Nintendo 64 Set, Complete Part 1. Do a Barrel Roll

Complete Nintendo 64 Set

I haven't had time to post lately, but  I wanted to give a little update on the Nintendo 64 Set  I have been working on...It's done, all 297  296 games
(checklist here) and then some. I completed this set without much
fanfare or ado.  So without further delay here it is.

(Complete N64 Set, with some variants shown)

I fully intend in part 2 of this post to talk about some of the variants, what is rare and expensive, but for now just a synopsis of how and why I started collecting N64 and the journey I took to complete it.

How long have I been working on this set and why N64? 
I started back in 2008. Not many people were after 64 stuff so I thought I'd jump on the bandwagon early, make myself an authority and carve out a niche. I figured I would be able to figure out what games were rare and maybe pick up a few extras (read that as horde) while they were cheap and use them to trade my way into NES and SNES stuff when they picked up in price. This was at a time when I really wanted to be collecting for NES and SNES but I thought the prices were way to high (If I knew then what I know now...SMH). 

The idea of hording didn't stay with me very long, just wasn't something I felt good about. So I just collected like a normal person who wants to own every game for a system which in an of itself isn't all that normal. I bought some video stores out of old stock, and I picked up some really cool lots on eBay, for individual games it was exclusively eBay. In 2009 I found Nintendo Age and that blew my whole collecting world up. Suddenly I was trying to buy, trade, and sell. I was finding better deals, and I was learning about collecting from guys who had been doing it longer, NA was a little soft on N64 data at that time, but what they new about Nintendo was incredible. Enter 2010 and Sega Age was formed, a sister site to Nintendo Age,  and with that I jumped ship for SA.  I left N64 of the shelf and jump in feet first to collecting Sega ( I already had a pretty good Sega Stash thanks to some amazing garage sales.). Then the Cardboard Genesis Project happened  (my results here). During this time of doing research and meeting awesome people, N64 had become a distant memory.  This is not to say I didn't buy any N64 titles but it became a trickle, less than 5 a year during that time frame. Around this time last year I was finishing up most of my Sega Stuff and decided it was time to revisit Nintendo and finish off the last 100 or so games I needed for the set.

What a difference a few years makes. Nintendo Age now was flush with people who were N64 enthusiasts, and knew pretty much all there was to know about collecting for the often lamented system. The 64 was also seeing rapid price spikes, as collecting for the system had really picked up steam. Gone were the days of bargain bin discounts, by 2013  the N64 had become a legitimate collectors system, with several of its titles tilting over the $100 mark.  I  have learned a good deal since last July on Nintendo Age, as several members shared info that would have taken me on my own much longer to discover. Over the course of a year I finished my set, and I became very knowledgeable on the subject of N64. In my next installment I will share some of what I learned.

Do a Barrel Roll
~Johnny~

Star Wars Games 8bit - 64Bit era.

In honor of May the 4th,  I did a video that showcases the Star Wars games from the 8bit to the 64bit Era. The systems range from the Game Boy to the PS1. I am including the check list  and the video here as well as a couple of Star Wars Pictures I find humorous.

Check List

Nintendo

Star Wars

Star Wars:Empire Strikes Back

Super Nintendo

Super Star Wars -JVC

Super Star Wars: Players Choice -THQ

Super Empire Strikes Back -JVC

Super Empire Strikes Back -THQ

Super Return of the Jedi -JVC

Super Return of the Jedi -THQ

Nintendo 64

Star Wars: Rebel Assault

Star Wars: Rebel Assault - Players Choice

Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire

Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire - Players Choice

Star Wars: Episode 1 Racer

Star Wars: Episode 1 Racer Nintendo 64 Console

GameBoy

Star Wars -Capcom

Star Wars Players Choice 

Star Wars: Empire Strikes Back

Star Wars: Super Return of the Jedi

GameBoy Color

Yoda Stories

Episode 1: Obi Wan's Adventure

Episode 1 Racer

Sega CD

The Software Toolworks Star Wars Chess

Star Wars Rebel Assault

Sega 32X

Star Wars Arcade

Star Wars Arcade NFR

Sega Game Gear

Star Wars

Star Wars: Super Return of the Jedi

Sega Dreamcast

Star Wars: Episode 1 Racer

Star Wars: Episode 1 Jedi Power Battles

Star Wars Demolition

PlayStation 1

Star: Wars: Dark Forces

Star: Wars: Dark Forces  - Greatest Hits

Star Wars: Rebel Assault 2 - Hidden Empire

Star Wars: Rebel Assault 2  - Greatest Hits

Star Wars: Masters of Teras Kasi

Star Wars: Episode 1 The Phantom Menace

Star Wars: Episode 1 The Phantom Menace - Greatest Hits

Star Wars: Episode 1 Jedi Power Battles

Star Wars: Episode 1 Jedi Power Battles - Alt Cover

Star Wars: Episode 1 Jedi Power Battles - Greatest Hits

Star Wars: Demolition

3DO

Star Wars: Rebel Assault

If you want to know how deeply my Star Wars Nerdom runs  just look at this picture. This is my office, right by my desk.

Star Wars pics I find funny

 Thank you for stopping by and May the 4th Be With You.
~Johnny~

Turbo Grafx 16: The Higher Engergy Video Game System

This past weekend I had a drain back up in the downstairs shower and flood the first floor of my house. 40 or so gallons of water give or take, rushing over my tile into my wife's office, the den, the entryway, and the everywhere basically. It isn't great...So what does this have to do with games, let alone the TG16? If it wasn't for plumbing problems I wouldn't have these gems.

It's a long story but I will give you the Cliff Notes (Who am I kidding? It will probably be overlong and in need of an edit). 

Approx 3 years ago my wife and I had another  bathroom problem. In our guest bathroom, the toilet broke, not a big deal it happens.  Trying to be a handyman, I removed the old toilet and vowed to install a new one. In the meantime, instead of a toilet we had a gaping hole in the floor, where the sewage line attached. Now I don't know if you have ever smelled a sewage line, but it's not great. To stop this smell from wafting through the house I grabbed a hand towel and shoved it in the hole. This was an action not entirely appreciated by my wife. She removed the towel, and that's when the magic happens.

At around 1:30 AM our dog decides he needs his ball to be thrown to him. My wife is a good sport, and throws him the ball.  She does this three or four times. On her final throw the ball goes into the hall hits the bathroom door jam, bounces into the bathroom and disappears. Let me give you some details real quick.  The bathroom is L shaped. The toilet, or rather hole where a toilet once was, is at the very end of the bathroom, in a nook, or at the bottom of the L if you prefer.  Please click here for a drawing. Bones, our dog, comes back without a ball and he is frustrated. My wife tells him to go get the ball, but he just paces. My wife assumes the ball is just stuck, or bounced into the bathtub, or just out of reach. She get up and begins searching for the ball. After about 10 minutes she yells to me. "Dear did you see where the ball went?", I say " I thought it went in the bathroom". She comes out of the bathroom and says " what do you think the odds are that it went down the  hole?", My response "Well pretty good, if you didn't plug the hole with something else when you pulled that hand towel out.". Of course the ball did go down the hole, and now it's nearly 2 am and we have a big problem.

If the ball is in the main sewage line, it is big enough to go into the pipe but possibly too big to make it around the debris and build up (we have problems with roots growing into the sewer line), or the L bends when the main line dips into central line.  From everything I read online, and mind you I am not a plumber, it seems that if we run water or flush the other toilet then the suction could carry the ball into one of these traps and cause a major back up, like what occurred in my house this weekend.  This is the point at which my OCD kicks in and I start to think about every possible bad outcome. I am just convinced I will have to use the bathroom or I will flush the toilet for a stupid reason or by accident. Nothing at this point will change my mind.

The question now is what to do? It doesn't matter that it's 2 AM, or that I am not actually very handy. or  that I don't have the proper tools. I decide I must act. Our old house was raised and has a 2 1/2 foot crawl space that  runs the length and width of the house, which gives me the ability to see the plumbing. I go outside access the crawl space and begin army crawling to the other side of the house where the bathroom is. I am starting to feel like Indiana Jones because  the space I am in is small, narrow, dark, damp, cold, covered in spider webs, and full of bugs. I find the pipes attached to the hole and I can follow them without to much trouble to a point where they flatten out. I believe this is a likely point for the ball to be stuck at or at least near to. Finding the pipe was just step one, now how to cut it open? I don't own any saws,  I don't own a PVC cutter that will get through 4 inch PVC. I don't think I can break it as I am in a totally cramped space, I also don't want to break it and I can't go to a store to buy these things.

My solution, and feel free to laugh, was a large bread knife we had. I figured it was serrated and might be able to do the job if I was willing to put in the elbow grease. I crawl back out, get the knife and go back in. laying on my back, unable to extend my arms much I being the process of sawing 4 inch PVC with a stupid bread knife. Not my best moment and clearly not the best decision.  After about an hour of doing this I eventually do saw through the pipe, sawing from all sides until I made it through. Now what happens next is a horrible and I will spare you some of the gross details. The smell that comes out of that pipe is just knock you on your back terrible. This pipe has been under the house since 1972 collecting gunk, and, human waste, and hair, and every horrible thing that people put into toilets. The sludge that lined the pipe was so foul and disgusting, I am trapped in this tiny space gagging with nowhere to go. I compose myself grab the flashlight and look into the pipe both directions.  About 2 feet from my end is the ball, but to get it I have to shove my arm through the human sludge.  Well I did it, I was grossed out and didn't feel like my arm came clean for days but I did it. The next day I went to home depot  bought a junction to weld the two halves back together and the job was done.

So what does this have to do with my very modest TG16 collection? Well my wife felt so bad that I did this she worked an extra shift  so I could go buy a Turbo Duo that I had been eyeing and Beyond Shadow Gate. If not for this effort I wouldn't have a TG 16 collection.  It's funny that I was just looking into more serious TG16 collecting when another plumbing catastrophe stuck.

 Please enjoy the awesome Turbo Duo Commercial that I found on Youtube

Thanks For Reading
~Johnny~

Complete Nintendo Virtual Boy Set (Video Included)

I recently completed my first Nintendo Set, and also recently I saw this article  Oculus Rift on Kotaku.com.  It feels like fate...or coincidence, or irony, and migraines. All of these feelings can only
mean one thing.

 VIRTUAL BOY

If you love hot red on black, or black on red action, the Virtual Boy is your ticket to heaven. The Virtual Boy used vector graphics and the parallax effect to simulate 3D, poorly. The system only released 14 games in the US, in what I will kindly call a limited run. What's not to love about a system that couldn't even survive one year in the US or Japan? Think about that for a second, even the Wonder Swan, which you have never heard of, lasted longer. The Apple Bandai Pippin sold less units but had a similar run.To put this in perspective the iPhone 5 sold more units in 1 hour then either of these systems managed in their lifetimes.

 Sow how did Nintendo drop such a deuce? It wasn't one thing, it was the culmination of many failures creating one big fail. To look at just the surface, they called it a portable system. This statement isn't actually true. I'd love to see people trying to take this out of their home and play. Another reason is the games, while not terrible the library leaves much to be desired, like a proper Mario or Zelda.  Need more?  Battery Life. Fake 3D. You can't be comfortable and play it. Red on Black graphics are a terrible idea. This system has the distinction of making Double D's a bad thing.  The DD's I am referring to is of course on the controller. No games really utilized this, and  to be fair they had under a year, which isn't enough time.   

If this write up really wets your whistle for the Virtual Boy get out there and start hunting. Prices on VB stuff has been going up, but it is a fairly easy and accessible system to collect for. If you want a bigger challenge go for the the JP set, the entry fee is much higher. 

US Game List 
3D Tetris
Galactic Pinball
Golf
Jack Brothers
Mario Clahs
Mario Tennis
Nester's Funky Bowling (really puts the FU in Funky)
Panic Bomber
Red Alarm
Teleroboxer
Vertical Force
Virtual League Baseball
Wario Land
Waterworld    

 Thank You For Reading
~Johnny~ 

She Has to Catch'em All: The Great Pokemon Hunt of 2013

If you have read other posts on this blog you may realize I am married, you might also realize that video game collecting is fairly dry, it just isn't a spectator hobby. Now to collectors who love to find old games, new info, and insight it is very exciting. To me sharing info and the process of discovery is fun and interesting, to my wife well she is just happy that I'm happy and that I have something I enjoy.

Having appreciation and a deep love for video games comes  naturally to me, it was ingrained in me during my childhood, teenage years, and now adulthood. This is not true for everyone, often I read posts from other collectors that ask  things like "How do you deal with your wife / girlfriend who hate your collecting, or hate games or just don't get it?". The answer isn't easy, and often time this seeming small question can balloon in to a real problem in relationships.  So my advice on this subject, and while corny is fairly sound. Share the love, yup that's it. How you share games and make memories for those around you will cement the foundation of  their outlook. This is my example of sharing the love and making fond memories, it happened Easter morning.

She Has to Catch'em All: The Great Pokemon Hunt of 2013

My wife enjoys Pokemon, and Nintendo just happened to release a limited edition 3DS XL with Pikachu's likeness.

So given the timing of the release, a week before Easter, and the fact that my wife loves  Pokemon I hatched a plan (Egg Pun) that would have my wife seeking Pokemon this Easter.

Part 1: The Plan

First things first, acquire the 3DS. Well after checking Amazon, Best Buy, Target and a few other stores I was forced to order online. One big box store, which I don't love, had it. Objections be damned this was for my wife so I ordered it while cringing the whole time. The delivery date was set for March 28th- 30th, making me all in on this plan without a plan B. So of course it came on the 30th, the day before Easter.   

Part 2: Logistics

With the 3DS on it's way, I needed to figure out the best way to give it to her. I could  just put it in a basket and hide it, but that seemed to easy.  So what I came up with was a pseudo Easter Egg hunt, but instead of hidden eggs  it would be Pokemon. I went back to Amazon recalling I had seen small PVC Pokemon before. Without much effort I found a variety pack and with my prime membership it arrived in 2 days. You will notice in the picture 13 Pokemon, I actually bought a pack of 15, one was a dupe which I used later and one was Pikachu, which I used as part of the setup, you will see that part later.

Part 3: The Pokedex

After thinking about how and where to hide them, I knew I hadn't gone far enough and that simply replacing eggs with Pokemon wasn't going to cut it. Thinking about how my wife plays Pokemon it dawned on me that she always had a Pokedex near by, and that the Pokedex was an essential part of the Pokemon experience. The Pokedex was perfect because it would stand as visual guide and also a hint book to help my wife find the Pokemon.  The next challenge was to identify the Pokemon and get names, luckily they were numbered and that part went pretty fast. Next I began the best I could to stumble around through Word 2010 and create a book fold file that I could compose the Pokedex in by pasting pictures and writing clues. I am sure some of you are reading this and face palming but let me say I have little experience with graphic design or layout arrangement. Word and Excel are my bread and butter so I went with what I know. Overall it turned out all right, though my cover could have been a bit better.  (To see the Pokedex and all the Clues click here)

While creating the Pokedex, I tried to take the name and type of the Pokemon into account while thinking of places to hide them and how to phrase my clues. For Example Dewott I hid on top of our Harry Potter BluRays. The Clue saying Harry pOtter because Dewott is an Otter. For RoggenRolla I hid him on our iPad speaker stand because he looks like a speaker with the clue being music is the key. Pignite I hid on the fireplace, on not in, with the clue stating "I'm on Fire".  All of the clues went something like that with a few being letter puzzles.

I was very please with how the came out but now that I essentially had given her a clue book I felt like maybe the hunt was getting too easy. So thinking back to video games I decided to employ the collectors tactic I most enjoy, The Easter Egg, the fact that was Easter was an added bonus (also I love puns). So in the spirit of Easter I filled 6 eggs with candy and hid them around the house in addition to the Pokemon. The plan felt good and whole, 6 eggs and 13 Pokemon to find.

 Part 4: Easter Morning
At about 2 AM my wife finally went to bed, and I made my way downstairs to set everything up. Fast forward to 8:30 AM, the dogs are begging for breakfast so it's time to get up. I follow my wife and dogs down stairs and wait for the moment when she sees this  (To See the Letter Click Here)

Carlie is very surprised to see what I have done. I'm relieved she never caught wind of my plan.  She reads her instructions, takes her Pokedex and is very excited to begin catching them all.

 Part 5: The End
The hunt took Carlie just over 2.5 hours from start to finish. My wife really enjoyed it, but more than that it was another positive experience I gave her that involved games and collecting. Early on when we first started dating and I first starting collecting I made a few mistakes, like spending all my money on games, which meant I couldn't afford to take her out somewhere nice. I realized making those kinds of  mistakes could ruin two things I love. As with most things in life inclusive > exclusive.

As always thank you for reading.

 ~Johnny~

It puts the Pokemon in the basket!

Complete US Sega Console Library CIB. Complete Sets Goal Achieved 100%

Welcome to 2013, the first year in the last 9 or so years where I will not be hunting for Sega Games (not completely true I have a few variants and upgrades to buy).  What a long haul it has been, the way I collect has changed so drastically since this quest first began. When I started I was just a nostalgia collector mainly looking for Nintendo games. Now I guess you could call me a hardcore collector with a pretty decent collection.

This includes complete sets for: Master System, Genesis, Sega CD, 32X, Pico, Saturn, and Dreamcast.

Please enjoy the pics and questions I answered below.

The Set.

Individual Pics


Bonus Pic: My Whole Office


I wanted to answer a few question from various forums I have gotten about my sets.

How long did this take?
I have actually been collecting Genesis and Sega in general for about 9 years (started the blog when I made it my goal to have get all of them), now this is not to say hardcore collecting. I got very fortunate when I first started collecting and picked up a lot of 200 Genny games for about $100. I also live close to a very large game store that has good prices, and I also found a few other great garage sale and craigslist lots. You wont believe it but Id say more than half my Genesis collection was found in wild. I am looking at my database and the number is actually more than 70% for Genesis.

Hey what about Game Gear?
This is console sets only, I don't know if I will do GG or not. Why? I just never really loved portable systems.

What is my Favorite Set?
The Saturn is my fav Sega console and my least fav is the Dreamcast. Don't despair DC lovers, I mean no disrespect. I love RPG's and Adventure games, and I find the DC to be lacking in those. Now if I loved Fighters and SHMUPS the DC would be tops.

What set do I take the most pride in completing?
I have the most pride in completing my Genesis Cardboard Box set becuase without my research and the reseaerch of some friends we wouldn't even know what that set contained. I made a blog all about it. Aside from that I take a good deal of pride in my Sega CD set for similar reasons. The Sega CD lists a few years ago were full of errors, a few of us on Sega Age sat down and figured out what is really in the set, what variants it has, and is hard to find.

What is my Favorite Game?
My favorite game, more like series for any Sega console is Shining Force. True story I played Shining Force 1 for 36 hours straight. My cousins and I rented it from Blockbuster on New Year Eve back in 1993. The problem was the save battery didn't work, which I found out the hard way. I decided I had to beat it, and then stayed up for the next 36 hours, while my family kind of cheered me on. They want as far as to bring me drinks, and my dinner. It was awesome.

Which Set was hardest to complete?
Genesis...so many games 700+

What is the rarest / most expensive?
I really hesitate to say game X is rare, and game Y is just uncommon. I also don't like to sling prices around. I can tell you with confidence though that Outback Joey is by far the rarest game.

What's next?
Next up is Nintendo 64, where oddly enough I am 64 games away.  I am  also about 10 or so PS1 Long Boxes away from a complete set so I'll knock that one out too.

Thank You for reading and sharing my journey.
~Johnny~

I have a Facebook Humor Page: Why Is Everybody So Bad At Everything? If you like the little jokes I put in the links, this is of the same ilk.

Tis The Season...To give to some less fortunate gamers

 I know it's been awhile but patience, I have some stuff in the works.

Now to business.

I am a member of quite a few forums (Nintendo Age / Sega Age / Sega 16 and so on) and I am constantly stunned by the generosity and acts of good will that I find there. This is not to say no one ever flames, or trolls, but really some people there go above and beyond.  I am in a Secret Santa on one of these forums and I received my gift today, and needless to say I was a bit stunned. I figured everyone was doing a $25ish gift and what I got was thoughtful to begin with and just got ridiculous the further into I went.  I wont share right now what it was, as I have agreed not to until Xmas morning but suffice to say it got me thinking.

I am fortunate, I have a great collection, and in my life in general is better than I expected. Reflecting on the gift I gave it was adequate, meet the requirements and nothing more. I can do better and I should. Rather then send more to the my Secret Santa participant I figured I could open it up to some  classic gamers who are less fortunate. If Xmas is looking bleak, and you collect Nintendo, Sega, or Collectible Toys ( Marvel / DC  /Star Wars Figs) maybe I can help.

So here is the deal, send  me an email or a message telling me your story. It doesn't need to be super long but lay it down for me and say why this year is in need of some cheer.  Also tell me what kind of stuff you are interested in, a want list would be good to include. So it might say, man I really love NES and boy could I use the following... or I love RPGs , I have these but could use anything else...so on, and so forth.

I can't promise how many people I  will send to, depends on the response really, but I will try to send to a few people, can't promise it will be a ton but I will do what I can.

I have a  sweet Dreamcast with all the cords and a game ready to go.

Merry Xmas or Happy Holidays, you decide
~Johnny~