Hey guys, not sure how many people have been reading this little blog experiment of mine, but I feel bad for not updating in two months! Thing is, funds were running low in early 2016 so I was forced to slow my purchasing considerably. I think things are a bit more stable now… but we’ll see!

Anyhow, I figure I’ll post today about my recent resolution re: collector’s editions. I’ve come to the conclusion that there’s a lot wrong with the current game market, which is over-saturated with these dumb box sets. They may seem cool now, but will they really hold their value in the future? Here’s some of my thoughts:

• XSeed and Atlus titles are almost all overproduced – What’s the last collector’s edition from these companies which ended up actually being rare? Recently we’ve seen Amazon so overstocked with Persona Q Premium Editions that the price has dipped as low as $30 (down from $80), and there’s no sign of the Trials of Cold Steel SE selling out any time soon.

  I think the best strategy is to pre-order, then cancel if there’s a day or so before launch and no sign of a low supply. I’ve done this with a few titles and been quite happy with the savings.

• Be picky about NIS America stuff – NIS has like six different LEs available at any given times, and I used to buy all of them. Most ended up being duds and selling below retail, with just a few ending up as actual rarities (sold an extra Disgaea 5 for $125 around Christmas time).

  I think the safe stuff to buy is anything from an established franchise, like Disgaea or the Atelier series. Less desirable are the weird niche RPGs which nobody really needs in their life.

  NIS has also been doing a lot of Vita stuff, which is a very weird collector’s market. Their LE of Ar No Surge seems to be the only way to get a retail copy of the game, and prices have soared appropriately.

  Writing this out, I realize some research into NIS titles and eventual rarity is probably warranted. Hmm…

• Idea Factory / Limited Run Games are both gold.

  I stupidly passed on Neptunia VII for PS4 and set my clock wrong for Saturday Morning RPG’s retail releases. Both are unfortunately selling for crazy money on eBay. The Limited Run stuff is especially desirable for me, low-print physical runs? Alright!

  I’ve got an extra Breach & Clear to trade…

• Get on that Square-Enix stuff quicker!

  I missed out on the LEs both Final Fantasy Explorers and Bravely Second, kind of bummed about both. Most Square-Enix stuff is crap, but I still need to get my order in early so I can cancel it if I need to.

• Nintendo reprints it all… usually

  Nintendo has a habit of putting out limited edition merch with a rather low print run, which spikes the price very quickly. Remember Amiibos? God I wish I had sold my Villager while I still had the chance. And purchasing 4 Shulks to sit on was a real stupid move.

  Anyway, next time something on the level of a Fire Emblem special edition gets announced, I’m driving to every GameStop in a 20 mile radius and ordering two from each. I know lots of collectors hate “resellers” but I’m sorry, but when a game is selling for almost 3x its original price, its just bad capitalism to not try and turn a profit.

  But! Don’t forget, Nintendo loves to reprint. They typically do it with the more popular franchises like Zelda, but they’ve also now done a second Bayonetta 2 run, and maybe slipped a few extra Devil’s Third copies out the door (I still think that one will prove a good investment in the long run). If you do end up with extras to sell, flip em quick.

• Don’t forget that most of this crap looks horrible on a shelf anyway – Great, you’ve bought a few dozen collector’s edition games. Now where to store them? I’ve spent literal hours trying to find a way to make these bunches of differently shaped and colored box sets look ascetically pleasing on a shelf, and its pretty much impossible. I think I might start selling some of these things off, only keeping the ones from series I really care about.

Ew.

Anyway, those are just some quick thoughts. Sorry if they were a bit rambly. I’ll get back on posting deals in the near future, so stay tuned!