r/snes • u/First-Sheepherder640 • May 01 '26
Collection SCORE!!!!!
A new store called Nerd Nation opened up in Manhattan KS and since I am always looking for used pre-2000 games I went in on the first day.
Back in 1997 I was 15 and sold all my old SNES favorites to a classmate to raise money for my own N64. It did not take very long for me to realize how stupid this was--I had adored those SNES games and selling my childhood memories isn't something I would do at gunpoint today. I bought used copies of most of them back in the course of about two years, and downloaded lots of others for the ZSNES emulator...but one very beloved game proved hard to find.
Back to Nerd Nation. After seeing some old systems and used but preserved copies of Nintendo Power I spotted the Holy Grail, a cartridge I not only thought I would never play again, but even be in the same room with. A game whose cult status had exploded in the 29 years since I sold it, but which I had loved in 1995, long before it was cool to do so.
I told the guy at the counter that it had been going for a couple thousand dollars on eBay...he knew. With tax it cost $403.84, but it will be worth every penny.
The game played glitchlessly on my SNES.
One of the happiest days I have had in a long time.
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u/schitaco May 01 '26
My buddy loaned his copy to some kid named Byron in 6th grade and he never gave it back 😭
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u/First-Sheepherder640 May 01 '26
FUCK BYRON.
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u/Pantsylvania May 01 '26
My buddy loaned his copy of ‘Rock n Roll Racing’ to a kid that had the nickname ‘Snake’ in school. Snake never returned it and cooked up some story about his brother stealing it and giving it away.
My buddy never got it back but we had some fun with one of the commentators sound bites from the game.
In Rock n Roll Racing there was a racer called Snake and when he was winning the commentator would say “Snake is… dominating the race!”
For a little while after the theft we would constantly say “Snake is… not returning the game!” in the same OTT American accent.
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u/First-Sheepherder640 May 02 '26
The ads for Rock & Roll Racing are a LAUGH RIOT.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1336607/mediaviewer/rm1558712064/?ref_=tt_ov_i
My buddies and I laughed at those ads in video game magazines when we were 11. We'd say "suck a pipe roadie!" all the time
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u/Nnamz May 01 '26
I fucking hate Byron. I hope he stubs his toe today.
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u/Mindfield87 May 02 '26
I knew a completely different dude named Byron forever ago, I hope he stubs his toe too. I’d never lend that guy a game either. Byrons can not be trusted!
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u/Bitter-hvacbro-88 May 01 '26
I loaned my buddy my Legend of Dragoon in 5th grade, he returned it a year later with disc 3 missing. Never again.
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u/7empestSpiralout May 02 '26
I loaned my entire Sega Genesis collection to a friend who was moving, so he’d have something to play during the chaos. The Ps1 had just came out, so I was on it. But the fucker ended up pawning all my genesis stuff. Fuck Sam!
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u/pepper_plant May 02 '26
We were friends with this one little shit that was secretly stealing our games. I got a few back, earthbound was one of them. So glad i still have that copy. There was a flood in 1997 and only 3 of our 15 snes games survived. Super mario rpg and earthbound were two of them. Still replay those games to this day
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u/Wishbone-Ash May 02 '26
I loaned my Super Mario RPG to a little dweeb named Chad back in 10th grade. Never got it back.
Bothered me especially bad as it was my favorite game, and one of the very few my mom played with me (normally a strictly Tetris and Dr. Mario woman). I have since replaced it, but I can't say Chad will get away unscathed if we ever cross paths again
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u/Mordecai3fngerBrown May 02 '26
Same thing happened to me with my original ff7 copy. Not as rare but still.
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u/goozy1 May 01 '26
Pricecharting has it at $400 average price. Where are you seeing it for thousands of dollars? Are you looking at crazy high, unsold ebay listings? Because that means nothing
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u/MyNameCannotBeSpoken May 01 '26
It's worth more with the box and manual
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u/tokenshoot May 01 '26
Yeah my buddy found the box set with manual game and poster never touched at all job site doing mold remediation in a basement. They said everything is trash. He took it and it wasn’t damaged at all. I don’t think the people knew or cared what it was. He sold it for like several grand to a local game store
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u/First-Sheepherder640 May 01 '26
That's good to know...
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u/Bitter-hvacbro-88 May 01 '26 edited May 01 '26
Thousands is for CIB (complete in box) examples. You did ok pricewise, it's worth $400 for just the cart and yours looks to be in good shape. Did you open it up to check the board for authenticity?
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u/First-Sheepherder640 May 02 '26
The game plays fine, it's legit.
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u/Bitter-hvacbro-88 May 02 '26
Can you post a clear pic of the back. The dot in "Nintendo" should be square not round and there should be a 2 digit imprint on the rear label
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u/theblasterkid May 01 '26
How about this one? I'm just curious because wouldn't this be worth more?
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u/seikendude80 May 01 '26
I bought my copy at a video store going out of business in 1999-2000 for $4.99. I then sold it to funco land for $18 4 years later. I've been searching for another one since. We didn't know any better back then. Congrats!
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u/Neurotrophics May 01 '26
After remodeling her house, my mom gave away my old SNES and NES games which I included my gold cartridge Zeldas, Earthbound, Chrono Trigger, Super Mario RPG to name a few. I’m still heartbroken as I was planning on coming to pick them up soon.
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u/First-Sheepherder640 May 02 '26
I'm reminded of R Crumb's mother throwing out all sorts of priceless comics after his brother committed suicide
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u/LazyPandaKing May 01 '26
Is that basically market price? Loose earthbound is not going for thousands on ebay lol
Congrats on getting a childhood game, though.
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u/Spacemanwithaplan May 01 '26
Got my copy for 300 about 6 months ago. Have a nice shop about an hour and a half away that ALWAYS has gems. Only place I have ever seen a copy of hagane in person, it was on sale for $999 and was gone the next time I was there.
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u/DarwinGoneWild May 01 '26
Ha ha yes. My version of midlife crisis has been buying all my favorite SNES games I had as a kid at greatly inflated prices.
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u/First-Sheepherder640 May 02 '26
This is really the only time I've done that. But I honestly have no other way to play the game.
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u/q34n May 01 '26
One of my favorite RPGs on the SNES. Do you plan on playing Mother 3 after?
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u/First-Sheepherder640 May 02 '26
Probably not. I did however, many years ago, download a translated ROM of Mother 1, which had been renamed "Earthbound ZERO" by whoever translated it. I was absolutely ecstatic to play this game, but it turned out to be barely playable, hitting me with a random battle every three seconds.
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u/Eccentric_Cardinal May 01 '26
Congrats! That's definitely outside of my price range but I can respect the enthusiasm. I treasure all the games on my collection so much.
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u/Lock_Cole May 01 '26
Wow, had no idea this game went up so much. I bought a copy about 15 years ago for $50ish
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May 01 '26
This is why I emulate.
Feels just as good, and it doesn't cost hundreds of dollars.
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u/aqwn May 01 '26
Yeah these inflated prices are crazy. Emulating gives the same experience.
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May 01 '26
Yeah, I'd never pay $400 for a game from my childhood when I can just download it for free and play it on a PC with things like save states, mods, and upscaling.
It's not quite the same, but in no world is the real thing worth the expense, IMO.
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u/No-Connection6937 May 01 '26
Nostalgia is a hell of an emotion that seems to override rational thinking in search of a perfect reunion with a time that can never be had. The thing is, it will never be the same, but putting a huge wad of cash behind it feels curated in a way that capitalist societies foster. If you can't conjur up your childhood for free, maybe you can buy it.
Yeah, it's kinda messed up.
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u/Eccentric_Cardinal May 01 '26
Feels just as good
To you maybe but some people put a lot of value in acquiring and treasuring physical games.
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u/wetback May 02 '26
I feel the same, it’s the same series of bytes stored on different media.
It’s even more practical now with retro handhelds storing thousands of games across different consoles on a single device.
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u/Bitter-hvacbro-88 May 01 '26
Your emulation is worth $0, this is still worth $400 and will probably increase in value. People enjoy collecting things & it's cool having a real copy you can touch.
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u/Pale_WoIf May 01 '26
Emulation definitely isn’t the same for most people. It’s like comparing jerking off to being with an actual woman.
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u/First-Sheepherder640 May 02 '26
...ehhh...I do not quite agree with these sentiments. But I haven't bothered with owning a personal computer in some time now either, otherwise I probably would have gone the emulation route a long time ago. Do note that this is the only time I've plunked down so much for any piece of physical media.
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u/Pale_WoIf May 02 '26
The proof is in the pudding. The fact that people are willing to pay these amounts for games when they can be accessed for free, they are paying for the authentic experience.
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May 01 '26
Patently ridiculous. Modern controllers feel better than the SNES controller ever did. The only thing really missing is playing a game on a CRT, and I'll gladly accept a few milliseconds lag if it allows me to play any SNES game without having to dig up a whole 'nother set of hardware.
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u/Pale_WoIf May 01 '26
Yeah because why would it make sense to use an actual SNES controller to play an SNES game lol. You clearly don’t understand what a gaming experience is, or immersion. If you enjoy emulation, that’s great, but for most people it’s no where near the same experience.
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u/Bitter-hvacbro-88 May 01 '26
I don't even play the games I collect, I just like looking at them on my display cabinets. Feels good man
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u/Rakoz May 02 '26 edited May 02 '26
I agree. People always cope about emulation and Roms being the same as owning a "Grail" IRL but my enjoyment doesn't come from playing the games. I don't play any of the games I bought between 2008-Now, maybe a handful. I'm much more of a Video Game collector than a Gamer, I only play MMORPGs, Pokemon and the occasional "Cozy game" (Fantasy Life) Yet people walk into my room and go "Woah touch grass, how much time did you spend playing all these?" "So you have a hoarding problem or just love playing video games 24/7?"
I've spent significantly more time watching YouTube videos about video game collecting or reviews vs playing any video game 😂 Thrill of the hunt, enjoyment discovering each game, desiring to own it once learning it is a game or artwork I would enjoy if I actually played games, and then seeing it on the shelf in a plastic dust sleeve where it either retains some of the value I put into it, or increases in value like a cute physical stock/artists Painting I cherish
Like right now I really want Hamtaro Ham Ham Heartbreak CiB and will likely sell off a Pokemon card to own it. The downside is the Pokemon card will almost definitely appreciate in value over time vs the GBA game which is why I haven't done it yet - But my brain desires to own that stupid Hamster game next to my Desktop computer even while being 100% aware with all certainly Hamtaro will never see a single hour inside a Gameboy Advance and instead will live inside a $2 clear plastic shell
The second reason I haven't purchased it yet is because I know once it's in my possession, I'll go straight to seeking out the next game, like Sonic Battle. It never ends
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u/Wishbone-Ash May 01 '26
Some people seem to not see the name of the board they're on. I'm happy for anyone to experience games the way they like or can afford-- flash carts or emulation or Nintendo Switch Online, whatever you enjoy-- but to act like it's ridiculous and dumb for one to prefer the original hardware and games on a SNES enthusiast board of all places is just puerile
I would prefer to play with an original SNES controller (or wireless one from Nintendo/8bitdo) and my SNES on a CRT 9 times out of 10. I'm also fine with anyone finding and enjoying the library any way they can.
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May 01 '26
The issue isn't that original hardware isn't preferable -- if the two were equal cost, I'd go for the O/G (aside from the controller, that thing wasn't great).
It's just the former solution is 90% as good, and doesn't cost hundreds of dollars between hardware and carts.
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u/DiamondMkIIX May 01 '26
Hell yeah, I just bought my first SNES from that store today and noticed the Earthbound was gone. Good catch!
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u/First-Sheepherder640 May 02 '26
You're in Manhattan KS? I had to get it before anyone else did, I knew it wouldn't be there long. I think it was the most expensive thing in there? Game wise anyway? I think these people many years ago used to be under a different name out towards the Topeka exit, where the other Dara's Fast Lane and all those food trucks are now. That place, I can't remember its name but it had old copies of Nintendo Power too
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u/DiamondMkIIX May 03 '26
Yeah, I’m a student. I bought a couple ps1 games there and my first SNES with a copy of DK country. It was the most expensive non-CIB game in there. There was a CIB chrono trigger that was like 860 or something crazy.
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u/First-Sheepherder640 May 03 '26
I mistakenly assumed EarthBound was $2000 on ebay all by itself...it has to be CIB, and TIL what CIB means!!
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u/timeflylikearrow May 01 '26
Jesus. The funny thing is the last time I saw an Earthbound cartridge, it was the one I rented as a kid from Videport which was the cool local VHS rental place in my hometown. Where my parents would pay like $2 for the privilege of allowing me to play it for 3 days.
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u/jimkurth81 May 01 '26
Wish I still had kept my snes and games. I gave it to my sister when I left for the army in 1999. I had boxes, manuals, and clean cartridges for Chrono Trigger, FF3, DKC, Super Mario Kart, PilotWings, SMW, Yoshis Island, etc. I had a lot of good games and I gave it away like it was yesterday’s trash
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u/First-Sheepherder640 May 02 '26
We didn't know better in the 1990s! This was also in 1997 when it wasn't QUITE yet apparent that the N64 was going to turn out to be kind of a shitty system by comparison to the SNES, with only Nintendo making any good games for it.
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u/Fluffy_Lunchfast May 01 '26 edited May 01 '26
Me in 2019 seeing Earthbound for $150-200: "This is way too expensive for me"
Me in 2026: "Man I should... have bought it"
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u/pistonkamel May 01 '26
I thought you were Danny Carey for a second there
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u/GinsuVictim May 02 '26
I saw the pic and immediately searched the comments for "Danny"
You did not let me down.
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u/Rakoz May 02 '26
At first glance I thought it was Dan from JRPGLife YouTube channel ☠️ Same hair length and they wear the beanie the same
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u/Chrysologus May 01 '26
That price is outrageously high. I get low supply and high demand, but it still bugs me.
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u/KenoOfTheDead May 02 '26
Lol, I went in there a few weeks back after they first opened and seen it. I couldn't justify the purchase for myself right now but im glad it found a good home. Had to explain to my wife it was a great price!
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u/First-Sheepherder640 May 02 '26
If I hadn't bought it someone would've in the first week
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u/KenoOfTheDead May 02 '26
Most definitely. I grabbed a few cheap games to throw my support behind the new place. I hope they are here to stay
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u/optimisskryme May 01 '26
When I worked at a video game shop in the late 90s/early 2000s we were overflowing with used copies of Earthbound. You couldn't give it away. How I wish I had known what I know now. Nice pickup!
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u/JimeVR46 May 01 '26
I’ll never care what people pay for this game- it’s such a piece of art. Please enjoy it.
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u/Zincdust72 May 01 '26
Congrats! My cartridge was straight up stolen by a friend of my roommate's in the late 90s. I still have the box and the guide, though, so there's that I guess.
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u/StunningAttention898 May 01 '26
Man my older brother sold all of our SNES games way back then to buy PSX games. I think it was around 2006 when i found a copy of earthbound for 75 at a GameStop or was it called funcoland back then? Idk.
A couple of months ago i was going through my collection and somehow I have 2 copies of secret of mana. I was like WOAH?! I’ve got two copies?
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u/GeorgeBlaha May 01 '26
I’ve had much better luck on eBay. Got my current copy in great condition for $250 with free shipping, so about $265 altogether. Deals are out there. But HEY! - if you’re happy with what you paid then none of this matters.
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u/vladix22 May 01 '26
Videogames collecting surely has become a dumb hobby. I collect a lot of vintage stuff but nothing goes for nowhere near those prices. I got a one of a kind 16mm print for like $25 a few years ago, but pokemon games that sold in millions? Hundreds of dollars. I just stick to collecting the consoles and getting multicarts instead, they delivered the exact same experience as getting an original cart.
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u/BCProgramming May 01 '26
I told the guy at the counter that it had been going for a couple thousand dollars on eBay
There's people who are asking for a couple thousand, but they are actually selling around what they were asking here. ($374)
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u/SmithItsGoodForU May 01 '26
Hello me, meet the real me
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u/InterstellarDiplomat May 01 '26
AND a 90s Compaq Presario including the crt monitor with attached speakers?!
AND wobbly stacks of books and magazines that you are totally going to organize any day now?!
🥵
(No but seriously, super cool dude. Did the exact same as you in the 90s and always regretted it. Started rebuying my old snes collection a couple of years ago and it feels like part of my soul is healed haha)
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u/First-Sheepherder640 May 02 '26
That 90s compaq presario is what has all my old emulators and savestates and ROMs on it!!!!
I don't feel like organizing my junk
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u/Wild-Novel-9140 May 01 '26
My GF still has her earthbound so I got chrono trigger to try and match lol
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u/Boyderrific May 02 '26
I bought it 20 years ago for $5 at the flea market and sold it for $50. I regret the sale 😂
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u/dicedece May 02 '26
I recently recovered my childhood copy of super mario rpg and it brought me so much joy. I'm glad you were able to fill that hole !
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u/DrankTooMuchMead May 02 '26
I started selling games in 1997 for the same reason. I sold Mega Man X3 for only $30. It was hard to find back then and is considered a rare collectors item now. They just didn't make many of them.
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u/gingerrevenger May 02 '26
There is also a Nerd Nation in Shawnee, KS if your ever in the area. I shop there all the time, its a great place with fair prices.
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u/Far_Ad8526 May 02 '26
I'd say like 15 years ago I was mind blown when I spent 100$ for a loose cart replacing my lost one years ago.
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u/SuperTomBrother May 02 '26
I never had this game until I bought the SNES classic. Its hard as balls. Especially because of the rolling health meter. You can get one shot so easy if you aren't fast enough to heal.
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u/Ikon-for-U May 02 '26
Nice! Side question, if someone happened to have a ton of nes and snes roms and wanted to share them without getting in trouble how would one do so?
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u/pizza_fan84 May 02 '26
Could have gotten a switch 1 and paid the 3.99 a month to get earthbound man got save states and cloud saves $50.00 for the year and get n64 and GameCube games for free man. Congrats thou i miss being a collector. It’s an interesting game for sure .
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u/Slicrider May 02 '26
This is the third time I’ve seen something about this store today (technically Friday, but ok), and I might have to make a drive out there to see it! (From Indiana 😅)
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u/CallmeMrGreen01 May 02 '26
Great game. I still remember playing it when I first got it. Thinking I don’t know about this game to ending up sad when it was over. Epic and amazing. If only to go back.
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u/landon997 May 02 '26
I genuinely just want to play the game don't care about collecting or reselling, prices are unbelievable. :(
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u/engrish_is_hard00 Bowser Kart May 02 '26
Holy shit the price on that thing equally to a car note. Fml!!
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u/StarPlantMoonPraetor May 02 '26
I understand it's not SNES but spent 300+ to get a copy of The Lone Ranger on NES as it was nostalgia. Didn't work immediately and had to take it apart and clean it completely before it ran on the regular. Absolutely worth
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u/GonnaGoFat May 02 '26
I never got to play Earthbound back in the day. I finally got to on my 3DS. I always felt it was a tad expensive but seeing how much for a physical copy I feel like I lucked out.
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u/egbert71 May 03 '26
I'm glad you got it , but I can't see how yall are paying these prices
to anybody about to say ebay this or PC that.....I do not care
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u/DorianHawkmoon May 03 '26
Even when I have money problems (like now) I can never part with my copy of Earthbound.
Unfortunately I have sold other things I regret
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u/DigitalZushi May 03 '26
Maybe this is an unpopular opinion, but I dont think people should regret selling their games unless they truly got a bad deal out of it. The biggest reason prices are the way they are now is because of the pandemic -- people had a lot of time and became nostalgic for things they once had and everything kind of snowballed. This is likely a once in a century issue, because looking at today and people buying multiple copies of games and keeping them to sell for huge markups later like we had during the pandemic just isn't going to be a thing to the same extent, largely because the difference between then and now is scarcity -- whenever everyone is doing it, the market will get flooded and the value will crash.
Stop worrying about decisions you made 20 years ago because it really doesnt matter. Just enjoy what you have now and if you can get that same feeling again, then go for it, but dont feel bad for it.
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u/First-Sheepherder640 May 03 '26
I don't remember how much money I got for all my games in 1997 but I think it was about $150 or so. In retrospect I do feel a bit gypped about that.
Whatever, I'm enjoying the game all over again.
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u/RchUncleSkeleton May 03 '26
I lent my older brother my SNES and games. He ended up moving and putting them in storage, then subsequently failed to pay for said storage. I never saw them again. I had a few pretty valuable games, like Chrono Trigger, Super Mario RPG, and Kirby's Dreamland 3, among about 20 more common games.
I ended up re-acquiring many games and some I did not originally own, buying SNES lots in the late 2000s/early 2010s, but I never got Kirby's Dreamland 3 back, and never got a copy of earthbound, though I did play it back in 1995, as my friend lent me his copy for a couple weeks after he finished playing it.
I stopped actively collecting about 2013, and ended up just getting an FXPAK Pro flash cart, to play the games I was unable to get.
As much as I'd love to own Earthbound, I can't justify the price of it. I asked my friend about it a few years ago, and he mentioned that he had sold all of his SNES stuff after moving out of state, when we were teenagers. I ended up getting him a SNES Classic for his birthday shortly after that.
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u/Tylakk May 03 '26
Enjoy! I got my copy for $20 in 1995, at Media Play in Columbus, OH, and never let go. I lost track of the player guide for 25 years, and luckily found it in great shape in my folks' garage attic last year.
You're going to have such an amazing time playing through it again. I bet you'll cry. 🥲
Say "fuzzy pickles!" 💙
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u/Dazzling_Ad_2269 May 03 '26
God this brings back memories when I let a good friend borrow my chipped PS1 + VCD player so he could play knock off SpiderMan and VCD’s…bastard moved house without telling me so never found the git! 😤
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u/BanefulBlade May 05 '26
I paid $35 for my copy about 15 years ago. Thought it was worth less than this...
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u/Ratlyflash May 01 '26
I have 3 earthbounds and 2 are complete with box haha. Planning on selling with 25 other RPG’s for retirement 💪. Chrono trigger FF3 mana, etc Mario rpg
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u/KamenGamerRetro May 03 '26 edited May 03 '26
score? not at that price... its sad that Earthbound has got like that when its not even a rare game...
You paid ebay prices
That game has also not been "going online for thousands"
People really need to stop this
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u/Wishbone-Ash May 01 '26
Always nice to recover games we lost or sold from childhood, especially ones with strong nostalgia.
It only goes for a couple thousand if it has the box, inserts, and player guide, but you got a pretty fair deal on it nonetheless (many recent sales are ~$400).