Game Collector Selling Most of His Collection

I spend quite a bit of time on ebay scouring for great deals and rare items. Over the last two weeks I started noticing tons of sealed and rare games popping up from the same seller, rarebucky. I ask a few questions and come to find out he is a huge video game collector with over 3,500 games, has been on ebay since 1997, and is forced to sell some of his games to make more room.

This is a Q and A session with rarebucky (Adam) to find out more about his collection, how he got so many sealed games, and his thoughts on game collecting in general.

How big is your game collection?
At the peak my collection was 3,500 games. But after all my selling is complete I will have 800 left.

Why are you selling so many games?
I just need more space.

What is the most expensive game you have sold so far?
Zelda gold NES sealed for $500. That will change when I list the remainder of my sealed items in late August. I have a factory sealed TMNT Tournament Fighters for NES that will fetch quite a bit more than that.

A large number of your auctions seem to be sealed games. Where did you get all of them?
Various places. Most were bought new by me in stores, the rest were acquired over the internet (either through ebay or various forums) over the past 7-8 years.

Why did you buy so many games new and never open them? Have you played them at some point or just keep them for collecting?
Most of my sealed games were acquired over the past 4-5 years when I really got into collecting. I have opened copies of most games that I play.

Why did you want to collect sealed games vs used games?
Owning sealed copies of games I've grown up on to me, brings me back to those days. To me it's the definitive form of having a game you love, to know 100% for sure that the contents inside have never been used.

Do you think your collection has increased in value?
Probably. Despite what some people think not all games have gone up in value and I have lost money probably on 20% of my sealed items. On my used items it's almost all declined. Most of the Dreamcast, Saturn, Genesis, etc. that I sold were all bought new by me for $50-$60+ when they were released and some I sold for as little as $2. But I got enjoyment out of them so that's what counts.

Are there any games in your collection you never plan on selling?
Yes. I have a sealed Chrono Trigger and Final Fantasy III that I plan on keeping for a long time.

What is your favorite game of all time?
Difficult question. I would say it's a tie between Super Mario World and Phantasy Star II

Any closing advice for fellow collectors who are looking to sell their games too? Ways to get the most money?
If you use ebay make sure to have a proper listing with a good title and good pictures. Ebay is raising fees so I think you're going to see fewer and fewer games on ebay. A good idea for vintage games is to use forums like digitpress.com and nintendoage.com as many of the collectors hang out there and best of all, no fees!

Thank you Adam for answering these questions for us and good luck selling the rest of your collection.

Sealed Auctions: Cheetahmen 2 NES

The featured item in today's Sealed Auctions post is no longer available for bid but I think it was a great deal. A brand new, sealed Cheetahmen 2 for Nintendo NES. This is one of the most rare NES games and it is sealed with the box and instructions. The auction closed with Buy It Now but I think it would have sold for more.

Cheetahmen 2 - Nintendo NES

Auction Link
The game sold for $1,450 new.

Mega Man Legends 2 - Playstation 1

Auction Link
Ends: Aug-28-08 12:13:54
The game sells for $40 used and $80 new.
See Historic Mega Man Legends 2 Prices

Legend of Zelda - Nintendo NES

Auction Link
Ends: Aug-28-08 23:53:53
The game sells for $9 used and $150 new.
See Historic Legend of Zelda Prices

Harvest Moon 64 - Nintendo 64

Auction Link
Ends: Aug-31-08 16:47:57
The game sells for $32 used and $150 new.
See Historic Harvest Moon 64 Prices

Super Street Fighter II - Super Nintendo

Auction Link
Ends: Aug-31-08 19:41:09
The game sells for $10 used and $140 new.
See Historic Super Street Fighter II Prices

Burning Rangers - Sega Saturn

Auction Link
Ends: Aug-28-08 18:08:52
The game sells for $86 used and $?? new.
See Historic Burning Rangers Prices

7 Game Conventions to Attend Before You Die

Video game conventions are great. Where else can you play the latest games, get tons of free stuff thrown at you, and see videos of upcoming games on 50 foot HD screens? This list includes the best gaming conventions in the world and why you need to go.

Tokyo Game Show

The Tokyo Game Show (also known as TGS) is the world's largest video game convention with more than 193,000 attendees last year. Every major Japanese game developer (except Nintendo) and most major western publishers have booths and show off their new Japanese focused games. The first two days are industry insiders only but the last two days anyone can pay 1,000 Yen (less than $10) and play games at more than 170 booths.

Location: Makuhari Messe - Tokyo Japan
Next Show: October 9th-12th, 2008

What Makes TGS Great?

Japanese Booth Babes - The Tokyo Game Show has tons of cute Japanese booth babes around every corner.

Anime & JRPG's - This is THE show for announcing and demoing new Anime and Japanese style RPG games. If you like these genre's TGS will be like heaven to you.

Tokyo - The show is in Tokyo. It's a great place to visit even if there wasn't a huge video game convention.

Tokyo Game Show Pictures

I don't know what game this is, but I want it
Japanese cosplay is very strange

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E3 (Pre-2007 Format)

The last two E3's do not make this list, they were bad. But before 2007 E3 was the greatest spectacle of gaming in the world. Hundreds of booths, thousands of booth babes, and even more games to play. Many of them only announced to the public days before.

The show is only open to industry members (though the definition seems to be fairly flexible judging by the people you see inside) but if E3 goes back to the Pre-2007 format try everything you can to go.

Location: LA Convention Center - Los Angeles, CA
Next Show: Summer 2009 (Exact date TBA)

What Makes E3 Pre-2007 Great?

Game Announcements - Many publishers announce games for the first time at E3. Remember realistic Zelda when it was first shown by Nintendo? Some gamers in attendance cried tears of joy.

Game Demos - Every major publisher demos their major releases for the coming year and you get to be one of the first to try it out.

Swag - There is so much free stuff being given out you can almost pay for your trip by Ebaying it all when you get home.

E3 Pictures

Masses of people trying to get into E3
Restock your wardrobe with free gaming T-shirts

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PAX - Penny Arcade Expo

PAX is a gaming "festival" started by people at the online gaming comic Penny Arcade. It's three days of gaming, concerts, tournaments, and gaming panels. All of it included for $45. The show is relatively new, but attracts a whos-who of publishers and developers. The 2008 show is this weekend so you can quickly cross one of these conventions off your list if you don't have any plans this Labor Day weekend.

Location: Seattle Convention Center - Seattle, WA
Next Show: August 29th-31st, 2008

What Makes PAX Great?

OmegaThona - 20 lucky attendees compete in 6 elimination rounds of gaming. 2008 includes Peggle, Boom Blox, Pictionary, Rock Band, and Jenga. Last years winner won an all expense paid trip to Tokyo for TGS.

PAX 10 - 10 Indie games chosen by a panel and then voted on by attendees. Great exposure for independent game developers.

Tournaments - Tournaments for Halo 3, Smash Brawl, Starcraft, Team Fortress 2, and more games. There's even a tournament for the Settlers of Catan board game.

Penny Arcade Expo Pictures

Zelda cosplay at PAX
Lots of people enjoying PAX

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California Extreme

"Coolest f****** arcade ever!" This quote pretty much sums up California Extreme. It's a gaming convention dedicated solely to coin-operated pinball, video games, and table top games. People from all over the country bring their arcade cabinets for you to play. Many of them are prototypes you've never seen before. The best part, every game is set to free play too so you can relive all your adolescent gaming dreams without filling your pockets with quarters.

Location: Parkside Hall - San Jose, CA
Next Show: July 2009 (exact dates TBA)

What Makes California Extreme Great?

Pinball - A huge selection of pinball games, both new and old, and speakers about customizing and building your own pinball cabinents.

World Records - Twin Galaxies is usually on hand to watch people attempt gaming world records. You might be lucky enough to watch history being made.

No Quarters Needed - Every pinball and arcade game is free so you don't have to carry a huge bag of quarters.

CAX Pictures

Table top arcade games without the pizza grease
Row after row of pinball machine

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Games Convention

The Games Convention in Leipzig Germany is Europe's biggest gaming convention and only second in the world to TGS. More than 185,000 visitors pack four halls and an outdoor grounds so they can play the newest games. Unfortunately the 2008 show just finished, but that gives you almost a whole year to lock in your vacation time and look for the best airfare.

Location: Leipzig Convention Center - Leipzig Germany
Next Show: August 19th-23rd 2009

What Makes The Leipzig Games Convention Great?

Europe - The cheapest way for Europeans to get in on the gaming fun since its the only major game convention in Europe.

European Vacation - After you go to the Games Convention spend a few weeks touring Europe. A EuroRail Pass will get you almost anywhere in less than half a day.

Part Convention - Part Fair - Video games are the focus, but the show has a huge outdoor fairgrounds area with beach volleyball, ATV's, and other festival booths.

Games Convention Pictures

A huge Xbox ferris wheel outside the convention
MTV's TRL filming at Games Convention

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BlizzCon

BlizzCon is put on by Blizzard Entertainment and is dedicated to Warcraft, Starcraft, and Diablo games. It is a PC gamers dream with thousands of new PC's setup on huge LAN's. The show is hard to get into though because the tickets sell out so quickly. With new games like Diablo III and Starcraft 2 on display at this years show, BlizzCon sold out in less than 30 minutes.

Location: Anaheim Convention Center - Anaheim, CA
Next Show: October 10th-11th 2008

What Makes BlizzCon Great?

PC Gaming - BlizzCon is focused on PC gaming. There are endless rows of PC's with the latest games to try out and on the best hardware.

Meet Your WoW Clan - The best place to meet people from your World of Warcraft clan in person. That cute elf is played by a guy? It's best you found out now.

Costume Contest - These aren't your cheesy Haloween costumes. These are die-hard gamers who spend countless hours designing costumes so they look like their favorite Blizzard game characters

BlizzCon Pictures

Great costume for BlizzCon Costume Contest
Hundreds of PC's setup for gaming & LAN parties

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MagFest

Gaming conventions don't have to be huge masses of people all flocking to play the newest games. Smaller fan focused game conventions like MAGFest are great ways to actually meet some fellow gamers, play some new games AND some classics, and still have a bit of personal space. MAGFest has enough going on to keep you entertained and is a great change of pace from the other massive shows on this list.

Location: Hilton Mark Center - Alexandria, VA
Next Show: January 1st-4th 2009

What Makes MagFest Great?

Fan Show - The show is run by fans and is a much better place to meet fellow gamers.

Intimate - Small enough that you can take part in impromptu gaming tournaments in people's hotel rooms

Classic Gaming - Lots of classic games to go along with the next gen stuff. You don't always have to play the newest games at a gaming convention.

MagFest Pictures

Concert at MAGFest
Urinal at the Convention. MAGFest has a sense of humor.

LotusCharts: VGPC for Game Sales Data

I found a website called LotusCharts that I think users of VGPC and readers of this blog will find very interesting. They are the equivalent of VGPC but for games sales data. The blog shows charts and analysis for US and Japanese video games sales with data from NPD in the US and Media-Create in Japan. It is a great resource to see how a video game sold and how many units your favorite system is selling every month.

Here are some examples of great charts they have on the site.

Weekly Comparison of DS and PSP Sales in Japan


Cumulative Yearly Sales Comparison of Nintendo DS and PSP


Next Gen Total System Sales Comparison for Wii, 360, and PS3 in USA


I talked to JR, the owner of LotusCharts, and here is what he had to say about why he started the site and why it is different than other sales data sites:

"I saw an opportunity to provide a reliable location for highly desired gaming sales charts and I sought to fill that need. The important thing to note is that all data used is professionally conducted by external market-research firms and that all of our processes are transparent, leading to a highly credible site that our visitors can trust. This is combined with compelling ways of showing the data visually and the overall experience is something our visitors can learn from and enjoy."

I think all the information on the site is fascinating and the charts really help see the data in different ways.

Rare Auctions: Super Star Fox Weekend

The featured game in this installment of "Rare Auctions" is Super Starfox Weekend for Super Nintendo. The game was released as part of a Blockbuster promotion and only 2,000 were ever made. It is definitely one of the hardest to find SNES games.

Super Starfox Weekend - Super Nintendo

Auction Link
Ends: Aug-22-08 22:51:48

Ogre Battle Complete with Charts - Super Nintendo

Auction Link
Ends: Aug-24-08 18:48:19

Flintstones Surprise at Dinosaur Peak - NES

Auction Link
Ends: Aug-27-08 20:06:07

Radiant Silvergun - Japanese - Sega Saturn

Auction Link
Ends: Aug-26-08 03:02:49

Panzer Dragoon Saga SEALED - Sega Saturn

Auction Link
Ends:

Trolls on Treasure Island includes Troll SEALED - NES

Auction Link
Ends: Aug-22-08 13:34:47

More TurboGrafx 16 Games Added

Today we added about 60 more Turbo Grafx 16 games to our database. In the next day or two we will start collecting prices on these games and you can view their prices on VGPC. We will have more than 100 TG-16 and TurboGrafx-CD games with daily updated prices.

Which system do you want to see added next or improved upon? Atari 2600, 3DO, Sega Master System, something else? Let us know in the comments section below.

Sealed Auctions: Bomberman 2nd Attack

All the auctions listed in this article series are brand new and sealed. They are relatively hard to find or sought after by collectors.

Bomberman Second Attack - Nintendo 64

Auction Link
Ends: Aug-17-08 13:09:00
The game sells for $31 used and $350 new.
See Historic Bomberman Second Attack Prices

Grand Theft Auto Trilogy - Xbox

Auction Link
Ends: Aug-24-08 18:47:18
The game sells for $45 used and $70 new.
See Historic GTA Trilogy Prices

Brave Fencer Musashi - Playstation

Auction Link
Ends: Aug-18-08 21:47:57
The game sells for $20 used and $115 new.
See Historic Brave Fencer Musashi Prices

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 1 and 2 - NES

Auction Link
Ends: Aug-20-08 10:04:01
See Historic TMNT 1 Prices

Metroid - NES

Auction Link
Ends: Aug-18-08 14:51:43
The game sells for $5 used and $97 new.
See Historic Metroid Prices

Chrono Trigger - Super Nintendo

Auction Link
Ends: Aug-18-08 14:42:47
The game sells for $42 used and $2,026 new.
See Historic Chrono Trigger Prices

Sealed Auctions: Rarest 15 SNES Games

The featured sealed auction for today is 15 of the Rarest SNES games made. All in one auction, many of them sealed. Donkey Kong Competition, Starfox Competition, Ogre Battle, Mega Man X3, Chrono Trigger, Speed Racer / Mountain Bike Combo, and more. This auction is a collector's dream and will sell for a lot.

15 Rarest SNES Games - Super Nintendo

Auction Link
Ends: Aug-13-08 23:58:34

Metal Gear Solid Twin Snakes with Guide - Gamecube

Auction Link
Ends: Aug-15-08 08:13:30
The game sells for $51 used and $99 new.
See Historic Metal Gear Solid Twin Snakes Prices

Dino Crisis 2 - Playstation 1

Auction Link
Ends: Aug-15-08 12:17:21
The game sells for $14 used and $105 new.
See Historic Dino Crisis 2 Prices

Zelda Ocarina of Time Collector's Edition - Nintendo 64

Auction Link
Ends: Aug-16-08 07:53:09
The game sells for $18 used and $228 new.
See Historic Zelda Ocarina of Time Collector's Edition Prices

Legend of Zelda - Nintendo NES

Auction Link
Ends: Aug-16-08 18:01:50
The game sells for $9 used and $112 new.
See Historic Legend of Zelda Prices

Super Mario Bros. 2 - Nintendo NES

Auction Link
Ends: Aug-12-08 15:26:02
The game sells for $7 used and $70 new.
See Historic Super Mario Bros 2 Prices