Is collecting a full set still doable?

[CaptainBreakout]

Is something like Plutos considered part of the full set? I mean, with the Homebrews being such a thing, and lost titles.

 

I'm pretty happy to have Baby Pac-Man and Rikki and Vikki.  Those are going to be hard to find now.

 

 

I wish I had Water Ski and Midnight Mutants, but would they get played?  Maybe a little.

 

Almost bought Ninja Golf this year. I think it was $100 or so. I hesitated.  Lost my shot at it... But probably for the best. I might have played it for 10 minutes. Sour grapes? Maybe. But unless I threw a party, that's probably realistic.

 

I had Scrapyard Dog, but it was so bad I traded it. Part of the trade was Centipede. Don't regret it for a second. Best two player co-op (only?) home version around. My kids love it.

[Shawn]

On 10/24/2023 at 1:36 AM, CaptainBreakout said:

Is something like Plutos considered part of the full set?

 

Nope. Just the original retail releases.

[Zonie]

Holy SHit. I think I have that... $699!!!

[CommodoreCEO]

I completed a full PAL retail release set a year or so ago, and the one game that REALLY gave me trouble in terms of finding it was the H.E.S./Salu release of Baseball.

 

In 7 or so years of active collecting, I only saw it twice... The second time being when I bought it.

 

I lucked out with other H.E.S/Salu releases. They are incredibly difficult to find and are usually very expensive.

 

Overall though, if you are patient, it's very doable.

[Shawn]

43 minutes ago, CommodoreCEO said:

I completed a full PAL retail release set a year or so ago, and the one game that REALLY gave me trouble in terms of finding it was the H.E.S./Salu release of Baseball.

 

In 7 or so years of active collecting, I only saw it twice... The second time being when I bought it.

 

I lucked out with other H.E.S/Salu releases. They are incredibly difficult to find and are usually very expensive.

 

Overall though, if you are patient, it's very doable.

 

Australia seemed to have them being offered for sale more than anywhere else in the past. I've not actively looked for years though.

[CommodoreCEO]

I got my 32-in-1 cart from Australia, but my PAL H.E.S/Salu games surprisingly all came from US collectors. 

 

Nothing came up in my Australian eBay saved searches for years. 😂

[keitaro]

On 10/30/2023 at 2:36 PM, CommodoreCEO said:

I completed a full PAL retail release set a year or so ago, and the one game that REALLY gave me trouble in terms of finding it was the H.E.S./Salu release of Baseball.

 

In 7 or so years of active collecting, I only saw it twice... The second time being when I bought it.

 

I lucked out with other H.E.S/Salu releases. They are incredibly difficult to find and are usually very expensive.

 

Overall though, if you are patient, it's very doable.

I agree with Baseball!! I have all PAL retail releases from a few years ago except for this one. I found loose carts sometimes but not complete with box.

[GaryH917]

This one's only $900 with a fake repro box 😂

 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/404598694625?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=doaohx6frb2&sssrc=4429486&ssuid=1JYwYfN6Taa&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

[T.A.P.]

4 hours ago, GaryH917 said:

This one's only $900 with a fake repro box 😂

 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/404598694625?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=doaohx6frb2&sssrc=4429486&ssuid=1JYwYfN6Taa&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

I'll take it! 😛

[T.A.P.]

Ug, I keep just barely losing ebay auctions for games although I am still slowly chipping away at the ones I am missing.

Edited November 17, 2023 by T.A.P.

[4300]

21 hours ago, T.A.P. said:

Ug, I keep just barely losing ebay auctions for games although I am still slowly chipping away at the ones I am missing.

Just be patient. Set up eBay alerts so you know when new items are posted. Don't forget that PayPal does "pay in 4", if you need to break up some of the more expensive games into easier to manage payments. Games like tank comment, you're just going to have to accept that you won't get a deal and will have to dish out a few bucks. Sooner or later, a buy it now listing will pop up and you won't have to worry about being outbid. 

 

In the Grand scheme of things, the 7800 is a very doable and still fairly affordable library to complete, compared to most other consoles.

[GaryH917]

12 hours ago, 4300 said:

In the Grand scheme of things, the 7800 is a very doable and still fairly affordable library to complete, compared to most other consoles.

With Tank Command selling close to $700-800 for a CIB, I wouldn't even consider paying that amount of money for a crappy game "just to have a complete 7800 collection".....🙁

 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/186152556122?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=lY-hSK6lSk2&sssrc=4429486&ssuid=1JYwYfN6Taa&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

[T.A.P.]

3 hours ago, GaryH917 said:

With Tank Command selling close to $700-800 for a CIB, I wouldn't even consider paying that amount of money for a crappy game "just to have a complete 7800 collection".....🙁

 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/186152556122?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=lY-hSK6lSk2&sssrc=4429486&ssuid=1JYwYfN6Taa&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

Yeah, I am not going to bother with trying to get Tank Command, unless I actually managed to pick up all the other games for the system first.

 

Even then, I still may not bother with it.

 

Usually when I collect games for a system it goes like this:

 

1. Buy all the games I like playing.

2. Start picking up cheap games that I passed on the first go around, but after fiddling with them in emulation, end up getting anyway.

3. Realize I am most of the way there towards a full set anyway, and start picking up other stuff, usually going from cheapest to most expensive.

4. Get those last few pricey games I don't have, since I am already close to a set.

[Lord Thag]

Yeah I agree, I have seen several Tank Commands for sale IRL at expos over the years, and on ebay, and I've never once seen an Ikari Warriors or a Mean 18 outside the ones I own (one was a lucky buy back in the day on clearance, the other happened to drop into my lap due to a badly phrased ebay auction) and the two that @swlovinist has in his museum collection.

I could have (and should have) picked up one of the Tank Commands I'd seen, they're stupidly overpriced now. Not a great game either, hence my ambivalence. Sadly, the only game I happen to be missing for 7800. I don't really complete sets though, I just got a lot of 7800 syuff super cheap back in the day. 

 

One of the best decisions I made collecting years ago was to say 'screw it' to the completionist stuff. Having all of it just checks off some OCD box in your head, but doesn't really add much to the actual enjoyment of owning the games since half those are garbage. But then again, I am not the graded/sealed kinda collector. I'm the loose cart inscribed with 'Bobbie' in sharpie marker who invites people over to play the games kind. So take my advice with a grain of salt if you are all about boxed/completed/museum quality sets.

[+sramirez2008]

On 10/24/2023 at 12:36 AM, CaptainBreakout said:

Is something like Plutos considered part of the full set? I mean, with the Homebrews being such a thing, and lost titles.

 

Just noticed that Good Deal Games is selling copies of Plutos and Sirius. http://www.gooddealgames.com/inventory/Atari 7800.html

 

[T.A.P.]

19 hours ago, sramirez2008 said:

Just noticed that Good Deal Games is selling copies of Plutos and Sirius. http://www.gooddealgames.com/inventory/Atari 7800.html

 

I've never heard of them. Are they decent?

[+sramirez2008]

3 hours ago, T.A.P. said:

I've never heard of them. Are they decent?

You can buy with confidence. The gentleman that runs the store is honorable and has been around the gaming scene for a long time. I’ve purchased games for several consoles from his store and in person (PRGE and other gaming expos). Never had an issue.

[Mayhem]

I think he meant the games heh. Yes, they are pretty playable.

[T.A.P.]

Eh, it was both.

[GaryH917]

At this rate I would say no:

 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/226038306752?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=kkJaQfNVTou&sssrc=4429486&ssuid=1JYwYfN6Taa&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

[TeddyBear89]

Somebody please tell this 7800 novice what in the hell is worth $2K in this lot?

[John Stamos Mullet]

It’s doable, but you’re going to pay through the nose for what are ultimately shit-tier games like Tank Command 

 

I don’t care how rare it is. Crap games are crap games and not worth the asking price the ocd collectors demand.

[GaryH917]

15 minutes ago, TeddyBear89 said:

Somebody please tell this 7800 novice what in the hell is worth $2K in this lot?

I can see where Scrapyard Dog and F-18 Hornet would bring in the most. DK and DK Jr are bringing in over $100 each. Same with Mario Bros. But I don't see $2000 worth of games in this lot.

[+GoldLeader]

On 11/30/2023 at 3:30 PM, Lord Thag said:

 

@swlovinist

 

One of the best decisions I made collecting years ago was to say 'screw it' to the completionist stuff. Having all of it just checks off some OCD box in your head, but doesn't really add much to the actual enjoyment of owning the games since half those are garbage. But then again, I am not the graded/sealed kinda collector. I'm the loose cart inscribed with 'Bobbie' in sharpie marker who invites people over to play the games kind. So take my advice with a grain of salt if you are all about boxed/completed/museum quality sets.

^ This!   But everybody's different.  I like CIB games too, but not exclusively.  I have plenty of loose games for all different systems,...Plus I'm pretty sure sometime in the past,  I saw the name Bobbie on a cart as well!!  (And figured it was a girl based on the spelling)...Small world.

 

28 minutes ago, John Stamos Mullet said:

It’s doable, but you’re going to pay through the nose for what are ultimately shit-tier games like Tank Command 

 

I don’t care how rare it is. Crap games are crap games and not worth the asking price the ocd collectors demand.

^This too!

 

Can't ya just play it on a Dragonfly or GameDrive and be happy (very happy) you didn't waste money and shelf space on it?  Obviously, it's different if you bought it cheap or own it from back in the day...

 

39 minutes ago, TeddyBear89 said:

Somebody please tell this 7800 novice what in the hell is worth $2K in this lot?

Right?

 

I went back to look again,  like maybe I missed a Ninja Golf or Midnight Mutants or even something seriously rare...

 

IMHO,  Homebrews are the LifeBlood of the 7800 now anyway.  If anything,  more people should be actively collecting those and paying tribute to the awesome programmers out there now doing Amazing things!  That's what matters.

[Giles N]

1 hour ago, GoldLeader said:

I went back to look again,  like maybe I missed a Ninja Golf or Midnight Mutants or even something seriously rare...

 

IMHO,  Homebrews are the LifeBlood of the 7800 now anyway.  If anything,  more people should be actively collecting those and paying tribute to the awesome programmers out there now doing Amazing things!  That's what matters.

I think there is room both for game-preservation and for buying homebrews.

 

For some types of retro-gamers out there, starting collecting new systems and exploring them - more on the note ‘what did I miss? what and how much exists?’ - there is a charm or interest in getting to play or collect original in-market games.

 

Lets say Atari had been quite a lot bigger economically and as to staff: one could’ve envisioned them creating a Mini system of each of their consoles with all original titles licensed and built-in, like the NES Mini or Genesis/MD Mini, just that so small libraries could’ve made it possible for economically big firm to make the Minis complete in content.

 

On that note, reading everything thats happening around the 2600+, the 400Mini and - everything I see here concerning licensing - its seems its dysfunctionally bogged down in too high prices and just too much paperwork. Dysfunctional in the sense companies sit on stuff already made, they make little or no money on, - and are unwilling to sell some license for some period due to this or that reason. And for the people who could’ve made some money instead of zero on the stuff, lets time pass in their lives which inwhich thry get less income or publicity than strictly necessary. Now, some would say, too much work and too little money. Ok, just sell it off then and you get something rather than nothing as time passes.

(and of course there are IPs in use right now, but I refer to all the rare, close-to-lost titles which haven’t been sold/moneyizez anywhere since 1990 or 1991).

And there they sit… with a Midnight Mutant license somewhere, which they could get something for. But clock ticks and no money to them for that.

Tank Command? Who owns that now? Is this the sort of thing that must be renewed or get public domain, or is it the property of Froggo forever, until someone writes of says or sells anything, even if the remains of Froggo couldn’t be traced by the best agents in the world?

 

For stuff having had their commercial potentiality lost after 1991, unless re-issued in the retrogame-scene, it all seems akwardly overcomplicated or ridiculoudly overpriced.

 

I.m.h.o. - an o. that may be uninformed about the real realities of the high stakes of the tough-as-nails business of dealing in 1990-relevant videogame cult-system IPs.