Sacred Symbols+, Episode 210 | A Collector's Tale
Added 2022-07-26 16:01:04 +0000 UTCPlease welcome Michael to Sacred+. Michael -- proprietor of the YouTube channel ObjoGaming -- is a fervent and dedicated retro physical games collector, and he wanted to talk about his craft on the show. Naturally, we do just that. Within, we discuss recent price increases plaguing the scene, the idea of 'gatekeeping' the community on lines of dedication, wealth, and intent, the decline of the physical games market mirroring the rise of the aftermarket, the value (or lack thereof) of grading systems, buying retro games as a store of financial value, and so much more. Please enjoy. And don't let that money burn a hole in your pocket...
Comments
Excellent episode! yes, covid and inflation had a real noticeable uptick in perceived value with game collecting, we can't forget that the video games market still is leaning towards its early stages. The gaming industry, while the biggest monetarily, is still young and what we are seeing on top of current times is the newer, young gamers with disposable income, the 3rd or 4th generation that grew up gaming (coupled with discussion of raising prices, and free gov. money) have now taken an interest to game collecting. It's only going to steadily go up. My take though is that I think we see the remaster/remake industry evolve. We may see companies we wouldn't have expected to do represses of products do limited run style represses. I'm hoping so anyway.
Liquid_Fear
2022-08-02 23:26:18 +0000 UTCLove this episode My collection is over 5500 games for 15 different systems and growing
Wayde
2022-08-02 21:50:50 +0000 UTCI've seen people try to sell them, but the problem is that the DRM for PT is tied to the original owner's PSN account, and even if they did sell it with the ID it is against TOS to transfer PSN accounts and it could risk being the account being banned and PT would be unplayable. It will be interesting in the future to see how the secondhand market reacts to digital-only titles, but for now they're seen as worthless and are wiped from the hard drive when selling a system.
Michael (ObjoGaming)
2022-07-29 18:24:20 +0000 UTCI wonder if PS4's with P.T. on their HDDs will go up in value some day?
MISZCZOGRZMOT
2022-07-29 17:31:43 +0000 UTCI see. Thanks for the insight!
Mike Po
2022-07-28 19:06:30 +0000 UTCMy collection was half built on buying stuff super cheap at garage sales and flea markets over the past decade or so and and half getting stuff at the right time before it went up ridiculously. My entire collection has been built by flipping and trading games I already have/don't want. The amount I have into collecting is about 20% of its value. It's possible to get stuff for cheap, but it takes a lot more time.
Michael (ObjoGaming)
2022-07-28 19:02:01 +0000 UTCI would love to collect all the games from my childhood, but man, the thing that stops me from getting in is the money. My wife and I make decent money, but between retirement savings, saving for home improvement projects, and saving to replace a vehicle, I just can't in good conscience buy into this. I was shocked that Michael was 24 with the collection he has. But hey, everyone's financial picture is different. Maybe when I'm 60 (in 30 years) I can get started; can't wait to buy GameCube games for 600 dollars a piece by then!
Mike Po
2022-07-28 17:24:53 +0000 UTCYep
James Good
2022-07-28 01:15:40 +0000 UTCYeah, this is the thing I was talking about, I believe.
Colin Moriarty
2022-07-27 18:55:54 +0000 UTCExactly, I just don't want physical games, it's not for me.
Colin Moriarty
2022-07-27 18:55:45 +0000 UTCThat's good stuff.
Colin Moriarty
2022-07-27 18:55:35 +0000 UTCIndeed. I'm not too hung-up on selling and giving away my old shit. I don't really want it. I like digital games, and I am ironically also a physical book guy, but it's as you said: It's a different experience.
Colin Moriarty
2022-07-27 18:55:30 +0000 UTCGood luck.
Colin Moriarty
2022-07-27 18:54:59 +0000 UTCYeah, that seems like it's too much.
Colin Moriarty
2022-07-27 18:54:41 +0000 UTCGood feedback.
Colin Moriarty
2022-07-27 18:54:27 +0000 UTCYeah, they're in the big market. That's not what I'm talking about. But it's cool that someone out there is doing it.
Colin Moriarty
2022-07-27 18:54:19 +0000 UTCGlad to hear it. =D
Colin Moriarty
2022-07-27 18:54:00 +0000 UTCThank you. <3
Colin Moriarty
2022-07-27 18:53:55 +0000 UTCThanks for being here.
Colin Moriarty
2022-07-27 18:53:50 +0000 UTCFor more information on the graded games thing, there is substantial evidence that Heritage auctions and Wata games were directly conspiring to raise the prices of sealed games to get rich on a speculation bubble. speedrunner and independent journalist Karl Jobst did an extensive investigation pouring over publicly available information to uncover this. There is now credible legal action being takenb as a result. I highly recommend Colin and Michael check out this video, fifty minutes but well worth it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rvLFEh7V18A Karl would make a great guest on SS+
James Good
2022-07-27 17:01:58 +0000 UTCI've had people in my area knock on people's doors at like 5:30 for a 9:00 garage sale start time. I can't imagine having that little self-awareness. Luckily the guys who were doing that have gotten out of collecting the past few years.
Michael (ObjoGaming)
2022-07-26 21:55:01 +0000 UTCI’ve had my likes/dislikes about collecting games. I mostly download everything now because of convenience and not wanting a bunch of crap around. I’m also not a fan of buying stuff you don’t like or aren’t gonna play.
Brandon Soto
2022-07-26 21:46:52 +0000 UTCWe were those weirdo kids who kept all our NES games in their boxes in a filing cabinet. At some point after several moves...they all were lost. So many regrets
Ryan Zimm
2022-07-26 21:40:39 +0000 UTCDude, that’s insane hahahaha
Jason K
2022-07-26 21:28:55 +0000 UTCI sold every physical game I’d ever owned over the course of my entire life a few years back. This was everything from my old SNES games like Chrono Trigger and EarthBound, all the way up to PS4. A library of games and most major consoles and handhelds. It’s all so accessible and easy to play on numerous devices I own now that it had no personal value to me if I could still play them without them taking up the space. I happily took thousands of dollars from other people as I sold it all over the course of a year. It’s a win win. I made some money and people that wanted them got them. I’m even 100% digital on PS5 now and I’m content with it. I just buy books now. I know there’s a similar argument to be made about being able to read books digitally too. But the act and nature of playing a game physically vs digitally is essentially identical where as the tactile nature of books is something I often enjoy more than reading on my iPad. Different strokes.
Stray_Bullets
2022-07-26 21:20:56 +0000 UTCFun conversation! I started grabbing GameCube before the big boom, but I’m struggling with the GBA prices right now.
Noah Trujillo
2022-07-26 20:35:51 +0000 UTCGame collecting is so cut throat in my area. A couple summers ago I made a push to try to do some collecting at garage sales and flea markets. No luck for weeks then I saw on Craigslist a garage sale and there was a Sega CD in box in the background of one of the images. I get there right when they open the guy says someone was banging on his door last night asking for it. That's when I said this is not for me.
Luke Silletta
2022-07-26 20:17:28 +0000 UTCThat's a good thing to mention. I remember when Yakuza 2 on PS2 was a pretty pricey game, and Sega reprinted it which made the price plummet. Same with games like Xenoblade on Wii. Any disc-based stuff has the potential to be reprinted and can easily drop in price.
Michael (ObjoGaming)
2022-07-26 18:31:28 +0000 UTCGreat episode! As for whether or not they’re good investments… the classic, nice condition, older stuff is definitely solid. The same holds true for comics & toys. Sealed, high grade or nice condition, limited quantities… that stuff will be resistant to market shifts. But like all investments, there’s some risks. Someone unearthed a hoard of unproduced Gi Joe ninja commandos & it hit the market on those hard. Someone finds a stash of this sealed game or that, the market will react… but we also all know the beloved stuff that will stand the test of time.
Kenneth Koepnick
2022-07-26 18:16:46 +0000 UTCAwesome episode! Regarding strategy guides, Future Press makes very high quality officially licensed strategy guides. I own copies of their Horizon Zero Dawn and Forbidden West guides and they’re absolutely immaculate and rich with detail. It’d be really great to see more businesses in the strategy guide market though.
Jim Capron
2022-07-26 18:02:51 +0000 UTCCan't wait to listen! I love the recent emphasis on retro/nostalgic game collecting between DD and SS.
Big Ru
2022-07-26 17:53:34 +0000 UTCThank you, for all the incredible content y’all been putting out. This is the only Patreon account I donate to and I feel the bang for my buck, every single day. 🔥🫡
Nicholas Hardacre
2022-07-26 16:13:31 +0000 UTCThanks for having me on, guys!
Michael (ObjoGaming)
2022-07-26 16:01:38 +0000 UTC
