Unless you live in a sparsely populated area or one that just doesn't have that many collectors, you are going to need a decent network of connections if you want to get anywhere in this hobby.
I've had an
Ocarina of Time 3DS system since it launched on Black Friday about 4 years ago. Once the 3DS XL was released, I knew that I wanted one, I just didn't want to give up my
Ocarina 3DS. I had a theory back then that Nintendo would eventually release
Majora's Mask on the 3DS and they would release a
Zelda-themed 3DS XL to go with it. When
A Link Between Worlds was announced, I thought that if they released a 3DS XL bundle, I would maybe get that instead. Once I saw the system, though, I knew it wasn't for me.
Love this little guy, he needs a worthy successor
It's just a bit too minimalist for my taste, so I passedIt wasn't too much longer until my old theory was confirmed. Nintendo would release
Majora's Mask on the 3DS and not only would there be a
Majora-themed system, but it would be a new upgraded system. Awesome. I went to Target and Gamestop the day the system launched but surprise, no dice. I was told by both locations that the hardware was in extremely limited supply. Crap. I was going to need to put some feelers out.
This is where connections come in. I put the word out on RF Generation, to a couple of local collectors, to my Collectorcast co-hosts, to the owner of my local retro game stores, all the folks who make this hobby so great. Despite all of those feelers, by the time I was ready to leave for PAX East, I was still XL-Less.
At PAX East this year, I felt like the only person with a regular sized 3DS. I was teased a little by all of the XL owners and I told them "I'm not worried, I'll get a
Majora's Mask 3DS XL eventually." They usually responded, "Yeah, for like $600." I believe that if I am patient enough, I can find what I am looking for with a good network of connections.
Last week, it happened. I got a text from one of my local connections. A guy named Dan who runs a couple of Facebook retro game collector groups. He said that a manager friend of his at Gamestop told him that she was getting a few systems in the next day. Unfortunately, I couldn't get off of work that day so I told him thanks for the info, but I couldn't make it over to that store. So do you know what he did? He drove, almost an hour, to the Gamestop in question, bought it for me with his own money, and delivered it to me the next day. What a freakin guy!
could it be?
It is!A good collector should feel a responsibility to help out other collectors, especially the ones who help others out on a regular basis. For example:
Over a year ago, JohnnyNintendo noticed that I was looking for a CIB
Metroid for the Game Boy Advance. He just sent it to me and asked me to let him know if I come across anything cool that he would be interested in. He is on my hunt list every time I go to a flea.
Singlebanana shot me a text asking if I would be interested in a CI copy of
Bases Loaded 4 for the NES. Of course I would, how much? All he wanted was what he paid for it, which was a good deal. Nanner gets the next copy of
Panic Restaurant that I find in the wild.
Techie413 has a habit of putting things aside for me and adding gifts to almost every purchase that I make from him. I recently commissioned a retro artist to put something together for him and I just got word a few days ago that it is ready. I hope that Techie likes it, he's earned it.
That's really just a few of the many examples of the benefits of having connections and being a connection for others, and that is just from RF Generation. There are tons of other examples of this type of camaraderie from all over this site and others, it's really one of the best parts of collecting.
For helping me out with scoring a
Majora's Mask 3DS XL, I will be presenting Dan with this little guy the next time I see him.
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Dan sounds like an awesome guy!! I can't even remember how many times many of you have hooked me up in the past now. Gaming communities like rfgen are fantastic. I'm always looking for opportunities to pay it forward both locally and to my online buds.
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I wholeheartedly agree. This site, my co-hosts, and many friends have been infinitely kind to me in the past. I always hope that I can in some way do my part to help them as well. Community is a giant part of this hobby.
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D'oh! Good use of misdirection with the title. I thought you were going to discuss actual connectors-- AV cables, link cables, etc.-- and which ones you'd recommend. I think you also talked about making your own custom connectors in a few CollectorCasts, so I thought maybe you'd include a YouTube video of you cobbling one of those bad boys together. Hey, THERE'S an idea for you...
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This site is a great example of this very subject. I've had several members here do some AWESOME things for me. And back in the day when I used to "game hunt" heavily, I would always send out "little goodies" in my sales and trades.
I don't really have any local people that help me out. But I have been trying to get the word out as much as I can about my hobby. It has paid off a few times, most recently with a friends' yard sale in which she gave us 2 NES Systems, with 30 games and extra's for 40. She didn't even have it setting out in the yard sale. It was in her basement.
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Yeah definitely hard to find good stuff here in my hometown . The few that have aren't very helpful and won't part with anything. Always looking for good guys in the gaming community. Been a member on rf gen for a few months now. Has everyone had good dealings with buying stuff on here ?
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@SK1NN3R: I would say that a vast majority of people on this site are great to deal with in terms of trading and selling items. I've never had a bad experience on here in my almost 5 years on the site, and I have only heard of 1 or 2 occasions where things did not work out. If you are interested in trading/buying on here, you can check out the Traders' Feedback page and search for your seller's name on there. This is where we put feedback from trades/sells and it should give you a good idea as to what type of experience you should expect. (http://www.rfgeneration.com/forum/index.php?board=31.0)
RF Generation has always been a great site for connecting with people to help further my collecting goals. I am a member of a few other sites, like NA and AA, but I rarely do any buying or trading there. It's not that those aren't great and trustworthy sites with fantastic members as well, it's just that I feel like a bigger part of the community and would rather lend my support here. Even though I have a fantastic, local retro store that offers me great support, I've received a great deal of assistance in bolstering my collecting from this site. I have even received a good deal of free stuff from members who just want to help me out. People know what I collect and have a good idea about what I still need, so I never see any reason to turn to places like eBay to find the few remaining games I need for my NES set; it just takes some patience. I've gotten some great deals here, and even though it's often tempting to try and get the most in trade/cash for items I score for a great price, for members, I always try to give what most would consider as more than fair deals. I know that a vast majority of items I sell or trade are going into collections and not being flipped, so the joy I receive in helping others out and the friendships made are more valuable to me than the money. Though karma might sound like a silly thing to some, this site has made me a believer.
Thanks for the mention Bil. I'm going to hold you to that Panic Restaurant deal. 
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I was at an anime convention this weekend and casually met a gentleman that recently moved back from Japan and has done translation work for one of my favorite blogs. He told me of a story where a lot of game developers meet up Thursday nights at a bar in Shibuya and kick ideas around, and how a few of them have colorful personalities. At some point he even applied for a translation/editorial job at SNK, but it never worked out.
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I live in the boonies. No connections out here.  I've discovered some great guys like Zagnorch and Single Banana on this site, though, and had good experiences with them. Wish I had more money available, because I'd do more business on here if I could.
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Nice perspective. I don't have much locally going on, since I live in a relatively rural area, but within 65 miles, there's a game shop I've started to build a relationship with. Same for another store about 70 miles away. I'm hoping to make those connections here as well, so I can buy, sell, trade, and so forth, to help further the collections of those here as well as my own.
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I'm trying to make connections as well, but I'm not really sure how successful I've been.
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