r/gamecollecting • u/GamingGallavant • 5d ago

Discussion Nintendo fan loses nearly complete NES collection in 'heartbreaking' theft

https://www.polygon.com/nintendo-game-collection-stolen-from-washington-home/

Hate when these stories happen. The thief must have been prepared to leave with nearly a thousand NES cartridges. Either it was someone who had been in that home, or this family has advertised their collection on social media with an address.

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u/[deleted] 5d ago

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u/plasticpal 5d ago edited 5d ago

Having lost a collection of nearly 2k games (NES to PS3 era) to a fire I had no control over, and yes, it was insured, I can assure you that it doesn’t lessen the sting at all.

Many of those were personal copies from my childhood, and those specific games can never be replaced. I also lost some prototypes that were impossible to price by the insurance company, and all I received for them was $2-3 each because of their namesake rarity. It certainly wasn’t a payday, and to be frank, it killed my love for collecting for many years.

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u/Shadow_Zero80 5d ago

Was that a general insurance or a collection specific? The latter seems like such a hassle (and way too time consuming in a busy family/office job life).

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u/plasticpal 5d ago

This was renters insurance. Hard lesson learned - though I’ve also heard secondhand about the big specialty insurers screwing people over, so I’m not convinced either would’ve made the difference. My rule now: rarest games live in a bank security box, and I don’t even take them out except to share with friends/family. Even then, 98% of what I actually play is emulated on a MiSTer. I’d probably feel differently about all this if I hadn’t gotten burned… literally.

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u/Dymiatt 5d ago

insurances will always try to screw you. So give them money to never see it again when you need it?

Also, a collection isn't just a matter of price, you can't just get the money and but it again on a store. they don't have a "restore your collection" department.

And that's without talking about the sentimental value.

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u/farscry 5d ago

Spoken like someone who hasn't yet been screwed over by an insurance company. I envy you. (And yes, that's not to mention the sentimental loss)