How the hell do you keep up with Zelda and AC??

[JRPGFan]

They make so so SOOOOOOOOOOOO much stuff there's no way you can finish it?

There's so much stuff out there's no way you could, unlike other games where there's say... 3 games of that series and it's done. Means that stuff is harder to find and official memorabilia has been stopped, meaning you could finish the collection? (With few exceptions like First 4 Figures for Skies of Arcadia)

You guys get what I'm saying?

[GameTrigger]

Same with Final Fantasy series
You must be focused - first I started with FF games, then with OST, then with promos and figures...

[KnightOfTruth]

Zelda isn't actually THAT difficult -- nowhere as bad as AC. There's a lot of merchandise sure, but the series has been around since the 1980's - if you're just getting on the train now you've got over 30+years of merchandise to look out for. The tough thing about Zelda is finding all the promo items -- even the best Zelda sites out there never capture all of the promo items, you've got to be a member of 3 or 4 different sites just to catch them. Another difficulty with these is that in the past decade, the series has REALLY taken off for limited collectibles and all the resellers out there know it so its basically "Zelda = $$$$". So there's no big window of getting the merchandise -- you've either got the $/time/opportunity NOW or you wait around, and pay big $'s on fleabay later for it (IF you can snag one)...

I think with AC its just that they know its a "merchandise-heavy" franchise -- they can release one game and have 8 different collectors editions, 14 different press/media-type items, 25 new types of clothing, 20 new toys/figures, 2-4 new high-quality statues, various and extensive promo/pre-order merchandise, 30 new art pieces/lithos, new guides/books/comics, and I'm sure there are other things I've missed... but they do that THIS year and then do it all over again for the next. So its not necessarily the price of each item (though some are very expensive) but moreso the volume of items to be collected.

Parts of me wish I was ONLY interested in Zelda merchandise so I wouldn't split my $ on so many other things, but at least for the time being its just my #1 with a few close 2nds

[Iwatasan]

I used to collect the Mother series so I know what it's like to collect for a series that only has a few games. You're right about how it's nice to have a manageable, well-defined list of editions and merch that you're trying to get. Unfortunately the Mother series is also painfully expensive to collect for, so I did have to give up on that one in order to focus totally on Zelda.

When it comes to series like the ones mentioned so far, GameTrigger is right, you have to be focused. Make your own manageable, well-defined list out of the plethora of items that exist. If you're trying to collect every pen and pack of gum with a Zelda logo on it, you're right, you're never going to finish. I would emphatically recommend against a strategy like that. My strategy is primarily games, guides, soundtracks, and consoles. I narrow it further by sticking to US region unless Japan gets a soundtrack we don't, for example. I spring for sought-after merch occasionally too; I just picked up the Phantom Hourglass promo keychain for example. But I definitely stay away from posters and most anything unofficial---I can't afford it, I don't have room to display or store it, and it would take away resources from collecting the more interesting items.

For Zelda specifically, there actually is a knowable list of editions and the most sought-after merch, and there's several good forums around that can help guide you on what those lists contain if you're really interested. And I agree with Knight that, at least for now, the best buying strategy is to get limited editions/merch at MSRP with a preorder if a possible. Look at the recent Hyrule Warriors CE that went from $79.99 to $500-$1,000 overnight.

[JRPGFan]

Originally Posted by Iwatasan

Look at the recent Hyrule Warriors CE that went from $79.99 to $500-$1,000 overnight.

There'd were 200-300 of them, you COULDN'T pre-order it online AND you could only get it at Nintendo World IN NEW YORK! Which you had to show up for, for it was "first-come, first serve" basis. Which is just bullshit for Zelda fans everywhere.

[Iwatasan]

Originally Posted by JRPGFan

There'd were 200-300 of them, you COULDN'T pre-order it online AND you could only get it at Nintendo World IN NEW YORK! Which you had to show up for, for it was "first-come, first serve" basis. Which is just bullshit for Zelda fans everywhere.

Exactly. If you weren't there and couldn't get someone else to get one for you at release, you now have to pay hundreds of dollars over MSRP for it. It's a bit of an extreme example because of how limited it is and how concentrated its distribution was, I'll grant you that, but there are other examples of Zelda editions and merch that are comparable in that regard, and some that are considerably more expensive.

On the other hand, the standard edition of Hyrule Warriors, in 5 years, sealed and mint, might maintain MSRP, but probably won't be worth more than that. So regarding your original question, a collection of just the standard edition of Zelda games, unsealed, from whichever single region you prefer, would be a good (and cheap) place to start, and you could potentially expand from there. By my count, that's 17 games not counting remakes or spin-offs; 22 if you also count the more substantial re-releases of LADX, Master Quest, "Collector's Edition", OoT3D, and TWWHD.

[DESOUL]

I thought of going after ff stuff exclusively, but then they released 11, 12, 13,13,13 and 15 doesnt look that good for me either, so i gave up.
Not into ass creed.
Zelda has so much and everything (even a tiny little pin) costs way too much
so.... i got nothing XD random stuff here and there made a policy to only buy from games I really like, and not buy if i havent played a game

[KnightOfTruth]

Originally Posted by DESOUL

I thought of going after ff stuff exclusively, but then they released 11, 12, 13,13,13 and 15 doesnt look that good, so i gave up.

This is one of the best quotes I've ever seen. +1 Awesome to you my friend!

[Vlad]

I like getting AC stuff but for me what's important and makes it manageable is to prioritise and stick to certain things, I think you'd have either a nervous breakdown or need some serious spreadsheet skills to keep track of everything and get it all.

So for me in order of priority I've decided only to go for the biggest fanciest edition at each game's launch, (Black Chest edition or Guillotine edition for example), the figurines from Ubishop and some miscellaneous extras if I really wanted them, (like the Blackbeard's Journal book, the Prima Initiate Edition guide, the guillotine bottle opener (which I've still to get), stuff like that.))

Even at that it's still probably my biggest collection, I'm just really lucky my partner likes the "little assassiny guys", haha!

[Iwatasan]

Originally Posted by DESOUL

I thought of going after ff stuff exclusively, but then they released 11, 12, 13,13,13 and 15 doesnt look that good for me either, so i gave up.
Not into ass creed.
Zelda has so much and everything (even a tiny little pin) costs way too much
so.... i got nothing XD random stuff here and there made a policy to only buy from games I really like, and not buy if i havent played a game

Some may disagree, but DESOUL's policy seems sound to me. Why collect a video game if you haven't actually played it before? There are much cheaper things to collect if you just want something to collect. Relating that to the original question, if you haven't yet played every game in a franchise, don't start out by collecting the most expensive editions from that series---you might eventually play some game in the series that totally turns you off of it and you'd be out all that money. So again my advice is: unsealed standard editions from a single region for starters; get to know the series before you go all in. If you don't own the older consoles to play them on, all the old Zelda titles are also available on Virtual Console.

Once you have a complete set of the canon games, you can: work up from unsealed standard editions to CIB, Sealed, and Mint/Sealed; start collecting re-release versions (e.g., Classic NES Series LoZ1); start collecting the more expensive variants and CEs; start collecting other regions; or just go straight from unsealed standard editions to collecting soundtracks, statues, or whatever type of merch you like best. There is some really good Zelda merch out there amidst a lot of shit merch but it's up to you where to draw the line.