OVGE 2006 - August 19th, Tulsa, OK

[icbrkr]

I'd post some good pics of the show but my camera died.. dammit Rob, get posting the pics!

Overall, great show, met some cool people that I either missed (or ignored :)) last time or were first time attendees. I think I made a few hundred bucks, but I succeeded in my goal: Come home with less crap that I left with. That was difficult since I bought a small communist block country's old computers :) But, after handing out free Sun Sparcstations, the car was considerably lighter.

[Funk Buddy]

I had a great time and it was very nice to meet everyone. I'm so glad I made the trip that I may have my own set up next year.

Here are some of my crappy pictures and a couple of really bad videos. LOL

Flack
http://www.combobento.com/photos/OVGE/IMG_1138.JPG
http://www.combobento.com/photos/OVGE/IMG_1141.JPG

Altairboy
http://www.combobento.com/photos/OVGE/IMG_1140.JPG

icbrkr
http://www.combobento.com/photos/OVGE/IMG_1143.JPG
http://www.combobento.com/photos/OVGE/IMG_1144.JPG
http://www.combobento.com/photos/OVGE/IMG_1146.JPG

PDF
http://www.combobento.com/photos/OVGE/IMG_1153.JPG

Brad
http://www.combobento.com/photos/OVGE/IMG_1155.JPG
http://www.combobento.com/photos/OVGE/IMG_1156.JPG

I didn't get any good pictures of Max or Dustin and their Neo-Geo set up.

Look here (http://www.combobento.com/photos/OVGE/) for all the pictures and the videos.

[mezrabad]

Damn, I completely mind-wiped the Neo-Geo setup. I think I was afraid I'd get "the bug" and I couldn't afford it.

Got to see pretty much everything else. The amazing Atari Video Music (Thanks Earl!), the amazing Commodore One (Thanks Brian!), the amazing Altair 8800 (Thanks Charles!), the amazing SX-64 (thanks Rob!).

I also got to play a copy of Lord of the Dungeon on a Colecovision! I'd despaired of ever playing this hard to come by, expensive, unreleased-and-still-no-functional-emulation-of-the-rom of a game. It's kinda like early Ultima/Wizardry Titles. I played it until my first party ( Sir Crax and Mandrake, I think) was dead. I would enjoy playing it more someday, but I'm satisfied for now.

Still need to take stock of everything I picked up, but I think the best "deal" was the 3-D viewer for the Sega Master System I picked up for $35. Of course, then I had to actually get a Master System and some 3-D games . . . ka-ching!

I had gone with the intent of finding me some Intellivision games and after a good start with Mr Bits and Bytes (Thanks Paul!) the day was pretty dry until I found a little pile of loose INTV carts with some that I needed. So that was good.

OOh! And I got to play the really early Kee Games arcade game Tank II! It's like Atari VCS Combat set on black and white with more barriers and with a mine feature.

I was pretty surprised by how few Saturn games I saw for sale (though I was also surprised by how many Astrocade and TI-99/4a games I saw).

Okay, I'm hitting the "must sleep" wall.

[Phosphor Dot Fossils]

Show's over, and I'm back home winding down. Quite a fun shindig this year - I was awake for the whole thing, probably moreso than I've ever been for one of these. (Not that the show isn't interesting, but I usually never have anything like enough sleep.) Anyway, here's some pics.

http://www.thelogbook.com/earl/hizzouse/ovge2006/pdfland1.jpg
Classic toys, classic handhelds, classic consoles, and classic arcade games (running on a now-classic Playstation) at the PDF booth.

http://www.thelogbook.com/earl/hizzouse/ovge2006/pdfland2.jpg
The Famicom got a LOT of attention, and someone offered to buy it about every 10 minutes. I don't really know how to handle stuff like this - I don't want folks to walk away disappointed, but I'm not looking to sell either.

http://www.thelogbook.com/earl/hizzouse/ovge2006/pdfland3.jpg
Lots of offers to buy the mini-arcades too, and even one inquiry about the mighty joystick. :lol:

http://www.thelogbook.com/earl/hizzouse/ovge2006/pdfland5.jpg
Atari Video Music blasts its colorful graphics across the room - no one was safe, and a LOT of people took the opportunity to play with it.

http://www.thelogbook.com/earl/hizzouse/ovge2006/pdfland7.jpg
Donkey Kong toys and a Ralph Baer-signed prototype cartridge.

http://www.thelogbook.com/earl/hizzouse/ovge2006/altair3.jpg
At my third table, I invited AltairBoy to set up his collection of vintage Altair computers, and it was a sight to behold.

http://www.thelogbook.com/earl/hizzouse/ovge2006/altair1.jpg
There was a timeline of Altair history set up, along with a version of the original Star Trek mainframe game.

http://www.thelogbook.com/earl/hizzouse/ovge2006/altair4.jpg
The display material and vintage computer magazines added a lot to the Altair table.

http://www.thelogbook.com/earl/hizzouse/ovge2006/altair6.jpg
In honor of the Star Trek game playing on the Altair, I brought this sign, which normally hangs on the door to my game room. (Believe it or not, somebody wanted to buy that. The sign, that is, not my game room.)

http://www.thelogbook.com/earl/hizzouse/ovge2006/altair5.jpg
I was feeling pangs of inadequacy at the sight of this sealed-in-plexiglas display of classic computer paraphenalia.

http://www.thelogbook.com/earl/hizzouse/ovge2006/altair7.jpg
Another Altair spills its guts.

http://www.thelogbook.com/earl/hizzouse/ovge2006/altair2.jpg
There was a terminal next to the Altair 8800 so folks could interact with the machine without all the switch-flipping.

http://www.thelogbook.com/earl/hizzouse/ovge2006/backstage.jpg
Behind the scenes of the PDF display - enough wires there for ya?

http://www.thelogbook.com/earl/hizzouse/ovge2006/arcade.jpg
There was a very nice selection of classic arcade machines - original Frogger, Xevious and Star Wars cabs, and one of the nicer MAME machines I've seen.

http://www.thelogbook.com/earl/hizzouse/ovge2006/arcade2.jpg
And boy were they busy!

http://www.thelogbook.com/earl/hizzouse/ovge2006/tank1.jpg
I had never seen one of these mini-Tank II games before.

http://www.thelogbook.com/earl/hizzouse/ovge2006/starwars.jpg
Alas, poor Star Wars - the flight controller started the day in delicate shape, and I don't think the general show patrons treated it gently throughout the day. By the time I got to it around 3pm or so, it was virtually unplayable.

http://www.thelogbook.com/earl/hizzouse/ovge2006/galaga.jpg
But the Galaga machine next door got plenty of lovin'.

http://www.thelogbook.com/earl/hizzouse/ovge2006/packed.jpg
A packed house.

http://www.thelogbook.com/earl/hizzouse/ovge2006/vgcmag.jpg
Video Game Collector Magazine always runs a neat display, and Shawn is always a heck of a nice guy to run into at these shows.

http://www.thelogbook.com/earl/hizzouse/ovge2006/reiner.jpg
Bustin' out the Dreamcast lovin' at Josh Reiner's table.

http://www.thelogbook.com/earl/hizzouse/ovge2006/maxdustin.jpg
I think this was the only time there wasn't someone sitting at Max & Dustin's table playing some games all day.

http://www.thelogbook.com/earl/hizzouse/ovge2006/gamecrazy.jpg
Our "island neighbors" at Game Crazy had some sweet hardware with 'em.

http://www.thelogbook.com/earl/hizzouse/ovge2006/cooper.jpg
Jeff Cooper always has the market cornered on classic gaming memorabilia and knick-knacks - I spent a lot of money here!

http://www.thelogbook.com/earl/hizzouse/ovge2006/mezrabad.jpg
DP forum member "mezrabad" and his son get ready to take the tournament challenge.

http://www.thelogbook.com/earl/hizzouse/ovge2006/briantable.jpg
C-128 and Amiga CD32 goodness at "icbrkr"'s table.

http://www.thelogbook.com/earl/hizzouse/ovge2006/kentbrian.jpg
Brian (icbrkr) uses his awesome powers of persuasion on Kent: "No, these are not the droids you're looking for. Yes, you do need a Sun Sparcstation. In fact, you look like you need two or three..."

http://www.thelogbook.com/earl/hizzouse/ovge2006/cone.jpg
The amazing C-One at Brian's table - that's no PC running emulation. That's a real Commodore. :shock:

http://www.thelogbook.com/earl/hizzouse/ovge2006/telstar.jpg
At the other end of Brian's table, a Coleco Telstar says "BUY ME."

http://www.thelogbook.com/earl/hizzouse/ovge2006/gpc64.jpg
So is this - a GP32 running Commodore 64 emulation at Flack's table.

http://www.thelogbook.com/earl/hizzouse/ovge2006/sx64.jpg
If emulation doesn't do it for ya, here's an SX64 doing the real thing.

http://www.thelogbook.com/earl/hizzouse/ovge2006/commadork.jpg
The real star at Rob's table was his outstanding new book, "Commodork." I was amazed he had any copies left - I really should've gotten two, as Kent promptly confiscated mine. :lol:

http://www.thelogbook.com/earl/hizzouse/ovge2006/altairboy-stevew.jpg
AltairBoy shows SteveW the finer points of navigation in the 23.66748E+th century on the Altair. (Mr. Flibble smiles deviously in the foreground - I think he unseated a board or something, because late in the day the Altair was having a glitch or two.)

http://www.thelogbook.com/earl/hizzouse/ovge2006/megamanfan.jpg
Steve "MegaManFan" Juon takes on Moon Cresta with my mighty PS1 arcade stick.

http://www.thelogbook.com/earl/hizzouse/ovge2006/roboto.jpg
Mr. Roboto got lots of attention...

http://www.thelogbook.com/earl/hizzouse/ovge2006/shark.jpg
...and so did Spider-Man and Shark Hunter! (Whoever KBOBHI is, they were on fire! :lol: )

[Phosphor Dot Fossils]

And some OVGE video clips can be found here (http://www.thelogbook.com/earl/earls-videos/video-ovge-2006/)!

[k8track]

Wow. I prefer to drive alone. I can turn up the radio (or iPod with FM transmitter) as loud as I want, I don't have to worry about stopping too much if I see shops I'd like to look at or generally need a pitstop, and I don't have to listen to anyone complain about how fast I drive.

Dude, I so totally used to be like that. Taking long, interstate road trips was my thing. I loved loading up the car, driving long distances by myself, listening to my armada of mix tapes, and visiting and hanging out with friends in other states. I did that for years. After I started going out with my fiancee (then girlfriend), we started taking those trips together. In fact, just being with her in general totally changed me. Now I can't imagine taking a long trip without her and the very thought of going alone depresses me. I've made the trek to visit my dad in Arkansas three times since she's been gone (and even got to visit PDF in Ft. Smith and Flack in OK City), and it was tougher and more excruciating each time. I thought I wanted to go to Tulsa--and I did--but I just couldn't do it.

Guys, the photos look amazing and PDF, your video really made my mouth water. Congrats on an awesome show. I very much look forward to seeing it next year, come hell or high water. What are some of the things anyone scored? Any treasures?

[Phosphor Dot Fossils]

Just a few treasures. ;)
http://www.thelogbook.com/earl/hizzouse/ovge2006/stash.jpg
Finding a vendor on the floor who was selling copies of Electronic Games Magazine for less than ten bucks was a joy to behold - I got January through August of 1983, and December of 1984. (The only issue I had before today was July '82.) I'm aiming for nothing less than a complete collection of EG.

Big thanks to Steve W for the mini-disco light - it was smaller than I thought, but y'know, that means my wife will kill me about 30% less than if I had brought a huge, hi-fi-speaker-sized disco light (which Kent also called a "color organ") home with me. :lol: Steve also gave me a stash of VIC-20 games too.

icbrkr brought me the Apple joystick there - many thanks. Of course the book is from Flack's table and I gladly plunked down the cover price and promptly started looking for my name in there. :-P

Linda's Action Figures sold me the 2600 Raiders cart and manual. Believe it or not, I've never touched this game before. That's also where I got the 2600 manual, just 'cause.

A huge thanks to both Steve and to Mr. and Mrs. MegaManFan for the six-pack of Dr. Pepper straight from the plant in Dublin, TX - where they still use real live sugar! Kent and I were wide awake for the trip home, that's for sure. :eek 2:

As always, a big thanks to Kent for coming with me yet again, and to Jesse Hardesty (Crossbow) and his crew for putting on the show where all this fine madness took place.

Now Olivia's just waiting for me to hook it all back up.
http://www.thelogbook.com/earl/hizzouse/ovge2006/oliviamusic.jpg

[Flack]

Here are my pix from the show:

http://www.robohara.com/albums/OVGE_2006

I'm still recovering from the trip and the event ... I'll post my review of the show tomorrow.

[yummysmokedham]

What a weekend! It was nice seeing and talking to everyone once again, I had almost forgot how much fun it is after not being able to come last year. I sold more stuff this year than in the past years I have attended so that makes more room and more money for more new toys :-P . When I arrived and began to setup my stuff I realized that next year I have gotta get more than one table, I just have too much stuff to setup, I had two extra systems and two extra TV's that I was not able to setup, oh well! I wish there were a few more of these each year in the midwest. I would love to see something like this in Kansas City and/or St. Louis *HINT HINT ALL THE GUYS FROM STL THAT COME DOWN* ;) . All in all I had a great time once again and it was nice to see everyone once again!

[Dan Iacovelli]

if you looking for midwest shows:
theres allways Midwest Gaming classic in WI
and there also Video Game Summit in IL.
(MGC is scheduled for june 9th and 10th 2007
as for VGS you'll have to wait unril 2008 for the next show
VGS is taking a year off,to refresh and come back fresh in 2008)

[ubikuberalles]

I just finished processing my pics from the show and they'll be showing up in my blog. Hopefully, by today.

A big THANKS goes out to PDF who invited me to show my Altairs and reserved a table for me to do that. This is the very first time I ever had a table at a show and it was a very cool experience for me. I hope to do it again.

[purenergy]

I also got to play a copy of Lord of the Dungeon on a Colecovision! I'd despaired of ever playing this hard to come by, expensive, unreleased-and-still-no-functional-emulation-of-the-rom of a game. It's kinda like early Ultima/Wizardry Titles. I played it until my first party ( Sir Crax and Mandrake, I think) was dead. I would enjoy playing it more someday, but I'm satisfied for now.

Glad you enjoyed Lord of The Dungeon. I've spent less than 15 minutes trying out the game, so you have definitely "explored" more than I have. My only regret is that I forgot to take any pictures this year, so thanks to everyone else that did!

Brad

[purenergy]

OVGE was great this year, being able to meet everyone again, as well as some new faces in the crowd.
My ColecoVision table went over very well, even though I had a last minute set-up. The dual Vectrex's were also a hit, with several offers to buy one! The one thing that I would change is to have some chairs in front of the Vectrex's, as well as the SHUMP tournament. I found the mini-Atari joystick 2 days before OVGE, and decided to offer one as a prize. The other mini Atari joystick that was supposed to be for "show only" had several people asking "does it really work?." So, I plugged it in and watched the joystick slowly disintegrate! Several gamers enjoyed it, while others just watched. Fifteen bucks for a very poorly made "Plug N Play", that will be used as a key-chain only. (Collectors, look for this item to be reduced soon.)

Saturday evening was fun, even with the thunderstorm! Being able to spend time with everyone is a cherished moment, that any game cannot possibly match. As for the Pac-Man scratch-offs, when I took them to Texas for a payout, the place I stopped at said that this game was out of date, and the big prizes had already been won. He was wrong, as shown at the Texas Lotto site located here:
http://www.txlottery.org/scratchoffs/activeticket.cfm?gnum=664
(36 more cocktail arcades to be given away!)

I also regret only buying 2 items this year, Rob's Commodork book, and an arcade marquee of Donkey Kong Jr. from Jeff.

Thanks to everyone for a great show this year. With everyone pulling together, OVGE will be here for 2007!

Brad

ps. Did anyone get a picture of the Coke/Pepsi SHUMP?