The 7 cheapest retro consoles to collect

Retrogaming is getting more expensive each day. With consoles from the 80s now approaching the forty-year-old mark, and gamers wanting to get their hands on ’90s consoles, it seems prices aren’t going to slow down anytime soon. So which are the cheapest retro consoles to collect, to avoid breaking the bank?

The cheapest retro consoles to collect

Keep in mind that the prices we indicate here are based on eBay auctions from the past fe🐟w months and can be heavily subject to fluctuations. Take those with a grain of salt and just as generic references to have a vague idea of what you are going toಌ pay, depending on the conditions of the consoles you are looking for as well.

Nintendo NES

Indeed, the original NES is still relatively cheap, especially for a console that is now speedily heading past its 40 years. Still, if you are fine with getting your hands on an unboxed NES, you should be able to spend even less than a hundred dollars. Naturally, prices may vary in your local area, but getting one from the US is overall easier because of the success of the console in the country, while a European NES might be slightly more expensive (we’ve seen prices up to 350$ for a complete boxed PAL NES).

Also, since 🧔this is quite an old conso༺le, getting one boxed and complete might indeed set you back quite a bit. Another thing to keep in mind is to make sure that the console is working before dropping your cash, so always pay via secure methods and check the ratings of the seller, to at least make sure that you will get your money back in case of problems.

The NES gameꦍ collection is quite vast, so getting your favo🧔rite games might cost a pretty penny as well, and the console is also region-locked so be careful when planning to buy one.

PlayStation

The original PlayStation (or PSX) is another good example of a console that was so popular back in the day that, as of yet, prices for a complete boxed one h💮ave not grown much over the last few years. But we are pretty sure they will do so quite egregiously soon, so now is as good as a time as any to get your hands on one.

Even a complete boxed PSX shouldn’t break the bank, and you could find one in good condition for around 120-150 dollars.

Also, the good thing with PlayStation is that games aren’t, as of yet, quite expensive so you should be able to build up a good selection of titles quickly, such as Tekken 2, Gran Turismo, and Crash Bandicoot, for a decent price. But, since this is a console with a laser, before starting to hunt for games, you’d better make sure that the CD reader is still working correctly, which you can do with a demo disc or, if all else fails, an audio CD.

PlayStation 2

Speaking of consoles with a pristine selection of games, the PS2 is definitely up there with the best consoles of all time, with such classics as Kingdom Hearts, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, and Final Fantasy XII. And, luckily, it is a sturdy console that still hasn’t skyrocketed in price and you should be able to get one for around 150$, boxed and all. Prices can be even lower if you are happy with one that doesn’t come with its box or with all of its original accessories.

Building up a collection of games is also relatively cheap, especially compared to collecting some of the older cartridge-based consoles. Prices for all its various editions can vary quite a bit, especially for 𒈔some of the limited edition colors.

Still, prices between the original “phat” and the later slim revision do not really differ that much, so we would still recommend going for a later model, which, along with saving space on your shelf or TV cupboard, can last you longer.

Sega Master System

Another old 80s console that, perhaps because it was never appreciated enough, still seems to command p🎶retty decent prices. You should be able to get one unboxed for under 130$, while again prices for a boxed one wildly vary depending o🦩n the edition that you are after.

Overall, a PAL Master System might be slightly cheaper as they were much m𒅌ore common, which is useful to keep in mind since the console is region free so you can get games from all over the world and run them without issues.

Now you might think the Master System’s library is too small to justify collecting for it, but you’d be wrong. Not only are there some classic RPGs of yore, such as Phantasy Star, but also some pretty fun 2D platformers such as Alex Kidd in Shinobi World and the quite decent Sonic the Hedgehog which was a different take than the original Mega Drive one. They can 🌞also be relatively cheap, so it should be convenient to build up a collection without💟 going broke.

Nintendo Wii U

Ok, we know what the general consensus on the Wii U is and that is exactly why we put the console on ꦦour list. This is a very cheap console to get if you are after the brand-new boxed experience and you want to be the first to play it.

Definitely not something we can say for a lot of other consoles on this🦩 list.💦

If you are looking to play all the original Wii games you remember from your childhood, by settling on the often unjustly hated follow-up, you can get your hands on a much more recent console, plus a s🦂mall tablet to go along with it.

While getting an original Wii can save you a few bucks, we would still recommend getting a newer console which offers more features. That is, unless you are after the original Wii’s Gamecube emulation, which was sadly removed on the Wii U. A plain Wii U should set you back just 80 dollars or perhaps even less, depending on how many accessories you want included. Even the deluxe set, complete with games and the gamepad, rarely goes for more than a hundred bucks.

PS Vita

Alright, you might feel this is not strictly a retro console, but hear us out. You can get a working Vita for 140$, which is (quite frankly) a great portable device to play retro games on. By modding the console, which is pretty easy to do, you can install just about anything you want on it, including classics such as Doom and Quake and of course, all kind🌼s of emulators, so you can even play olꦺd arcade games using MAME.

Naturally, prices for a Vita might change wildly depending on the model. The original Vita had quite the premium Oled screen, ꦬbut also a proprietary charging cable, the latter Vita (2000 model) goes for an LED screen, but you can charge it with a simple MicroUSB cable.

Overall, we would not recommend going for a PSP, although they can be cheaper, as some of them have problems with batteries that literally explode. Unless you are 100% sure of who you ♒are buying the console from, better to be safe than sorry. A PSP Go on the other hand? Quite an interesting proposition.

Game Boy Advance SP

Ah the joys of the original Game Boy Advance, especially that of being so hard to see while playing that you needed to stand on the surface of the sun. Ditch the idea of the original GBA, and settle ins♈tead for the shell design of the SP.

Not only do you get much better screens, especially if you manage to find the l🌄ater AGS 101 edition, but the backlight is there, while still being able to run all of the original GBA games, along with the Game Boy and Game Boy Color games.

We can’t even begin to list all of the classic games available on the Game Boy Advance, but let’s just start with Mario & Luigi Superstar Saga and Metroid Fusion.

The GBA SP also runs games from all over, so if you find a cheaper US version of the game you have been looking for, you won’t have any problems running it. While a boxed GBA still goes for a pretty penny, you can get an unboxed but perfectly working GBA SP for less than 90$.