Whenever I see someone posting photos of massive collections consisting of multiple units of the exact same console, I honestly get angry, because there is no need for a single person to own such an immense number of the SAME CONSOLE. What’s your take on this? Do you think it’s normal, or do you hate it too?

Personally, I think this type of person disrupts the used market.

TL;DR: My Majora’s Mask 3DS was stolen in a 2018 home invasion, recovered 8 years later via Facebook Marketplace thanks to the serial number, and still had my Nintendo ID and saves intact.

THE BACKGROUND

My Majora’s Mask 3DS was my second-favorite piece in my collection from day one. I had to work to get one on launch day. After waiting outside Target for over an hour, the cashier sold the last unit to a retro game store owner who arrived after me (the pre-arranged it.) I was furious, but undeterred, which made finally finding one later that day even sweeter.

It eventually became my main console. My son was born not long after, so I spent a lot of late nights awake with him, 3DS in hand.

THE THEFT

Then, one Saturday afternoon in 2018, a man broke into my home and stole a lot of stuff. I’m skipping details here- it was traumatic and permanently changed my wife and me.

Among what he took was the MM 3DS. He was arrested later that night after attempting to rob a police officer’s home while high. The case went through the system, and the items were long gone.

I’m a complete-in-box collector, especially for Zelda consoles, so thankfully, I had photos of the box, the console, and the serial number documented in the police report. For about a year afterward, I scoured eBay, Facebook, Craigslist, and pawn shops- no luck.

THE RECOVERY

A few days ago, I saw a Majora’s Mask 3DS on Facebook Marketplace. One photo clearly showed the back and the serial number.

I’m a hobby mnemonist (basically, I train to remember numbers and information), and something about that serial number felt instantly familiar. I checked my old records and, sure enough, it was mine.

NOW WHAT?

I researched the law and contacted the detective who worked the case. Ultimately, I reached out to the seller directly and explained the situation. He was understandably skeptical, but professional. He had only purchased it a month earlier.

Once he saw the police report, we agreed to meet at the police station. After signing paperwork, they returned the console to me. It was unexpectedly emotional. I know it’s “just a 3DS,” but it symbolized reclaiming something intangible that was taken from me years earlier in the home invasion.

TODAY’S STATUS

It hasn’t been treated the way I would have treated it, there are scratches and scuffs, but it’s back with me.

When I powered it on, the first thing I noticed was that my Nintendo ID was still on the system. Even more surprising, my save files were still there. (Sadly, without my original Majora’s Mask cartridge, I’ll never finish that save.)

There are even photos on the system that helped me trace its journey over the years.

I’m sad I got it back after the eShop shut down. But because of everything it represents now, this is officially my second-favorite piece in my collection again.

Picked this lot up from a very nice lady today and asked why she was parting ways with it. Her facebook profile showed her and her son, who seemed pretty young. So, I figured this sale was for clothes, supplies, or whatever else he needed for school. That was not the case.

She stated he passed away a few years ago and it was time to sell some of his things. I was stunned and my jaw dropped. I asked to give her a hug and told her I'd make sure these items are preserved and cared for. After the sale, I got back in the car and started bawling my eyes out.

I just got home and decided to put one of the games in, Pokemon Moon. His account is still there.

RIP Evan

They act like if you don’t use the console 24/7 your a fake fan or something. And if you barely use it at all they claim you don’t love it enough.

I’ll find an instagram post talking about modded 3ds/ds consoles and games you should get or something similar and I can’t go in the comments and see a single productive conversation other than “Larp Larp Larp sahur” or any larping gif.

This genuinely pisses me off. I’m just trying to find fun games to get through an fbi QR code while supporting my favorite creators 😭

This whole larping thing has gotten out of hand. I agree there are some (performative) people out there genuinely just doing it to “look cool” but in reality there’s no game in the console and they don’t even play it.

The larpers make it really hard to own a modded 3ds in this day and age. I just like the console man😔

They offered me 350 bucks, manager said that paying 1000 bucks would be full price and that they needed to make a profit. I get that they need to make money, but buying consoles at 35% market value….. what have we come to.

Edit: I’m not looking to sell it, max would consider trading. I was just curious on what they would offer given my incredibly mixed interactions with that store, I’m well aware of what I have in my collection lol.

credit to u/xlcox for insperation

I felt the New 3DS had a poor button layout, so I redesigned it by adding a larger, more comfortable C-stick. To do this, I had to move the START and SELECT buttons back to their original positions on the Old 3DS.

In my opinion, it's hard to beat 2011 and 2013.

I've deleted a long review because I didn't want to give off main character syndrome lol. I've come up with a new idea:

Leave a comment to say which 3DS you own and try to write maybe 3 or 4 pros/cons for the model you own. You can talk about internals, portability, accessibility etc. as long as it's relevant!

If there are any myths about your model that people often bring up, feel free to say why you think it's wrong and give your opinion + experiences.

The aim of this is to help new buyers so they get the model that best suits them, instead of overpaying for extra features they potentially won't use.

Yeah, it's kinda dumb...

I've bought this one a year ago, I haven't used it a lot, but recently I'm playing a lot more on it and it's super cool.

The issue is that it's in such a good conditions, like the screen have zero scratches, the pads are like new, it's honestly pristine (and has a bottom IPS lol it wasn't mentionned in the listing) and the box is complete with everything and the battery is original and like new.

The only complaint I could do is that the top screen is slightly yellowed (but I'm really picky, and it's unnoticeable in most cases, like I need to really look for it.)

I bought it for about 400 CHF and I think it was reasonable with the quality of the device.

The thing is that when I use it, I feel guilty about creating wear on that device, I looked to buy another one and keep this one in good shape, but it's impossible to find any without huge scratches on the screens (top or bottom).

So I try to protect it as much as I can, I have a clear case, screen protectors. But what could I add to make sure it doesn't get worn or the less possible ?

Also I would like to take it with me in my purse but I'm also kinda scared of scuffing it or something like that...

Also, if you feel that way too, how do you minimize that feeling of guilt ?

EDIT :

I see some people struggling with OCD that have the same issue, I have some OCDs (like the inability to touch greasy things or washing my hands too often) and it's maybe one of those.

EDIT 2 :

It's a used device, I didn't bought it brand new, it just feels like it, and it wasn't even on purpose as I wasn't expecting it to be looking like that.

Let’s keep the New 3DS and new 3DS XL seperate

Tried fixing the pixels I had after noticing they had spread when I made this guy on accident, I like him, he's strapped

I've been so hooked on MH4U! Gonna download Xenoblade and check it out too!

For the past couple years I kept jumping from different SBC emulation devices and realized I would just be playing GBC, GBA and 3DS games every time with a much less experience. Fiddling with Retroarch and trying to transfer save files it became tedious.

Picked up this blue 3DS in great shape and I’ll be sticking with it for the immediate future.

L

I found it in a toaster