thought the thread was hilarious, and it was pretty clear to me that the guy was joking. It was very tongue in cheek. The humor was lost on a few guys though.

I've slowed down considerably (closed ebay and Paypal accounts as well) but what I did for a solid year was eat up good buys wherever I could find them, fix/clean them up - sell them to build up a good cushion on Paypal - then splurge on some rarer titles in excellent condition.

The people I sold to (hopefully) felt like they got a good deal, the people I bought from (hopefully) thought they got a fair price for their stuff and all the money I spent on rare stuff was profit from the stuff I didn't want.

Did I fire off on the BIN button on ebay, or maybe overpay a bit here or there on games I really wanted to pick up? Sure.
But the money spent was (mostly) income I acquired through getting games I didn't want into the hands of people who were looking for them.

The local scene has mostly dried up, so I splurge every few weeks now buying PS1 gems like "Barbie's Horse Race" and "Sabrina the Teenage Witch" to add to the PS1 collection.

Would this count as machine gunning the BIN option, or hunting or deals?

I'm personally amazed how much this philosophy has been proven right over the entire last decade. People are quick to judge on time, but some collectors that had no problem paying retail yesterday got rid of the problem of paying retail today, while those always waiting for deals on everything are still stuck with this problem.

I'm not saying it isn't okay to wait for the deals, but still, don't be too quick in calling someone stupid because he wants his games now.

I don't know if I can really relate to this.  When I look at my collection I see glorious games that I love owning.  I don't even think about how much I spent, and I don't see dollar signs on my games.  I always joke that I'll be buried with them, so they have no price tag anymore.  Of course there is a certain satisfaction in knowing that the value has gone up so much, but even if it went down it wouldn't be the end of the world, because I'm just happy to have them and won't get rid of them either way (barring a financial tragedy or something).

Feeling like I've made money has absolutely no part in what makes it fun for me.  Simply amassing things I love is what makes it fun.

Indeed.  3 years ago I started paying "retail" for a bunch of the higher end SNES games (Hagane, EVO, Aerofighters, etc) because I figured that stuff was more likely to jump in value than the common stuff.  I've never seen any of these games for cheap during that time period, so if I hadn't bought them and wanted them now, I'd have to fork a hell of a lot to get them now.  I've also got to play them over that time frame, which I couldn't have done if I keep waiting for a "deal".

I fit the entirety of your description/poll. Both sides.

I spend an insane amount of time looking for good deals yet buy things for full price and occasionally even screw up and overpay.

My goal is to get as much as possible as fast as possible but due to luck and funds (but mostly luck) I collect very slowly.

I buy off ebay because I live in reseller hell, so despite there being a lot of games out here it is still possible to spend 40 hours or more hunting every week for years and find nothing.

When I look at my collection I feel shame for being a hoarder and having spent thousands (I've probably broke $10,000 by now) on dumb entertainment. It also does not help that many games I have as a joke, conversational piece, for a story, or something I may want to show someone at some point, so 99% of the time I own them they are filler. I also end up keeping a surprisingly large number of games because they are too common and worthless to trade.

On the other hand I have 300+ games and that includes every good common low value game for every console in existence and that is fucking spectacular!

They are all worth more than what I spent (especially since everything has doubled in price) but since I never sell games my entire collection is a monetary loss. A loss for awesome. That I feel dirty for owning. And love.

It's complicated.

I have no issue paying market value on most items, at this point it's pretty much pony up or do without as some things are impossible to find. I have a problem paying overinflated BINs or buying any particular title when it's going through a phase of being too "hot". The ones that buy in at those inflated prices only make that the market price, that much quicker. Little Samson, Hagane, etc, to name a few fit that bill for me.

I agree with what's been stated though. Sadly, this year's crazy priced BIN could be next year's steal.

Great topic!

When I was working on my NES collection I loved visiting thrift stores, pawn shops, and garage sales (still do!). At that time I had a young family and couldn't justify any splurging on market value games. To get really hard to find stuff I ebayed the $2 bubble bobbles and $5 river city ransoms I found to get paypal funds for stuff like Flinstones 2 or Little Samson.

My collection grew slowly, and I thought I was in the black on it.

... until I saw Jumpman Jr. show up and start collecting at a rapid pace by throwing money at it.

The truth was that although I'd collected slow, I usually overpaid for commons. When I saw Jumpman grabbing up *literally* hundreds of commons at a time, and broke down the pricing to about 50 cents a game I realized I was paying (at an average of $3 a cart) SIX times as much for my collection. What he saved on acquiring commons in this way basically paid for Stadium Events.

Now that I'm more financially stable I'm excited about taking a moderate approach to my gamecube collection by doing a ton of deal hunting, but being able to and comfortable with paying market value for the rarer stuff if I have to. And getting that rare stuff FIRST, instead of saving it for last.

So to answer your question: yes to both.

1 - The fun of being able to afford the perfect addition to your collection.
2 - I collect as much as I can, as fast as I can.
3 - I mostly pay retail because I love watching my collection grow.

I'm probably guilty of excessively using "Buy it Now". I payed retail prices (if not more) for more than half of my collection, but that doesn't make it wrong. Where I live, the retro gaming market is almost non-existent and way overpriced (local classifieds, retro game stores, and pawn shops).

It's an expensive hobby around here (Canada) with import charges and high shipping. I can honestly say that my collection has cost me way more than what I have made selling video games. I am fortunate that I can afford this hobby. Every time I look at my collection, I don't see $$$, I see a collection that I have worked hard for in a different way than most people here.

I've bought a lot of retail and I've also got some great deals, but EVERYTHING I've bought retail I would have never had the chance to buy anywhere else. Sure, there are items I bought retail that I may have been able to save a few dollars if I was more patient, but there are a lot of others I jumped on and haven't seen for a good price since or at all.

When I was getting the most deals it was completely draining. Kijiji, flea markets, pawn shop stops, eBay surfin', and being on NA 10 hours a day was a lot of work. I probably saved money and got some good deals, but I definitely worked for it. I would assume people who make a lot of money of this market also do a ton of work (at least to get a good foundation).

Yeah, this somewhat bothers me too. Just in the retro market in general. Seems like you always hear about people picking up things before the boom or reselling to make tons of money, yet never mention buying anything at retail at all. I find it hard to believe this day and age people (even hardcore collectors) are getting rare or expensive items for cheap. 

I'm just kind of frustrated that the whole market has turned into a stock market over the years. Less and less people care about the games, they're just interested in the money value behind them. I guess in ways that's what also keeps it such a hot topic. 

I'm just glad I am more or less done collecting. I've got 99% of what I currently want as the retro market has turned pretty sour for me over the last year or so. 

I agree.  I'm not a bubble speculator, but if I had to guess about what the demise of game collecting will eventually be like, it'll be somewhat like the toy collectors.  Resellers and hoarders will drive prices up to absurd amounts.  That will alienate new collectors, and the market will become extremely bloated in terms of prices, until it is no longer sustainable, and then the only people left collecting will be the most hardcore.

Personally, I will complete my SNES collection within the next few months.  And that includes all of the most highly valued games, competition cartridges, MBRSR, etc.  But I literally have no interest in trying to build another complete set, simply because of how much the prices have been driven up.
I do love to collect the games just for the games, but I do play what I buy.  Just check last year's SNES challenge thread...