PORTLAND Retro gaming Expo 2009

[coreys429]

What a day it was. I sold both of my Neo Geo's, I came down to Portland with 2 car loads, came back to Longview with 1 car load.

[tofu]

Great show guys, I got to meet a lot of people and came away with some decent loot.

It's a pity the Hello Kitty XBOX reserve wasn't met.

[Damaniel]

Great show guys, I got to meet a lot of people and came away with some decent loot.

It's a pity the Hello Kitty XBOX reserve wasn't met.

I wasn't able to stay for the auction, unfortunately. How high did the bidding go? (I was kind of interested but figured it was way too far out of my price range.)

As for loot, I came out with a bunch of stuff this year. I added over 30 new games to my collection -- mainly NES and SNES (I'll have to post a picture when I get home). My girlfriend also managed to get some things -- she bought a few games, but she mostly went for the action figures and figurines. She got a pretty nice FFX-2 Yuna that she'd been looking for for a while. Also, thanks to all the vendors who tried to help my sister figure out the identity of a video game character she drew when she was in middle school. I'm sure some of you thought she was nuts, but she appreciated the effort.

Overall, this year's show was the best yet, even if my wallet doesn't agree with me. :) I'm already looking forward to next year. Thanks to everyone who helped to organize the event -- you all did an excellent job!

[y-bot]

I wasn't able to stay for the auction, unfortunately. How high did the bidding go? (I was kind of interested but figured it was way too far out of my price range.)

As for loot, I came out with a bunch of stuff this year. I added over 30 new games to my collection -- mainly NES and SNES (I'll have to post a picture when I get home). My girlfriend also managed to get some things -- she bought a few games, but she mostly went for the action figures and figurines. She got a pretty nice FFX-2 Yuna that she'd been looking for for a while. Also, thanks to all the vendors who tried to help my sister figure out the identity of a video game character she drew when she was in middle school. I'm sure some of you thought she was nuts, but she appreciated the effort.

Overall, this year's show was the best yet, even if my wallet doesn't agree with me. :) I'm already looking forward to next year. Thanks to everyone who helped to organize the event -- you all did an excellent job!

I think the bidding went up to $700 but the reserve was a bit higher. Have you posted the picture your sister drew here? I saw it but I had no idea what game it was. Thank you to all the volunteers, staff and the attendees. It was a great show.

y-bot

[tofu]

I bid up to $600 for the Hello Kitty XBOX, someone behind me went up to $700 but the reserve was $1,000.

Gerald knows how unique it is and wouldn't budge on less than a grand. He was also selling a Dreamcast Dev Kit with unknown data on the hard drive.

[coreys429]

If anyone has pics of the show can I get a link. I stayed at my booth the entire time. I was the guy with the SNES counter tester, the NEO GEO's and a lot of random stuff. I enjoyed talking to people also the dig dug kid. I got to talk to the father of him. I asked him about his son, he said he didn't even know there was a costume contest. It was his son's idea to go in a dig dug costume because its a video game show and he should of been dressed up. Awesome...

[evg2000]

corey,
I just got home hopefully in the next hour or so I will have pictures posted.

charles

[loop006]

That was a killer show! Needs to be 2 days next year... and in Seattle.. :)
I'm thinking about putting the Hello Kitty Xbox on Chase the Chuckwagon, if there are any serious bidders please let me know.
I'm gonna check out what is on the Dreamcast dev kit HD sometime this week. Great to see everyone again!!!

[evg2000]

As promised:

Setup:
http://evg2000.com/nwcge2k9/setup

The Show:
http://evg2000.com/nwcge2k9/show

Costumes:
http://evg2000.com/nwcge2k9/costume

Auction:
http://evg2000.com/nwcge2k9/auction

enjoy,
charles

[coreys429]

Thanks Charles :D

[y-bot]

There's some great pictures in there Charles! Thanks again for all your help. We couldn't have done it without you.

toby


As promised:

Setup:
http://evg2000.com/nwcge2k9/setup

The Show:
http://evg2000.com/nwcge2k9/show

Costumes:
http://evg2000.com/nwcge2k9/costume

Auction:
http://evg2000.com/nwcge2k9/auction

enjoy,
charles

[moonvakia]

What a fantastic show, definitely the best ever!

The four of us who came down bought an entire car load full of great stuff. Hopefully I'll have some pictures of our haul to post soon. I got the boxed Channel F that I've been looking for forever, a boxed Microvision, a boxed Telstar and Telstar Alpha, a CDi and a bunch of great games. The other guys got a Vectrex, Odyssey2, a top loader NES, the 3D Master System glasses and piles of games. There was even some stuff that we forgot we had bought until we unpacked.

The auction was pretty fun, and there was a lot of cool stuff to see. I won the Vectrex marketing plaque which is really sweet. We're gonna try to find a good place in the store to display it so people can see it. One of the guys I was with won the Panasonic Q, which he had been trying to find for years.

Thanks to everyone who helped put this show on. I had a ton of fun and am looking forward to next year!

[DTJAAAAMJSLM]

My recap of the event is now up for anyone who is interested:

http://www.1up.com/do/blogEntry?bId=9004887&publicUserId=5483220

[coreys429]

Thanks for those pictures as well. I am glad you had a great time at the show. I saw 4 of my items you bought from me. I might have that Beach Babe O Rama instructions if you are looking for it.

[DigitalSpace]

Here's a couple links of interest from The Nerd Report (http://pdx.fm/the-nerd-report):
Nerd Report/Portland Retro Gaming Expo Wrap-Up (http://pdx.fm/nerd-report-portland-retro-gaming-expo-wrap-up/)
Portland Retro Gaming Expo Photos (http://nerdreportradio.com/2009/09/20/portland-retro-gaming-expo-photos/)

My friends and I had a blast at the show. This was the biggest PRGE by far. It was a pleasure to see everyone I knew from previous expos and meet some new people as well. My only disappointment is that I wasn't able to get a photo of me in the Atari Living Room. Oh well. One of my friends is pretty sure he'll buy a table for next year's show.

Special thanks go out to Chuck for putting me on the guest list, Sabrina and Emily at The Nerd Report (http://pdx.fm/the-nerd-report) for letting me appear on their show, Brian from Specialty Gamer (http://www.specialtygamer.com) for the t-shirt and free stuff, Mike (Kaboomer) and his wife for hosting the Northwest Roundup pre-party Saturday night, every vendor I purchased something from for the great deals, and everyone involved in putting the show together and getting the word out. Thanks everyone!


My recap of the event is now up for anyone who is interested:

http://www.1up.com/do/blogEntry?bId=9004887&publicUserId=5483220

I'm in two of those photos (both were taken at the perler bead magnet booth - I'm in the background in the black Zelda shirt, checking out R2-D2).

My first stop at the show was the Recycled Gamer booth, and both Chuck and I were surprised at the large early turnout. I almost bought that copy of Crush Roller you picked up. I was about to ask about the price when a friend distracted me and told me to check out something at another booth. I forgot about it until it was gone.

If anyone's interested, a list of my haul can be found here (http://www.digitpress.com/forum/showpost.php?p=1618029&postcount=278).

[udisi]

wow, show looked great. Looks like it was packed. You guys may need a bigger venue :)

[y-bot]

My recap of the event is now up for anyone who is interested:

http://www.1up.com/do/blogEntry?bId=9004887&publicUserId=5483220

Thanks for the excellent article and pics David. Sorry I didn't have anything for you, PAX kinda wiped me out.

y-bot

[jahvybe]

Wow, what a great show! I had a great time, found some stuff I've been looking for, and made room for more stuff. Great to see everyone again from last years Portland show and Jet City Retro.

Here's some pic's of my haul-

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk153/colbiwan/0909%20finds/HPIM0610.jpg

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk153/colbiwan/0909%20finds/HPIM0611.jpg

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk153/colbiwan/0909%20finds/HPIM0612.jpg

Also got a great "World of Nintendo" game boy sign from Rick at the auction for $20. It needs a little elbow grease, but it will look great in my game room when it's done.

[y-bot]

Did that Playstation hook up to your kiosk?


Wow, what a great show! I had a great time, found some stuff I've been looking for, and made room for more stuff. Great to see everyone again from last years Portland show and Jet City Retro.

Here's some pic's of my haul-

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk153/colbiwan/0909%20finds/HPIM0610.jpg

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk153/colbiwan/0909%20finds/HPIM0611.jpg

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk153/colbiwan/0909%20finds/HPIM0612.jpg

Also got a great "World of Nintendo" game boy sign from Rick at the auction for $20. It needs a little elbow grease, but it will look great in my game room when it's done.

[zodiacprime]

Here'sa link to my pix of the items I acquired: http://picasaweb.google.com/retro.geek.collector/PortlandRetroGamingExpo2009?feat=directlink - I had a great time and hats off to all the folks who worked so hard to make this the best nwcge event yet. Great job! I can't wait until next year.

[jahvybe]

Did that Playstation hook up to your kiosk?

I haven't had a chance to try it out yet. I'm still working on reorganizing my stuff and putting it away. Which at this point feels like it is going to take forever. Monday I pretty much crashed after I unloaded my truck. I had to go back to work on Tuesday and don't really have much time after work to work on stuff. I have some how managed to squeeze in some Tomba!

[DigitalSpace]

I had a great time but i unfortunately left a bag of players guides behind if anyone happened to find them please let me know thanks

Just wanted to let everyone know that these have been found.

[Eric Dude]

Alright, this is pretty late, but here's my haul:

Mickey Mania - SNES - Complete (minus poster) EX Condition $15 - This one got onto my radar recently, so it was nice to pick it up so soon. I have high expectations, even if I've heard the Genny version is superior.

Granada - GEN - Cart $2 - Played some of this game on the way back, and it was two bucks well spent! A shoot-em-up with a twist: you're a tank! Ok, not much of a twist, and the controls are a bit awkward (you have to keep one button pressed almost the whole time to lock your heading while firing your weapon), but it's still pretty fun and I can see playing through it.

Zillion II Triformation - SMS - Cart $2 - There were plenty of SMS games at the expo, but I had a hard time deciding which ones to take a chance on. Zillion has a respected name, so hopefully this is decent.

Double Dragon - SMS - Cart $2 - Yeah, I like the 2P option, but the sprites seem a bit "flat", and the animation seems different from the NES version. Not to mention music is nowhere near as good.

Psyco Fox - SMS - Cart $3 - Aside from the misprinted label (psyco is misspelled), there's nothing really noteworthy about this platformer. Darn.

Baku Baku - GG - Cart $3 - I really liked what I played of this game on the Saturn, and I can't see why the Game Gear version should be too much worse. I like puzzle games on handhelds better, anyway!

Sonic Triple Trouble - GG - Cart $2.50 - Why not? I'm getting closer to having all of the GG Sonic games.

Herc's Adventure - SAT - Complete $10 - After hearing that this was the spiritual successor to Zombies Ate My Neighbors, it went immediately on my wishlist. Finally got it, and at a good price. Very happy to drop the Hamilton on this baby, as it's very promising from the little bit I played.

Bugs Bunny Crazy Castle 2 - GB - Cart $4 - I've seen some gameplay footage, and this looks exactly like the kind of game that I LOVE on the Game Boy!

Trax - GB - Cart $4 - I didn't intend to get two tank shoot-em-ups at the expo, but lo and behold here's another one! This one is fun too, with slightly better controls than Granada.

Skyblazer - SNES - Cart $2.50 - Little-known solid SNES platformer. Good stuff.

Super Godzilla - SNES - Cart $2 - No idea as to whether or not this one will suck, but it's one more game towards the complete SNES collection.

Brainlord - SNES - Cart (kinda beat up) $5 - This is one game I've been somewhat desperate to acquire, so I accepted the somewhat poor condition of this cart after haggling a dollar off the price. Can't wait to be re-experience this!

Hurricanes - SNES - Cart EX Condition $6 - One of the harder-to-find SNES games (R7 for you digital press users). It's based on some silly cartoon show, and you walk around kicking your soccer ball at enemies to defeat them. Actually more fun that it sounds. The guy I bought it from had two copies (I think this was y-bot?), the same two he had last year, so I talked a couple bucks off the price of this one too.

Weaponlord - SNES - Cart $2.50 - Yeah, the game is horribly slow. Just another one to cross off the SNES list, and I guess I just don't see it very often so I picked it up.

Michael Jordan in Windy City Chaos - SNES - Cart $.50 - Surprisingly, this game isn't completely awful. Animation is decent, and it plays/controls alright.

Barney's Hide & Seek - GEN - Cart $.50 - This game is bad. I can't even imagine a kid liking this one, even if he loved Barney. They don't even let you jump off ledges@!!'

Overall, this event was MUCH bigger and better last year, and I can't even speak for the chiptune concert or auction since I couldn't stay. :( Tourneys were fun (too bad I suck at Warlords), and the variety of game merchandise available was staggering. I'm probably gonna keep coming back year after year. Thanks for putting on such a great event!

[evg2000]

I posted my finds from the show in the Sept finds, but I will add them here.

http://evg2000.com/finds/20090920/find1.jpg

http://evg2000.com/finds/20090920/find2.jpg

charles

[jahvybe]

Hey Charles,
Have you had a chance to try out your Vic 20 special cartridge yet?

[coreys429]

For everyone who went or was a vendor or volunteer could I get a list of Pros and cons for this year. We'll be having a new meeting soon and we'll be talking about the show and how it went. I would like to get some added input for the others that were there. Thanks. And Charles....the Atari 2600 carts are $1.

[evg2000]

And Charles....the Atari 2600 carts are $1.

can I get 3 for $5?

[evg2000]

Hey Charles,
Have you had a chance to try out your Vic 20 special cartridge yet?

vic 20 before:
http://evg2000.com/finds/sc/before.jpg

vic 20 after:
http://evg2000.com/finds/sc/after.jpg


pretty special, huh?

oh wells, you can never have enough 16k expanders!

charles

[slapdash]

@Charles: what is the "Ch@b" box, and the cart under (and a little to the right of) it? Also, what is the "Hello Kitty" for, and is the item to the right just instructions or something? Curious...

[evg2000]

Ch@b is internet software: http://www.segagagadomain.com/dreamcast-ntsc_0/dpp3.htm
http://cgi.ebay.com/IMPORT-SEGA-DREAMCAST-DREAM-PASSPORT-JAPAN-NIB-SEALED_W0QQitemZ220306909388QQcmdZViewItemQQptZVid eo_Games_Accessories?hash=item334b50a8cc&_trksid=p4634.c0.m14
cart below and to the right is a Vic20 cart by audio computers, "Special Cart", not so special, just a 16k ram cart
Hello Kitty is for the PC
and to the right is a CD entitled "The Ultimate NES Price Guide" by Matt Belllinghier # 31 of 46


@Charles: what is the "Ch@b" box, and the cart under (and a little to the right of) it? Also, what is the "Hello Kitty" for, and is the item to the right just instructions or something? Curious...

[Wookie]

For everyone who went or was a vendor or volunteer could I get a list of Pros and cons for this year. We'll be having a new meeting soon and we'll be talking about the show and how it went. I would like to get some added input for the others that were there. Thanks. And Charles....the Atari 2600 carts are $1.

Loved the show, hats off to all the organizers.

A couple of comments/suggestions:
If that level of attendance is expected again, a larger venue is a must. Way too crowded, at least for the 1st couple of hours. I spent a fair amount of time sitting on the floor going thru boxes of stuff folks were selling and can't count the number of times I got kicked or stepped on by the crowds.

Vendors that actually put prices on items got most of my business, even if the pricing was of the "everything in this box is $XX" variety. I walked away from one vendor while they were looking up on ebay a price for an item I was interested in, and I won't visit thier booth next year if they use that method again.

Parking at previous venues was easier (although those didn't have 700+ attendees!)

Other than that, just a fantastic job by everybody.

-Ron

[slapdash]

Thanks Charles!

[swlovinist]

Loved the show, hats off to all the organizers.

A couple of comments/suggestions:
If that level of attendance is expected again, a larger venue is a must. Way too crowded, at least for the 1st couple of hours. I spent a fair amount of time sitting on the floor going thru boxes of stuff folks were selling and can't count the number of times I got kicked or stepped on by the crowds.

Vendors that actually put prices on items got most of my business, even if the pricing was of the "everything in this box is $XX" variety. I walked away from one vendor while they were looking up on ebay a price for an item I was interested in, and I won't visit thier booth next year if they use that method again.

Parking at previous venues was easier (although those didn't have 700+ attendees!)

Other than that, just a fantastic job by everybody.

-Ron

Thanks for your feedback. This is the type of feedback we are looking for when deciding things for further events. We have always encouraged vendors to have their items marked and to not use ebay for pricing at the point of sale. We want to have the best show as possible and look forward to further adapting the show to fit demand when possible. This was the first year we really had a level of organization, and my hat is off to ALL the support, blood, and sweat of all the organizers and helpers of the show. I think that this next year will be even better, and look forward to being part of the successful team to make it happen.