<![CDATA[Answering Ads: Pokemon Gold and Crystal]]>I scour classifieds ads daily since good things tend to come out of the woodwork on a regular basis, especially when approaching the weekend.  Last night, a person had put up about 15 ads for boxed Game Boy Colour games, and many were complete with their manuals.  There were also ads for a GBC and carrying case and a game case (binder style). Some of the prices were too high for my tastes, and most of the games I had no desire to own.  Two of the games were ones I wanted and were conveniently complete with all their goodies: Pokemon Gold and Pokemon Crystal.  Remarkably, the seller was only asking for $40 for each game, and I definitely needed to try to get those at that price!

You all know just how much Pokemon has exploded recently.  Along with tugging on the nostalgia of people my age, Pokemon Go has now extended that franchise to a new generation of people as well.  Over the last few years, I have been casually collecting loose copies of the Pokemon games as I’ve come across them, but the price of those has gone through the roof with the release of Pokemon Go.  Cartridges that used to be $20 have doubled in price, and the “special edition” games of each of the earlier generations (especially generations 1 and 2) have tripled or quadrulpled, especially when they’re boxed with their manuals.  A boxed copy of Pokemon Silver that I picked up earlier in the year was $40 before Pokemon Go was even a sparkle in someone’s eye, and now that game is close to $100 on eBay.  Seeing these two games – especially Crystal here for $40 – got my heart all aflutter.

I replied to the seller and it took her a few hours to get back to me.  I was convinced I had lost out on the opportunity, but she finally replied around 8:30 p.m. and said that I could have them.  Apparently she had gotten a lot of lowballers and was impressed that I had actually agreed to her asking price.  I hate undercutting people if their price is reasonable.  Considering the average price for Pokemon Crystal complete online right now is $200 CAD, I think asking for $40 was totally acceptable!  It was a steal, really.

We went to pick them up before the deal could fall apart somehow, and I’m happy to say that I own all three generation 2 Pokemon games!

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You can tell from the photo that to boxes for Crystal and Gold are a little rough around the edges.  They are by no means falling apart, but they were well-loved.  Thankfully, the game labels and manuals are in great shape.  The only major issue I’ve run into with this purchase is that the Gold cartridge doesn’t save.  That’s a risk you always take without testing before you buy, but thankfully Crystal does save without issue.  I think game batteries can be changed out pretty easily, but that brings us back to a consistent issue in our lives: we don’t have a soldering iron!  I haven’t opened up this kind of Game Boy Colour cartridge but I imagine the battery would be soldered into place like the one I observed when we opened up Oracle of Ages not long ago.  Battery replacement might have to wait until we can get our hands on a proper soldering station, but I’m in no rush to run out and buy that just yet.

In more Pokemon news, today I saw a copy of Pokemon Snap hanging around at the thrift store but decided to pass.  Like much of the other Pokemon merchandise I’ve seen around, it felt overpriced to me at $20.  From what I know, it’s a fancy 3D photo-taking game.  I can take pictures of my TV with my phone if I want Pokemon pictures badly enough!  I might have regrets if the game goes up in price 1000%, but I have no regrets for the moment.

In even more Pokemon news, I visited a big city recently and just happened to get onto a new billing cycle for my cell phone the day I left.  That means that my whopping 100 MB of data was available to hunt Pokemon outside of my house for once, and so I did.  I caught Koffing and Shellder for the first time and completely replenished my supply of Pokeballs at the bajillion available Pokestops (what a difference a city makes!).  I’m pretty far behind most people at this point at a sorry level 8, but I catch the same horrible Pokemon every day in my yard.  Unlimited Pidgeys and Rattatas for me!

Thank you very much for reading.  For those of you playing Pokemon Go, I hope your adventures are still feeling fresh and exciting!

-GG

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