Sealed Collecting, more than an investment?

I think sealed collecting is more than an investment. A game which you played more than 40 hours for example is a part of your life. You can remember those days if anyone announce the name of the game. And if you get a sealed copy of this game you can remember those days every time you pass it !

What is your philosophy of sealed collecting? More than an simple investment?

I like the idea that in years to come, you still have something in its original form, as it was when it left the factory that it was created in.

Take Snes games for example. How many do you see these days which are complete in thier original box with instructions? Hardly any, because most of the games you see these days are just cart only. Effectively, they're the same as what you can download on the Virtual Console ~ You don't get the added pleasure of the box artwork or the manual to read through as you would with a complete boxed copy.

It's always nice to see pristine sealed copies of games though, and nice to think that in years to come these may just end up as part of a museum exhibition

Pascal wrote:I think sealed collecting is more than an investment. A game which you played more than 40 hours for example is a part of your life. You can remember those days if anyone announce the name of the game. And if you get a sealed copy of this game you can remember those days every time you pass it !

What is your philosophy of sealed collecting? More than an simple investment?

I think all this sealed collecting is not so good!...Mainly, because the truth of the matter is, MOST people who have, say for example 100 rare sealed games, would NEVER sell any of their games and even though they say that it's all about making profit on their investment, they know damn well that they DON'T want to sell a single game in their collection....

Me? I'm a totally different beast, I love looking at sealed game, BUT only in the store, because (with the exception of SEGA SATURN games) as soon as I get home, I'm going to OPEN IT!

Collecting sealed games ...
hmm, i´m deeply schizophren with my opinion on this.
As a collector of sealed games, you pay much money for "a worthless piece of cellophane".

But Pascal, i think you can feel / dream / fall into the game, also if it´s opened.

But somehow it´s great to know that the world of the game inside the sealed plastics has never been shown to anyone else. You can imagine to be the first one entering this dreamworld, especially with rare games, or at least be the first one touching the Disc or Module ;-). Especially with rare games.

So i see it like Pascal and Gemini at all, it remembers me of my journey through the game. And I simply love games nearly as much as my girlfriend :o . And yes it is a great feeling to know you owe a game in a condition which exists perhaps 10 times or less in this version worldwide.

@Sony: I don´t think that sealed game collectors will never sell their stuff, people change in their life and actually I think if it gives you a good feeling to owe stuff you like, one should start with this as soon as possible.

Another point:
The cellophane contains solvent / Lösungsmittel, doesn´t it? Am I the only one who has the feeling that this seal won´t last forever when it "airs out"?

Games, cellophane, seals & childhood forever :flower:

And sorry, my english might be a little rusty :bball:

ElmX wrote:Collecting sealed games ...
hmm, i´m deeply schizophren with my opinion on this.
As a collector of sealed games, you pay much money for "a worthless piece of cellophane".

Technically, you're actually paying the extra for the preservation of the contents inside the cellophane. Take N64 games for example. You know that beneath the cellophane wrapper the box is untouched and not shop soled. Have you ever seen the dog-earred boxes plastered in sticckers that used to adorn game shop shelves?

You also know that everything that is supposed to be in the package is there. So warranty cards and advertising leaflets and anything else will all be in pristine condition.

Most collector's want to buy a game in the best "New or as close to new" condition as possible and with everything that was supposed to be included. Most collector's settle for *Mint* condition pre-owned, but there is an increase in the kinds of collector's who prefer to buy the games sealed, often paying a premium to obtain something that is the clsoest to as it was when it was first printed and released

I also think that it's not true, that sealed collector won't sell their games. If it was like this, why are there so many sealed games on ebay (especially the games with much worth like A Link to the Past sealed)? I think the seller was also a collector.

I have for example two Zelda Collector's Editon for the GC. Maybe I will sell one in some years, but I know unconscious that I won't do it. But the intent to maybe sell them is enough. In some years you can have a pleasure to own the games and only thinking on selling.

On one side it's the worth who made me collecting sealed games. But it's the worth without the intent to sell. For example I enjoy to have the Bigbox of Zelda MM (okay, it's not sealed, but it's only an example), enjoy that I bought it for ~130 Euro and that the box has now more worth than 200 Euro (also seen one in my condition for 300 Euro).

On the other side it's the pleasure to look at them. It's a wonderful picture if everthing is perfect. And I also think like Pascal. If I have sometime Ocarina of Time perfect sealed with the Nintendo tear strip, I will cry ^^ I connect many many things with this game and it would be wonderful to have this in a condition, which you can't beat / surpass whatever. I had it for years with a ba box. But at this time a bought one in a good condition, I was very happy. So not to imagine how happy I'll be, if I have this game in a perfect sealed condition.

I hope you understand my intents and thinkings. Maybe I couldn't even explain better in german ^^

EDIT: Another Point is the original Nintendo tear strip. It has something fascinating!

You also know that everything that is supposed to be in the package is there. So warranty cards and advertising leaflets and anything else will all be in pristine condition.

Here in the south of germany are shops (supermarkets called Real) selling EMPTY BUT ORIGINALLY SEALED games (game boxes) ;-)

I have such a gameboy game lying around here (Tales Of Phantasia)
Game cardridge and instruction booklet are given to you before leaving the shop. And yes, the box has the original Nintendo strip.

What do we think about this?

ElmX wrote:

You also know that everything that is supposed to be in the package is there. So warranty cards and advertising leaflets and anything else will all be in pristine condition.

Here in the south of germany are shops (supermarkets called Real) selling EMPTY BUT ORIGINALLY SEALED games (game boxes) ;-)

I have such a gameboy game lying around here (Tales Of Phantasia)
Game cardridge and instruction booklet are given to you before leaving the shop. And yes, the box has the original Nintendo strip.

What do we think about this?

Would this even be allowed? Surely this is temptation for fraudsters to commit any number of fraud. Imagine, one seller on eBay could sell these empty boxes online and then teh cart's on their own at a car boot sale...

Maybe the chain of stores has a special agreement with Nintendo to sell teh games like this (Aren't Nintendo games printed in Germany anyway?) ~ Either that, or they could have a way of resealing the games.


It's nice to see they take box condition seriously and know that no one wants a battered box, but I am sure there are plenty of ways to sell the games securely without tampering with the box's (Ie, plastic Safers)

Also, who is to say that the cart they give you is in fact new? They could have been played instore or even be swapped with pre-owned carts...

Sealed collecting is investment indeed as well as some ill habit
For me sealed collectors are both fascinating and ill-geek at the same time. Paying hundred bucks for plastic which costs 0.001$... damn.. and they don't play games. Most of the time they are browsing ebay and forums and earning cash. They STARE at the games.Snuff them! They.. theeyy lick them! (god knows what else they do with them!) . lmao
And i like it
Although i completely don't understand why people buy more then one copy of same sealed game. This is ridiculous. :farao:

Dark Sol wrote:Although i completely don't understand why people buy more then one copy of same sealed game. This is ridiculous. :farao:

Lol! I know most people here probably have at least one duplicate sealed game. Sometimes it's due to one being flawed, so they keep buying them when they come across them to ensure they get a decent copy. I myself have countless copies of Ecco and ECW for the Dreamcast, and also several Chu Chu Rocket's

Sometimes when a game is quite rare, you just can't help yourself buying multiple copies, if it's a particular bargain. Happyheed has about a dozen sealed Zelda Ocarina Of Time's for this reason, and I am sure Sammelhammel has a few copies of the same PlayStation games too. I've also been known to "Hoard" multiple copies of rarer games, such as Marvel Vs Capcom II for Dreamcast, simply because I obtained the second copy very cheaply (I then resold it at a huge profit I might add)

Also, some people tend to buy bundles. Sometimes, a bundle may include games you already have, such as POD 2 (DC) or Chu Chu Rocket (DC) which are very common indeed!

Yes, you are right gemini....I have for example about 12 Atelier Iris

But I also have duplicates from some PS games: Resi 2, FF VIII, Brigandine, FF Anthology, Tales of Destiny 2.....

Dark Sol, you are right....it is really crazy what we are doing.
But in the point ov view of an investment, sealed collecting can be really profitable.

Maybe we all have just too much money and we don't know other way to spend it

But playing videogames 24/7 is much more sick :albino:

Sammelhammel wrote:Yes, you are right gemini....I have for example about 12 Atelier Iris

But I also have duplicates from some PS games: Resi 2, FF VIII, Brigandine, FF Anthology, Tales of Destiny 2.....

Dark Sol, you are right....it is really crazy what we are doing.
But in the point ov view of an investment, sealed collecting can be really profitable.

Maybe we all have just too much money and we don't know other way to spend it

But playing videogames 24/7 is much more sick :albino:

Speaking about profit. I think this is more a loss then profit. Just imagine how much you BUY and SELL. lol. I'm pretty sure everyone here buys more then sells. And buying cheap sealed to stuff in order to resell it.. well. it is good. But this is a poor profit comparing to a simply "job profit" i guess.
The last statement is what i always say to my friends, girlfriend etc... lol. like "Damn i don't drink! I don't need a car! I have everything! I don't want to waste money i'd better buy some "gold bars" (e.g games) ". Ahh yes i always compare rare games to gold bars.

Dark Sol wrote:[
Speaking about profit. I think this is more a loss then profit. Just imagine how much you BUY and SELL. lol. I'm pretty sure everyone here buys more then sells. And buying cheap sealed to stuff in order to resell it.. well. it is good. But this is a poor profit comparing to a simply "job profit" i guess.

Compare to a salary which you earn when you have a job it is really nothing, that's right.
But I don't think this is more a loss than a profit. Ok, NOW I'm selling not so much stuff (I sold 2 days ago my SNES BigBox games and two other "open" games for 450 Euro), but who will know whats going on in 10 years? Maybe I have a very nice job and I don't have to sell my collection, but maybe I sleep under the bridge and have to sell my collection
When you have a clue which games are sought after in some years, videogames (especially sealed) can be a very good investment in my opinion