A look at my video game collection: How I made some loose games complete !

Loose games can really be a shame ! In any case, as far as collectors are concerned, this can quickly become a source of frustration. Because beyond the simple cartridge placed on the shelf, a toy library worthy of the name must be complete. Especially if you want to complete a preservation mission. One of the major problems in the western market during this blessed era was the lack of care that players took in the content of each of their purchases. It is true that the integrity and good preservation of a title produced for a home console (Nintendo as headliner), was then the least of the publishers' worries, since the wrapping (I am obviously talking about the box) was mainly made up of a simple, rather fragile cardboard box that was inexorably left in the oblivion and void of the garbage emptiness.

This consumerist phenomenon inevitably led to a consequent price increase on the copies of these games offered in their full versions. More than a decade or two after their exploitation, some of these titles quickly reached totally astronomical odds (sometimes close to a thousand euros or dollars), in front of the demand and desire to possess these jewels in the thriving toy libraries.

A rewarding adventure!

Although winning my life well, without wanting to spend crazy sums of money in this field, I undertook to reconstitute the almost complete packaging of some cartridges that felt terribly naked without their magnificent apparatuses. It was, for a few games in particular, a long work or patience was more than a virtue. However, this quest paid off and saved me a lot of money, especially on a copy of Rendering Ranger, one of the rarest and hardest to find titles on the Super Nintendo.

How did I manage to achieve such a feat? Thanks to intensive searches on Yahoo Auctions! Proceeding in this way gave me the right to get my hands on a notice in perfect condition at first, and then an original box. Cost of the operation: The box 200€, the manual 150€. I already owned the game that had cost me the trifle of 160€. If we refer to its current quotation which varies between 2000 and 2500€, this is quite a bargain! The plastic inlay (cartridge holder), characteristic of Japanese editions, was recovered on one of my old games in this version.

A principle that quickly becomes a passion !

The most exciting thing was to find boxes for European and American versions at very good prices, for very popular games ! This is how I was able to find the whole of a Ninja Warriors, certainly in a more than average condition, for less than 40€. The same goes for EVO and a French version of Super Bomberman. But the most astonishing thing was to discover entirely new, official Nintendo boxes, which were originally intended for specialized stores. Hence the mention "for Display Only"!

At that time, where I hunted every possible element, the obtaining of such an item was around 15-20 dollars. A bargain! More than just contributing to my collection, it allowed me to give a new lease of life to some games that were sorely lacking in all of them!

CD cases are not to be outdone!

But this does not only apply to cartridges! No! Here is a perfect example of rehabilitation with the discovery of hyper Duel's spin-card, always obtained by Yahoo Auctions services, which makes it possible to complete a title quite inaccessible financially speaking! You might as well say that such an article does not run the streets and I consider myself lucky to have been able to get my hands on this grail!

If you are a collector with few means, this way of making your purchases quickly turns out to be an excellent idea. What's more, this way you'll be able to learn more about your favorite games and help make them more visible! Gratifying and quickly addictive, you would also be surprised to make some amazing discoveries!