7A Building

Hopefully by now you have all come to your senses and have decided
to dedicate the rest of your life to the greatest hobby in the history of
the world---collecting Sega products. However, there are things that
you must know and things you will need before you begin this feat.

First and foremost, you will need money. I'm not going to lie to you---
collecting rare Sega games and systems isn't going to be cheap. You
may have to take out a second mortgage or sell a kidney (you really
only need one anyway). Please note: I do not recommend getting a
second or third job to help pay for the costs as this will make it more
difficult to spend quality time with your newfound collection.

The second thing you will need is time. You aren't going to be able to
hop in a car and drive down to the nearest flea market and pick this
stuff up. Unless you miraculously strike gold at some poor, ignorant
soul's garage sale, you will be spending a lot of time searching
through online auctions in order to complete your collection.

And finally, you are going to need knowledge---knowledge of what
items are collectibles and how much they are actually worth. Just
because some ambitious seller on ebay puts the words RARE in his
title description doesn't mean the item is rare. People will say
anything to raise the price of their goods. If you don't have the
knowledge you could find yourself buying worthless rare items, cheap
substitutes, or significantly overpaying for items that aren't as rare
as they appear (which I have done on numerous occasions).

A general rule for collecting is: If it's too good to be true, it probably
is. You aren't going to find a copy of Panzer Dragoon Saga for $15
dollars. If you think that you have, it's probably the original, and much
less valuable game, Panzer Dragoon. You aren't going to find the
official Samba de Amigo maracas for $30 dollars. If you think you
have, they are probably the cheap third party, and much less
valuable, Cha Cha maracas. Always talk to the seller before you buy.
Is the game really in mint condition? Does it really come complete
with the original case and manual and are they also in mint
condition? If the seller cannot provide answers or a trustworthy
picture: be wary!

If it helps, I separated my collecting process into three phases:

Phase I: Collect the rare items found in my overall Top 20 List and
individual system Top 5 lists.

Phase II: Collect the games found in my Top Games lists, any
secondary rares, and the items found on my rare import list.

Phase III: Collect games of personal interest and the games on my
top import games list.

Following these three phases has made the collecting process much
easier. Not only has it allowed me to focus more specifically on
certain items, but it made it much easier to prepare the necessary
budget. Besides, it gives you a sense of accomplishment whenever
you complete a phase (although Phase III seems to be a neverending
one for me as I am constantly rediscovering games of personal
interest).

Hopefully my Top Games and Most Rare lists will be somewhat helpful
in your collection building process. Happy Collecting!