She’s Going Down!

I’ve just done a recalculation of my collection… and for all my wheel and dealing, I’m lucky if I broke even at today’s prices!

The above games are an example of what I overpaid/traded for.  Collectively I traded $850 dollars worth of merchandise for these three games… which was an exceptional deal at the time!  Now collectively, these three games sell for around $610… that’s a 29% decrease in price since two years ago.  This is the reason I’m holding off on selling a lung and kidney for games such as Little Sampson, etc.!  I’m like a water : camels compared to NES games : Nintendo Joe.  I can wait dude!

I was missing these guys, so picked them up at the last Barrie Game exchange for a total of $30.  Not the best deal, but I haven’t seen them very often.  Honestly these games blow, but as I said they have been very elusive to my collection.

Back in the day, a guy offered me a mint condition version of this game for $125. Clearly this game was meant only for rich people!  I thought he was out to lunch… am I really going to pay that much to fight bloody carrots?!  Nope, I was going to pay $250 for the experience 4 years later and this was actually a deal even at today’s prices!

Maybe I’m getting old, and am thinking about my retirement in 20 years, but these games are just so damn expensive, and are going down in value!  If only I had invested in Google and Amazon when their stock was low I could quit now!

NintendoJoe1985 and Ultimate_Megatron on Instagram:)

 

 

More Than Meets The Eye!

I know this is primarily a Nintendo blog, but recently I’ve had some life changing experiences (African trip) and have finally decided to complete/finish my other “uncompleted” collection.  Believe it or not, my first obsession was not collecting NES games, but rather G1 Transformers from back in the 1980’s.  To be more specific, my collection runs from 1984 – 1987 with a few select figures from the 1988 line.  I am in no way into the Pretenders, Actionmasters, and Micromasters which I believe were introduced in ’88 – ’89 and as it was readily apparent that Hasboro was out of ideas, the series was quickly discontinued.  Thankfully the American Transformers TV show did not include these, however the Japanese series went nuts and included everything with a piece of metal in it!  I own a copy of the Japanese Headmaster series on DVD, but after this it went too far for me.  Don’t even get me started on the live action Transformers movies!!  Thanks to these abominations, director Michael Bay is on my blacklist along with George Lucas for his Star Wars prequels.

Back in 1984 as a kid you basically had two choices.  Were you a GoBots or a Transformers fan?  I had a few of both… however in the beginning, school playground rules stated that Transformer toys were too “powerful” to play with GoBots and were therefore unwelcome in the playing scenarios at recess.  Fortunately we realized very quickly that GoBots were lame, and Transformers were superior!

Before the TV show premiered, there was only a few action figures available, and perhaps by fate I was drawn towards Soundwave who is to this day my favorite Transformer!  As a kid, I obviously had no income other that the $2 a week my parents gave me as an allowance.  Soundwave was $25 at Kresge’s (a long ago vanquished chain of Walmart type stores).  My dad purposed a difficult choice to a 9 year old kid… I can buy the official Soundwave at full price, or I could buy a knockoff version (which was identical minus the Decepticon logo and box art) for $16.  That is one hell of a difference in price when you have very little income.  I had saved $18, so could buy the knockoff out rightly, or I could go into allowance debt for several weeks and get the official action figure.  Duh, of course I chose the official version as I didn’t want to be labelled a loser in the playground!  Soundwave along with his cassette companion Buzzsaw was mine… how cool was I!?!  Then the TV show premiered, and Soundwave had the best voice of all the Transformers.  It was a synthesized voice by the same guy who did Megatron’s (Frank Welker)… and it was AWESOME!  Also the fact that the character was the most loyal Decepticon of them all which was proven in the 1986 movie when he picked up a defeated Megatron from the battlefield and carried him onto a ship to escape the Autobot wrath!

Anyways my family wasn’t “first world rich”, so I was only able to acquire a few transformers back in the day (they were actually really expensive even at 1984 prices!).  For my birthday I opened an Optimus Prime, which basically secured my number one position in the playground as; kid most desired to play with!  I was THAT awesome… too bad I peaked in popularity at such an early age:(

Fast forward to 1986 with the release of Transformers the Movie.  This was an epic event in my childhood.  I wasn’t allowed to go to the movies by myself yet, so thankfully my friend Sonny and his mother offered to take me to this larger-than-life event.  I was devastated… they killed off my hero Optimus Prime along with 90% of the other Transformers!  It wasn’t until high school that I realized that Hasboro did this only to introduce a new Transformers toy-line as they figured they had already profited as much as they could during the past two years.  In other words, everyone who could afford the Optimus/Megatron figures had already bought them.  But you must understand… losing all these beloved characters was devastating!  Thankfully Galvatron and the Sharkticons were awesome enough to carry on the series for another two years!

However by 1988 I had officially decided to put my toys away and pursue my other interest… the opposite sex.  On this topic I had decades of study and research to do!  The Transformers (and GI JOE) were put on hiatus in the attic until years later.

Near the end of high school, and at the beginning of university I had realized how much I had missed my original obsession of Transformers (and GI JOE), so started unofficially collecting again.  Fortunately back in the mid-90’s Transformers weren’t that sought after and I was able to get so many for no more than a song!  For real, some dude sold his whole collection to a store called Eyeball Soup, and for about $200 I was able to pick up over 90 of the now highly sought after toys!  Now the prices are crazy high, and starting a complete collection feels out of reach.

Then came July 2nd, 2007.  The Canadian release of Transformers the movie.  I have so many issues with this movie’s director,  producer, and writers that I don’t even know where to begin other than saying it ruined the franchise.  This will perhaps be another blog entry.

All this being said… I don’t wish to end this on a downer, so I won’t.  G1 Transformers rule!  Here is a list of the G1 action figures I need to have what I consider a “pure” complete collection before they were bastardized by the Pretenders and company.  At the price NES games are going for right now, perhaps my Transformer collection will be complete first!

Needed Transformers (and all accessories)

Roadbuster (Deluxe Vehicle) $75

Power Dashers x 3 (mail order set) $20 each

Seachlight and Wideload (Throtttlebots) $6 each

Misfire (Tagetmaster) $55 – 90

Fizzle, Guzzle, Sizzle (Sparkbots) $10 each

Scoop (Target Master) $25

Hosehead, Siren (Headmaster) $50 each

Joy Ride and Slapdash (Power Masters) $50 each

Cindersaur, Flamefeather, Sparkstalker (Firecons) $10 each

Windsweeper (Triggercon) $12

Needlenose (Targetmaster) $40

Fangry (Headmaster) $35

Darkwing (Powermaster) $65

S.T.A.R.S. Autobot Command Centre $65

Total = $739

 

Until next time,

Nintendo Joe

 

Nintendo Quest NES Collection Budget

Remember a while ago (three years to be exact) that movie called Nintendo Quest that was a documentary on a guy (Jay Bartlett) who challenged himself to getting all 678 North American released NES games in 30 days?!  There are some spoilers here so stop reading if you intend on watching it.  I thought that it was a pretty good film if you are into game collecting and I met Jay at a game swap in Waterloo ON,.

I do however have a few issues with the film:

1. They never mentioned what Jay’s budget for all the games was, however I’ve done some calculations and figure that he spent around $15,000 – $18,000… give or take3 a few bucks.  I’ll explain my calculations more on this at the end of this entry.
2. They rarely mentioned how much Jay paid for each game which would have been nice to see how much of a deal he received as well as a better estimate on what we the common people should be paying for these games.  This is especially bothersome as he went into some stores and claimed to have received some really good deals.  One of the stores he went to in Toronto that he said gave him the best prices was A&C Games on Spadina Ave..  I know first hand that this store has ridiculous prices… five years ago, they wanted to charge me $15 for an Atari version of E.T.  The guys said that was because E.T. is rated the worst game to ever be released on every console to date.  The game was and still worth $1 or less.  What really burns me is that even the Game Chasers who have a Youtube show went into this store and received good deals just because they featured the store on the show.  So unless you are filming a movie/show and are willing to give free media recognition, stay away from A&C Games unless you want to get ripped off.  A&C Games sucks!
3. Jay had some friends who GAVE him some really rare and expensive games like Stadium Events, Panic Restaurant, Cowboy Kid, etc.  While very generous of them, these options aren’t available to most of us collectors so and I felt a little cheated… and jealous!
4. Jay never mentioned his girlfriend once in the entire film.  It would have been more realistic to see him arguing with her about how much money he was spending/wasting on games when he could have been paying down the mortgage.

Onto how I calculated the amount Jay I think spent on the entire North American NES library.

Firstly, at the end of the 30 days, he was short 25 games and it said he had 9% of his budget left.  I calculated the market value of how much each game cost in todays prices, and that came to roughly $3,140.  Figuring that the price of games back in 2014 when the movie was filmed were considerably lower, I can estimate that the missing games would have cost him somewhere in the neighbourhood of $2,200.  If this was represented 9% of Jays total budget, then he started with around $24, 444 .  However, we must keep in mind that he bought in bulk and therefore received a discount, and the store owners saw an opportunity to advertise their store on Jay’s movie, and thus gave him a much lower price then any of us would ever get… like at A&C Games.  With this in mind, and considering he received some of the most expensive games for free, I think it is safe to say that Jay spent somewhere between $15,000 – $18,000 on completing his NES collection.

I’m envious, jealous, and all that of Jay Bartlett for it really felt like he had a lot of fun on his quest.  Congratulations on completing such an awesome collection… now go pay off that mortgage!

Nintendo Joe

Barrie Game Exchange

Yesterday my wife and I went to the Barrie Game Exchange which is about an hour north of Toronto.  Perhaps I should clarify.  I went to the Barrie Game Exchange while my wife waited in the car (like most wives, she isn’t into games).  In fact, the only women I saw at the show was the significant other of the vendor.  I don’t recall seeing any women buyers, which is odd since the floor was literally covered with nothing but handsome and athletic studs!

Now it has been a while since i’ve found games, and i knew that i wasn’t going to get a steal from the vendors at this show.  I did however manage to score a few deals.  I use the word “deals” lightly as I paid nearly book value for a few items.

The first score of the day was Balloon Fight and a copy of Baten Kaitos… the later which I know nothing about, but the price was right and is a game that I’ll give a go to.  Balloon fight is a game that I’ve been looking for, but for what ever reason (probably price) haven’t picked up yet.  I offered the guy $40 for the pair and he agreed.  Now he did mention that Baten Kaitos was missing the bonus materials disc, but this is not important to me and I appreciate his honesty:)

The next purchase was for a copy of The Legend of Zelda: The Windwaker.  I’ve been holding out on this game since the HD re-release on the Wii U looks mint, but again the price was right at $30.  I didn’t even bother haggling with the guy.  Again I know nothing about this game other than that it somehow fits into the Zelda franchise which is something I stopped trying to keep straight for a while now.  With all the splitting timelines, and games being released out of order makes it too confusing.  Fortunately I have yet to meet a Legend of Zelda game that I didn’t really enjoy so this was a good purchase.  The guy actually tracked me down at the event as the game was locked away in a cabinet (his wife had the key).

I can’t put my finger on it, but the next seller kind of rubbed me the wrong way.  It wasn’t anything he and his wife said or did, but I came away feeling like a bit of a sucker???!!  The  games I bought from this guy were The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword (which is an amazing game!).  This copy came with the Zelda music CD which I’m looking forward to listening to.  I hope it has a mix of the dungeon music from the original game as I can’t get that piece out of my head.  So for $75 I purchased this title along with Prince of Persia and Spy Hunter for the NES

The final sale of the day was yet another Zelda title… this one being one that I already own, but not on my 3D hand held system.  I’ve had the Ocarina of Time on my N64 for quite a while now and although the game has had stellar reviews, I just don’t really like the system that much.  In fact of all my Nintendo consoles, I would put the N64 as my least favourite.  I had picked it up at Value Village for next to nothing years ago, so no big loss.  This version I will play as I just love my 3DS XL.  I beat the Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds and loved it.  It shares a lot of similarities with A Link to the Past both in game play and content, but that wasn’t necessarily a bad thing as both are extremely good games.  A Link Between Worlds obviously has better graphics, and the 3D element added a lot of fun.  This is why I didn’t mind shelling out $60 for the Ocarina of Time and a copy of Maniac Mansion for the NES.

Oh, and I also picked up a copy of Turok: Evolution, and Time Splitters 2 for the game cube at a garage sale the other day for $3.50 each.  Both are complete and are in excellent shape.  I’m not really that excited about these games as I’m not really into FPS, but I didn’t already own them and they were too cheap to pass up.

I went to a shop in a flea market just north of the city that has the most outrageous (almost insulting) prices yet.  He wanted $89 + tax for a copy of Act Raiser on the SNES!  The game normally goes for around $20.  I can understand a bit of a markup at a store, but this is insane!  At first I thought I heard him wrong (I HATE having to ask the price), but then he also had a crummy bass fishing game for the SNES for a whopping $43 + tax.  I hate to say it, but for this price I would happily sell off my collection and retire down in the Caribbean.  It’s too bad though because this guy had a lot of games that I needed.  At these prices however, I will not be coming back to his shop!

Sega Corner:  I’m on the lookout for another Phantasy Star cartage for the Sega Master System as the Sega Dude apparently has a made himself a copy of the game that has extended dialogue which isn’t too much for kids like the original release was.  Also the game has the FM sound put on it so that will be nice to hear.  Not that the original release was bad… Phantasy Star was perhaps the best game on the system or even of the time… I’m just saying it will be an added treat and will give me a reason to play the game again.   Anyways if I can find another copy of the game, he’ll transfer over the improvements.

See you next time:)

Nintendo Joe

 

 

Happy Holidays!

Happy holidays everyone.  I just got back from visiting my relatives in Buffalo N.Y., so of course I had to stop by all the local game stores as the prices in the U.S. are much cheaper than up here in Canada.  My wife was happy to accompany me (actually she waited in the car and read her book while i conducted my business).

Here is a picture of all my loot.  Most of the titles are just common games, but there are a couple that I’m rather excited to have.  Star Trek, Thunderbirds, and Hudson Hawk are games I look forward to adding to the collection… even though they aren’t the best games out there.  River City Ransom is a title that speaks for itself.  I paid $25 for it, but that is a deal considering i’ve never seen it up here for less than $45.  Basically it is a beat em up like Double Dragon except that it has a role play element to it as well that involves beating guys up and taking their money to buy food to eat (this would level you up and make you more powerful).  It sounds kind of dumb, but this added much more fun to the beat em up experience as generally I’m not such a big fan of this genre.  The other cool pick up was Donkey Kong Classics which is basically just a compilation of the original Donkey Kong & Donkey Kong Jr. on the NES… both of which I already have, but the artwork is much better on this version… plus I got it for cheap so give me a break!

I was out in Oshawa (see more details for this later on Sega Corner) and went to a local game store called G.A.M.E.S..  I’m not really sure why the store made the word “games” into an acronym which makes even less sense when you consider each letter doesn’t stand for anything.  Oh well, this store is not bad in terms of prices for some of their loot.  I wanted to get E.V.O., but of course this game is rare and carries with it a hefty price tag.  If I remember correctly the guy wanted close to $230 for it… ya right!

Anyways while I was out there I decided to gamble and take a chance on Super Nova (the sequel to Darius Twin).  Overall the game is quite good… again not as good as Thunder Force due to lack of power ups, but both the graphics and music are quite good.  There is also no slowdowns which are known to plague SNES shooters which is always a bonus.  The game is challenging, and has some replay value to it as you choose the path on which to reach the end (I’ve only made it to the level B or C option)

I’m not going to make a big deal about this game other than I only I offered the guy $10 for it, and he counter-offered me at $8.  Weird, but the game is in good condition and works. SOLD!

I don’t know much about this next game, but the store that sold it to me had it for only $7 when it normally goes for $15 complete.  As I’m always looking for a deal, how could I pass that up?  Maybe the game sucks, but it is complete and looks nice on my shelf.  Admittedly I never got into the Final Fantasy series as a kid as I was more into the less popular Phantasy Star franchise, which in my opinion are much better games as they actually connect to one another… unlike Final Fantasy where one game has nothing to do with the next.

 

Heidi’s Retro Game Room

So this brings us to our first ever guest of the month.  This girl (crazy I know) goes by the name of Heidi and lives somewhere in Sweden.  Fortunately for us in North America her blogs are all in English.  Unfortunately all her videos are in Swedish so I don’t understand a thing other than the game titles:(  Anyways I highly recommend you check out her site.  This girl (again crazy but true) has the best retro game collection that I have ever seen.  She collects pretty much everything from Virtual Boy to Turbo Grafx and has obviously been at it for many years.  Heidi, whoever you are, your game room rocks and I’m very jealous.  You make my collection look pitiful.  It’s all about the journey though… at least that’s what I keep telling myself as it helps me sleep at night.

Sega Corner: A special thanks to the Sega Dude for hooking me up with a guy that was selling both Thunder Force 3 and Lightening Force (Thunder Force 4) for the Sega Genesis.  Both of these games are part of what is in my opinion the best shooters out there.  Thunder Force 3 was a tad bit easy to beat… but the music and graphics were killer!  What was challenging was to beat the game with only one ship.  I did manage to do this, but only after many months of practice.  Lightening Force is a bit more advanced graphically (though this can also be more distracting too) and is much more difficult.  The enemies bosses look awesome however are very tough.  So I picked these games up from a guy way out in Ajax.  He was late and I didn’t feel like waiting around so I went to the aforementioned store G.A.M.E.S. and did a little shopping. Unfortunately he didn’t have what I was looking for but I always enjoy going in for a look-see… no I’m not one of those annoying guys that talks the ears off the store employees like they give a hoot.  I’ve got nothing good to say and am trying to get the games for as little money as possible.  Their job is to try and get as much cash out of me as possible.  To put it another way, our conversations basically just involve throwing numbers around like we are some sort of big shots (we aren’t).

On that note, have an awesome holiday.  Hopefully you’ll get (and give) lots of retro games to tell me about:)  Later skater,

Nintendo Joe.