http://nintendoage.com/forum/ -Sqooner http://nintendoage.com/forum/messageview.cfm?catid=5&threadid=76197 2012-09-12T20:04:20 -05.00 XYZ 379 http://nintendoage.com/forum/messageview.cfm?catid=5&threadid=76197 2012-09-12T19:51:32 -05.00 XYZ 379 Originally posted by: Tanooki

On any of the old 8/16bit Nintendo portable or console stuff I won't pay over original retail (whether that's $30 for GB or $50 for NES/SNES) and even then it's rare.
While I agree with your point, it should be put into perspective. $50 in 1986 is like $105 today. Odd to think NES games cost almost double than PS3/360/Wii games today. And we still complain about $60 price points.

And to add to the topic, i really think it has to do with a) the demographic that is no collecting and b) the economy.

For the demographic, a lot more people are becoming collectors. A lot of people looking for these games are now entering there 30s, or are already in their early 30s. They now have disposable income (see b). The want to begin to rebuy their childhood. Demand goes up, supply goes down and everyone knows how that turns out.

As for the economy, I think it is two fold. 1) The economy, while still poor, seems to slowly be getting better. People (see a) are coming into more disposable income. One the flip, the economy, as I stated is still poor, so the sellers want to get as much money as possible and drive up prices.

Of course I have no evidence, empirical or otherwise, to back this up. Just my quick thoughts.
]]> http://nintendoage.com/forum/messageview.cfm?catid=5&threadid=76197 2012-09-12T19:44:18 -05.00 XYZ 379 Originally posted by: Cole20200

We still have a bit of a mystery on our hands though. What happened 6 months ago to cause this price spike? The crest of the price wave is ebay. So maybe that's where we should look.

Something I've been mulling over, maybe the price jag is a result of the recovering economy in general. Once someone somewhere pays a massively inflated price on ebay, that dirty laundary is out for all of us to see. And dealers see it too. "Heck if hotDealzXsniperX can sell wayn'es world for 170 bucks, then why am I selling it for 50?" And so we have a cascading effect. Timed perfectly with a large influx of new collectors, and bam! Everyone is paying premium because; A. New comers don't know any different B. Veteran collectors fear the scarcity bear C. Dealers gonna deal.

This last six months has bubble writen all over it, is what I'm saying.
What I've noticed over years is that some carts are truly, sincerely much rarer than the various 'lists' gave them credit for. eBay can be erratic on any given day but over time, it's incredibly consistent. Anyone who was actively collecting rare carts back before "Collector Mania" set in knew that some carts listed as 'rare' were significantly more common than other carts listed as 'rare', even though their respective prices didn't reflect this back then.

For example, Cart Y might be listed as a R4, yet there would always be 10 running auctions for one at any given time.
Cart Z might be likewise listed as R4, yet we might only see one auction a week. What I'm noticing today is that credible crarity is starting to manifest itself in terms of the most severe price spikes.

Sometimes things bubble up and overprice themselves but other times, underpriced suff realizes actual, credible value. A few people knew there was a big, big wave heading towards vintage NES carts.

The other thing that amuses me is how trivially simple it would be to manipulate this market. For example, if I decide that henceforth, I want perception of Fire N Ice to be that people are paying $600, it wouldn't take much to make that appear to be so, which would be quite tempting to a person who's laid in a stock of them. ]]> http://nintendoage.com/forum/messageview.cfm?catid=5&threadid=76197 2012-09-12T18:11:59 -05.00 XYZ 379 Originally posted by: Cole20200

We still have a bit of a mystery on our hands though. What happened 6 months ago to cause this price spike? The crest of the price wave is ebay. So maybe that's where we should look.

Something I've been mulling over, maybe the price jag is a result of the recovering economy in general. Once someone somewhere pays a massively inflated price on ebay, that dirty laundary is out for all of us to see. And dealers see it too. "Heck if hotDealzXsniperX can sell wayn'es world for 170 bucks, then why am I selling it for 50?" And so we have a cascading effect. Timed perfectly with a large influx of new collectors, and bam! Everyone is paying premium because; A. New comers don't know any different B. Veteran collectors fear the scarcity bear C. Dealers gonna deal.

This last six months has bubble writen all over it, is what I'm saying.
At the beginning of 2012 we had one vintage store in town and now we have 3 in addition to Gamestop joining the market which I should post some insider information in the gamestop thread.

The 50 free ebay listings is probably another factor. All of a sudden 30-50 dollar games are listed at 75 and more. Then those 50 dollar games quickly get bought up and new price is 75.

We also are seeing some dry up factor too, I've heard the dealers here say that their biggest problem is getting in inventory, so many people are buying and no one is selling. ]]> http://nintendoage.com/forum/messageview.cfm?catid=5&threadid=76197 2012-09-12T17:47:23 -05.00 XYZ 379
Something I've been mulling over, maybe the price jag is a result of the recovering economy in general. Once someone somewhere pays a massively inflated price on ebay, that dirty laundary is out for all of us to see. And dealers see it too. "Heck if hotDealzXsniperX can sell wayn'es world for 170 bucks, then why am I selling it for 50?" And so we have a cascading effect. Timed perfectly with a large influx of new collectors, and bam! Everyone is paying premium because; A. New comers don't know any different B. Veteran collectors fear the scarcity bear C. Dealers gonna deal.

This last six months has bubble writen all over it, is what I'm saying. ]]> http://nintendoage.com/forum/messageview.cfm?catid=5&threadid=76197 2012-09-12T17:16:50 -05.00 XYZ 379 Originally posted by: Tanooki

Huzzah man you're preaching to the choir, love your posts I really do. I've been saying similar stuff for awhile and it kind of falls on a mix of agreement and deaf ears. I got myself a powerpak over a year ago as I got fed up with the feeding frenzy. For me I limit myself now and I stick to it like glue. On any of the old 8/16bit Nintendo portable or console stuff I won't pay over original retail (whether that's $30 for GB or $50 for NES/SNES) and even then it's rare. It may take me months or years, but I just don't be taken in by the collector ego that jams up prices. People can say the market dictates the insanity, but to me watching it go along it's the gougers manipulating the market creating the false expectation of increased value such with games previously mentioned (EVO, Wild Guns Harvest Moon.) I have the first two, got them around 9-10mo ago and paid $50 for each which was lucky, the other as you can see in my sig I'm still sticking to.
Yep, I would rather buy a Powerpak or play it on an emulator before I pay more than original retail price for a old game. That's why I was so hellbent on not paying more than $30 for Super Mario RPG (cart only). I wanted the real thing, but not enough to pay "collector's eBay" prices. Maybe one day the market will come back to Earth, but until we have a full-blown economic collapse, I highly doubt it.

]]> http://nintendoage.com/forum/messageview.cfm?catid=5&threadid=76197 2012-09-12T16:50:05 -05.00 XYZ 379 ]]> http://nintendoage.com/forum/messageview.cfm?catid=5&threadid=76197 2012-09-12T13:16:48 -05.00 XYZ 379 ]]> http://nintendoage.com/forum/messageview.cfm?catid=5&threadid=76197 2012-09-12T12:54:16 -05.00 XYZ 379 It's always existed, always will.

As long as there's a group of people interested in something, sooner or later, a group of obsessive-compulsive's will be along to turn the once peaceful and enjoyable hobby into a competition to see who can acquire the most, the 'best condition' the 'special variants', etc. As long as other people continue to be 'impressed' by such nonsense, those sad egomaniacs- who derive their self-worth from their possessions- will pay absurd prices in competition with one another to acquire the things deemed most 'impressive'.

Stradivarius violins completely fail to live up to their purported 'magical tone' whenever tested with blind controls in place, yet there's no limit to the people willing to pay millions for them simply because there's a narrative, developed over centuries, that they are the 'best' and anyone who owns one is somehow special.

As long as there's a group of people who will ooh and aah over a Nintendo World Championships cartridge, as long as owning one represents the apex of 'status' in the NES collecting community, a certain sort of man will pursue it with a relentlessness that results in sale prices that make saner men shake their heads in amazement.

I will concede my own irrational relationship with my NES cartridges, but it's rooted in nostalgia, fond memories of childhood and a simpler time, not the desire to 'impress other people' that impells so much collecting behavior. I guess I know what all those early baseball card collectors felt like in the 1980's when the whole world showed up and turned their hobby upside down. ]]> http://nintendoage.com/forum/messageview.cfm?catid=5&threadid=76197 2012-09-12T12:49:21 -05.00 XYZ 379 Originally posted by: Zing

I have been thinking about prices lately. I am usually not hesitant to spend money on games I want. I dropped $200 on Tales of Destiny 1 and 2. I spent $360 on Earthbound complete a year ago. I paid $100 for ISS Pro Evolution.

However, it has reached a point where any game even slightly uncommon is reaching outrageous price. Within a couple months, Wild Guns has doubled in value. I've been casually trying to pick up SCAT for over a year, and now it is being listed for almost $100. I doubt I will ever pull the trigger on EVO at the rate it is climbing. Harvest Moon is also sky high for whatever reason.

These are all games I'd love to own for playing purposes. I am not trying to lock them up in a case, or just fill a slot on my shelf, or check off a box in a spreadsheet. I want to flip through the manual, pop in the game, and play it like I did 20 years ago.

I am not hating on capitalism, or sellers filling a demand. I am just frustrated that prices have skyrocketed over the past six months for no obvious reason. I have the money to spend if I really wanted to, but I can't help but think that once all the speculators and people who are just trying to fulfill some sort of need for a full set retire and get out of the market, the prices will come back down to earth. Don't be silly. Games aren't meant to be played. They're showpieces to show other nerds how much money you have. "You have a sealed copy of Wild Guns VGA 95? God damn son! You must be a lawyer!" I liken these pieces of art to faberg'e eggs myself. They just look so pretty on the shelf next to leatherbound books and expensive cigars rolled up using the teardrops of young Cuban children.


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