1 AM Rant: Why Are Crazy Nintendo 3DS Collectors Paying a Premium for Games and Systems? 

I agree, the items people buy in mass to put on a closet because 'they will be worth a lot someday' are usually the ones that never raise in price.

I do a lot of the retro gaming stuff, but I genuinely collect it because I love it and want to play it. I also dabble in the new toys. My problem with the new toys is really two-fold. First they are way to expensive for kids to buy them. This is important because it desiccates the future buyers market, these kids aren't going to care about Star Wars black series in the future. There will be new star wars stuff when they grow up and have kids. Secondly, it's all made to be collected, kept in the box and stored. So in 20 years-ish when it's time to sell, the market will be flooded with sealed in boxes...I would guess that there are going to be more sealed SW black series figures in the future than there are loose figures.

Absolutely agree. I just wanted to grab a 3DS and some games I loved playing 8 or 9 years ago, since I lost mine years ago. But the prices are insane, in some cases the games are more expensive than they were brand new...

Nitendo 3ds eshop was closed at 3/27(no longer able to purchase digital games online). People are FOMO to the max and made this worse.

Im laughing about this whole scenario. I remember when the SNES edition 3DS was an Amazon exclusive and stayed up for almost a year available for purchase. Now it is selling for $1K new. BUT the silver Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate edition was barely available and sold out within the first week and it’s going for at most half of that. I appreciate you pointing out how delusional some people can be.

I bought pokemon white (cartridge) at gamestop for 25$ back in 2018, its damn near 200$ now cib, insane!! Greed truly knows no bounds 😔😔

I don’t think people realize how many distributors are sitting on pallets upon pallets of sealed “rare” 3ds games. The 3ds is a fantastic console but I can’t imagine that I would want to own the fire emblem fates collectors edition if I didn’t get it for msrp. 800 for a dlc is insane to me

It’s wild. I bought a Nintendo new 2ds/3ds a few years ago when it was new for like $150, and now people are trying to sell it online for like double the price… crazy. Hard to believe if anyone is actually paying these prices. Or like the people who are selling special edition 3ds and Nintendo switches for $400+ lolol

This is a great topic, thanks. Nintendo could literally offer gorilla poop in a bag, and collectors would buy all of it.

There are so many "limited print run" switch games being produced and purchased out of speculation... there is so much hidden stock right now. I wouldn't be surprised if 95% of these are worth less than retail price once the bubble bursts

Started selling some of my 3DS stuff. Prices right now are simply too high to keep these. Yo-kai Watch 3 is unbelievable right now. Just watched a sealed copy go for $500. You could have easily purchased that game for around $100 a couple years ago...

E-shop closing: People are FOMO like crazy Piracy: People are just sitting back and relaxing like "Lol, we got H-shop and a homebrew community. I don't see how that's our problem."

I’m confused at why he says around the 11:30 mark that he has over 10 copies of each game sealed, and simultaneously telling us it’s a terrible investment. Why did he invest?

Thank you for getting the facts out. Its very true, people are paying/ charging ridiculous prices for newer sealed stuff and YES its a waste of money. Opportunities disappear as quickly as they come along, its not as simple as "buy sealed stuff." People should think about careers, instead of flipping video games, which is not going to secure your financial future.

Because the e-shop shut down this week people are panic buying 3ds stuff. It reminds me of when 2 years Sony announced that the ps3 store would shut down and people started panic buying ps1,ps2 and ps3 stuff, prices spiked and some stuff has come back down to normal price now. With the 3ds its the same thing, I think it will be worse but only cause its Nintendo.

just sold one of my "ugly" brand new 2DS for 350.- ... I bought it for less then 25.- ... lol crazy people :)

I’m glad that I picked up most of my 3DS collection before the pandemic.

I'm a Timmy just checking in. Taking a look around.

Most people don’t understand rarity. No one thought stuff was collectible in the 80’s90’s and didn’t keep boxes or kept stuff in nice condition. We played with it and that’s all that mattered. Love your honesty.

They couldn't give this junk away 12 years ago, Timmies are going to lose thousands thinking they are building a portfolio worth millions when they should be slowly investing into index funds.

Great job capitalizing on the current collectible climate! I hope the channel keeps growing. Keep up the good work!

Spittin truth! If you failed to buy in at msrp or on sale when they released, you CANNOT be buying these for investment now. A ton of gains have already been made. That said, if you want to buy, by all means get what you want. A lot of high system pricing even in the base 3ds unit has been rising steadily due to the cfw market. The hshop market alone has driven console prices higher than they should be but people have some crazy ocd over condition and screen type lottery and are willing to pay a premium to buy new or close to mint so they can be or pretend to be the first to play that unit on their toilet!

I still remember when I found out dad threw away my box of complete pokemon base jungle fossil dark rocket. He compared them to mom's beanie babies in the closet... I like collecting the pins that come with the cards in a shadowbox for myself. Not bother grading my game stuff. I just want to keep it displayed safely out of hubs and kids reach.

I might have missed if you ever did a vid like this, but a fun idea could be taking a sample of some of the sought after retro games and checking their current price charting market values against the S&p 500 over the same time period since release and in real returns. Make it like a top 10 or something for the algo. I think it will surprise a lot of people in how even some of the pricier retro games did not exactly just get astronomical in value compared to the broader market. And people are taking way more risk in hoping their particular selections are part of the very small percentage of games that may have came out profitable. Either way, I've been enjoying the channel for a while now and it is quality stuff. Keep plugging away!

I bought alot of my sealed game collection 5 to 10 years ago with games costing me in the 100s of dollars now most of those games are worth 1000s of dollars. Even some of those games I sold in the last hype cycle of 2021 for 10000s so it has certainly made me some money and my collection has increased in value so it may not have been the best thing to invest in but I enjoyed collecting the games because of the great memories I have playing the games with my family and friends growing up in the 80s and 90s. I enjoy the channel Shaun and thanks for giving us all the great investment advice keep up the great work and keep us grounded in our investment journey. Enjoy the process and enjoy learning!

I'm at Midwest gaming classic right now and I can confirm the 3ds prices are crazy but lots of vendors don't even have 3ds games

As a game collector I cannot see any fault in what you had to say. I think that traders who scavenge at garage sales for pennies and sell for hundreds are the ones who you are upsetting the most.

Rick & Morty made 3DS hoarding jokes a few years ago. I think that says a lot about just unique these investment ideas are.

Well said. So much hysterical stupidity… not to mention greed

Why did't you grade those Pokemon games as "uncirculated" if they came from a case? The grades seem a bit low for case fresh units. No hate just curious.

I got Kid Iurcus from the eshop before it closed. I kept all my games The only ones i sold high priced were some vga games I remember the days when you can find those items for less and they could hardly give them away.

I know will get a lot of hate for this but truly that's why retail investors are called "Dumb Money" Spoken like a true hedge fund lol 😆 🤣.

These are the only videos I want to watch right now

This is why I’m so glad I got my New Nintendo 3ds XL last year for £270 something I think. It was difficult to find a uk version but I managed. I’m also being careful about spending money on certain 3ds games, because I sold my collection years ago and kinda regret it. When I was replaying Pokémon X I realised how bad it aged because of it’s quality and it’s camera controls. I’m being wise here on certain games that don’t even deserve it’s high price. I reccomend watching gameplays of 3ds games if you think they’re worth playing.

This is a very sensible line of thought. It's also nice that you're calling out the crazy nature of the 3ds market. You've earned a sub!

It makes sense that 3DS games aren't being sold at the flea market for 25 cents like NES games were (most NES games are unplayable) but it is a bit strange how a lot of these games are retaining a $20-$30 price range for a loose copy.

But Shawn THIS TIME ITS DIFFERENT (plugs ears with fingers)

Great points, Shawn! Interesting to hear about your stock ready to go. Do you expect WATA games to get in on grading the 3DS game trend?

i bought a factory sealed sonic cd blister packaging. that's my favourite game of all time and I'm taking it to the grave. that's genuine rare.

That was really direct and honest, thanks.

I've seen people online asking for $$$ for their 'special edition' 3DS.. they are basically being ignored. They are the exception rather than the norm. I don't "collect" 3DS, I bought one 7 years ago and I recently bought another 3. Not as an "investment" but something I want to keep and enjoy because I don't think Nintendo/Sony/Microsoft will be making another 3D handheld (unless the Switch 2 does which would make me even happier). I know that a lot of people dislike 3D but I for one see it as a very unique feature especially on a gaming console. I only wished I did the same with my Nintendo Game & Watch centuries ago lol. LCD screens corrode over time so I see no point collecting and "investing" in them. Its meant to be enjoyed as a gaming console until it eventually dies. I bought a new 3DS XL for about $200 seven years ago. Now pre-owned ones cost about the price of an OLED Switch lol! Why? Because it an end-of-line product which are no longer in production and 'brand new' ones at EBay cost a lot more (even exhorbitant).

I feel like some of the mania is the same thing that happened to beanie babies, except with funkos in particular the product is pretty much mass produced and sold as "collectibles" from the get go to get (dupe) people to buy them.

Where the fuck did all that Wii U stock go after Nintendo took it off the shelves?

What are your thoughts on smaller companies like limited run games that only produce a small amount of games that were only available in a digital format and print then once and that’s it . Do you see those games becoming more valuable especially if they are kept sealed ?

Always good stuff. Was in Allentown last week for the Super Gigantic Yard Sale.

I bought all the 3ds stuff naturally over time since 3ds release and started to buying remaining stuff that I didn't have or doubles or more consoles between 2017 and 2019 just because I loved the system so much and wanted to have extras that will work until the day I die. So regardless if they become valuable or not I love my 3ds stuff. And good thing that I bought in cheap lol

hi, what do you think about cave games they sold between 10 000 and 30 000 copies of each game, and they're selling now on ebay for 80 to 300 depending on the game. i really like those games but the price i can't justify. but for some of those games (mushihimesama futari, dodonpachi sdoj ...) it's the only way to get them, and i'd really like to play them, do you think the price will drop, in wich case i'll wait and play them later. not looking to invest here, just wanna play those games :/

yknow this really does help me in terms of what to collect and what does sell, i happen to have every Mega Man game released for the NES and SNES and i have the rarest of the two being 5 for the NES and X3 and my speculative answer as to why they went for so much now is because no one was buying them heavily back in the day and they weren't produced as much as say 2 for the NES or X1 for the SNES. Which does apply to the logic presented here in this video if i am getting this all correctly down pat.

I enjoying buying and collecting games that I want to play, or that have nostalgia attached to. I Could care less about buying them as an “investment”. So I tend to gravitate towards stuff that’s 1) good and 2) that I can buy cheap. Right now it’s anything Xbox and ps3 (though ps3 is starting to climb) Ironically, a couple years ago it was 3DS. I still have highly coveted 3DS games sitting factory sealed on my shelf that I just haven’t gotten around to playing yet. Many of which I bought on clearance, that I will one day tear open and play. Because that is the point of video games. This whole market since the beginning of the pandemic has reminded me a lot of the 90’s comic boom. *Most* of what people are buying as “investment” pieces right now will be worth a fraction in the future. You’ll always get your Amazing Spider-Man 300’s and your New Mutants 98’s, that will continue to increase in value, but the vast majority is so mass produced and well preserved by collectors, that on the whole the value just won’t be there when the bubble bursts. Long story short, buy games because you want to play them and buy them cheap when no one else wants them. They’re only worth what you’re willing to pay based on the amount of enjoyment you get from them. Don’t buy into the artificial scarcity and fomo that’s being pumped.

Great video! Very informative.

It doesn't really matter how much of it is out there if everyone's charging the same ridiculous price. The only way to get them is to pay it. I'm paying about $900 just to get a few pokemon games. It is what it is.

Comment for the algorithm. Scalpers need to hear this

How I feel about retro consoles nowadays mostly looking at Brand New sealed PS2's and Wii's that go for close to a thousand. Those will never sell at all

Thank you bro for the tips really good info

It's ridiculous. Metroid Prime Federation Force should not, under any circumstances, be 90 dollars.

Video games are meant to be a hobby. Something you can enioy while also escaping the harsh existence of reality. It's not a safe investment because there isn't always going to be a market for specific video games especially when it comes to homebrew developers making ways to play games with the need for a physical disk or cartridge. In the 3DS' case, we have the hShop. Not only a replacement for the eShop, but also a way to get games no longer available, be it discounted/delisted or are too expensive physically. As long as options exist, there's no need to get physical versions of specific games that go for ludicrously high prices which in turn means these "investors" have no profit. Honestly, if they wanted to profit from video games they should've just made games themselves and put it on Steam. Add microtransactions, loot boxes, whatever's trendy these days if they're really desperate for money.

Thanks Shawn, I always appreciate the reality check. Mass produced and hordes makes for bad investments Unless you are going for the quick flip pop culture will fade from actual ‘living memory’ or cultural awareness

What's odd is that all this stuff did very briefly go to the bargain bin. I bought all the ones I wanted in Amazon sales when the system was dying out. PS Vita was the same although I understand that one slightly more because a few of the games are scarcer due to the system being unpopular. Still speculative of course. Very interesting what you said about bubbles can last for decades. It'll be interesting to see in 10, 15, 20 years from now if that's the case with Pokémon. A lot of people saying they'll "diamond hand" for 20 years rather than flipping for a profit in 1-5 years. To be fair to them I do think there's a fair chance a lot of that stuff will go up but the opportunity cost by that point is going to be IMMENSE. So glad I found this channel age 29 rather than 59. I will admit I've unsubscribed and re-subscribed a few times before I started getting it! Thank you for the free knowledge! Now if you'll excuse me I'm off to start liquidating my Evolving Skies boxes so that I can put that money into an index fund!

Stopped collecting comics, when they started releasing sealed "collectors editions". Never could believe the way, many naive people embraced the whole, buy a comic, don't read, just send straight off to CGC to get that, so so important 9.8

i had a nice retro game collection i sold a large chunk of nintendo games this year for £20k that cash is just sitting under my mattress in a shoe box.

Personally I do think over time ds/3ds will retain value only because there is not a easy or similar system out there that can replicate the play experience but I fully get what your saying and agree things are nuts atm

I only buy games i wanna play and even i wasn't about to pay a premium for 3ds games. I did buy a few physical games that I wanted before the eShop closed but, I only paid msrp or below.

I still play 3ds at home sometimes. Its good feel in hands and dosent use phone battery. If mario prices spike with movie. Will sell some 3ds mario games that people didn't want and couldn't sell over last few years

It’s because physical new video games are disappearing as the industry transitions to digital copies. Physicals prob have more room for growth for some games imo

Hey I know you talk a lot about overvalued and inflated collectors markets. What do you think are some undervalued markets that are both. Any markets that are depressed or hated? -that are currently undervalued and scarce have good fundamentals ? Maybe some silver age comics that are down 40%?

I am on the same page as you. When I say people selling pokemon emerald on ebay for $500, all I have to do is look at how many copies were sold when the game came out. There are 7 million copies out there and no there are not more than 7 million people out there looking for the game. This is ridiculous but eh more power to those paying this price for something not rare at all. 😂

I’m done with 3DS I bought what I liked only but that doesn’t mean 3DS is better then Nintendo Wii U Wii Nintendo Switch and do you even play on the Xbox series X PS5 PS4 that’s got even better games plus premium beats Nintendo online and ultimate game pass crushes Nintendo online and plus premium first party games day 1 Nintendo only has one game I’m looking forward to playing that’s tears of the kingdom that’s it they don’t got to many first party games that’s cause Nintendo consoles aren’t very powerful enough to run all the third party games resident evil 4 remake is on every console except for Nintendo Switch that game deserves the 10/10 it’s amazing

I remember youtubers going to Walmart around 2020 and getting 3Ds games for 5 bucks each. Think Walmart was getting ready to stock ps5 and new Xbox games and were getting rid of that inventory. Most games are or were mass produced, never understood why some of them go for $100+

My best friend got his copy of Xenogears for 10 bucks out of a bargain bin in the 90’s. 200 bucks nowadays. Totally ridiculous.

the same people that are going nuts over the Wii U/3ds e shop closing are the same ones that drove PS3 prices of crappy games like Lollipop Chainsaw going for over 100 bucks. This is why i gave up "collecting" and just focus on what i want to play. i am glad i got all my stuff when it was beyond dirt cheap

Shawn for future secretary of Treasury

The rarest Wii U game is the devils third because only 3 thousand copies sold

I'm still laughing of the people that graded Nintendo 3DS consoles or other battery powered consoles without removing their Li-ion batteries. Those consoles will get damaged in a couple of years as the batteries get bloated and potentially damage the console structure or break the battery cover. Not to mention the internals if the battery leaks it's chemicals. You can even see graded Nintendo Switch consoles being graded 😂 when those consoles are disposable as their battery is not even replaceable as the DS consoles. Not even grading companies take into account the batteries and the risks for the items before grading and put them in cases for the long term storage.

I'm sorry but I don't see your point in relation to people over paying for items that aren't scarce. The market dictates the price, say I want a copy of pokemon sun factory sealed as you said - Bob isn't going to sell it to me for £10 just because I can get hold of one easily. If Facebook groups, vinted, ebay etc prices are in the 100s the seller will reflect that. Same for the consoles, there's 1000s for sale but why would a seller drop his price just because they aren't rare... maybe I'm misunderstanding but just my take.

Probably the most ridiculous sale i ever made was a sealed copy of link between worlds for $460 a couple years ago during the covid craziness

If I buy in Nintendo, I buy most of the time the promotional posters/ shop display who are not meant for sale at the store or similair stuff like that.

Seems like it could have been an email but go off I guess

Didn't realize this was going on. Guess it's time to drag my 3ds stuff out of the closet and dump it.

and Nintendo wonders why pirating is high, hell i just started collecting a year ago, but mainly games i know i want to play or like to play, but some of the prices make me truly wonder why the hell are they so stupidly expensive, I'm lucky to find some GameCube and ds games for cheap, but at this rate the games i want to get to play on the og hardware is gonna get impossible, I would never collect cause of its monetary "value" but its fun or gameplay or more personal value is why i collect

Honestly its cause with the closure of the 3ds shop, it creates a true limited scarcity and people want a piece of that pie. Honestly im shocked certain games didn't jump heavily in price like Dragon Quest VIII for the Ps2 as its the cheaper option to buy if you want to play the main story of that game without the extra content or say Pokemon Black and White as their the only versions that you can actually catch Thundurus and Tornadus in a Limited Gen 5 setting My opinion is find out if there is other older versions of said games and buy them as you get to play the experience of those games on top of saving money and to the people that are paying premiums, you had your chance with the 3ds shop now pay the price for missing out

The solution to this increase in 3DS games? Piracy.

Shawn, how do you insure your storage units? Did you ever make a video on that to point me towards? Excellent work as always 👍

This is a bubble and I’m selling all my DS and 3DS consoles and games I don’t want and buying switch and Xbox games I want.

Hey shawn, love the videos really appreciate the content you are producing. If your interested Id love a segment on vinyl records, would really like to hear your opinion. Thanks

I swapped my Sega Genesis collection for 2 Nintendo Switchs at launch and I got all the games available on game store shelves and Pro controllerd/SD cards for the Switch's

Thank you very much

There are degrees to how rare something has to be in order for the price to go up that scales with demand. 3DS won’t have to be as rare as a Babe Ruth rookie card to increase in value if demand stays high. I think you are questioning the stickiness of generational demand

As always, great content!

It's too easy to mod and obtain 3DS and Wii U games. Don't pay these exorbitant prices in my opinion unless you really want to. I bought an absolute ton of games during the lifetime of these consoles, but I can't bring myself to spend one more penny. I was an early adopter of both the 3DS and Wii U. Now, the only thing I recommend is get original hardware and obtain the games online. If Nintendo won't let us buy them, I see that as a green flag to play them any other way. I emulate some games on Citra, but others I play on original hardware. I just got a modded new 3DS XL so that I can streetpass to myself and trade Pokemon. It's the best of both worlds. Some games feel better on PC or Steam Deck, while some play better on original hardware

I am a video game collector and completely agree. I don't go mad for any of this. I don't buy anything for its value but I took a punt on one game as an investment and it's not on an old system. It's poop Slinger on ps4. I'd love to know your thoughts on that as a collectible.

When the switch released, i started buying 3DS stuff en masse knowing this would happen. I managed to get 5 copies of Yo Kai Watch 3 for decent but not great prices. I recently sold 4 of them and quintupled my money. the current FOMO is insane

How do I contact you personally for a consultation?

Do you consider Kenner Star Wars an established collectible, or is this a second wave of speculation?

... so things like atlus games, level 5, games from companies going places that aren't particularly on top at the moment

Next time let's get a 3 a.m. rant 😅

Hey man, I've watched a lot of your videos and you mention POGS regularly. I didn't hear there was any sort of market for them. Could you tell me more?

Nintendo would sell cardboard and collectors will buy it. Oh...wait...

Future generations are just going to buy dupe’s anyways

about a 60%/40%. I know my Batman(66) signatures will go no were but down.

I gave up on the idea of any sort of investment for game collecting very very quickly. I only buy stuff I plan to play and which I think looks interesting and at the lowest price I can reasonably find. I still buy a lot of stuff granted, but it's because I want to keep it, not because I want to turn a profit down the road.