Hello All

[Blue007]

Hi everyone, I'm new! I was just wondering how many years you all have been collecting and how old everyone is? You can give an age range if you prefer

Also, is there any reference to determine whether you are getting a good deal off a game on Ebay? Some things seem overpriced whereas others offer games I've never heard of.

I would appreciate any help! Thanks!

[Neil UK]

Welcome to the Forum .

I've been collecting my games about 4.5 years I think (is that about when I first contacted you Rik?).

I'm 39 and I think you'll find that quite a lot of collectors are around the same age, i.e. we were kids when the games were on sale.

As for a value reference probably one of the best places to start would be our very own Linda's book, a link to which can be found half way down the Museum home page. Just click on the red 'Watson's' box.

Other than that I would scan the completed items on Ebay in your country and around the world to see what kind of prices the game you are interested in has fetched in the last few months. If none have previously finished then it is probably quite rare so might fetch more than an average game of it's type.

You could also have a look at Rik's own FAQ which will give you an idea of a games rarity amongst other things.

http://www.handheldmuseum.com/HandheldFAQ.txt

I tend to find that the expensive games tend to be from one of several dedicated 'shops'. They are usually in very good boxed condition though and are often very hard to find games. I almost always buy from private sellers.

All the best with your collection,

Neil.

[Panic Button]

I'm 38, and have been collecting about 2 yrs now, just to confirm Neils age demographic

The only things I'd add to what Neil says is

1) look beyond your own country for games - I'd say the majority of my games came from outside the UK where I live.

2) The best book on Handhelds, for it's visual exuberance and style is the now out of print 'Electronic Plastic' which you can probably find on Ebay or via an Amazon reseller. Though not covering all handhelds under the sun it is handheld porn at it's finest!

3) Boxed games generally sell for more than unboxed. Depends on how anal you are but you can end up spending $$$ more for cardboard and poly inserts!

4) If you start suffering a serious condition of collectionitus, you'll need a) a lot of money, especially if you want to own the rarer games, and b) space to display them. Some collectors on here have whole rooms dedicated to storing their collections!

Good luck with your collection and welcome to the 4rum!

[tanatron]

43 and counting .Two years of collecting full time.
I have to quote everything the two English gentlemen said before me.
I only give you a little advise , if I may. Don't be too much overaggressive in your first auctions .Otherwise you will end up paying a game far more that you would have paid if you could have had a little bit more patience.Patience is the word.Even the rarer games once in a while show up so just wait. And if you loose , don't feels as if you lost everything , they all show up again.
And then when they finally show up ............ you will loose them anyway because our friend\enemy Linda will snipe you (one shot-one kill mode) , leaving you with only a bad taste in your mouth, and a broken hearth!

Alex
_________________
My collection: http://www.webalice.it/claudia.alessandro/index.html

[Neil UK]

English!......ENGLISH!!

I'm Welsh through and through but i'm also British too

I would think that saying someone from Wales is English is similar to telling a Canadian he's actually an American!

No offence taken though

I have to admit I was probably rather too impatient to get my collection to a good size asap and bought quite a few games at a few pounds more than I needed to as I had no idea if they would come around again. I had only recently discovered the delights of Ebay and I should have bided my time and studied what games come up and sell for before I started collecting in a big way. If I did this though I might have missed bidding on

Rosy Space King (19xx, VFD, 4 C Batteries, Model# RF-2005)

This Rosy game was recently seen for the first time in years on Ebay (Nov, 2003).
If I spotted that Space King in Nov 2003 I must have been collecting for about 5.5 years. WOW, doesn't time fly!

Neil.

[blue6demon]

Welcome to our little community, i'm also 39 and have been collecting for about 3 years now. I won't repeat everything those guys already said!

It's a fun hobby, and part of it is finding your games at a low price.

[mario101]

Hi, I'm 16 years old and have been collecting handheld games for about 2-3 years now.
_________________
Emulators are for the non collectors

[Blue007]

It's nice to meet all of you! I actually recently saw a VERY INTERESTING seller on Ebay that was selling some games I don't see in the museum!! I suppose they must be very rare!

I don't remember the seller's name off the top of my head, but he seems to have about 20 games or so for sale. And the BEST part is that it is all "Buy It Now" or "Best Offer" so you don't have to wait for the auction to end or end up sniping people! It's not "chickeneater" or a business store...looks like a private seller because he sells some other random things besides handheld games .

Some prices seem reasonable while others seem expensive. I did see that the seller ended up selling an item for HALF off the asking price so maybe this person is nice and will sell for a good price . The game was still sealed and brand new so I thought that was a pretty good deal. But, take note, it was a Backgammon handheld game so I don't know how popular they are!

I have the seller saved in my account and I'll post this message in games for sale section as well. If anybody has ever done business with this person I'd really like to know if he's a good seller! He has a lot of Tiger Electronic Handhelds and some keychain games that look really neat!

[Neil UK]

Hello Blue,
I don't know about the games being that rare as I'm not into LCD's but I would say the main reason they are not in the Museum (besides Rik being too busy) is that they are too modern. Rik mainly includes LCD's in the Museum if they are made no later than around 1984.

To me, they seem over priced though they may be rarish and desirable to some people. I have a feeling he was probably very happy to sell the backgammon game for half he asked for it.

Neil.

[Dan]

Uh, yeah!

To save anyone else who is curious from doing the detective work:

http://video-games.shop.ebay.c.....11.c0.m282

I see our new friend (welcome Blue007 by the way!) has posted a link to the seller in the other thread, but this one sends you to just his games.

[Blue007]

I agree with you, Neil. But you can always try, what's the worst that can happen? I've done best offers before and sometimes the seller is willing to go lower than you think . I hardly see anyone making any offers so I think it's worth a shot.

I contacted the seller and he said sometimes he makes the price high because he knows people will try to bargain with him, but that he is reasonable. He said people sometimes give ridiculously low offers like $5.00 when he lists it at $100.00 so for those he declines. In general, he said he's more [u]willing to accept offers [/u]because he needs the money and wants to clean out his collection. He said he tries to price it around what he has paid for some of the items...which is A LOT!

Also, there are more games coming!

[Linda]

Welcome Blue007.

I admit to being 29, but I'm 30 something.
I've been collecting since the summer of 2003. I like to refer to it as the period in which I lost my mind. I was ONLY going to buy ONE Coleco Pacman to replace the one I lost. That was about ONE thousand games ago.

Be patient when buying is my advice. Most games come around again. Pace yourself and always save something for when the one you REALLY REALLY want comes up.

Good luck and happy bidding.

Linda

[Blue007]

Wow you have over 1000 games? How much did you spend on that? I have maybe 30-40 games so far.

[Neil UK]

Blue007, look down this page to see Linda's collection

http://www.handheldmuseum.com/.....p;start=30

Neil.

[Linda]