Game Collector Interview & Possible Reason for Downtime

[Griking]

I just found THIS story and interview with someone here about their game collection. The story links to the videogamecollectors website where I believe the game collection pics here are located. The author goes on to mention that word of the collection (as well as the pictures) has spread across the internet. Surely this is part of the reason that we can't access the game collection pictures here recently. There was then a follow up to the interview a week or so later with a friend of the collector. I got to admit, it's a pretty impressive collection.

[Oobgarm]

There was a big discussion about that very same room a few months ago.

http://www.digitpress.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=77893

That interview gave a little insight, interesting.

[Jumpman Jr.]

That interview gave a little insight, interesting.

Not really. (Well, the one that "videogamecollector" answered.) Every answer was basically "I'm not sure" or "I don't want to know"
The one that Nesvidiot did is pretty cool, but there are no real specifics, still.

[googlefest1]

i read both articles twice am i missing it or was it not mentioned where this guy lives.

not that i want to hunt him down or anything but in the articles it says he and his buddy go hunting at flea markets and thrift shops and i was just wondering what part of the country this never ending fountain of games exists. It realy, realy, sucks up here in the north east.

[Adol]

Nesvidiot,when you spoke here:
http://www.vintagecomputing.com/index.php/archives/109

Why saying he's not French?
Are you referring to someone?

[Darren870]

He is from canada...

[rbudrick]

I believe he lives in Alberta and sells games at a flea market.

-Rob

[DreamTR]

Is he a collector, or is that his stock for his flea market? It's always sketchy trying to figure out what is what these days, but it's impressive nonetheless. I wish I had a basement that size to put stuff in. The apartment is the only thing I have= /

[badinsults]

I bet Cowering's collection rivals that size. I know he has complete genesis, nes, intellivision, 90% Pal NES, and piles of other games...

[Darren870]

Is he a collector, or is that his stock for his flea market? It's always sketchy trying to figure out what is what these days, but it's impressive nonetheless. I wish I had a basement that size to put stuff in. The apartment is the only thing I have= /

Thats his collection apperntly.

[DreamTR]

Like I said, it's all relative. The guy could have 10 of every common game there is for every system, really hard to say. I've got close to 11,000 games, and none of them are doubles sans the "Faria" collecting probelm I have.

What if you own a store with 30,000 games? That could be someone's collection persay.

[Adol]

Personally, i'm pretty sure mine is worth more
I haven't made pics of it fully yet,but you can see CLEARLY titles when i make pictures...when i post pics of a complete fullset,like MD,PC engine,etc...you clearly see them all

Make a full basement of old NES/Genesis boxed games wouldn't cost 10% of what i have now...so yes,pictures are nice,but we can't see a damn thing of what he has..

[DreamTR]

Adol: I don't think they are discussing whose collection is "worth" the most money. Just the sheer number of games the guy has is what is being discussed. Also, Adol, I've got some pretty expensive unreleased stuff, and complete collections of a crapload of systems...PC Engine, Mega Drive, Super Famicom is impressive if you have them complete, I'll give you that....

[NESVIDIOT]

Adol- no the French remark is that there was speculation after his interview that he didn't speak english , and was maybe from Quebec. I was just clarifing that he is infact not French speaking, he was just being really vague.

DreamTR- what you see in the pics is his collection- there is not 10 of every common- not to say that there is not some duplicates, but there is not very many and only if there is a box variation or something. Any duplicates he gets he sells at the market. Obviously he keeps games he gets in on trade that he didn't have.

He has never owned a store, just the booth at the flea market. If there is an archive pic of the original "Room of Doom" section he was the 3rd or 4th set of pics on page 1, titled as "videogamecollector" and although there was only 3 pics and they were poor quality, you could definately tell it was the same collection, and that was 6 or 7 years ago.
I know him better than anyone, and I am still amazed by his collection, and a little jealous(of the fact that he has been able to do what he does for so long and successfully)
As much as I've been into the video game market, I've still always had to have a "day" job. This is his day job.

[DreamTR]

I still want a flea market...YOu can probably get a crapload of stuff buying/selling with a booth at one of those.....especially one with a day job. I knew a guy at tHe Ft. Lauderdale Swap Shop once with the same type of stuff too, had a warehouse full of games, but never really sold them....

[Bojay1997]

If you just do a count of what is visible in the pictures, it looks like this guy has the same 10K games or so size that a lot of collectors on this site have. I guess the difference is that his are all in one location instead of in multiple rooms, boxed up or in storage. Really, I could care less who has a bigger or smaller collection and I sure don't care who has a more or less valuable collection. If I could have any collection in the world, it would be the one I already have. I built it and I get to decide what goes in it. I don't collect much Japanese stuff, mostly because I don't read or speak Japanese, so systems like the PC Engine or Megadrive mean very little to me. So much ego involved in collecting today. Why don't we have a debate about who has the hottest girlfriend or wife? That would at least be interesting.

[The Shawn]

I would have to agree. I don't have nearly one tenth of that collection. But the only one i would want is the one one I'm still building. I got mine through scavenging and trading, pawn shops new releases,flea markets ect. Not that it isn't quite an accomplishment but I only collect games I want or are valuable either to play or scarecity wise. I like to know in my head what I already have and what I don't Besides My wife would kill me if I filled up the basement.It's bad enough we had to buy a 3 bedroom house just for gaming. And where to hell do people find these awesome flea markets with all the game vendors?

[DreamTR]

Bojay: Then you should take that to another website.

You can say that about anything..WHO HAS THE BIGGEST BALLS?? MY WIFE IS HOTTER THAN YOURS? I SLEPT WITH MORE WOMEN THAN YOU? MY CAR IS MORE EXPENSIVE!

Who cares. It's all relative. People say everyone is bragging about everything, but that is what this site is about, people coming together as a community and discussing and showing off their stuff.....

Every website I go to has their armchair quarterbacks and "experts" on something. "Who's the best at Street Fighter?" "Who picked Florida to win the NCAAs? I did!" It can be said for anything.

[Bojay1997]

That's exactly my point, who cares? This site and the fanzine that spawned it has never been about who has the largest or most valuable collection. It has always been about sharing information, interacting with others who have a similar interest, making some trades, sales or purchases and generally creating a community. The fact that this guy has a basement full of games or that Adol has a particularly valuable collection of Japanese games is pretty irrelevant. In fact, I can't even understand why there have been this many responses.

[cyberfluxor]

In fact, I can't even understand why there have been this many responses.

Because we like to respond to things, isn't that the point of a forum?

Sure, people have some nice collections on here and know their stuff, but it always boils down to that I'm happy with what I have. I'll never have a massive collection beyond belief nor will I ever own a complete collection of anything because I don't want everything in the world ever created.

It's nice to just check up on DP from time to time and see what's up and what people wish to talk about. It's what all of the on-line communities are about. This one has a passion for games so expect to see people posting what they have and find and if you don't want to care about it, then don't post or even click on that thread. It's that simple.