LeeJ07

Oh no dude!!!! I am so sorry to hear this. 😪 Maybe start a  go fund me bud. I will do a video to spread the word if you create one or have a relief fund set up somewhere. 

I have to finish rebuilding part of my car first but as soon as that is finished, and you are settled back in, I will see what I have duplicates of and send them your way.  They are just collecting dust here anyway.  I know I have a duplicate Dreamcast in this damn house somewhere.  If I sent that, though, you would be on your own for an AV cable.  I don't have any extras of those.  I think I have a few duplicate 2600 games.  I don't have many duplicates but I will send what I do have to get you started hopefully.
If GameStop's insurance doesn't your home insurance should.  The only problem about going to GameStop is you may need the receipt to prove the purchase of insurance and what system it was for.  But I think it is limited to just the machine's performance like it stops reading discs, there's a mechanical failure, the damn thing just stops playing games or turning on no matter what you do...things of that nature.  I don't think it covers acts of GOD or in your situation.  However, it never hurts to ask.
 

Don't you worry about that.  @RickR is just happy you and your family are safe. 

Sorry for your loss.  I'd be upset as well.  You still have your life which is more valuable than any game or console is worth.  I know it may not seem the same but whatever you get can replace those and add new stories on top of old stories.  List here what systems you had.  I'll see what I can dig up.  I know its heartbreaking...but EVERYBODY needs a little Pac-Man and ET in their lives.  Not trying to be, what's the word, insensitive or anything but honestly, you can really only go up from here.
Others are right.  Get with your insurance company, take whatever pictures you have of your collection for proof with you, and see what all is covered.  Once you start getting them again setup an account at RF Generation and start keeping track of your collection for insurance purposes.  It can be a pain to find the right title but keeping track like that is proof for insurance claims.  Then take pictures of what you get as you get them.  Some insurance companies will keep records of that stuff if you take them copies of the photos and a complete list.  Thats what i do just for Renters Insurance.

OMG!  That is terrible.  I'm so sorry.  It's good you and your family are safe, though.  Life cannot be replaced. 

Like it says. Total destruction. My entire collection is destroyed. Everything my family owned, in fact. We are homeless.
 

Like it says. Total destruction. My entire collection is destroyed. Everything my family owned, in fact. We are homeless.
 

N64 is a great console for it's time and still holds up well today.  The last cartridge-based console.  I personally never played Super Smash Bros. yet but do remember losing most of my early 20's playing Rush 2, F-Zero X, and most titles by Rare.  I eventually grabbed Super Mario 64 which is really good but, alas, all that got traded off years ago.  I now have another N64 with expansion pak and two games...both of which I never had before.  Dr Mario 64 and Star Wars Rogue Squadron.  Both are fun games but I do miss those N64 racing games.  

So, Dad and I were out in town running an errand, when we spotted a thrift store we'd never seen before. (I'm assuming it must be fairly new.)
Went in, didn't find much at first. I was looking for video games, only found a couple PS2 titles, some old PC games, and one single PSP game. Also found a USB floppy disk drive from Sony, which I snapped up.
Anyway, we were about to leave, and I'd brought everything to the counter, when I suddenly remembered I hadn't checked the toy section. I go over to the toy shelf, spotted FIVE Easy Bake Ovens (jeez), and was about to go back to the counter, when I looked down at the floor.
There it was... A NINTENDO 64. I couldn't believe my eyes! I grabbed it up, ran to the two cashiers, who was ringing up my other stuff, and said, "This, too! I gotta have it!" The younger cashier and I talked about Goldeneye and Mario Kart.
The N64 cost a grand total of $4, included the power brick, AND IT WORKS.
Now I just need a controller.

Got this in the mail today! Thanks to rockyraccoon. This thing works great and I cant wait to play some of the greats on this thing. 
First things first though I need to hunt down a battery cover

So, Dad and I were out in town running an errand, when we spotted a thrift store we'd never seen before. (I'm assuming it must be fairly new.)
Went in, didn't find much at first. I was looking for video games, only found a couple PS2 titles, some old PC games, and one single PSP game. Also found a USB floppy disk drive from Sony, which I snapped up.
Anyway, we were about to leave, and I'd brought everything to the counter, when I suddenly remembered I hadn't checked the toy section. I go over to the toy shelf, spotted FIVE Easy Bake Ovens (jeez), and was about to go back to the counter, when I looked down at the floor.
There it was... A NINTENDO 64. I couldn't believe my eyes! I grabbed it up, ran to the two cashiers, who was ringing up my other stuff, and said, "This, too! I gotta have it!" The younger cashier and I talked about Goldeneye and Mario Kart.
The N64 cost a grand total of $4, included the power brick, AND IT WORKS.
Now I just need a controller.

Dammit... I missed this... And I'm really upset, too.
I heven't been online in a couple weeks because Mom was in the hospital.
*sighhhhh* 

I suppose there isn't any way to tell without taking it apart, something I don't do with my consoles anymore.
Good to know, though, because I'd like to get a System Changer in the future.

Bear in mind, too, that in 1981 Kenner was also still knee deep in their lucrative licensing deal to produce Star Wars toys. 
It's entirely possible that some higher up at the company was looking for some way to expand their Star Wars license. I guarantee had this made it to market Star Wars games would've been slapped all over it.

Bear in mind, too, that in 1981 Kenner was also still knee deep in their lucrative licensing deal to produce Star Wars toys. 
It's entirely possible that some higher up at the company was looking for some way to expand their Star Wars license. I guarantee had this made it to market Star Wars games would've been slapped all over it.

About damn time, if you ask me. I made the mistake of getting an ATGames Genesis console. From what I later learned, the sound quality is completely screwed up.

While I don't have any valuable games, I HAVE been in this kind of position with another type of collectible.
I like to collect a variety of things besides video games. (In fact, I probably collect too many things, but that's another story...)
I'm an avid reader, and I like to collect antique books. Quite a few years ago I got my hands on an interesting old book called "Ver Beck's Book of Bears." Now, I didn't think too much about it. It had really nice illustrations, was a pretty old book, but didn't seem too special.
A few years ago, though, I got curious and decided to look it up online. Low and behold it turned out to be an exceedingly rare volume worth up to $400 or more. That's a good deal of money for a book. I like it far too much to sell, though. It has more value to me than the money.
I imagine if I found any truly rare, valuable video games, it would be a similar case, and depend entirely on whether I like the game more than the money.

I have no shame at all when I say I've downloaded roms off the internet. If that makes me a thief, so be it. At least I'm a thief who's actually enjoying myself. 
I downloaded roms of the entire Wii Virtual Console library when I learned the WiiShop was closing. No shame. My only problem is I hate playing classic console games on a computer with a keyboard. It's a right pain in the neck.

Well done and good points made! 
 

I found this at Goodwill earlier this month, still sealed:
 

 
After putting it together, I found it came with this Flappy Bird game already installed:
 

It uses an Arduino Uno microcontroller, which I wasn't familiar with before, but I'm enjoying programming for it. I was hoping to also find some coding projects for this particular kit online, but pretty much all I've found so far are the example projects provided by the company. Right now I'm working on a program inspired by an Apple II game I used to play called "Caverns of Callisto". The 8x8 screen is a bit of a limitation, but that's not about to stop me!
 
 

Dude, I think in the '70s and early '80s, just about everybody started selling video games.

As promised, here is a picture of my great find from earlier today.
 
It's a Coleco Telstar Classic Pong console, CIB, with instruction manual and original power cord. I got the whole thing for just $20.
This is the first Pong Console in my collection.
No idea yet if it actually works, though.

Nice! Love me a good pong console. The box looks to be in pretty good shape too

Lee is right, but it sure is nuts to see something like Pep Boys. 
 
I remember games being sold at the grocery store!  Waremart in Portland, OR.  They had a glass case.

As promised, here is a picture of my great find from earlier today.
 
It's a Coleco Telstar Classic Pong console, CIB, with instruction manual and original power cord. I got the whole thing for just $20.
This is the first Pong Console in my collection.
No idea yet if it actually works, though.