Why did people buy obscure/expensive shit when it first came out and treat it poorly?

I don't get this. If you paid $600 for a Panasonic 3DO/Philips CD-i/Neo Geo/Apple Pippin when it first came out, why the fuck did you throw out the box? Why did you let your cat/dog/child put fucking scratches on it? Why did you let your wife/girlfriend/metrosexual self get nail polish on it? Why did you lose the original stuff it came with? I don't fucking get people.

Don't buy shit if you aren't going to take care of it. And most importantly, don't pawn it off afterward if you did treat it like crap.

kthxbai

Some of that I can agree with. But at the same time, the box/manual thing I can't agree with. It's packaging, I never thought about saving that stuff when I was younger either. I only keep it now because I know it actually means something.

For those buying the 3DO/pippin/NeoGeo/CD-i, they were things they bought and the rest was just stuff. The other stuff gets put away elsewhere, shuffled around, etc.

who cares what other people do to their own things?

its their property to do with what they want
even if they set the box on fire and dump nail polish in the trays thats their business

Sorry, sometimes I take the socialistic/communistic approach to material things.

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Originally Posted by Ninsega

Sorry, sometimes I take the socialistic/communistic approach to material things.

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Would that be share it with everyone?

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Originally Posted by Gogogadget

who cares what other people do to their own things?

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Could not have said it better my self.

I generally keep all of my boxes, hell I still have the box to the original Japanese Dreamcast I bought when it came out. That being said, I don't give a shit what people do with their own property, with the exception of certain cars.

Oh, I never thought to keep any of the cardboard boxes that came with games or systems, just like my parents never kept the cardboard boxes of anything they bought for the house. To me, it simply didn't feel necessary to keep and hide them away in a closet for who knows how long - At the time, I'd figure I'd never need them again. However, I did always take care of Genesis clamshells and SCD cases, since they were sturdy enough and felt like the natural places to keep the games and manuals.

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Originally Posted by Gogogadget

who cares what other people do to their own things?

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I do care to some extend simply because I find needlessly trashing and wasting stuff stupid and it is against my values.

Man, NOBODY kept boxes. What a silly idea that would have seemed. In the trash it went.

That's why Genesis clamshells were special for their time. They were clearly something to keep.

In the future I will happily ship any console boxes to anyone on this forum for safekeeping, because I don't at all have the storage room to leave a bunch of boxes lying around.

For boxes and papers, it is not very valuable to me personally, although I still have my orignal 1989 Genesis box and manual. I am more offended when people chuck perfectly good hardware ( which they do routinely )

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Originally Posted by MaxWar

For boxes and papers, it is not very valuable to me personally, although I still have my orignal 1989 Genesis box and manual. I am more offended when people chuck perfectly good hardware ( which they do routinely )

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yeah that i agree with
why chuck something that works fine ?

give it away to a goodwil store then at the very least

When i was a kid, I didn't get that with a box something was more collectible or valuable.
I just threw them away. And yeah, it bugs me more when people throw out good hardware.

What annoys me the most is people who throw away cardboard game boxes (Snes/Nes) like they're packaging material yet hang on to the plastic Genesis cases.

So because its made of cardboard is has no value? its suddenly a different entity?

I get that people throw away the console box, they're big and take up a lot of space.
personally I kept mine because luckily space wasn't an issue, but I get that people throw them away.
I mean.. other then the Genesis/Snes/Nes boxes the newer consoles have rather bland boxes. especially the Sony ones.

but throwing away the game box? that never made sense to me.

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Originally Posted by KitsuneNight

yeah that i agree with
why chuck something that works fine ?

give it away to a goodwil store then at the very least

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And then goodwill send it to the junk bin because they think it is broken after trying it with a dirty cart :p

I tried to keep all my boxes but through the years but they all got messed up one way or an another. I still have my Genesis, Sega , and Saturn boxes.

I bet if you went to a store in 1994 and bought a 3DO, you had no idea that it was or would be obscure, or that it would be worth anything after a couple years. Also most of its sales were not at its original retail price, which was short-lived.

I have the boxes for my systems going back to the MD, Power Base Convertor, Game Gear and Super Nintendo and through to the PS4 and XONE. All the oldest boxes are still in pretty much the same condition as when I bought them. Except the SNES box, it somehow got scratched up when it was in my wardrobe back in the day. My sister never understood why I keep the boxes of everything I buy, including DVD, Blu-Ray etc. the only boxes I don't keep for obvious reasons, are plasma boxes and my 7.2 amp and speakers.

Not everyone has room to store a Turbo-CD box for 30 years, let alone the boxes for the packaging of every other console and accessory that a person with both the interest and means to buy most consoles would acquire. I recently threw out at least a dozen hardware boxes because they took up too much room. I bought almost everything that came out since the 80's and know from experience that it would fill an entire room.

A more logical question would be, 'how did any of this stuff survive to this day?"

I've always kept all my boxes and never conceived circumcising my Genesis clamshells. But, then again, I grew-up poor and was brought-up to take care of all my belongings as though they were the only specimen in the world.

I did meet the other side of the spectrum back in the days, though. I may have been like 14, 15, 16... even 17. I remember visiting cousins of mine or friends of my father who had children ages 8,9,10. I remember being astounded at how these children not only had multiple handhelds and consoles, but a gaming library in the 100s. Heck, their playroom was worth more than my entire household at the time (including my father's and sister's cars). I imagine it's people who grow-up in this environment who would care less for the things they own.

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Originally Posted by MaxWar

And then goodwill send it to the junk bin because they think it is broken after trying it with a dirty cart :p

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Speaking of Savers/Goodwill/Salvation Army, I spoke to a goth girl that worked at one once (I think it was Savers) asking if they had anything good. She told me that the smart workers at thrift stores like herself snatch up the good stuff before it reaches the floor and that she managed to get a brand new/sealed Chrono Trigger for free once.

She also told me that all of the video game collectors and retro game store owners have already gotten buddy-buddy with the managers at these places so they tend to get first dibs on all the good stuff.

To put it bluntly, it isn't worth going to those places if you don't meet the criteria, at least not in my area. Unless you want the shit described in the first post of this topic.

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Originally Posted by QuickSciFi

I've always kept all my boxes and never conceived circumcising my Genesis clamshells. But, then again, I grew-up poor and was brought-up to take care of all my belongings as though they were the only specimen in the world.

I did meet the other side of the spectrum back in the days, though. I may have been like 14, 15, 16... even 17. I remember visiting cousins of mine or friends of my father who had children ages 8,9,10. I remember being astounded at how these children not only had multiple handhelds and consoles, but a gaming library in the 100s. Heck, their playroom was worth more than my entire household at the time (including my father's and sister's cars). I imagine it's people who grow-up in this environment who would care less for the things they own.

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I don't think it's just rich people. I know lots of lower middle classers who will go into debt buying a new truck and then proceed to demolish the thing in muddy swamps. I also knew a lot of poor kids who didn't take care of their games and stuff at all. Manuals and boxes were just considered unnecessary and thrown away without a care. Most kids I knew didn't even read the manuals to their games.

Two kinds of consumers in the world, those who read the proper care and maintenance section of their manual, and those who throw the manual over their shoulder exclaiming "oh boy!" as they grab, slam,and half ass assembly or setup. They want the shiny toy to do its thing.

I was raised to be protective of my stuff. Don't scratch it, don't get it dirty, etc because you weren't going to get another. Disrespect of stuff meant disrespect of a hard earned dollar.

I work hard to keep my stuff (anything) minty fresh.

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Originally Posted by SegaSonic91

I have the boxes for my systems going back to the MD, Power Base Convertor, Game Gear and Super Nintendo and through to the PS4 and XONE. All the oldest boxes are still in pretty much the same condition as when I bought them. Except the SNES box, it somehow got scratched up when it was in my wardrobe back in the day. My sister never understood why I keep the boxes of everything I buy, including DVD, Blu-Ray etc. the only boxes I don't keep for obvious reasons, are plasma boxes and my 7.2 amp and speakers.

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Who the hell throws away DVD or Blu-Ray cases?

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Originally Posted by Gogogadget

Who the hell throws away DVD or Blu-Ray cases?

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You'd be amazed by just how many people actually do that.

I remember a co-worker talking about how surprised the garbage man was going to be when he opened up his trash can. He had pretty much threw away all of the cases for his CDs and kept them in a CD wallet in his truck.

If someone throws out the boxes and such for their games, that's their business. When their carts and discs end up in shitty shape, it's on them.

However, you know what does piss me off? Places like Gamestop throwing out the boxes and instructions to games that people sell to them complete. THAT irritates me.

^ why the fuck would they do that ?!

To save space. Seriously.

Dumpster diving behind Gamestops has actually become a thing now, with people grabbing those boxes and such for themselves, or to sell. My local Gamestops have thrown out all of the PS2 cases and such, and put all of the game discs into flimsy paper sleeves. Nice, huh? And they've been throwing out DS game boxes and manuals for years as well, for the same reason.

And to think, these dipshits were thinking about getting into the retro gaming market.

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Originally Posted by Gogogadget

Who the hell throws away DVD or Blu-Ray cases?

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I work in retail, and I will tell you that quite a majority of my customers are the kind that keep their game/music/movie discs in 3-ring binders. It's a bit disheartening, to say the least.

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Originally Posted by Ninsega

I work in retail, and I will tell you that quite a majority of my customers are the kind that keep their game/music/movie discs in 3-ring binders. It's a bit disheartening, to say the least.

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All of my Playstation games are kept in wallets because my mum made me throw out the cases to make room for PS2 games.

I'm not ecstatic about this over 10 years later.

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Originally Posted by Gogogadget

All of my Playstation games are kept in wallets because my mum made me throw out the cases to make room for PS2 games.

I'm not ecstatic about this over 10 years later.

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Did you at least hang on to the covers/manuals? maybe someday you can buy a box full of empty cases.

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Originally Posted by The Coop

To save space. Seriously.

Dumpster diving behind Gamestops has actually become a thing now, with people grabbing those boxes and such for themselves, or to sell. My local Gamestops have thrown out all of the PS2 cases and such, and put all of the game discs into flimsy paper sleeves. Nice, huh? And they've been throwing out DS game boxes and manuals for years as well, for the same reason.

And to think, these dipshits were thinking about getting into the retro gaming market.

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I dumpster dove at a Gamestop location that was right next door to a retail site I was installing a network at. I ended up with the cases and manuals for The Lord of the Rings: The Third Age, Gauntlet: Seven Sorrows and Devil Kings. I just recently found a loose disc for LOTR, at a Gamestop that was dumping PS2 discs for less than a $1. It's too bad I never found a disc for the other 2 titles.

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Originally Posted by old man

I don't think it's just rich people. I know lots of lower middle classers who will go into debt buying a new truck and then proceed to demolish the thing in muddy swamps. I also knew a lot of poor kids who didn't take care of their games and stuff at all. Manuals and boxes were just considered unnecessary and thrown away without a care. Most kids I knew didn't even read the manuals to their games.

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I guess it's all a matter of perspective. I was mainly talking about those "middle class" kids myself.

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Originally Posted by gamevet

You'd be amazed by just how many people actually do that.

I remember a co-worker talking about how surprised the garbage man was going to be when he opened up his trash can. He had pretty much threw away all of the cases for his CDs and kept them in a CD wallet in his truck.

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People are idiots. This is nothing new.

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Originally Posted by NeoVamp

What annoys me the most is people who throw away cardboard game boxes (Snes/Nes) like they're packaging material yet hang on to the plastic Genesis cases.

So because its made of cardboard is has no value? its suddenly a different entity?

I get that people throw away the console box, they're big and take up a lot of space.
personally I kept mine because luckily space wasn't an issue, but I get that people throw them away.
I mean.. other then the Genesis/Snes/Nes boxes the newer consoles have rather bland boxes. especially the Sony ones.

but throwing away the game box? that never made sense to me.

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When I was a kid, I made initial efforts to keep my NES games in the original boxes. Simply taking the games out of the boxes several dozens of times put wear and tear on the cardboard. I'd use a bookend to keep them upright on a shelf, but do it just a little tightly, and you're slowly crushing the cardboard. Hell, even handling them enough can put enough unexpected dings and dents on the cardboard. Box slips out of a 10-year old's hands, well, there just isn't a way to undo that damage.

I mean, these are games that I used A LOT. After a little while, the cardboard boxes just didn't come across as a very necessary means to keep the games in, especially since the dust covers seem to do the job well enough - I'd just slide the manual into the dust cover with the game. When I was a kid, I wasn't thinking about these things as valuable collectables, nor did I ever envision a future where I'd sell them for a big pay day. When I was a kid, baseball cards and comic books were considered collectables, and I treated them as such.

When Genesis games came with their strong plastic clamshells, complete with obvious places to put the manaul and game, well, they just made sense to keep around, just like it made sense with CD cases - They kept everything in one place, and were sturdy enough to not damage by simply opening them up a few dozen times.

My Genesis clamshells still looked very nice when I unloaded them all years later, and i handled them a ton in all those years. It's not uncommon to buy one used now and get it in pretty nice condition. They were built to last.

On a side note, whenever I buy toys for my kids, I usually have that split-second thought that maybe we should just keep it in the box cause it might be worth something to them in 30 years. The thought always fades. Fuck it, what fun is that? Let them just play with them. The way toys seem to be packaged nowadays, even trying to carefully open them up damages them enough for me to say...Fuck it, just throw it in the garbage.

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Originally Posted by NeoVamp

What annoys me the most is people who throw away cardboard game boxes (Snes/Nes) like they're packaging material yet hang on to the plastic Genesis cases.

So because its made of cardboard is has no value? its suddenly a different entity?

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No, it's because it's Nintendo brand cardboard that it has no value ;)

In all seriousness, most of the people I knew held onto those boxes until they were beat up (the boxes, not the people). But after years of use, dust and humidity, the boxes just get too ratty and damaged to bother keeping. So, out they go. Then you have kids and teenagers who only care about the game, not what it came in, and so out goes the box again. They weren't as durable as the plastic clam shells, which led to boxes being mangled unless the one owning was determined to keep them in good shape because they liked them. And really, I knew people who threw out the clam shells for the SMS and Genesis too, so it wasn't just Nintendo containers getting tossed. It was a matter of the "If it's not the game, I don't need it" mentality taking precedence, regardless of what system the games were for. Sadly, little's changed over the years, and that's how we ended up having game stores with discs in paper sleeves, and carts sitting bare in a small cabinet.

Not everyone's like us, and keeps what the games came in. A lot of people just want the game, and what it came with isn't important enough to worry about.

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Originally Posted by Ninsega

She also told me that all of the video game collectors and retro game store owners have already gotten buddy-buddy with the managers at these places so they tend to get first dibs on all the good stuff.

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lol, I am totally guilty of that.

I haven't set foot in a Gamestop in years. I remember the last time I was in one.

I was looking for a copy of the DS game "Ghost Trick." They had it. It was just the cart, of course. At that moment, I noticed that all the used DS games were.

"Wait a minute," I said to the girl behind the counter. "You just throw the cases away?" Seeming a bit confused, she confirmed this.

I admit I was stunned for a moment. "Never mind," I said, and I walked out. I'd been souring on Gamestop for a while, but when I thought about how many DS carts were getting orphaned by this chain, it made me realize that Gamestop is a company run with open contempt for my hobby. I'd never give them my business again.