Sealed collecting, the logical next step?

Untill a few weeks back, I’ve always refrained from buying sealed games unless they were very cheap. I’m a collector first, but I’m also a gamer and I do wanna play the games (or atleast have the idea that I can play them). However, something changed..How do you start collecting games? I think most of us started with rebuying the stuff they had as a kid.. after that you start buying games you never had, but you played them at a friends house. Before you know it you’ll also start buying games that are generally considered to be great, even tho you’ve never played them before. The next big step is the moment you realise you want to have EVERY game for a certain system in a certain region (or just ALL of them).

Most collectors never even reach that last step and are more then happy to just collect great games and rare games, some do reach the point where they wanna have everything. But there is another select group that is not satisfied with having everything, they want to have variants too.. or even sealed games.

Explaining to a random stranger why you collect games is not that hard, you’re a gamer and you love to own a lot of games. They might find you strange (or super cool), but it’s an understandable hobby.
Trying to explain them that you collect sealed games is harder tho.. because you can’t really do anything with them, they can not be used for the purpose they were created! Using the stamp collector example always puts them in place tho (a stamp collector is not sad that he can’t use his stamps, so why should a sealed game collector be)

However, from a collectors viewpoint collecting sealed games is just “the next step” I think.
If you’re a collector and you want your games complete and as mint as possible, the mintest and completest you can get is sealed. You can be 100% sure that everything is in, if it’s still in it’s original seal!

So is sealed collecting the logical next step for collectors?
This picture shows that i do believe it is for me!

lfdog

When I buy sealed, I keep them sealed, but always reserve the option of opening them to play (once I get time!).

However, all my PS3 and up are opened right away - why? DLC. The extra bonus DLC expires and if you don't open the game to get the code, you are wasting the DLC.

PS2 and below? Sealed until played.

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Xed

collecting is indeed hard to explain, but so are many other things in life Frank ;)

But you open games if you want to play them, even if its a rare sealed game? (lets say a FFVII)

Cauterize

Ocean Commander (PAL), the rarest PS2 game out there! Nice!

It's indeed very very rare, but a few weeks back a member of the forums noticed a batch on ebay.
I think they were all sold in 20min :D

Frank

I'm a video game collector - but, like a stamp collector that focuses their collection on a country, time-period, or topic - I only collect games that I actually think I would like to play some time.

My preference is to buy everything I can sealed. Then, I leave them sealed - until I play them. There are just so many games! I suspect that my sealed collection will continue to grow though. It has happened where I have a sealed game that I can get a use copy of cheaply and/or download a playable copy at a low cost - in this case, I'll keep the sealed... sealed....

I also hear what you are saying about variants. I have three copies of FFVIII - US/English (sealed), European Collector's (sealed) and the Canadian French/English - opened to play.

So far, I've avoided the step of buying two copies of every new game (1 sealed/1 play). However, there are some exceptions! :)

The other thing that I have found myself doing as a collector is buying cross-platform editions - even if they are the same game. For example, I bought "Silent Hill: Shattered Memories" on PSP, PS2 and Wii.

Collecting is hard to explain. It's fun though!

10 NES games for $9.99.. wish I collected back in those days

DJPimpDaddy

I started collecting NES as you described. I still had all my childhood NES games, but I wanted all the ones I couldn't get. Then back when Gamestop had the infamous bargin bin where you could pick up 10 NES games for $9.99, I just started buy everything.

But I have never crossed the line to sealed. Every sealed game I own I have opened. I respect other collector's sealed sets, but I personally view it as a wasted opportunity. These things were meant to be played! Lol.

Playstation Collecting

Sealed collecting, the logical next step?

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