The Collector's Quest

The majority of Famicom games are cheaper than their NES counterparts, but there are some interesting exceptions from games where the Famicom version is the definitive version to games that were censored for their US release. Johnny and Tyler are talking JP vs US prices and some of the reasons (as far as we know) for those differences.

Its our year end/beginning episode where we're talking about what we did last year, what the best and worst trends of the year were, and what we think 2021 might bring for both us personally and the hobby in general. In case you forgot, 2020 was the single craziest year in game collecting. It's been wild!

On the fifth day of Christmas we are giving to you five golden things: five-ish collectibles that are made of solid gold (or spray paint) like Zelda carts and NWC but hopefully less obvious than that. We even discuss what Tyler considers the holy grail of gaming: Atari's physical gold and silver grail.

It's a feast of fetid forty-year-old food on the first episode of the CQ holiday season! We're talking about actual food people might have in their collections. Literal decades old, expired sustenance that has ceased to be. Mario Pepsi, Gunstar Heroes Fruit Roll-ups, Gamecube gum, perhaps even some rare tomato sauce. We are not personally fans of most of these items but some of them are interestin...

It's a game draft episode, where we each get $1000 to build the best possible collection by picking games one at a time! This time we're going from PS2 through the Wii U and it's very different from the vintage draft because lots of the best games ever made are like... $2. Let us know who you think ended up with the best collection at the end of the day!

For Halloween this year Johnny, Tyler, and Stephan are collecting Castlevania games, or at least the most interesting Castlevania games from the 80s and 90s. From Famicom disk barcodes to NES hangtabs to the classic rock of this turbulent market: Rondo of Blood. We also keep the mics on for about an hour after the episode, so if you want to chill out with the CQ crew for like 4 hours, enjoy!

Hey, it's one of our annual CQs where we're talking spooky collectibles! We're got the mega hits you expect like Alice: An Interactive Museum, but to make sure we don't lose Gen Z interest, we're also talking about games like Fatal Frame which have some long-running reprints you need to look out for.

In this show we're talking our preferences related to game condition, box condition, disc rot, all that kind of stuff. Is it worth deal with condition issues for a good deal? To check a box? On really expensive stuff?

It's finally time... for flush with plush. An episode that mostly exists because it's a nice rhyme and we've been joking about it for years. We're talking about some variants and LEs that came with plushies! Also is talk about fractional share investing and why it's a GREAT idea. And this show is like 2 hours because we can't stop talking about video game collecting.

It's a mailbag episode, we have all sorts of listener questions you submitted and it's another very long show. We need to cut these back down to 2 hours. Until then enjoy hearing us talk about all different topics of game collecting.

Whoa, it's longest Collector's Quest ever! Make sure you have 3 hours for this one as we're discussing some collectible aspects of the Super Nintendo. We cover important games, expensive games, obscure games, plenty of variants, and other interesting aspects of the console.

In this episode, we're discussing various video game collecting resources and communities from wikis to Youtube to forums to individual websites. Where do we find information about video games, how reliable we think each of these sources are, and even some guys on social media we think are useful to follow.

Tyler finds the time to finally edit yet another show of the CQ podcast where we're talking about some of the best and worst feelings in game collecting. Like you know when you piece together an NES prototype ROM from 5.25" and it works? What a great feeling that is! Hold up I'm getting an update... oh we're going to have relatable ones as well.

We're talking about collecting sets, our favorite thing! What does it mean to collect sets, do sets as we define them make sense, does it still make sense to collect sets? What are we all wrong about? It is a long and tangent-filled episode about how we collect video games in general, so enjoy.

The world seems like it should be on the verge of collapse, but game collectors are OK because everyone seems to be inside not just enjoying their collections, but adding to it. We're talking about how the quarantine has already made a significant impact on the market, and other small thinks like maybe Stephan found an undumped Earthbound prototype.

We're jumping at another chance to discuss the Trough of No Value, whereby a once discarded object becomes a desirable, organic collectible! We're talking about the difference between a Little Samson and a Beanie Baby Limited Run Games release or even something expensive like BOTW Master Edition.

Is your app, spreadsheet, or database's list of video games perfect? It isn't, because it's either referencing a crowdsourced database, lumps disparate data into a single category, or the true full set of information just isn't known yet. In this episode we're having a conversation about the various problems with video game lists, how data should be formatted, secret spreadsheets, and how stamp co...

In this side quest, Johnny talks about his experience collection for the Playstation and eventually finishing the whole North American set.

As the economy jolts to one of the most sudden halts ever and unemployment temporarily soars, we're discussing the short and medium term impact of the global pandemic on the collectible games market. Should you sell all your games!? Obviously not, but the mindsets and means of players in the market will undoubtedly change as a result of this.

Stephan goes into detail about the Social Strategies that surround his brand of collecting

Tyler does our first SideQuest episode and talks about Aftermarket Games

In honor of Tyler's wedding we're talking about a retail deal as old as commerce itself: BOGO. It's multipacks with two games in them, a few collectible ones, and some thoughts on fitting them in to the almighty "set".

When someone dies (or perhaps just when they're in the news) memorabilia related to them goes up in price. In this episode we're talking about the multiple things that cause this and how significant it is to video games. Of particular note is Kobe Bryant who recently unexpectedly passed away causing unprecedented spikes on otherwise undesirable games.

Beneath this catchy headline is a listener mail episode! We're answering questions about Dreamcast, giving up our collections, shelving, the market, Ebay, and more. For the record we do intend to just incorporate listener questions into the show soon, but for now Stephan loves these shows.

Hey, it's a new episode, we're alive! We're looking back at 2019 and ahead to 2020. What's the best stuff we bought, best stuff we recorded, some thoughts on collecting trends, new goals we have. It's a long episode to make up for our absence. Sorry about the "lost" Christmas episode, it will come out sometime later!