I Sold my NES
And I wanted to talk about why and what I got for it.
Selling my NES was a hard decision. I’ve had a lot of fun with the system and it means I can no longer claim I own every major Sega and Nintendo Console released in Australia. For a lot of collectors and retro gamers alike, I’m literally missing the console they’d consider the ‘cornerstone’ of their collection and the reason they call themselves retro gamers.
I’ve never been that attached to my Nintendo Entertainment System and I’m a little ashamed to admit I bought it to tide me over until I could afford an Atari Jaguar. While I’ve seriously loved playing games like Double Dragon 2, I can’t help but feel all this interest in this one system has made most of the unique, fun titles once considered must-have classics (Battletoads, Contra, Super Mario Bros 3, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles) were just spiraling out of my price range.
So, I sold my NES. Picking up good games for it was becoming more difficult, I recently received an awesome donation of a Sega Game Gear and with so many neglected systems in my collection already, I thought it was once again time to let go of a system (previously the Neo Geo CD). This is going to be my first and my last video on the Nintendo Entertainment System.
I’ve been toying with the idea of creating some new video content specifically for the Website. Not just retro video-game reviews, but a broader look at collecting, gaming and even producing a web-series. What better way to start a series than selling an NES?
In the first ever video for Leftovers, I thought it’d be interesting to explore why I sold my NES, how much I made and what I got for my money. All the prices in the video are simply the Buy-It-Now prices on eBay which is an expensive way to amass a collection, but I do appreciate how easy it is manage watch-lists and purchase items internationally using eBay and I wanted to create a video that is firmly based on real, right-now pricing (instead of amazing luck, game hunting and awesome bargains).
So I started my NES auction at $40. By the end, after fees, postage costs and packaging, I made about $150 on the system, 2 controllers, assorted manuals and 7 games.
I sold Double Dragon 2 and Castlevania separately, $12 for Double Dragon 2 and about $22 for Castlevania (ended up selling the day after I uploaded the video). In the video I mention I bought a Simpsons Comic (Treehouse of Horrors: Hoodoo Voodoo Brouhaha), that cost exactly $10. At the time of this articles publish date, I’ve got about $25 left in PayPal from selling my NES.
Using the $150 from the main auction, I managed to fill out a few games from my wanted list as well as support some neglected systems in my collection.
What did I get for $150?
-Biohazard Code Veronica JPN (Sega Dreamcast)
– Resident Evil Outbreak File #2
– Blue Stinger JPN (Sega Dreamcast)
– Pinball of the Dead JPN (Game Boy Advance)
– Lylat Wars (Nintendo 64)
– Shinobi 2 Silent Fury (Sega Game Gear)
– TMNT Movie Stars Action Figures (from China)
– Google AdWords Campaign
The Google AdWords campaign was created with the leftover $20 and hopefully I’ll get the chance to talk about that experience in another video.
Selling my NES was a hard decision, even though I don’t have the strong nostalgic ties to it, I can’t deny it’s a fun system for all ages. I should mention that while I sold my NES, I also put a handful of Master System, Saturn and Mega Drive games up for sale (including some classic titles like Fantasy Zone 2).I thought the NES would be interesting to talk about, but when it comes to collecting, I don’t believe in sitting on games and systems I’m just not playing and enjoying (and it’s not exactly like I’m hurting for gaming choice here).
Not all the money from these items I’ve sold end up going back into the collection, in real life there were sacrifices made to have a room dedicated to gaming and there’s people in my life that come first (sometimes), but there’s been some cool additions none-the-less and I’ll be super excited to check out a few of my recent pickups in the coming months.
