#718-721 - L'ittle Chu and the Drunkard Crusade

#718-721
Little Samson, Master Chu and the Drunkard Hu, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, L'Empereur
NintendoAge.com forum
7/21/11

Another score from the fine forum dwellers over at NintendoAge.com! The games in this picture are very difficult to track down - in fact Little Samson is one of the "Sinister Seven" toughest games to obtain. Luckily, a member at NA had these and several more hard to find games for sale, offers and counteroffers were made and a deal that we were both happy with was finally struck.

The star of the lot is of course Little Samson. Not only is it one of the hardest games to find, it's a very fun and unique platformer. Master Chu and the Drunkard Hu, apart from it's cool name, is another forgettable Color Dreams game. L'empereur is another military strategy game that won't likely see much time off the shelf. It's nice to cross Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade off the list if not for finally being able to delete my saved search on eBay. There are actually two different Last Crusade games made by different companies (Taito and Ubisoft), but they use the same exact photo on the cover art. The Taito version is relatively common, so it was always a pain to sift through all of that version in search of the Ubi version.

Well, this purchase pretty much wiped out my disposable birthday cash. I've still got some eBay gift cards and a particular game in my sights - hopefully I'll win an auction or find a decent BIN in the coming days...

#716 & 717 - Adventures of Lolo 3 & Mario Bros.

Games #716-717
Adventures of Lolo 3 & Mario Bros.
NintendoAge.com forum
7/20/11

Another nice deal from the NA forums landed me a couple of games that I've wanted to cross off the list for a good while. Mario Bros. is a port of the arcade original - I was first introduced to it as a bonus level in Super Mario Bros. 3. It's the second to last black box game left for me to collect - again I've gone cart-only for the remaining black boxes until I can find a better deal for a box later.

Adventures of Lolo 3 is the last licensed game I needed that starts with "A", so it's been mocking me for a while at the top of my collection list. The Lolo games are fun puzzlers - in fact I can remember renting Lolo 1 from the local rental shop when I was a kid and having a good time with it, even if I wasn't very good at it.

In fact, nostalgia is a big reason for my decision to collect Nintendo games in the first place (plus the fact that the games are fun to play), so I went on a mission during a recent visit to my parents' house. The Super Mario Bros. glass in the picture was rediscovered in the very far back of a cabinet in their kitchen. I have very distinct memories of using it on pizza nights (usually Fridays) growing up. I don't know where the glass came from originally, but it's going to sit amongst the rest of my collection from now on.

I'm awaiting another mail arrival in the coming days with some exciting additions for the game shelf. Stay tuned!

#715 - Conan: The Mysteries of Time

Game #715
Conan: The Mysteries of Time
Half.com
7/15/11

I've struck upon a mini-hot streak lately with a few purchases online. I've got a couple of games coming in the mail next week, but in the meantime I can show off my latest addition; a boxed copy of Conan: The Mysteries of Time. It's a pretty cool that the box was included - apparently it isn't very common and it's got a Molly Hatchet album cover look to it. Once again, apologies for the crummy cell phone pictures - I'm in the market for a new one.

About 75 of the games in my collection are boxed. I don't seek out boxed games, but if I happen across one that includes the box and the cost is in line with what a cart-only copy would go for, then I'll pick up the cardboard, too. The only exception is the black box series - these are the original 30 Nintendo-published games that were released for the system. Games like Super Mario Bros., Donkey Kong, Excitebike and Duck Hunt all had a unifying box style of a black border around a scene or sprite from the game. They look good lined up all next to one another and I've sought out these games in complete condition. The last few I needed to complete the boxed set are a bit out of my price range, so I've gone cart-only with the hopes of stumbling across a cheap box down the road.

#714 - Jackie Chan's Action Kung Fu

Game #714
Jackie Chan's Action Kung Fu
Games Plus

Finally! It's been a while, but a round of game hunting has paid off with a copy of Jackie Chan's Action Kung Fu. Apparently Jackie Chan was popular enough in 1990 to warrant a licensed Nintendo game - who knew? You'll notice the Randall's store stickers all over the cart - I love finding old rental copies. They remind me of when I would rent games from the grocery store or rental shop on the weekends. Sorry for the blurry cell phone picture.

Games Plus is a great little franchise in the Houston area (and maybe beyond...not sure) that sells new and used video games and movies. They pride themselves on besting GameStop's prices by a buck or two on used games, but what I like them for is their stock of retro games. Most of the locations I've been to go as far back as the Atari 2600 - although I understand they're liquidating their stock at the moment. In fact, I noticed quite a bit of clearance rack titles from all systems (mostly commons and sports titles) for as low as $1. If I was just starting my collection I'd be pretty stoked to pick up a big pile of carts for a dollar each. Side note - I'm guessing the Guitar Hero/Rock Band craze has lost all momentum - there were tons of copies of GH/RB titles for $1 as well...

I'd wager to guess that at least 20-25% of my collection has come from Games Plus stores. Most of the games I've bought from them are within the $3-5 range - and they almost always feature a buy x get 1 free (sometimes it's buy 2, sometimes 3 or 4) promotion. When I first started collecting I stopped in at least once a week and left with a half dozen or more games at a time, sometimes stumbling upon an uncommon or pricey game for a deal. I still check in every so often like I did this week, and luckily came away with a new collection piece. I also snagged a complete boxed copy of Mario Kart for the Game Boy Advance - which is super neat.

Unfortunately, finding games 'in the wild' has become more difficult due to the fact that there are so few games left that I need, and the ones that I am searching for are the uncommon/rare titles. So it's back to the Internet to scour for deals...in fact I should have one arriving in the mail some time soon...

#711-713 - Let's Get Dangerous...With Cake!

Games #711-713
Wally Bear & The No! Gang, Darkwing Duck, Rainbow Islands
Birthday Gifts & eBay

Ok, we're back after a brief absence. My birthday was last month, and just like it was 20 years ago, I'm getting Nintendo games. My wife went behind my back and picked up a couple of games for me; Darkwing Duck (a MegaMan clone based off one of my favorite childhood cartoon series) and Wally Bear and the No! Gang (the infamous 'Say No!' game where forest creatures try to get innocent Wally Bear to light up, shoot up and give up). I also picked up a copy of Rainbow Islands off eBay - I notice I'm relying more and more on online deals to fill the holes in my collection. It's been more than 2 months since I picked anything up at a store or flea market.

In addition to the games, a smattering of eBay gift cards have come my way - so expect a big one to get crossed off the list soon! (Hopefully)

I leave you, dear reader, with a picture of the cake my wife made for me. She is awesome. And yes, that's all cake.

#708-710 - RPG's and a Rarity

Games #708-710
Gemfire, Ultima: Warriors of Destiny, Snow Brothers
NintendoAge.com forum

Since I've only got a few dozen games left to go, I know that eventually I'll have to bite the bullet and splurge for one of the 'Sinister Seven' games on the list. These are the rare (or at least very uncommon) games that haven't depreciated in value since their release, in fact many of them would cost more than their initial MSRP. These aren't .99 cent copies of Bases Loaded or Double Dribble that we're talking about here. The list:

Bubble Bobble Pt. 2
Panic Restaurant
Little Samson
Snow Brothers
Bonk's Adventure
Flintstones 2: Surprise at Dinosaur Peak
Stadium Events

Most of these games are of a pretty good quality, so combine that with their short production numbers and the growing popularity of NES collecting and you've got yourself some pricey carts. The costs on these bounce up and down (depending on if they go at open auction vs. Buy It Now or in an online retail shop) so it's difficult to really say what each game should cost, but it's very unlikely I'll find these at a flea market or pawn shop for a buck, so I just keep checking the eBay and forum listings waiting for a deal on the lower end of the spectrum.

Check out this blog for a great read regarding the rarity of NES games.

NintendoAge.com to the rescue! Lucky for me there was a posting in the buy/sell forum for quite a few games that I need (including several of the Sinister Seven). I cherry picked a few and treated myself to Snow Brothers, a poor-selling Capcom-published title whose gameplay looks similar to Bubble Bobble, which is one of my favorite NES games anyway. I'm looking forward to giving it some play time.

The other pickups of Gemfire and Ultima: Warriors of Destiny are DAMN RPG'S, so it's nice to cross them off the list, even though I have no interest in the games themselves.

My collection will be moving to a new location in the next few months as my wife and I are building a home. Needless to say this is exciting for us after years of apartment living, but this also means that I'll be slowing down a bit on the collection. I'll still be on the lookout for the carts that I need, but will be holding back on the frequency of my purchases. I'll also continue blogging as I find good deals or to show off some interesting stuff from the game room. Stay tuned!

#700 - 707 - Crossing the Milestone!

Games #700 - 707
Casino Kid 2, CluClu Land, GI Joe, Kings Quest V, The Last Ninja, Mickey's Adventure in Numberland, Wayne's World, Shockwave
Paid: ??
NintendoAge.com & eBay

Not counting the small handful of games that I hung on to from when I was a kid and a few random titles I picked up over the years, my collecting habit hasn't been going on for very long. I don't remember exactly when, but no more than 3 years ago did I actually decide and act upon the notion to 'go for them all' so to speak. From my small start of 20 games for $20 at a pawn shop, my collection has grown very large, very fast. I'm amazed that I now sit at over 700 games...and counting.

I've mentioned the NintendoAge website before, and it really is a great place. I check the forums several times a day. The community is by large a friendly one, with lots of interesting personalities combining to form a lively discussion group for Nintendo enthusiasts. Among my regular stops when I'm there is the Buy/Sell/Trade forum. What's great about this group is that the sellers are also buyers, so it is rare for someone to be peddling their wares at an extremely inflated price. Reasonable offers are always accepted, which is how I came away with this lot of uncommon carts for a very fair deal. Add to that a random eBay score for The Last Ninja at only a few bucks and here we are!

My thanks to Pedro12345 and Nistle at NA for the deals.

OK - so now we're zeroing in on the last 7-8% of the set. By my count there are 35 'official' releases and 26 'unlicensed' games to go. I've started to sell off part of my non-Nintendo video game collection (all stuff I picked up cheap over the years, but never really played much and won't be missed) to help supplement the cost of these remaining carts. Short term goal is to finish off the official set first - wish me luck!