Best Finds You Passed Up and Regret Now!

[j1e]

I'll tell you something I regret (not a pass up.) I sold a cart only 4.5/5 condition NES Panic Restaurant for $32 or $33 shipped. I swear it seems like a couple weeks later, cart only (whatever teh condition) was going for like $75-80 bucks :/

p.s. I wish now I would have held onto it. I remember it being a fun game.

http://www.digitpress.com/forum/showthread.php?t=125817 < Just dug this up. Laughable.

[Aussie2B]

Thankfully I don't have much of any regrets about things I passed on in the wild.

But there are several things I didn't buy in normal retail stores that I still haven't made up for. Back when GameStop was selling used NES/SNES/Genesis/etc. carts in the early half of this decade, I loaded up on a bunch of stuff, but I passed on some of the more expensive games. I really wish I had bought Earthbound, which was about $25, but I figured I could get two or three cheaper SNES RPGs or adventure games at that price (so instead I got stuff like Illusion of Gaia and Arcana). They also had several Genesis RPGs for $10 a pop, even multiple copies of some. I picked up a Shining Force 2, as did my fiance's brother, but I wish I had bought even more copies of that game (I know there was at least one or two more). I also didn't buy any of the multiple copies of Phantasy Star 2 and 4 since I already played 2 and didn't like it, and I figured I wouldn't like 4 either. Now I wish I had at least bought PS4.

Going a bit farther back, I loaded up on lots of PlayStation RPGs when the system was still alive, both new and used, but I regret not buying a used Tales of Destiny for 20-25 bucks. When I bought used, I tried to also spend less than $20, preferably under $15. So instead of Tales of Destiny, I think I bought Wild Arms and Brave Fencer Musashi, but I wish I got all three. At least I got a brand new Tales of Destiny II priced at $20 but free for me with an Amazon gift certificate I got for winning Review of the Week on GameFAQs years ago.

[The 1 2 P]

I think I actually passed on a Net version of Daytona for the Saturn, the $300 variant. I had just heard about this variant and looking at the pictures I wasn't 100% sure if this was a complete variant. I still should have grabbed it though.

[Koa Zo]

My biggest regret, and this is a big one, was passing up Keio Flying Squadron for Sega CD.
I liked shoot-em-ups a lot back then, but didn't buy Keio at release because it was $54.99 +tax, and I didn't care for the cute-em-up graphics style.

At the end of the SegaCD life-cycle all the stores were clearing games for $10-20 brand new.
One copy of Keio Flying Squadron sat in the bargain bin at a local Babbages store for over a year. It was priced at $14.99 but I was waiting for it to go down to $9.99.

I picked up that copy of Keio probably a dozen times and contemplated buying it. BUt I just wouldn't spend $15 when I knew it would be $10 at some point ...and I'd convinced myself no one else in my city was buying Sega CD games anymore.

The day that I finally decide I'll spend the $15, the game is no longer there. Someone else bought it, after 1.5-2 years of sitting in that bargain bin.

[ScourDX]

Atari Jaguar CIB with 3 games - AVP, Doom & Wolfenstein 3d. All for $40. I haven't found Jaguar in the wild since.

[BetaWolf47]

I do regret passing up quite a few overpriced deals. I mean, even if the price is higher than average, there's no guarantee you'll ever see it again.

[Shadow Kisuragi]

Originally Posted by Koa Zo

My biggest regret, and this is a big one, was passing up Keio Flying Squadron for Sega CD.
I liked shoot-em-ups a lot back then, but didn't buy Keio at release because it was $54.99 +tax, and I didn't care for the cute-em-up graphics style.

At the end of the SegaCD life-cycle all the stores were clearing games for $10-20 brand new.
One copy of Keio Flying Squadron sat in the bargain bin at a local Babbages store for over a year. It was priced at $14.99 but I was waiting for it to go down to $9.99.

I picked up that copy of Keio probably a dozen times and contemplated buying it. BUt I just wouldn't spend $15 when I knew it would be $10 at some point ...and I'd convinced myself no one else in my city was buying Sega CD games anymore.

The day that I finally decide I'll spend the $15, the game is no longer there. Someone else bought it, after 1.5-2 years of sitting in that bargain bin.

Almost the same exact thing happened to me with Mega Man X2 and X3. A friend of mine and I were eying the two copies at a local Blockbuster when we were kids for $10 each. We loved Mega Man X1, but didn't have the money at the time. When we finally got the money together a couple days later, they were gone. I haven't seen a copy of either since

I picked up a copy of Keio recently from an auction. Original price sticker on it? $9.99...you don't happen to live near Indiana, do you?

[DragonmasterDan]

Originally Posted by The 1 2 P

I think I actually passed on a Net version of Daytona for the Saturn, the $300 variant. I had just heard about this variant and looking at the pictures I wasn't 100% sure if this was a complete variant. I still should have grabbed it though.

That's 300.00? Where did you find that price, is Virtual On worth about the same?

Added in edit: Ugh, I have Sega Rally Netlink, not Daytona.

[Archangel]

I saw a game.com version 1 complete in box and with game for $10 total at a farmers market.

I figured it was not enough of an oddity to go after but now I wish I did for the price they were selling it for complete...

[GameBoyGeek]

An old walmart back in 2003 had 6 copies of where in time is carmen san diego sealed for 5 bucks. I went to get them and bam they were all gone. Also had a sega game gear there for 10 bucks brand new and i missed that one as well. Found stadium events at a flee market for 15 bucks and passed that one up. The only really good deal ive found that I picked up was hagane for snes 20 bucks flintstones 2 for nes for 5 bucks and spider man maximum carnage at walmart in 2001 for sega for 1.00

[Yukima]

Mario Paint with the SNES mouse and mousepad, for $6 at a used game shop... Didn't get it when I saw it, and it was gone the next day! And I have yet to see it again since...

[Tokimemofan]

Suikoden II = $30 about 4-5 years ago.
I also forgot to buy out the city's supply of Final Fantasy VII when they were less than $15.

[Smashed Brother]

Originally Posted by Tokimemofan

I also forgot to buy out the city's supply of Final Fantasy VII when they were less than $15.

The local K-Mart in the town that I used to live in back in 2004 had what seemed like dozens of FFVII's (greatest-hits version) for only $14.99 apiece. They also had quite a few copies of ICO (PS2) for only $19.99 each! I did buy one of those...but I wish that I had the foresight to grab the rest then

[NayusDante]

Back in 2003, it seemed you could get FF7 GH anywhere for $15. I remember riding my bike up to Blockbuster to get a copy at that price, and I kept the receipt in the case.

[ssjlance]

Bubble Bobble 2 - $10

I had just gotten into NES collecting and I was thinking the game was kind of rare, but when the guy at my local game store (who was usually quite good when it came to rarity) said it wasn't really worth that much, I picked up Ninja Gaiden instead since I had fond memories of that game. In hindsight... yeah.

[philinchio]

A few weeks back I saw a boxed Handy Boy accessory for $3 at a thrift store in Anchorage but decided not to get it for some reason. Now I'm asking myself, "Why?"

[GameBoyGeek]

Originally Posted by GameBoyGeek

An old walmart back in 2003 had 6 copies of where in time is carmen san diego sealed for 5 bucks. I went to get them and bam they were all gone. Also had a sega game gear there for 10 bucks brand new and i missed that one as well. Found stadium events at a flee market for 15 bucks and passed that one up. The only really good deal ive found that I picked up was hagane for snes 20 bucks flintstones 2 for nes for 5 bucks and spider man maximum carnage at walmart in 2001 for sega for 1.00

Spud's adventure as well....though I might have picked that one up.....dont remember.

[Red Warrior]

CIB good condition "Legend of Oasis" for Saturn - $12

I was trying to save money...

[pacmanhat]

In my pre-collecting years, I began closely following previews of, of all possible things, NCAA College Hoops 2K3 for Gamecube. I was distraught when the release date came and went and I couldn't find a copy of it. A couple of months later, I was at the Mall of America and happened upon a store that must have had a couple dozen copies of it. I bought one out of excitement, played it for a while, and ultimately traded it in some time later.

Had I known what the game was worth at any point during that whole thing, I would at the very least still have a copy of it, if not several. On the bright side, it hasn't appreciated in value as much as it simply hasn't depreciated, but still...quite a bummer.

[Archimboldi]

I can't think of anything too major besides "hindsight is 20/20" situations-- i.e. the millions of new Final Fantasy VII copies that were everywhere up until about 2005. Funny how the most common game in the world now costs way too much. Also, a blockbuster near me had a decent stock of Castlevania SOTN new for $9.99 up until about 2005.

I've tried to "predict" when games will get rare in light of these misses, but usually fail. Unless it's something super obvious, like Metal Gear and Final Fantasy games go up in value when sequels are released.

[baraka]

My most regrettable missing out was on a new copy of Battletoads for the Famicom. It was immaculate and solf for 80 dollars and now I havent been able to find this since! As a matter of fact, this is the last item I'm missing to finish off my Battletoads collection...

[csgx1]

Passed up a clean SNES Earthbound cart only for $30. Didnt know what it was worth.

[JimmyDean]

Boxed contra force for $25

Edit: I take that back. A few C64's, 2 vic 20's, an amiga, a few apple 2's, and a trs-80 all for $75.

[Steve W]

I keep reading about how Harvest Moon for the SNES is supposed to be rare. I saw one in a thrift store, probably in the early part of this year. But I've never had any desire to collect or play games for the SNES, so I didn't bother with them. I just remembered it because my sister loves Harvest Moon for the GameCube, and I thought it would be nice for her to see where the franchise started at. But I didn't bother. In the past few months I've bought a mini-SNES and started picking up dirt cheap games whenever I come across them in the wild. I'm beginning to learn which games are rare, and that one sticks out for me. Dang, I wish I had picked it up.

[DOAsaturn]

I have a few...

I never have really been in the position to pass up games where I knew I was getting a steal. I guess my biggest d'oh would be the SNES Exertainment Mountain Bike Rally/Speed Racer game, with the bike. I didn't have a job or money, the unit was damn expensive, but I tested it out at a Future Shop (when they used to have stores in the states, I live in Montana). So I can say I actually played that game on the bike - but had I known how rare the whole thing would be I'd have begged my parents to no end. I remember the game sucking though.

I also bought a Virtual Boy at Shopko for $19.99 when they were liquidating them. When my parents caught me playing one, they demanded I return it. They thought it would lead to certain health problems. So back it went.

I remember a local Toy's r Us was still selling the Genesis 3 unit boxed up until 2000ish. It sat on the shelf forever. It was $19.99 as well. I contemplated it, but I was too mesmerized with my Dreamcast obsession at the time.

Lastly, I was a Saturn gamer and held out for the longest time as games were liquidated left and right. I didn't have a job at age 16, but I really wanted all those last Saturn releases. Unfortunately, all I really ended up with was Winter Heat (great game though). But I could have sprung for Panzer Dragoon Saga, Burning Rangers, House of the Dead, Magic Knight Rayearth...Problem was I was mostly into sports games, so I didn't care as much.