Commercially and culturally, the landscape of video games has changed immensely in the last thirty years. At the same time, a passionate subculture of collectors has been kept alive by their nostalgia and the scarcity of classic games. The devotion of collectors and store owners comes through in every word they speak. They recount stories of one-of-a-kind treasures and the memories these games have become associated with.
Kon Milonakos, owner of Collectors Quest in Greensborough, Melbourne, explains the robust demand for Nintendo GameCube video games right now. Most importantly, he reminds us that for many collectors the physicality of these games is a big part of their allure. And then there’s nothing quite like holding the original in your hand. It’ll almost take you back to your childhood,” he says. Milonakos is convinced that this connection to the past is a major motivating factor for many collectors.
The market for video games, especially rarer titles has continued to hold strong, even with the volatility of prices. Industry veteran Jason Ashman discusses how current video game prices can fluctuate by the dollar. He points out that the games he sells are often only a few dollars, even for popular titles. They can climb as high as a staggering $1,000 for hard-to-find gems. He began his adult life as a serious collector in his teen years. This passion developed while Marsha was working inside a video game store during the late 90s.
The Collector’s Journey
Though he loves Pokémon Go, Sam Crowther doesn’t view himself as a gamer so much as he does a collector. He remembers the genesis of his collection was buying up the titles he remembers fondly renting from Blockbuster as a kid. One of his crowning treasures is a very rare Australian exclusive named Agro Soar. This special item features one of the stars of the Cartoon Connection series, a favorite rascally puppet. “And I’m 100 percent a junkie,” Crowther admits. “In the collector way,” he clarifies, one small example of the fervent zeal that drives so many in this specialized field.
Scarlett Noorman Adventures in collecting have taken Scarlett Noorman around the world. She has traveled to Japan, the United States, Canada, and New Zealand in search of rare games. Among her most impressive finds is a hard to come by Wavebird controller for the Nintendo GameCube, which she found in a store in Japan. “Luckily I saved mine from hard rubbish,” she tells us, reflecting the joy of serendipitous finds that comes with the collecting life.
More fans are getting into this hobby every day. With each change in market conditions comes the temptation to ask if high-value collectibles can really hold their value. Surmick shares experiences about how COVID-19 changed collector habits profoundly. “Everybody was forced inside, everybody had cash and everybody was on a nostalgia-fuelled high,” he harks back. As things began to normalize, prices for many collectibles have dropped significantly. “Lo and behold, what happened after the COVID money dried up… The price of a lot of this stuff came crashing down,” he adds.
The Highs and Lows of Collecting
Regardless of the recent price swings, the call of video game collecting continues to be an exciting prospect. Surmick points out that we have experienced a true decline in value on some of the more expensive graded commodities. The overall collectability of video games is very strong. Which would then make any game collectible, right? Does that mean that video games can’t have collectability? People love this stuff,” he states.
Nostalgia is a huge part of the continued appetite for retro gaming. Milonakos reflects on the emotional ties that collectors often share with their items: “I think that’s what a lot of collectors really are after.” These connections motivate readers to drop huge amounts of money to get their hands on hard-to-find titles. More often than not, these titles aren’t even playable.
Ashman illustrates this feeling clearly when explaining why a lot of expensive retro titles aren’t interesting to gamers. He understands that just because they are expensive it doesn’t mean they’re cool or wanted. He goes on to share the sad reality of collecting, which is that many of the retro games that cost a fortune are not games you’d even want to play. It’s a collector’s very frustrating reality. For collectors, owning these artifacts is one of the most rewarding experiences and links them to their history and formative years.
The Evolution of Collecting
With the video game industry ever-changing, the world of collecting is changing right along with it. Milonakos was well aware of this turn of events when he launched Collectors Quest. His motivation was clear: “To keep the old vintage stuff alive.” Shops like his are important places for cultivating the passion fueling the retro gaming culture boom and bringing collectors together.
Just in recent years, the market has witnessed some record-breaking sales, further propping the premium on such coveted collectibles. In August 2021, an extraordinary thing happened. A sealed, rare copy of Super Mario Bros just sold for $2 million, shattering the previous record for graded video games. These extraordinary deals shed light on the business and cultural worth of these artifacts.
Even with all of these changes, many industry leaders are pushing for more comprehensive preservation, going beyond simply owning collectibles. Frank Cifaldi of The Video Game History Foundation argues that there’s just as much value in preserving the culture—the oral history of video game players and creators. It would probably be better to archive the narratives… video, audio, photo… whatever,” he said.
