Over the course of the last month I have been undertaking an experiment to see if I could compile my ultimate Super Nintendo set up at the lowest possible cost.
It's been a brilliant month of eBay deals and this is what I have learned over the course of the last 30 days or so......
My initial mission was to locate a Super Nintendo at a reasonable price and this proved difficult as most standalone SNES' were at around the £60 mark. I searched high and low for an eBay bargain and then I stumbled across a £45 SNES but which accepted offers. I put in a cheeky £30 offer and ended up bagging myself a SNES with a crack in it for £35.
The crack was on the underside and I knew as long as I could get her to power on I would be able to turn the crack into a hairline fissure of the underside.
Now I had my SNES it was a case of sifting through the countless job lots and last minute cartridge bargains on eBay to get my library up to a decent number of games. I decided I would go the cart only route and build a decent collection up that way as cart in box complete were set at crazy prices. Away I went and I quickly learned that I could get some decent deals on PAL but I could get some ludicrously cheap deals on Super Famicom games. So, my search widened to the look out for a reasonably priced converter for my SNES to play Famicom and US SNES games. I found a converter for £7.99 and bagged it. I was now set for purchasing some cool SNES games both PAL, NTSC and Super Famicom variants were now in scope.
It got me thinking, what else would make the perfect set up for my cracked SNES?
Well, of course it had to be the ability to have a four player Bomberman or NBA JAM session.
A multi tap was my next target. Again it took some eBay research but I was able to scope out a £14 multitap in good condition for my SNES. I was seeing prices in the region of £30 for multi taps so the £14 was a bargain relatively speaking.
Looking on eBay and compiling my SNES collection has been mega fun for me. But the thing that has really been fun is the getting this beauty to work again and playing some of my favourite games on the original hardware once again!
Opening up my SNES with the special 4.5mm security bit opened up a whole new world to me as I looked at the inside of my childhood. Taking apart the SNES in order to clean and repair felt good. There were all sorts of dust, dirt and shards of broken plastic inside my new SNES and it felt worthwhile to cleanse it and get it back to how it should look.
I also concentrated on accumulating 4 joy pads to add to the multiplayer experience of my SNES set up. The official joypads were proving expensive but the 3rd Party offerings were coming in at half the price. I scooped 5 joypads ranging from £3 to £8. Unfortunately one was a dud and even after replacing the contacts it didn't work but I enjoyed taking the pad apart piece by piece and re assembling it. It was a part of my whole SNES restoration learning experience and taught me a few more things about getting the system to run at its best.
At this point I also decided that I wanted a Super GameBoy as i'd always been interested in seeing how the GameBoy experience transferred to the bigger screen. I managed to track down a Super GameBoy unboxed for £8 and then I got a opy of Dr Mario on GameBoy for £4.30. It took a fair bit of cleaning but eventually I got it to fire up and hey presto, the Super GameBoy was alive.
As with all of my purchases I learned that it is best to clean immediately every cartridge prior to placing it into the SNES as you don't know when the last time it was cleaned. One such example saw me buy two games that apparently didn't work (Top Gear and International Rugby) and then when I received them I opened them up, cleaned them out and away I went. Two ludicrously cheap games purchases for £1.49!
My next purchases will be the ultimate multiplayer game in the form of Super Bomberman and of course the legendary Super Mario Kart. I've eyed up the Japanese versions of these games (cart only) and they are again half the price of the PAL counterpart!
For me I think the thrill of it all is hunting the bargains and building up the package. My plan is to get a few more games in order to make a it a great starter pack for SNES and then sell it on and go again. Maybe my next one will be a boxed SNES and some boxed games to build a boxed SNES starter pack. We will see........
Here's the list of my compiled SNES goodies via eBay so far........
- SNES £35
- Super Soccer £0.10
- Super Tennis £4.50
- Super Gameboy £10.99
- 4.5mm Security Bit £2.69
- Competition Pro Pad £3
- NHLPA 93 £3.98
- Hudson Pad £6.50
- Competition Pro Pad £5
- Dr Mario £4.30
- Competition Pro Pad £8
- Jap / NTSC Convertor £7.99
- Buttons For Pad £1.99
- Super Puyo Puyo 2 REMIX £2.90
- Street Fighter II £2.90
- NBA Jam £7
- Multitap £14
- Top Gear & World Class Rugby £1.49
- Jurassic Park (Boxed) £2.41
- Super Bomerman £6.99 (purchased today)
- Super Mario Kart £8.79 (purchased today)
What Do You Enjoy Most About Retro Game Collecting?
The Thrill Of The Chase?
Let Me Know In The Comments Box Below...
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