Man successfully collects a thousand copies of Dragon Warrior for some reason
What would you do with a thousand copies of Dragon Warrior?
Video game collecting comes in many different forms. Folks like your Editor prefer to collect things that they intend to actually play, gradually building up a vast library of titles so that they have something to enjoy, regardless of mood. Some collect games as an “investment”, perhaps with the intention of making a profit on them. Some like to pursue complete libraries for particular platforms, including variant boxes. And, apparently, some people like to collect a thousand copies of a single game.
This latter phenomenon is apparently known as the pursuit of a “mega collection” and, according to a character who goes by the name “Ferris” online, originated in 2012 with a post on the NintendoAge forum. A user known as K3VBOT had bought out a video game store and, in the process, acquired a surprisingly large number of copies of Jurassic Park on the Super NES.
After sharing some photos of the collected Jurassic Park cartridges, other users decided to start pursuing “mega collections” of a single game. One “Space Jockey” decided to make Dragon Warrior, the North American release of the first Dragon Quest, his target, while another user named “ihavethatpma” decided to take on the task of collecting as many Super Mario Bros/Duck Hunt double NES cartridges as possible.
This curious take on the hobby didn’t last forever, however. As life happened and retro gaming prices started to rise, Space Jockey decided to sell off his collection of Dragon Warrior carts, which is where Ferris entered the picture. He was one of many people who first encountered the game after it was given away to all subscribers of Nintendo Power magazine, assumed to be an attempt by Nintendo of America to introduce the English-speaking audience to the RPG genre. Having a fondness for the game as a result, he chose to purchase Space Jockey’s collection and continue the “mega collecting” tradition.
As of April 20, 2023, Ferris has successfully acquired a thousand copies of the original Dragon Warrior, mostly as unboxed carts, but with a few boxed copies and a “graded” copy from the obnoxious WATA Games in the mix. He also has a prototype cartridge known as “Dragon Warrior Express”, assumed to be a beta testing copy for the English translation due to its inflated experience point value for weak foes such as Slimes.
Along the way, Ferris has been documenting the various acquisitions in his collection, as well as cataloguing the save games on each of the cartridges in the hopes that some former owners might spot their childhood copy. He has no intention of stopping at a thousand copies, either, with his next goal being 2,500 copies of the game.
There’s an argument to be made that Ferris’ “mega collecting” is somewhat irresponsible and selfish, particularly in an age when retro games are becoming more and more expensive. If he owns a thousand copies of Dragon Warrior, that is, in theory, 999 people who can’t own a copy of Dragon Warrior.
His justification is that aforementioned Nintendo Power giveaway, however. There are apparently a lot of copies of Dragon Warrior out there, and while some have noted that the value of Dragon Warrior carts has increased slightly since Ferris started his “mega collecting” efforts, it’s still definitely on the more affordable end of things, particularly compared to the ridiculous prices the rarest NES games such as Little Samson and Flintstones: Surprise at Dinosaur Peak can command.
The biggest question about the whole endeavour is “why?” — and this is one thing that Ferris’ otherwise comprehensive website on the mega collection doesn’t really answer beyond “just because”.
So long as Ferris’ efforts to expand his collection don’t reach a point where people who honestly just want a copy of Dragon Warrior are unable to acquire one, he’s not doing any harm, though. And it seems that many individuals are more than happy to donate their own copies of the game to the cause for one reason or another — so again, as long as they’re given willingly, and not precluding others from being able to acquire an affordable copy for themselves, no harm done.
Me, I’d rather have my shelves full of lots of different games rather than a thousand copies of just one, but it takes all sorts to make a world, I guess!
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