Collecting for hobby and investment values

[GameHoarder]

I have never been a popular fad or trend follower as I preferred making my own personal choices and versions of entertainment.

I'm saying that I have always been comfortable Living a more primitive Lifestyle then what is viewed as the norm.

Some examples would be that I was perfectly happy with 8 track stereo when it became obsolete with the cassette tape era.

When the cassette tape format replaced the 8 track music format I found that there was a LARGE assortment of quality 8 track items to be found at bargain prices.

Then when CD format became popular, the cassette music format faded out of popularity as more people wanted the CD format.

Funny thing is that the old 8 track stuff is still selling and trading well, but the music cassette format is a slow mover as there is a much larger supply then demand.

I have collected, hoarded, traded and such for many years as I find that it works well for me and my dog.

I have never been much on playing with toys and games, even when young, but I always enjoyed collecting such items.

Now the GAME related point of all this.

I started collecting the video game, handheld and such items BIG TIME about 15 years ago. When I started buying such items on eBay about 14 years ago my collections really started to grow in size and assortment.

I started with the Nintendo Game Boy line and soon branched out into the other systems and formats. I mostly looked for what I could buy at a bargain and paid a bit more for the few items that caught my eye and I just had to have.

But anywho, I have been watching the selling and trading trends on some of the items I have in my collections and finding that I did VERY well with what I invested and what the items are selling and trading at today.

I have done very well selling and trading off some of my surplus to select private others. I'm NOT selling to the PUBLIC at this time. Main reason is that I'm just starting to clear out some of the many items I have collected up over the many years. Game related items is just a tiny part of it all and I'm in no great rush to mess with going through all the game related items at this time as most is stored away for later.

I just wanted to point out that there are GREAT investment values that can be realized "over time" in the vintage, older and select game market.

[GameHoarder]

Almost a year since I posted the post above this.

I take a peek in the Hand Held Museum every few days or so. I notice that with more people getting away from the desk top computers and lap tops and using the small hand held devices that sites such as this don't get as many visiting as those little devices have their drawbacks being small with small screens and keyboards.

The economy sure is getting all the worse as the credit debt catches up to more people, businesses and even governments, cities, towns and such.

I still keep adding to my collections as if a person can find something interesting for sale these daze, most times you can get it at a bargain, IF you can get the CA$H. I have been busy trying to raise extra hobby funds by getting rid of things that don't personally interest me. But even that is tougher as not many have the extra cash to buy what they need and want and as the daze go by it seems that others have less for good items for trade and barter.

I just keep on Living Life and keeping the lights on and good food in the cupboard.

But we also need our hobbies and entertainment to make us whole.

may the farce be will you Will Robinson....

[Singer]

I have a smart phone and I almost wish I didn't. It's so convenient that I will often find myself trying to use it to browse the internet. Big mistake. I'm either having to zoom and scroll around the page to find what I want, or worse, I'll be in the middle of browsing and it will transfer me over to the mobile version which usually has half the features obscured or missing outright. Two examples are Facebook and IMDb. In both, the mobile versions are missing all the sidebars and the links they include. Some of the links can be accessed via a pull-down but usually not all of them. Plus I hate typing messages on the touch screen. It's slow to respond to my touch and I make a lot more mistakes. I am so much faster with a physical keyboard. Even my old phone with its tiny physical keyboard was much easier. But I am certainly a lot happier with a desktop computer and a mouse.

I picked up this handheld game hobby a couple years ago and one thing it has changed about me is that I find myself in Goodwill, Salvation Army and St. Vincent stores a lot more often. You can find some good deals on eBay if you don't sweat condition too much, but things are much cheaper at the local stores. A game that in good condition would fetch $20 or $30 on eBay can usually be found on eBay for $5 if you don't mind a couple of scuffs and you're patient enough to find it. The same game can usually be found at the local thrift shop for $1 or $2.

I find that it's got me interested in all old electronics. With all of our fancy modern tech I am always fascinated by what they could accomplish decades ago with much less. I still have a working VCR and have purchased a VHS tape as recently as a week ago. I have a working Laserdisc player, the only movies I have for it are the original Star Wars trilogy (pre-Special Edition!)

My local Salvation Army has recently had a lot of 8mm film projectors come through its doors. Usually selling for $5-10 in working condition. I haven't bought one because usually they are missing one or two of the takeup reels. I have also seen 8mm films there for probably $1. One had some Three Stooges shorts, the other some cartoons; Heckle and Jeckle, I think.

[GameHoarder]

Not sure how, but I missed that last post until now when I was looking through some of my threads.

I'm still collecting a few game related items as I find them. I bought a nice handheld from Japan for a dollar and free S&H. off eBay lately.

Received a very nice condition MGA handheld with good batteries in it in less the 9 days.

No one else bid for some reason.

I have been mostly adding to my other favorite collections as I don't find many great deals on game items that interest me these days.

I did make some great scores at a local weekly farmers auction this year where you never know what others will bring. From bunnies to guns and everything in between.

I bought a cool Monte Carlo table top game that has a coin mechanism. I tried to find information on it and I could only find the company that made it, but no information on it.

It was made by Computer Kinetics 31129 Via Colinas, West Lake Village Cal 91361. It says Build 701 on it. It looks like Arcade boards in it like what I've seen on eBay.

I haven't tried to see if it works as the screws that hold the top cover on were missing so it was easy to look inside and see what was there.

I picked up a few other interesting game items vintage and newer for bargain values at the same place.

I have noticed that some of the Japanese game items I have are still going up in value and selling when they are offered for sale.

Items like boxed Special Editions of Nintendo Game boys and such.

Some of the odd handhelds and consoles that I have are also selling very well when offered for sale on eBay.

and the untested Nintendo NES and other such consoles are selling for about $25.00 each and most look like junk. I have many of the older systems that are in better shape then what I have seen selling lately.

I myself have never played video games and such very much as I enjoy collecting things more then playing with them. Always have.

I started collecting the game items as I saw it as a collecting area that would most likely be a wise one for future investment.

I have done well on my other collections also as I study and do my homework and I'm just "lucky" or charmed it seems.