Believe it or not, but you can have quality original hardware and games without breaking the bank. Just follow a few general guidelines.
1. Don't try collecting for a system that wasn't successful. This means sticking to NES, SNES, Genesis, N64, PS1, PS2, OG Xbox, Gamecube, Wii, 360, PS3, PSP, DS, 3DS, Gameboy, GBC, and GBA only. Stuff like Sega CD, Saturn, and Turbo-Grafx should be avoided.
2. Stick to 30-50 games per system. Trust me, you don't need more than that.
3. Actually study the library of the system you are collecting for. There are plenty of affordable games that are great. You just need to find them either through YouTube videos, books, or trying out ROMs with a multicart or emulator.
4. Actually know the prices of these games using a site like pricecharting.com. Lots of people see scalper prices on eBay and think that retro games are unaffordable. These scalper prices are 30% to 100% higher than what you'll find with reputable sellers. Brick and Mortar shops can also be scalpers, so again, don't be fooled by that. The listed price on PC is based on sold listings, so it is generally accurate. Anyone asking full price for a damaged CIB (Complete in Box means it has the manual, game, and original case) copy is an asshat and a scalper. Also, understand that even pricecharting can accidentally get the price wrong. When a game is sold on eBay for a "Best Offer" deal, PC uses the listed price as the sold price. This means you can pay $80 for a game that typically goes for $100 and pricecharting will record it as a $100 sale, for the pricing algorithm. And sometimes PC's eBay crawling program will take a game that is loose and list it in the CIB column, which tanks the CIB price on PC.
5. You don't need a PVM or modded console to get quality out of your retro game systems. Just buy S-Video cables for most consoles from a reputable cable maker like Insurrection and then get a consumer CRT for $40 off Facebook Marketplace. S-Video looks twice as good as composite cables for a $10-$20 investment. NEVER pay $100 or more for a CRT unless it is a PVM, BVM, or a legendary consumer set like the JVC D-Series.
6. Don't try to finish a collection in a year. It's about the journey, not the destination. Patience is key because there are tons of scalpers out there. I cannot tell you the number of times I passed on an over-priced, crappy copy of a game, only for a mint copy at half price to fall into my lap a month later.
And now for some cheap but good game recommendations in the posts below. I'll start with NES just to illustrate how cheap collecting can be. Here we go...
