Collecting Fullsets vs. Collecting Good Games

[Rickstilwell1]

A lot of people collect only games they like to play while many others like collecting whatever they can get their hands on. What do you think is more impressive when it comes to display? A large stack of almost 2000 games even though most of them suck, or a smaller collection of just a few hundred games that are actually fun or part of a series?

My collection consists of many loose cartridges and game discs that I bought dirt cheap when a game store was being liquidated, but I also have many good games in there. The thing is that I have the idea that I might like to pull out each game and at least give them one try. Personally I would like to hang on to these because I can imagine that if I ever did want to complete a system set it would be hard to get all these back again for under $2.50 a piece (when shipping for 1 game is usually no less than $3 anyway). It's probably worth more money to hang on to them.

At the same time, it's getting harder to store the collection and there are better games out there that I still don't have.

[Malon_Forever]

Most impressive? A full set would include all good, so I would say a full set is definitely is more impressive.

[Blanka789]

Personally, I don't go for fullsets. However, I think they are more impressive to both casual people and collectors alike.

That said, I like to play my games. If that means trading a rarity that I never play for a few really gun games, I'm all over it.

[coreys429]

I am not much of a collector. I do a lot of buying and selling of games. Though the people that do impress me the most are the ones that are going for the full set. Right now I have three different friends going for a complete America Sega Genesis Set. That is box manual and game. Hunting titles down for them is fun. When I have people wanting to complete playing a game series like Zelda, I break their hearts talking about CDI version and then they tell me well those don't count.

[tubeway]

I'd be more impressed by quality over quantity. If someone had 1000 games that were the best and most interesting titles across five platforms, I'd be more impressed by it than by the collection of someone that managed to get, say, all of the USA Sega Genesis releases. I understand the appeal of collecting an entire set -- not unlike a full set of baseball cards or a full run of a comic -- that feeling of completion and accomplishment is nice.

However, if you have a room filled with fullsets, then odds are, you also have a room filled with at least 60% crap or mediocre games, and you're stuck with all of them, because as soon as you get rid of a couple titles you no longer can make the claim you have a fullset. With a really quality collection, though, you can always selectively pare it down, swap out games as your interests changes, and not be trapped in essentially having a warehouse for a living space.

[mobiusclimber]

Fullsets are impressive, but individual games usually impress me more. I know, I know, the person w/ the fullset HAS the impressive individual games (or some of em depending on what console they collect for), but I think I'm just as impressive by the person with a collection of just good games as I am by the person with every game for a system. And logistically, it's usually not feasible to house such a collection unless you're collecting for a system w/ a small library, which ends up negating the impressiveness of having a full set. ("I've got every US Virtual Boy Game!" Heh, oh, erm... cool?)

[Bad Atom]

I knew it was time for me to stop collecting once Wally Bear and the NO! Gang entered my collection.

[Rickstilwell1]

In a way there is one fullset I'm going for, but it's not a fullset of games for a system. It's a fullset of US released game systems themselves. This set has less items and is a bit easier to complete but it still has its $1000 rarities in the mix such as Adventure Vision or a CIB honest 1972 Magnavox Odyssey.

I am getting closer to this goal and starting to seek gaming computers like Commodore 64. Once I get a new job, I think Commodore 64 will be my first target because it's one of the most popular things I'm missing.

Collecting systems over collecting games seems more fun to me because every time it offers a new experience unless you are also collecting varients. Collecting certain varients can be beneficial when it comes to systems though. Genesis 3 is great for travel, but Genesis 1 & 2 are upgradeable for example.