Collection Milestone: Completed my Playstation 1 Long Box Variant Set!!!!
Since I started seriously collecting back in 2012, I've been slowly collecting PS1 long boxes as I come across them for cheap. I would often get distracted by going for other systems so the long box set was always on the back burner. However, this past year, I reorganized my game room before I moved to Minnesota and realized I had amassed a decent amount of them. They all just looked so purdy!!!! I began looking into what the full set consisted of and decided to go for gold and hunt down all the variants, especially because I didn't see anybody else online in the last few years with a full variant set. Well, I finally got the last variant I needed yesterday and wanted to share the achievement!
Special thanks to:
- Dangerboy/Jason/Game-Rave.com for providing the comprehensive list as well as putting up with my questions on Facebook over the past couple of months!
- hammerfestus for hooking me up with the second to last long box I needed of WipeOut with the ship graphic/non-slip cover version
- xtremegamer for hooking me up with the final long box I needed of Bases Loaded with the ridged plastic spine.
Side notes:
- I didn't even attempt to go after the Raiden Project data error variant listed on the Game-Rave list because I felt like it would be nearly impossible to get sellers to look for those little numbers on the disc or me having to buy every copy I could find online to see if it was a data error. Besides, the artwork and case were the same for the correct version.
- In my hunting, I kept seeing A-Trains with stickers on the front and some without. I realized that for some copies, the sticker advertising the cards was place ON TOP of the shrink wrap and for other copies it was on the actual box. I bought a sealed copy to confirm this. Jason felt like this wasn't a true variant since the sticker was moving down one layer to the box in roughly the same spot. However, I felt like it would bug me if I didn't include it in my set so that is why there are two copies!
- Some games are in rougher shape than others, but all do have their respective manuals
Top 5 most difficult/rare games of this set to track down (in my opinion/experience) with 1 being the rarest/hardest to find:
1. Bases Loaded 96 (ridged plastic spine) - never saw a single copy in any game store, facebook collecting groups, or even on ebay for sale over the past year. Luckily xtremegamer hooked me up!
2. NFL Game Day (ridged plastic spine) - only ever saw two copies pop up on ebay. One was mixed in a PS1 lot I bought from Canada and the other was xtremegamer's copy he listed later on.
3. WipeOut ("American" artwork, non-slip cover) - only ever saw one box-only copy on ebay (that I should have bought at the time), but hammerfestus hooked me up!
4. Wing Commander III (ridged plastic spine) - only ever saw maybe four copies on ebay (one I missed out on, two I bought, and one that Dain has listed for sale at the moment) I also have my duplicate listed on eBay.
5. Starblade Alpha and Psychic Detective were a bit of a tie due to very few copies popping up and they usually had condition issues that were too much for me (and I like to think I'm pretty lenient on condition)
BONUS! - Geom Cube and Theme Park were also pretty tricky to find the long box versions CIB as most were missing manuals or sellers listed them incorrectly when they were actually the jewel case version.
On to the pics of 125 PS1 long boxes!!!
I realized afterwards I forgot Power Tennis and Primal Rage in the pic above so I put them at the end since I'd already stacked all these to the side...haha
The cool King's field hint card variants:
A-Train sticker differences:
Thanks for looking and being a great community I can share this with!
Special thanks to:
- Dangerboy/Jason/Game-Rave.com for providing the comprehensive list as well as putting up with my questions on Facebook over the past couple of months!
- hammerfestus for hooking me up with the second to last long box I needed of WipeOut with the ship graphic/non-slip cover version
- xtremegamer for hooking me up with the final long box I needed of Bases Loaded with the ridged plastic spine.
Side notes:
- I didn't even attempt to go after the Raiden Project data error variant listed on the Game-Rave list because I felt like it would be nearly impossible to get sellers to look for those little numbers on the disc or me having to buy every copy I could find online to see if it was a data error. Besides, the artwork and case were the same for the correct version.
- In my hunting, I kept seeing A-Trains with stickers on the front and some without. I realized that for some copies, the sticker advertising the cards was place ON TOP of the shrink wrap and for other copies it was on the actual box. I bought a sealed copy to confirm this. Jason felt like this wasn't a true variant since the sticker was moving down one layer to the box in roughly the same spot. However, I felt like it would bug me if I didn't include it in my set so that is why there are two copies!
- Some games are in rougher shape than others, but all do have their respective manuals
Top 5 most difficult/rare games of this set to track down (in my opinion/experience) with 1 being the rarest/hardest to find:
1. Bases Loaded 96 (ridged plastic spine) - never saw a single copy in any game store, facebook collecting groups, or even on ebay for sale over the past year. Luckily xtremegamer hooked me up!
2. NFL Game Day (ridged plastic spine) - only ever saw two copies pop up on ebay. One was mixed in a PS1 lot I bought from Canada and the other was xtremegamer's copy he listed later on.
3. WipeOut ("American" artwork, non-slip cover) - only ever saw one box-only copy on ebay (that I should have bought at the time), but hammerfestus hooked me up!
4. Wing Commander III (ridged plastic spine) - only ever saw maybe four copies on ebay (one I missed out on, two I bought, and one that Dain has listed for sale at the moment) I also have my duplicate listed on eBay.
5. Starblade Alpha and Psychic Detective were a bit of a tie due to very few copies popping up and they usually had condition issues that were too much for me (and I like to think I'm pretty lenient on condition)
BONUS! - Geom Cube and Theme Park were also pretty tricky to find the long box versions CIB as most were missing manuals or sellers listed them incorrectly when they were actually the jewel case version.
On to the pics of 125 PS1 long boxes!!!
I realized afterwards I forgot Power Tennis and Primal Rage in the pic above so I put them at the end since I'd already stacked all these to the side...haha
The cool King's field hint card variants:
A-Train sticker differences:
Thanks for looking and being a great community I can share this with!
Comments
Next collection goal?
And congrats on the milestone, that's a lot of nice lookin' boxes ya got there.
Very nice! Congrats man!
Next collection goal?
Maybe N64? I haven't quite decided yet...
Argh, just seeing this forced me to buy A-Train.
You going for a variant set too?
Congrats on the set!
Originally posted by: GCrites80s
Nope, I just want A-Train.
Haha!
Originally posted by: GameboyRicky
Awesome man! I've actually been slowly working on this exact set for about 2 years. I'm currently at 74/102 – 85/125. I'll bet you amassed a ton of doubles in the process! Congrats on completing it!
Definitely had a bunch of doubles, but was able to sell off to other collectors. The only duplicate I currently have for sale on ebay is the ridged spine version of Wing Commander III, but it's in pretty rough condition on the front...
Originally posted by: JosephLeo
Pfft, no Spacehulk? (I kid, I kid, that's not an actual release)
Congrats on the set!
I really wanted the Space Hulk promo box as well as the unreleased long box of NFL Quarterback Club '96, but I didn't have a spare $2k...lol
Serious long box collectors seem to be a pretty rare breed and to go the extra mile to go for the 100% variant set is some real dedication to be proud of.
Congrats again hopefully I'll be almost joining you with the lesser 102 set before long.
Btw that quarterback club box keeps getting put up on eBay for the low low price of just over a grand
I've sold a few of the ones that went up in price recently because I got them so cheap. Once I got interested in Saturn collecting my longboxes kind of took second priority.
Originally posted by: SpudBug
That's great! I've been collecting the longboxes for a few years too. I didn't realize the plastic ridged case bases loaded was rare. I have both versions. I've sold a few of the ones that went up in price recently because I got them so cheap. Once I got interested in Saturn collecting my longboxes kind of took second priority.
I'm not 100% sure if it is truly rare, it was just the most difficult for me to track down. So hang onto it!
The variants especially look great. Don't seem to be many people who care about those. Glad to see someone who has a soft spot for them haha.
Ended up with a few variations while on my quest but after seeing what Gamerave had discovered many years ago I decided NO WAY.
Man, can I appreciate the hard work this took.
NIIIICE!!