An old member on here that I know has collected complete MVS kits with matching labels TWICE! Did it the first time and sold them all after the challenge was gone. Then did it again.
Well, I did that with my English AES collection which was complete all the way up to Garou Mark of the Wolves, and KOF99 being my last two games when I sold my collection to Gamedude, and then began rebuying them again starting in 2001/2002 as I could not stand not having them anymore. It was not for the enjoyment in trying to collect them all again, but more for the love of the game's themselves. However, I do admit that it slowly did become somewhat enjoyable hunting for them, but somehow even though I love my AES more than my MVS, and the Neo-Geo CD's, I seem to enjoy hunting down the MVS carts with perfect looking English stickers on them the most. I'm not sure why, but it seems to be harder to do which I find strange considering that they were produced 100x more than the AES carts. I suppose it's due to the environment that the MVS games were in which makes it harder to find them in nice condition.
Glad you mentioned THE CHALLENGE. I think that's what attracts me to collecting AES. Every addition to my set feels like a monumental goal completed, since the library isn't huge and the games cost a lot.
I totally hear that, as I feel somewhat the same for each MVS/AES game I add to my collection. I also feel that way toward getting the Turbo Duo English games as well as those seem to be wanted by so many old school gamers these days, and I always loved that console, it was my second fav console ever made. I find it funny that I always tried to get my friends to play the Turbo Duo with me, but all they wanted to see was my Neo-Geo instead. Now the Turbo Duo has a pretty decent following, and the same people that did not care about it back in the day are the same ones that seem to want it now. lol
If you're enjoying it - that's the main thing. It's important to know though that almost every person who starts out AES collecting hits 50 games and if they're "serious" about it, they hit it fast. There are right around 50 games that are moderately priced ($100 or less). It's the 2nd 50 where the actual "collecting" begins.
Yeah, it was the last 20 or so English games where the "real" collecting began for me, as that is when it began getting uber damn expensive, and the last 10 are now just ridiculous in price. If you include the JPN carts as well, then I suppose that you can definitely say the last 40 or so are a bitch to get. I was just about ready to get Sonic Wings 3 the other day, just to see that it went from $700 on ebay to $1,500 in what seems to be just one or two months time. Very depressing lol.