What Games are in Your Box of 20?

If you could pick only 20 games for your entire collection, what would they be? And if you only had 20 games to buy, what kind of condition would you be able to afford them in? This is the idea behind a new coin collecting trend called a ‘box of 20’.

In this blog series, I’ve been comparing game collecting to the much older hobby of coin collecting to see what we can learn. So far, we’ve learned to not buy junk, which is cheap, mediocre games that nobody wants and will not hold their value. But coin collectors have taken this piece of advice one step further.

This is a graded coin box. When you send a lot of coins out for third-party grading, they will be sent back in a box that holds 20 coins in their graded holders. The idea is: take one of these boxes, and buy the best possible coins to fill it. When you’re done, you’ll have 20 coins that you absolutely love, instead of a box full of state quarters and worthless wheat pennies. It takes restraint and patience to wait for the perfect piece to buy for your collection.

There are a lot of benefits though, mostly budgetary. You can spend all the time you want to complete this collection, so you can aim really high on the prices. Maybe you’re willing to spend $5000 on your box over the course of the next 5 to 10 years. With an average game price of $250, that should be plenty of money to get a very clean copy of some of your favorites. But when you’re done, you’re done. If you want to replace a game, you’ll have to sell one you already have and spend that money to buy the new game.

If and when you do need to sell your collection, it will be easy. Chances are, your box doesn’t include bad games. Finding a buyer will be easy, and getting your money back out shouldn’t be a problem. Personally, I don’t want to be the guy with a basement full of thousands of games worth tens of thousands of dollars, and find that it’ll take me years to liquidate it all at half the price I paid. Why not spend less money on better stuff and be in a better financial position?

Right now, think of the 20 best games ever released. It’s up to you to decide what ‘best’ means. Is it the games most meaningful to you, or the highest rated games, or the most collectible and rare? No two collectors would come up with the same list of 20.

For me, my box would have a lot of nostalgic PSX games, maybe Klonoa, Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete, Mega Man Legends 2, Metal Gear Solid, Tomba, Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2, and Final Fantasy IX. I would throw in a few Genesis favorites, like Dynamite Headdy, Comix Zone, The Death and Return of Superman, Ristar and Sonic and Knuckles. Of course, I can’t forget the NES. I would need Mario 3, and Contra… But I also need to save room for the Game Boy. I need Donkey Kong, Pokemon Red, Mega Man Xtreme, Metal Gear Solid again, and Super Mario Land 2. Oh, and Golden Sun. Speaking of RPGs, I haven’t gotten to SNES. I should also save some room for the PS2/Xbox era, and there’s some classic PS3 stuff I would want too.

But I’m already at 20.

See? It’s not so easy.

I Want to Play More Than 20 Games!

This is one area where the collecting strategy will have to be adapted. Games are practical, usable items. Collectible coins can sit in a box and just be looked at every now and then. Here’s what I propose: separate collectible games and playable games. The box of 20 will be games that are in immaculate condition, all boxed, and possibly sealed. I’m not so sure about the state of grading in video game collecting, but ideally they would all be worth having graded, whether you do it or not.

Since these games are in such great shape, you probably won’t want to shove them into a Retron 5 and risk messing up the pins. Luckily, there are tons of options if you just want to play a game. There are Everdrives, emulators, virtual consoles, or even just cheap scratched up cart-only copies that you can throw in a bin without concern.

This is my current strategy with my Game Boy collection. I have a carefully-curated collection of classics and childhood favorites complete in box. But I also have a pile of cheap, dirty cart-only games that piqued my interest. If I can save a buck and get the copy with the label torn off, I will. It helps keep the budget for the collectible games on track. And if I find that I absolutely love one of the cheap games, maybe I’ll buy a boxed copy later and it will join the pantheon.

20 Still Isn’t Enough

There are hundreds of games for dozens of consoles. Maybe your collection won’t feel complete with only 20 games and a box full of cheap cartridges.

Coin collectors are in the same boat. There are thousands of years of coinage from hundreds of countries. Maybe a collector fills a box of 20 with American coins, but later develops a passion for medieval English coins. What does he do? Usually, he “cheats” and starts a second box.

The number 20 is arbitrary, simply based on the shipping method of graded coins. What really matters is the principle behind the method. Does your budget allow for a box of 40, or even 80? That’s great, but slowly and carefully buy games that you plan on keeping for years. Spend enough to get quality. Collect instead of accumulate.

A lot of game collectors are getting a bit older, and they have more disposable income. They might want to start a box of 20 for every console they have, or every genre they like. As long as they’re full of top-shelf games in spectacular condition, then more power to them.