After reading this post I figured that you can get an estimate (by ebay). You need to see all the people bidding high amounts on the rare games complete or not. Not just the winner but who is close as well.

I dont see someone trying to bid $40 or more for an Action 52 just to play, And I think everyone can agree on that one.

yea it would definetly  be how you rate a collector.                        

So what do you guys consider a collector.  Are there different "rankings" for a collector?

I know someone who was about 80 games away from having a complete (loose) NES collection including unlicensed games.   He stopped, sold off most and decided he would only collect the games he likes to play (around 200) leaving him around 15 left to get.
He considers himself a collector.  I would try to use a different characterization.  A sub-set collector perhaps.

I know someone else like me who needs about 5 games (6 including NWC or 7 including NWC gold) to complete his collection.  He's stopped actively looking for them and doesnt want to pay ebay prices for them.  I consider him a collector, but since his idea of a complete set doesnt include those 5-7 games, does that make him a sub-set collector as well?

Al

Some definitions I'm making up off the top of my head since Al brought the topic 'round to it. Note these aren't specific to NES.

Collector: Someone who seeks, purchases or retains items based on their intrinsic (not necessarily monetary) value, with the intention to keep them for an undefined period of time.

That's pretty dense language but what I'm trying to convey is: we don't do it for the money, we don't know when we're going to "cash in" and most of us either keep what we always had, or buy more towards a personal goal.

Reseller : a similar definition, just replace "intrinsic" with "monetary" and "undefined period of time" with "until they turn over."

Investor: a similar definition as collector, just replace "intrinsic" with "monetary or potential monetary value" and the end stays the same.

Completionist: Someone who seeks, purchases or retains all items within a set of predefined parameters.

Note that this last one has nothing to do with time or value, the goal's the thing. This can be large-scale (all Nintendo-licensed products) or small (all KOEI NES releases).

There is of course overlap. I'd classify the person who sold all of his items to retain only his favorites as a former Completionist, turned Collector. One could argue that his desire to keep only "fun" games might be a complete collection, but classifying what is "fun" certainly could not be quantified within any measure or parameter, and therefore how complete his collection would be would slide depending on his opinion at any given time.

Anyways getting dense again. Any other types we can define?

Retrowhore: Shopped at Hot Topic to buy a NES controller belt buckle and a black SMB hoodie; system sits unplugged in a closet.

there tons of collectors out there.. but only true collectors go for the whole sha-bazz!

so u dont buy nes games then...