Will there ever be a TG16 price crash?

[Lochlan]

And the only thing that kept the value of legitimate key silver age and golden age books high, even throughout the 90s burst, was the fact that these characters had firmly implanted themselves in the fabric of pop-culture and generations of people's childhoods.

Is More Fun Comics #52 worth so much money because America can't get enough of The Spectre?

There are plenty of obscure and valuable comic books, just like there are plenty of obscure and valuable video games.  Neither popularity, quality, nor rarity dictate value by themselves, but all are influencing factors.

the "ultra rares" like MC and Legend of Hero Tonma, although they will certainly retain a decent value, are not going to have the benefit of a general population of people understanding the importance and rarity of these titles.

The general population doesn't have to care about these obscure games, only the market of vintage games collectors needs to care to maintain values--much like with our friend Mr. More Fun Comics #52.

However, there isn't a single market, commodity, good, or service that can maintain a continuous upward trajectory driven almost entirely on speculation.

T206 Honus Wagner says "'sup?"

[HailingTheThings]

I am just getting in to Turbo-grafx collecting and it is extremely hard with the crazy prices right now

Go make an introduction, yes? Do that....alot...

*demon face*

Goooooo!!!!!!!

lol

[jordan_hillman]

Is More Fun Comics #52 worth so much money because America can't get enough of The Spectre?

There are plenty of obscure and valuable comic books, just like there are plenty of obscure and valuable video games.  Neither popularity, quality, nor rarity dictate value by themselves, but all are influencing factors.

The general population doesn't have to care about these obscure games, only the market of vintage games collectors needs to care to maintain values--much like with our friend Mr. More Fun Comics #52.

T206 Honus Wagner says "'sup?"

My apologies for not including the golden age of comics in my first response. The Spectre was definitely a popular character in his time (and maintains a cult following), and the initial rise in that comic's value was due to the popularity of that character for those that grew up reading comics during the 30s and 40s. From there, the overall collectibility of golden age comics has become a pop culture phenomenon in-and-of-itself, along with the continued pop-culture relevance of several of those characters, and the legitimate scarcity of any surviving golden age comic in any condition, along with the famous T206 Honus Wagner baseball card (or any surviving card from that era of baseball) has resulted in collectors willing to pay top dollar for comics and baseball cards in good condition. Baseball and comics (especially their respective golden ages and baseball's dead ball era) have, and continue to have, huge influences on pop-culture and collector culture, especially those with deep pockets.

When the scarcity of video games, rare or not, in functioning condition hits the level of golden age comics and dead ball era baseball cards in fair or decent condition, then, and only then, video games will turn into investments and not a market driven by mere speculation. The driving force behind the "value" of these games is collectors speculating on future increases in value in order to quickly flip or to cash in on their "investment" in the future when the market has peaked. When that happens the video game market will get a huge influx of "rare" titles, and many people will loose money on their investments, especially if they buy right before the cash-in. Speculative economic practices always end in the same way, with the only differences being the length of the speculation period, the severity of the crash, and the length of the recovery.

Now let's all enjoy some us some TG! 

[esadajr]

T206 Honus Wagner says "'sup?"

That should answer the question.

[Medic_wheat]

I am just getting in to Turbo-grafx collecting and it is extremely hard with the crazy prices right now

Can I ask why?


Why the turbo?


I am not being snide or sarcastic (apart from my typical persona).

[MrBroadway]

I am just getting in to Turbo-grafx collecting and it is extremely hard with the crazy prices right now

Can I ask why?


Why the turbo?

I am not being snide or sarcastic (apart from my typical persona).

Unless he's a collectard, why not the Turbo? The homebrew needs to sell!

[geise]

I now say no.  No, because people "finally" realize how awesome Turbo games are.  People want to buy said turbo games.  Gougers realize people love the Turbo.  Gougers love that "new turbo players" don't know two shits of what something is worth.  So, gougers get their price.

[esteban]

Q: Will there ever be a TG-16 price crash?
A: No.

DITTO!

[NightWolve]

As long as you have big spenders around that still haven't gotten all the originals that they want, then no. The last Magical Chase auction showed that there are two nuts out there that were willing to spend $7000 and $7100. One guy won the auction, so he has it, but the other guy that lost broadcast a message to the world that he's still out there and willing to spend $7000 on the next MC that'll come along... What kind of BIN is the next person gonna set with a copy of MC if they decide to sell it ? Even a year or two from now, they're gonna wanna find that loser from that last auction... In short, how could some sort of crash ever be predicted ? It's just wishful thinking.

[Medic_wheat]

I am just getting in to Turbo-grafx collecting and it is extremely hard with the crazy prices right now

Can I ask why?


Why the turbo?

I am not being snide or sarcastic (apart from my typical persona).

Unless he's a collectard, why not the Turbo? The homebrew needs to sell!

I am interested to see what interested him in the system.


We have to admit the TG-16 is not a partially talked about system for most any collector to be into.
Not when you can go for a system that most people actually owned as kids that being Nintendo or sega.

I for one was interred by reviews on YouTube that spida did (turbo-reviews) which lead to my picking up a system and some games off craigslist.  Mind you at the time it happened so easily almost like serendipity I thought initaly. Oh this must be easy to find since no one is interested or know what this is!   NOPE since then I have never come upon one of these in the wild again apart from eBay and litterly one regular seller I buy off of who had decent prices for a few games I bought that he had trouble moving. Unfortunately I went to pick up a few more games on day and he had sold the entire lot to one guy.

It wasn't until that first system and hand full of games as I sat there and played Bonk I realized I did know someone when I was a kid who had it...and never let me play it...  Older cousin who always got what he wanted but luckily I rarely saw as he lived in Dallas TX.....so getting to finally try that system out was very fun....like scratching a itch you couldnt reach.  From there I just want to enjoy it....find those games that are as interesting unique and fun that those who only focus on Nintendo and sega will never expiriance.

[DarkKobold]

As long as you have big spenders around that still haven't gotten all the originals that they want, then no. The last Magical Chase auction showed that there are two nuts out there that were willing to spend $7000 and $7100. One guy won the auction, so he has it, but the other guy that lost broadcast a message to the world that he's still out there and willing to spend $7000 on the next MC that'll come along... What kind of BIN is the next person gonna set with a copy of MC if they decide to sell it ? Even a year or two from now, they're gonna wanna find that loser from that last auction... In short, how could some sort of crash ever be predicted ? It's just wishful thinking.

Not just that, the next guys that come along and decides they need Magical Chase CIB, will think "I'd better bid $8,100, just to be safe."

I don't think the majority of people who spend obscene amounts on games think "This will be worth double soon!" as much as "I can at least get my money back if I decide to sell, and if I don't buy now, I'll have to spend double later." What would cause the crash would be the indication that collectors could not get their money back- They'd try and dump things on the market as fast as possible, which would cause the price to drop, as no one would buy. Declining prices would indicate that you couldn't get your money back.

That said, Comic Books had a catalyst to cause the crash - Marvel declaring bankruptcy. I don't know what would be the catalyst to cause the video game collector crash.

[MrFulci]

I haven't posted here, or viewed this board in a while, but thought I'd contribute here.

Prices, I feel, will go down, but I don't think too much. it's all very hard to predict.

I think in one of my last posts here, I mentioned I recall prices being tolerable before the TG16 stuff was introduced on the Wii. After that, I noticed TG-16 going up in price, faster than before. It had more exposure, more people knew of it.

Also, other points are made, about people who had this stuff as a kid, wanting it again, or to complete their collection, and having bigger wallets now, etc.

What led me to the board today, was I was thinking back on bullseye's horrible listings, the Canadian scammer, I also found out today what happened to someone I did some good trades with, and purchases, Turbografx16central. I knew he close dup in 2006, but never knew why. I found out he decided he was tired of the TG-16 collection, and sold it all as a BIN on ebay. Bullseye bought it. $3,500 for 100+ games, and some hardware. So, this seemed to be someone who picked up the hobby quick, then dumped it quick.

I have a feeling there is a lot of that out there, the people new to the system who want an instant collection, or as much as possible, as quickly as possible. The people who want to show off that they have a, "Super rare game", etc.

There are some people who had TG-16 for years, with it since the late 80s, early 90s, etc. Then, there are the people who just get into it, and really like it, or get into it, just to get into it.

I have a feeling, what will change prices quite a bit, is when collections start getting dumped.

TG-16 became a bit more, "rare" after TZD shut down. Those copies of World Sports competition sat there for years. Then, after TZD was gone, prices went up on that rather quick. Same goes for controllers, and other stuff they had in stock 'til the end.

10 years from now, 2025 or so, I'll be curious how things are. Magical Chase, while it may not ever go below $1k again, I really wonder if it will increase the same percentage. I recall about 10 years ago, ebay, a CIB Magical Chase, $600. 10 years later, I read here, it recently sold for $7,100? That's an increase of almost 12 times, in 10 years. I don't think in another 10 years, that game will appreciate another 12 times to $86,400.

Nothing much else to do, but see what happens, what big sellers will stop on ebay, what collections get dumped, and what will the limit be that people are willing to pay for certain things.

.

[Gentlegamer]

One thing that doesn't help "collectable" prices is ebay and the change in listing fees for unsold auctions. Resellers can put up inflated BIN listings and just sit on it, relisting it over and over at no cost without lowering the price hoping for someone to get impatient. Since the whole world is connected now, everything basically runs off the inflated ebay prices.

Auctions aren't fool proof (shill bids), but they are much better at finding the "true" price of an item based on the bidders at that particular time, i.e. just because an auction finished at $50 on Monday doesn't mean that's it's worth for an auction on Friday.

[Gentlegamer]

There is a good side to "bad" reviews!

[Mathius]

There is a good side to "bad" reviews!

Love the site! I've read it for many years now. Good to meet you.

Like I've said before you have two or so different kind of collectors. Those who have less love and appreciation for the systems and games themselves, and those like most of us that DO love and appreciate them. The former will most likely get tired of their collections once they become a hindrance, while the rest of us continue to marvel at these 8 and 16 bit machines. Their histories. At one point in the future I believe we who are in this for the right reasons will remain. Let's hope that is sooner than later.