Building a decent retro collection cheaply

[Haggler]

Thought i'd start a new thread in here so members could post advice on how to build a decent retro collection (both consoles/computers and their games) for the best possible prices.

For once i ain't going to chip in with my own experiences, i've started the thread and now look forward to others filling it with suggestions and real life experiences of bargains to be had.

Nintendo Snes	Nintendo 64	Sony Playstation	Nintnedo Gameboy	Sega Megadrive

Commodore Amiga	Sinclair Spectrum	Commodore 64	Sega Dreamcast	Nintendo Gamecube

I will advise on checking out the following before you buy anything off ebay and the like though.

1) Your local charity shops (Rspca, oxfam, etc)
2) Cash converters/express etc
3) Car boot sales

[gfunk2k]

i bought 90% of my consoles brand new and some at a cost like the ps2 that i got on import at a price of £800 and my Dreamcast again on import at a cost of £700 but both worth it. i did buy an English Dreamcast from a car boot for £5 so that’s my bargain buy.
i think the bet was to get a retro collection is to first never sell you consoles but if you want to start from scratch check out car boots as you can see if the machine is in good condition and could get a better bargain that things like e-bay.

Colego vision | Super vision | GB | GBA | GBA (flip modle) | PSP | DS | CDI | Megadrive | MegaCD | Jap Dreamcast | English Dreamcast | 2x Gamecube | SNES | N64 | Master system | PS1 | PS1 (the mini one) | Jaguar | Xbox | Xbox 360 | WII | Sega Saturn | PS2 and an Arcade machine

[Haggler]

Lovely collection there m8, i'd be surprised if many others have there original machines though, i for one always sold them on and then regretted it later.

[BrokenArrow]

If you want to get a cheap collection NEVER buy anything from eBay. There's no such thing as a bargain on there.

I got most of my stuff from car boot sales. I stopped going to them because I got fed up with people saying "I could get this much on eBay".

Nearly all my Mega Drive games were from Gamestation's £1.99 BOGOF. You could get a good collection for only £1 a game. But they don't sell retro games any more.

I use RF Generation. The Classic and Modern Gaming Databases. to track my collection. The database might not be the most complete but it has the easiest tracking tools I've seen for the price - free! If you own a game not in the database, it's easy enough to submit the information and have it added to the database fairly quickly.