Buying loose Cartridges
Author: M.E. Williams
This is a loose cart of Top Hunter with a Reproduction case from the NeoOldStore.
If you're collecting for any other cartridge based console, the easiest and cheapest way to get the games you want are to purchase loose carts.
While not as easily found as other loose cartridges in the retro market, sourcing AES loose carts can save you hundreds if not thousands of dollars. It takes some leg work to find them, but they do exist.
Your average AES game collector likes to purchase games complete - and I get it. AES games are true collectors items, and the more complete a game is the more valuable it will be in the market. But many of these collectors just like to have the physical game to sit on the shelf and collect dust while using other means to actually play the games. I also get that - some of these games cost thousands of dollars and you want to make sure to preserve your investment. But what about the people that would like an authentic AES version of games to actually play? That's where sourcing loose carts can help.
Sourcing loose AES carts is harder than it sounds, and there is no price guide for this weird segment of the Neo-Geo retro market. It takes a great deal of patience and market savvy to actually find a deal you're comfortable with. If you're just beginning your AES collection, I recommend starting out sourcing some of the cheaper, complete games before diving into this market segment. Because there are no market averages for loose Neo-Geo AES carts like there are for NES games, a "deal" is 100% based on your own intuition on what you think a loose cart of a game should be worth and what you're willing to pay for it. If you don't have a baseline of the average current market value on a good number of complete games, then you're likely to overpay on loose cart deals you come across - especially on Ebay.
Sourcing loose carts is not for the faint at heart. And as I stated, it will take a good deal of patience and savvy to find the right deal. This is not the avenue for everyone, and if your aim is to only source loose carts just to keep costs down, then I would suggest that you first explore the world of MVS collecting as it is still a much, much cheaper option. You can also get MVS ShockBoxes for around $13 a piece to store your games in, and they will still look amazing on a shelf.
If you are interested in this market segment, be warned that there are not many resources from which you can purchase aftermarket cases and inserts - and the resources that are there may dry up one day without notice. That said, the NeoOldStore is currently your best resource. They carry very close to authentic softbox and snaplock cases, high quality reproduction inserts, manuals, and cartridge labels, and they even make high-quality full reproductions of games (if that's your thing check out the conversion section of this site for more details).
At the end of the day, sourcing loose carts can be a boon to the gamer first/collector second crowd that has a passion for AES games - a gamer like myself. That said, if you don't have particular nostalgia or passion for AES games and just want the authentic Neo experience, go the MVS route and save yourself even more time, money, and trouble.