The www.HandheldMuseum.com Forum Forum Index
 FAQFAQ   SearchSearch   MemberlistMemberlist   UsergroupsUsergroups   RegisterRegister 
 ProfileProfile   Log in to check your private messagesLog in to check your private messages   Log inLog in 
Why spend so much money on cardboard?

 
Post new topic   Reply to topic    The www.HandheldMuseum.com Forum Forum Index -> Handheld Games
View previous topic :: View next topic  
Author Message
Panic Button
Entex Crazy Climber


Joined: 20 Dec 2006
Last Visit: 20 Feb 2018
Posts: 87
Location: London, England

PostPosted: Wed Jan 24, 2007 8:04 am    Post subject: Why spend so much money on cardboard? Reply with quote

I am puzzled by why so many people seem to want to spend so much of their hard earned cash on cardboard boxes and poly inserts. I can understand why there is a premium paid for a boxed game as opposed to one that's sold loose, but generally you can expect to pay at least double for one with box + polys and quite often the premium is much more.

And if you have your games out on display, the boxes are only going in to the loft, so what's the point? As long as the game works and is presentable itself, I don't particularly care about the box. As I said, you're paying a substantial amount more for cardboard! Pretty ridiculous if you ask me!

And there are crazy price differentials between what you can get from private sellers on ebay and the prices demanded by various ebay shops. What fools buy from these places at such inflated prices?
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Rik
Site Admin


Joined: 07 Oct 2005
Last Visit: 25 Mar 2024
Posts: 1932
Location: California

PostPosted: Wed Jan 24, 2007 12:23 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I can't comment on the people that buy from Ebay shops at inflated prices...

As for boxes, for me it's presentability, collectibility, and completeness. I want to collect the 'complete' game (which means game, battery cover, box, instructions and polys). As you can see with the prices being higher, when (if) I sell a game, I can sell it for more with a box (sometimes MUCH more). I've noticed that for rare games, you can almost get 3 times as much if it's in a nice box.

And, I personally like to display my games in their boxes (or at least, in front of their boxes). For pure showing off, people always seem more impressed to see a game with it's box than just by itself.

It depends on what you want though. I know other collectors here only care about the games themselves (and some will even sell/trade the boxes separately if there's enough of a demand for them). I know at least one that started out only wanting games, and converted to wanting the boxes as well... It just depends on what you are after.

I'll even take it a step further sometimes and buy a nice boxed game, and then a loose on to display/play with.

I am also curious why so many people can have a mint game, mint instructions and a mint box, but the poly inserts are missing... If you were that meticulous in saving stuff, what happen to the styrofoam?

That's my take on it...

Rik
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website
Dan
Atari Cosmos


Joined: 24 Oct 2005
Last Visit: 14 May 2023
Posts: 576
Location: Neenah, WI

PostPosted: Wed Jan 24, 2007 8:02 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I'm in between - I have over 150 VFD games and probably only 10% are in boxes, but I'll take them boxed when I recognize they are going for less than double the loose price!

(i.e. Buy It Nows! Mr. Green )
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Lord Thag
Bandai FL Burgertime


Joined: 28 May 2006
Last Visit: 01 May 2009
Posts: 121

PostPosted: Sun Jan 28, 2007 3:57 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Don't ask me, I never buy stuff boxed (either regular carts or these handhelds).

I buy 'em to play
_________________
Playin' the world, one game at a time...
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Roback
Bandai FL Burgertime


Joined: 27 Jan 2007
Last Visit: 27 May 2007
Posts: 125

PostPosted: Mon Jan 29, 2007 1:34 pm    Post subject: Packaging Reply with quote

This is one topic that has been debated to death on many forms. Being a big packaging collector, I simply like the way the items look while on display. I also like original verses reproductions. There's nothing like triggering those cherished memories of when we were kids than by looking at the packagings just the like the way there were at the toy store when our parents took us shopping. Call me nuts but just a couple of years ago I spent close to $2500.00 on an empty Mego Worlds Greatest Superheroes counter display box. Probably less than 10 left in existance and worth every penny!!

Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website
Linda
Adventure Vision


Joined: 10 Oct 2005
Last Visit: 08 Mar 2024
Posts: 468
Location: Dallas, Texas

PostPosted: Tue Jan 30, 2007 5:29 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I started out buying only unboxed games. The boxed ones seemed ridiculously priced. Sometimes I wish I would have stuck to my original buying strategy. Very Happy Then I started seeing all these beautiful boxes and a couple were actually cheaper than loose games... I don't know what happened, but I became hooked on the boxed games. It seems like some of the boxes bring back just as many memories as the games.


Linda
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail
Roback
Bandai FL Burgertime


Joined: 27 Jan 2007
Last Visit: 27 May 2007
Posts: 125

PostPosted: Wed Jan 31, 2007 8:05 am    Post subject: packaging Reply with quote

You make a good point Linda and one that I feel exactly the same about.
The packaging does bring back just as many memories as the game, more so in some cases. For me the packaging instantly brings me back to those innocent shopping trips to the local Child World store with my parents. Seeing all those toys lined up on the shelves will be forever engrained in my memory. As you can see, almost my entire collection is packaged. Took me many years to put together my collection. I must admit that I am looking forward to collecting handhelds. They are way cheaper than collecting mego's and right about now I can use a break financially speaking.





Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website
spacemonsterviras
Entex Crazy Climber


Joined: 18 Oct 2005
Last Visit: 26 Feb 2007
Posts: 78
Location: Sydney, New South Wales

PostPosted: Thu Feb 01, 2007 5:30 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Linda wrote:
Then I started seeing all these beautiful boxes and a couple were actually cheaper than loose games... I don't know what happened, but I became hooked on the boxed games.


Ditto. As I amassed more of them I began to notice that boxed games were usually in much better condition than unboxed ones. Many auctions state that the owner played with the game once then stored it in the attic for 20 years. Many I own appear to be mint, despite having been described as used. I have, however, received more than one that was full of sand. Even one that was covered in mud - still wet!

Collectibility and resale value are definitely factors but, for my part, the most important thing is the intrinsic aesthetic value of the complete package. While it's deemed perfectly acceptable to spend thousands of dollars on random splashes of paint on a board, collectors of plastic toys are still largely derided, the fact that, allegedly, "les geeks c'est chic" notwithstanding. Warhol, Duchamp et al had the right idea with their Pop Art and "ready mades" in exposing the short-sightedness of this stance, but almost completely missed the point that many of these items can be regarded as works of art without them having to be recontextualised i.e. stuck in a gallery. The skill that was put into the design and manufacture of the games themselves, intricate packaging and box art often surpasses that of what's considered to be "serious" art, IMO. They're also much more solidly constructed, in general, than the cheap, plasticky tat you can buy now.

I could rabbit on about how these things encapsulate the zeitgeist - they certainly evoke memories of the few happy moments of my childhood, when visions of a future technopolis untroubled by disease, poverty and bigotry still filled my igenuous little head - but I'd rather play witth my new FL Zaxxon. Wink
_________________
"If I want to see freaks, I can just look out the window." - Johnny Eck
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Dan
Atari Cosmos


Joined: 24 Oct 2005
Last Visit: 14 May 2023
Posts: 576
Location: Neenah, WI

PostPosted: Thu Feb 01, 2007 6:11 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Indeed, our games just look cool on a shelf, whereas a bunch of Atari games and the like are pretty boring to look at, really...
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Neil UK
Atari Cosmos


Joined: 08 Oct 2005
Last Visit: 04 Jul 2023
Posts: 767
Location: South Wales.

PostPosted: Sat Feb 24, 2007 10:35 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Wicked Mego Colection Roback! I see you have duplicates such as 3 Supermen and 4 Spidermen. Are they the same except for packaging differences? Sorry if this is a silly question but I know almost nothing of Mego Embarassed

Neil.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Lord Thag
Bandai FL Burgertime


Joined: 28 May 2006
Last Visit: 01 May 2009
Posts: 121

PostPosted: Sat Feb 24, 2007 3:12 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Wow, that is impressive. I never had any as a kid, but a friend of mine had a lot. I was more into Atari and GI-Joe. Pretty crazy setup you got there!
_________________
Playin' the world, one game at a time...
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Roback
Bandai FL Burgertime


Joined: 27 Jan 2007
Last Visit: 27 May 2007
Posts: 125

PostPosted: Sat Feb 24, 2007 9:14 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Your absolutely right Neil. They are indeed packaging variations. When Mego first started to release product, they used a solid box which had no cello window on either side. Retailers started to complain around the 6 month mark that many of the boxes were getting damaged due to the fact that people couldnt see the figure. Apparently they were opening them up and damaging the packaging. Below is a pic of the very rare solid boxed Batman and Robin. These will run you around $6,000.00 a piece if you can find them!





Below is an example of the later released US window box.





At the retailers request in an attempt to save shelf space, the mego Corporation created this carded style which is still popular to this day. The Mego Corp was the first to use this type of packaging.




At one point, The Kresge Corporation, or better known as K Mart, asked Mego for their own style card that would be exclusive to their store only. The Kresge card was born!
The Kresge card style became widely used with not only the Worlds Greatest Superhero line but also with the Mego Monsters. These are the desire of many of todays collectors. These cards command thousands of dollars on the secondary market.



Front and back artwork of a Kresge style card:



The Mego Corp had many distributors around the world who they would ship product to. In many instances, these distributors created their own packaging. This one is called a Lion Rock card put out by Lion Rock LTD.



As you can see, there are numerous packaging variations for boxed and carded figures as well as with playsets and vehicles. Let's put it this way, after 10 years and $160,000.00 I am not even close to obtaining every variation. With Mego, it isnt how much money you have but more of if you can even find what you desire. Once pieces go in to a collection they veryseldom come out. Mine will go to the grave with me.

Very Happy
_________________
Mego lives!!
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website
Display posts from previous:   
Post new topic   Reply to topic    The www.HandheldMuseum.com Forum Forum Index -> Handheld Games All times are GMT - 8 Hours
Page 1 of 1

 
Jump to:  
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum


Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group