When collecting: Go for the big ticket or little tickets first?

[Einhander]

Let's say you want this game that costs 200 bucks. You want it a 10 on a scale of 1 to 10, even though there's no practical reason to have it, but you just do. Or you could go out and get multiple games for the same money. Some of them you like better than others. The problem though is that you still have that one game on your mind. I'm trying to make a choice right now. I'm thinking it's better to collect the big ticket first and then get the lesser ones over time. So, I usually make a list and write out how much I want each game on a scale of 1-10. And I go for the big ones first and work my way down. Do you work your way up? What's the better way to collect or does it vary depending on the situation? Of course when you first get into collecting, you should always get a bunch of games in any way if you have none to play for any system. But eventually it should become about being more precise in selecting and not just getting more.

[SegaNomadman]

Personally, if it's something I've been saving for and my sights are set on it, I get it knowing I can get the lesser stuff later. But really it depends on your preference.

[tiamaxwell]

I normally save up for the expensive ones I NEED to have. Otherwise I hunt in the wild.

[kingjohn3]

Is it a quality game? Sorta like Secret Scout vs Little Samson. Both are expensive but one is much better than the other. So if the game is high quality and you really want it then get it but I'd wait til everything else is collected.

[Einhander]

Personally, if it's something I've been saving for and my sights are set on it, I get it knowing I can get the lesser stuff later. But really it depends on your preference.

Thanks. I think that's what I'm going to do. Get the one I've had my sight set on and get the lesser stuff later.

[wiggy]

I'm working towards a full set of loose n64 carts. I absolutely went for the big ticket games that I needed first. Clay fighter sculptor's cut was the really big one, so it was my first purchase when I made the decision to go for a full set. If I hadn't, then I'm pretty sure I would ended up at 295 games and just said "screw it, 99% of a full set is good enough".

[KalessinDB]

I'm a little bit of both.  I go for my nostalgia/high-want games first, irrespective of price.  After that, I tend to pick up cheaper games if I'm just trying to pad my collection for the sake of padding my collection.  My only full US set is the BLISTERINGLY huge 14-title Virtual Boy set    But with that, Jack Bros was definitely my last acquisition, and Waterworld was 2nd to last.

However, the next full US set I have my eye on (absently, lazily) is Virtual Boy, and I'm currently eyeing up a copy of Web of Fire that someone's selling on a forum I'm on.  I'm unlikely to buy it only because I'm trying pretty hard to pay down the last of my personal debt from house renovation (only about 2k... should have it paid off by tax return if not earlier), but I definitely was eyeing it up.

[pringlesman]

The way I prioritize my game buying.

Level 1. Games I want to play are the first i'll buy.  Because if I don't complete the collection at least I'll have the games I want to play  Your Super Mario 64's and Ocarina of Times of the console library.

Level 2. Then Big ticket rare games I'm not likely to find in the wild.  Your International Superstar Soccer 2000's and Super Bowlings.  I want to cross off some of the harder to get stuff because it is the stuff most likely to go up in value.

Level 3. Then your big ticket games that I might find in the wild like Conker's Bad Fur Day.  I figure I might find it in a lot of games at a discount while collecting.

Level 4.And then the smaller bulk games.  Your Madden's. I figure if I buy a collection I might get one or two of these games and it's always a drag to have multiples of a game that are impossible to get rid of.

At this point I have all of the level one games for the N64.  I'm about 5 games away from having all of 2.  I just picked up the last of the 3's.  And I have a crap ton of random football and NBA games to pick up.

[wiggy]

What are these "levels" you speak of?

[TDIRunner]

I'm a little bit of both.  I go for my nostalgia/high-want games first, irrespective of price.  After that, I tend to pick up cheaper games if I'm just trying to pad my collection for the sake of padding my collection.  My only full US set is the BLISTERINGLY huge 14-title Virtual Boy set    But with that, Jack Bros was definitely my last acquisition, and Waterworld was 2nd to last.

However, the next full US set I have my eye on (absently, lazily) is Virtual Boy, and I'm currently eyeing up a copy of Web of Fire that someone's selling on a forum I'm on.  I'm unlikely to buy it only because I'm trying pretty hard to pay down the last of my personal debt from house renovation (only about 2k... should have it paid off by tax return if not earlier), but I definitely was eyeing it up.

Did you mean 32x???

[Einhander]

The way I prioritize my game buying.

1. Games I want to play are the first i'll buy.  Because if I don't complete the collection at least I'll have the games I want to play  Your Super Mario 64's and Ocarina of Times of the console library.

2. Then Big ticket rare games I'm not likely to find in the wild.  Your International Superstar Soccer 2000's and Super Bowlings.  I want to cross off some of the harder to get stuff because it is the stuff most likely to go up in value.

3. Then your big ticket games that I might find in the wild like Conker's Bad Fur Day.  I figure I might find it in a lot of games at a discount while collecting.

4.And then the smaller bulk games.  Your Madden's. I figure if I buy a collection I might get one or two of these games and it's always a drag to have multiples of a game that are impossible to get rid of.

At this point I have all of the level one games for the N64.  I'm about 5 games away from having all of 2.  I just picked up the last of the 3's.  And I have a crap ton of random football and NBA games to pick up.

Well this makes me feel better. So you think it's practical for a collector to go for what he wants most and what may be more rare and pricey as opposed to getting the easy ones like Madden first, then working your way up? I'd rather work my way down honestly because I know that some titles will always be there at a cheap price.

[pringlesman]

What are these "levels" you speak of?

Edited my post for clarity

Well this makes me feel better. So you think it's practical for a collector to go for what he wants most and what may be more rare and pricey as opposed to getting the easy ones like Madden first, then working your way up? I'd rather work my way down honestly because I know that some titles will always be there at a cheap price.

Yeah pretty much.  I want want I'm going to play most.  And you are always going to be able to find crap sport games later at low prices.  But it's going to be difficult to find something semi rare like Ogre Battle.  So you should prioritize getting that before it goes up too much.  For instance I kept on putting off getting Smash Bros 64.  It was a $35 game when I started.  I ended up just saying screw it and bought it last week for $60.  If I would of bought that when I started instead of getting some of the bulk I could have bought that bulk now for essentially the same price and had $25 more to pick up manuals and stuff.

[wiggy]

^^^ that's exactly where I'm at. N64 is going up in price quite quickly now.  I'm really happy that I had the cast majority of the pricey titles out of the way when I decided to get a full set.  I'm down to two games that'll set me back more than 20 bucks at this point, with about 70 more games to go total.  Thank goodness.

[pringlesman]

I still have sculptors cut to go on N64 big big ones.  I'll buy that in july when I get my comp time check at work.  After that I have starcraft, snowboard kids 1+2, paper mario, NFL Blitz Special Edition, and Mystical ninja goemon 2 left to go for decent priced ones.  After that I think I'm down to sub $20 games.

[wiggy]

Blitz ain't bad.  You can get it for $20 right now if you're patient.  The rest, yeah, those ain't cheap at this point

How long do you figure it's going to take to complete your set?  I'm sorta hoping that I'll be done by March.  I just bought 15 more <$10 games on ebay, so that puts me at 57 to go