One thing I forgot to mention last time, is that 2600 collectors do have an alternative that isn’t usually available to collectors of other systems: Reproductions.
The 2600 homebrew scene is quite alive and flourishing. This makes finding passable copies of those $1000 game quite an easy task. However, this comes with a downside. If you’re one of those people who do own an exclusive cart, those reproductions serve to make your cart less special, less unique. Also, it can potentially reduce the resale value, something you never want to see happen to such a high priced purchase. Lastly, you have to be much more cautious when you’re looking to purchase the real thing, as there will always be people wanting to pass reproductions off to unsuspecting buyers.
But anyways, back to part two, Neo Geo collectors.
Neo Geo collectors have a mindset I just can’t seem to comprehend. However, I do respect them for it.
Case in point: Metal Slug
Here we have a game that will probably fetch an easy $1000 or more. Not only because it’s extremely rare, but it’s highly in demand due to the popularity of the series. Why though?
Normally, when a rare game is available as a new release on second system, you see the price of the original drop. Case in point, how the prices of Mega Man x2 and X3 plummeted once the MM Anthology collection was released.
It’s for this reason I recommend selling rare SNES RPGs at the moment. Once Chrono Trigger or Earthbound is released on the Wii’s virtual console, you can say goodbye to their high value. This is a whole differnt subject however, and something you’ll see me ranting about in the near future.
This concept however, has no merit when it comes to Neo Geo. How many systems is this game available on? I’m sure there is a copy for just about every next gen system, including the new anthology for the Wii. Heck, for under $300 you can get the conversion which will still play on an American Neo Geo system. The original Japanese verson usually goes for half the price of the USA one. Take it a step further and you can even buy a full Metal Slug Arcade Standup for less than the US AES version, and quite possibly have a significant chunk of change to spare.
So what are they paying for? The game is the same, but you get extremely rare and slightly differnt stickers. This leads me to a theory:
Neo Geo collectors really want to collect stickers.
Huh? Wait, hear me out. People usually associate sticker collecting with little girls, and even the adult equivalent of Scrapbooking isn’t near manly enough. This forces the collectors to take things to a higher level.
Just think about it. If dropping $1000.00 on a sticker doesn’t show one massive set of balls, than I don’t know what does.
