Curious to know how old everyone is. How old are you now and how long have you been collecting vgm for? What was the very first soundtrack you bought?

I'll go first:

28, collecting since 19. Final Fantasy X and Vagrant Story were the very first soundtracks I bought Ahh the memories...

31, started collecting at 17. First VGM order was for Final Fantasy VII OST, Rockman 2 The Power Fighters and Marvel Super Heroes vs Street Fighter OST + Arrange.

I'm going to turn 27 in December. I bought my first soundtracks when I was 15 or 16, and I think the very first one was Symphonic Suite Final Fantasy. It also could have been Tenchu OST, though, as I bought them both around the same time.

I'm 23. I got into collecting vgm on 5/08/09 when I bought Ibara's soundtrack from champ on eBay.

I honestly wouldn't call myself a collector, not anymore at least, but I'm 33 and I started buying VGM when I found out that CDs with VGM actually existed, which was in 1999 or something, I think.
I'd been making my own tape recordings before that.

The first CDs I bought were FFVII Reunion Tracks and the Street Fighter Alpha OST, but they were SonMay discs, which I knew nothing about at that point.
The first proper release I bought was Xenogears.

i ordered Final Fantasy 4 & Seiken Densetsu 2 osts through MAIL ORDER when i was 19...
back when discovering japanese stuff still had a sense of wonder and magic, instead of being spoonfed to your inbox daily

Just quoting this part of what you said because it is EXACTLY the same as my story!  O.o

I'm 30. I bought my first VGM album probably when I was 19 or so. Had to have been something Star Ocean, but I couldn't say specifically. I started with buying VGM as an extension of collecting anything and everything related to tri-Ace games, but after I got some music that I way, I thought "Hell, if I'm buying OSTs, why don't I get the albums for all of the video game music I've loved over the years?" So then I got going buying the OSTs and/or ASTs to stuff like Chrono Trigger, Secret of Mana, Lufia II, Final Fantasy Mystic Quest, etc. etc. Even to this day, most of my soundtrack collecting is of older releases. Also goes hand-in-hand with my penchant for retro gaming, so I could very well play an old game for the first time, love the music, and then track down the OST, like how just a few years ago I play Brave Fencer Musashi for the first time and then wanted the OST.

Age 36. Although I discovered Japanese CD releases in July of 1999, I had started ordering CDs from Nintendo in 1996 (age 20). This was the first CD I ordered from Nintendo: http://vgmdb.net/album/2425

I remember waiting and waiting and waiting for volume 2.

So I have been collecting vgm for 16 years. I started listening to sound tests at age 14 (1990), so I have been seriously listening to vgm for 22 years.

28.

Old school. Started the same way in '96 out of ads in the back of GameFan magazine. Stopped when I found out most of my purchases were EverAnime bootlegs a year later. Did not start again until 2007 when I started enjoying Tenpei Sato's works. That same year I bought Otonoishi by RED ALiCE at otaku.com, found the doujin scene, and never looked back.

i used to order from a place called books nippon in Los angeles..
I would call up and give them the catalog numbers and they would special order them for me..
i remember estpolis biographies was like $20 cause the dollar was so strong back then

I turn 34 this Wednesday.  Started collecting when I was around 16-17.  First ones were the US Kefka's Domain and Secret of Mana OST's.  Once I realized that VGM could be had like this it was all over.  A friend had introduced me to Son May cd's but back then I didn't know they were bootlegs.  Once I realized that I soon dropped them and started ordering legit from places like The Place and then that led me to CD Japan where I buy 90% of my stuff.  I replaced all my bootlegs when I could afford to.

I'm 30, and purchased my first VGM albums when I was 18: a SonMay version of Silent Hill OST and Metal Gear Solid OST. Once I realized they were bootlegs (not too long afterward), I purchased my first legit OST from longhairmike: FFVIII OST. I filled in the rest of the "classics", like Chrono Cross, FFVI - X, and the rest is history. Several years later I owned everything from bemani to Sakuraba to Rockman to Devil May Cry, and a hefty amount of everything else in between.

I don't consider myself to be a collector anymore, and would say that my "collection" is very modest compared to what it used to be. My philosophy now is that I don't keep an VGM album if I can't listen to it (almost) all the way through, so that helps keep me interested in what I actually own.

I'm 37 although I'd hardly be called a collector any more. My VGM buying has slowed to a trickle. I started buying VGM around 1997/1998 I think and found this place maybe a year or so later.

I still love VGM though. Some of the best music I have heard has come from games and even long before I knew one could buy VGM I used to record game music from sound tests and so on to listen to.

28 here, started collecting around age ... 15? IIRC my first import soundtracks were FF Tactics (SM bootleg) and Alundra (legit, last copy from Anime Nation back in the day!). I actually think it was the Lunar:SSSC soundtrack disc, as well as the influence of a few 'net friends, that got me interested in the concept of owning game soundtracks. The whole idea of it was foreign to me until then.

Wow, given that most of us are around 30 odd, I wonder if todays younger generation just isn't as interested in collecting vgm?

Or it could just be that they have grown up with torrents etc and have no appreciation for actually buying stuff legitimately...

Who knows, could be any number or things.

Haha, I am 31- I also noticed everyone who responded is in the same 'generation,' my theory being we were all exposed to the best vgm during our peak gaming years: 10-14. From SNES to Playstation is when soundtracks were like a slap in the face compared to what we started out on for the NES. Just a possible interpretation anyway.

My first soundtrack purchase was also from the back of a Gamefan magazine, and it was Seiken Densetsu 3. I remember being wowed by Secret of Mana, so I thought the next iteration would logically be better, but I think 2 is probably the superior soundtrack, though 3 has lots of shining moments.

I have been collecting for only 2 years though. Apart from that early purchase, I never had the income to really pursue my interest. I would periodically look on ebay at things like Super Mario World soundtrack or Super Mario Land soundtrack (I love world 1 bgm), but it was strictly window shopping until only recently I was able to take the plunge. I have a lot of catching up to do, but I already snagged a bunch of cool stuff, and being late to the game I also get to take advantage of cool resources like VGMDb, SEMO, OSV, amazon.jp, yahoo auctions, middle-man services and you nice folks here Only downside is now Super Mario RPG and Yoshi's Island are pretty much off-limits.

I think most people here got into video game music BECAUSE of NES music, actually, because it was awesome.

I'm 32, started collecting in my late teens. While I still have most of my soundtracks, I don't tend to buy them anymore. The last one was FFXIII OST. Money's gotten tight and the interest has waned.

It's much easier to download it now than it was ten years ago. In addition, a good chunk of VGM has been put up on Youtube.

Yup. NES music basically defined what I expect "game music" to sound like and did so in spectacular fashion. Old-school Megaman music is a cornerstone of VGM that remains untouchable, even nowadays.

And yes, downloading is much easier nowadays. You can't blame people for not wanting to or having the resources to buy $30-$40 albums for something that has a good chance of not being being that good (and with virtually no resale value). Only a few of us have that masochistic mentality and mine's pretty much waned, with far more saner methods of listening before buying. I think it makes those cool discoveries have a little extra meaning though.

Yeah, that makes sense. I guess maybe it was so much cool music overall during the time from when our approximate age group started gaming. Something the generation before didn't necessarily have with Commodore and Atari, and for the generation afterwards, maybe it's because they don't have the 'nostalgia factor' so much which determines, at least on my part, a large part of what I track down and buy. Anyway as I said before, just a theory to account for this funny coincidence.

The hideous exchange rate doesn't help either.

Age 28 here, first discovered vgm existed through Gamefan. Bought Xenogears and Gundam Wing: Endless Waltz, both of which were bootlegs.

First legit soundtrack was . . . Can't remember. Probably that battered, used FFVII ost I found in a game shop. It had only discs 1 and 4.

I seem to remember getting Parasite Eve Remixes very early, too. Loved that disc.

Used to own upwards of 100 ost sets. I have since cut that down to around 45 - 50.

I love collecting but it really is an expensive hobby.

Count me as one of the same generation guy, but I strangely didn't and (still don't) care about VGM of the NES era. It's SNES era when it finally spoke to my ears and my first VGM purchase was the OST of Tactics Ogre. I don't call myself a big collector (less than 200 ownage) and indeed I've not listened to any new VGM in the past 2 years aside of what I purchased, but is still following the scene. Don't think STC has any underclass people but I'm very close to it, and should try to earn more income and also face some unfinished business. While it's late to go after my little dream, it's not too late.

While I can't say I own many NES OSTs, if only because more OSTs in general seemed to be produced in later gaming generations, the first time game music really caught my attention and wowed me was with Metroid and Castlevania. :)

I'm currently 36.  I started getting VGM in early 1999, I think.  My first order was for Very Best of Ys and the Bust a Move OST from Game Music Online.  My first priority when I started collecting was Falcom albums, as the game that really inspired me to get into game music was Ys Book I & II on the Turbo-Grafx.  Fortunately, in late 1999, Falcom released the Falcom Millennium Series, which made some of those very old albums a little easier to locate.  It still took me several years to track down all of the Falcom albums I wanted.

I played a lot of NES games, and have a lot of NES soundtracks, but the Turbo-Grafx holds a special place for me.

i was 17 when i bought my first OST in 1998, Final Fantasy Tactics. It had a cute moogle card in it and a photo of two composers i've never heard of before. the price was close to new game prices at the time, which i thought was ridiculous, but what can you do.

i'm probably one of the few people from back then which never encountered a bootleg. i have none in my purchase history to this day.

not sure if i'd call myself a collector. i like to own my music CDs in good condition and focus on releases i'd like to listen to regularly. i don't buy anything i don't need, listening comes first. i have basically the same mindset to gaming.

it's funny that japanese soundtrack prices stayed the same while game prices went down considerabely.

VGM has been kinda hugely price-dropped if you don't mind digital format. The only significant price drop in gaming I remember happened after the SNES era (when Nintendo charged an awful amount of money for the loyalty and ROM fabrication cost, allegedly).

And then there is shipping.

i don't buy digital. i wouldn't even call digital collections collections, just playlists. i can get new game releases for about £35, after a few weeks the price will drop to £15-£25. japanese VGM never drops in price, it will get more expensive. average VGM CD releases won't be cheapter than a newly released game, but shipping will be more expensive. and if i'm not careful with my orders, i'll get charged taxes on top of that price.

29, started collecting at 15 film an TV soundtracks (non-Japanese).
4 years ago after discovering Mr. Iwashiro and Mr. Sahashi music almost complete turnover to Japanese film/TV/game music.
First bought game ost´s: I checked my CDJapan history and it were 3 soundtracks -  May 18, 2008: Gran Turismo 3 A-Spec, 4 an 5 Prologue.
Fan of Elements Garden, Barbarian on the Groove and Angel Note - so mostly VN soundtracks in my collection.

29, I've been collecting VGM for about 8 years.  First album eh?....I think it was Gradius III then Symphony of the Night right then after.

I started collecting with Kefka's Domain: Final Fantasy III in 1994. I was surprised to see such a one of a kind offer from an American company, so I snapped it up along with Secret of Mana. I was 13.

VGM purchases were few and far between until the rise of the Internet. I bought Super Mario RPG and Seiken Densetsu 3 around 2000. I was amused to find a Resident Evil 2 OST at Mediaplay once, but it was only an abnormality.

I bought quite a few when I had extra money throughout the 2000's, but unfortunately had to sell most of my collection around 2008 to pay bills. I hope to rebuilt it eventually, but I still find the chance to buy cheaper digital copies when it is possible.

Example, I was interested to see Sonic Adventure OST on iTunes, then I saw that it was only a fraction of the 2 Disc set. No thank you!

Not really. Capcom has a bunch of OSTs release in the US at the time. I know Marvel vs Capcom was one. I believe they were just the Japanese versions, but they had official US distribution (which isn't as odd as one might think -- in fact I just recently bought such a disc...there's a few labels that do it)