The Games Shed Blog: Retro Gaming Collections - Andrew N

Hi Andrew, Thank you very much for agreeing to talk to us about your gaming collection. You have been fantastic on Twitter giving us lots of banter, advice and ideas. We suggest everyone reading this article get straight on Twitter and follow you!! Twitter.com/Retrocollie

Lets get stuck straight into this and have a look at your amazing collection!

TGS: How many systems do you own, console & handheld?
AN: Excluding my handhelds and tabletop handhelds I have 42 but including them I have just over 90

Acetronic MPU1000
Acorn Electron, Acorn BBC Model B x2, Acorn A7000,
Amstrad 464+, Amstrad GX4000, Amstrad NC1000 notepad
Atari 2600 Woody, 2600 Black Model Jnr, Atari 7800, Atari 520ST, Atari 65xe, Atari Flashback
Binatone TV Master
Commodore +4, Commodore 64, Commodore Vic 20, Commodore Amiga 500 (1 mb of ram)
Dragon 32
Grandstand 6000, Grandstand SD070
Master System Mk1, Master System Mk 2, Mega Drive Mk 2 x 2, Dreamcast, Sega Saturn
Mattel Intellivision
NES, SNES, N64, Virtual Boy, Gamecube, Wii
Oric 1
Sinclair ZX81, Spectrum 48K, Spectrum 128K+2A,
Sony Hitbit MSX, Sony Playstation, Playstation 2, Playstation 2 slim
X-Box, X-Box360

TGS: Virtual Boy!!! Very jealous. This is one of the big ones we are looking to acquire for The Shed.

How many games do you own (at a guess)?

AN: Phew, I think far too many. I haven’t played all of them. I have roughly 300 for my spectrum 128+2 and a couple of boxes for my Electron. All in all I’d say I’ve definitely got over 1000 games for all my systems but there are far too many to count. Some of my fave NES games are in the photo. These were reasonably cheap but in absolutely amazing condition. If they had been played more than a handful of times I’d be surprised.

TGS: How many years have you been collecting?

AN: More years than I care to remember as a casual hoarder (having saved every technical doodah I ever had) but as a serious collector then getting on for 2 years

TGS: What's your Geographical location?

AN: Land of Robin Hood..... No NOT Yorkshire.

TGS: Interesting fact about you / your collection?

AN: Well, not so much an interesting fact but my other half really dislikes my retro collection yet she still brought me a Dreamcast with controllers and loads of games for Christmas last year bless her.

TGS: What is your earliest gaming memory?

AN: I think the earliest memory would have to be with my brothers ZX81 back in 1981. I was very young but remember having family game nights where we would gather round that little machine (which I’ve adopted) and play a game called Kingdom which I think he had typed in from a magazine. Hmmm then again it could be the Galaxy Invader 1000 handheld by CGL that I had around the same time.

TGS: How have you built this collection and do you have any tips to would-be collectors on how to pursue this as a hobby themselves?

AN: A lot of the items in my collection have been the result from being a bit of a hoarder and driving my parents mad with not letting them get rid of things. I have got many things from EBay though. My advice to prospective collectors is do your research beforehand, if going through EBay then wait until near the end to bid, only pay what your willing to pay and for the love of God don’t get drawn into a bidding war

TGS: What is your most treasured retro gaming item and why?

AN: It comes down to 2 things and I really can’t decide. It’s either the Acorn Electron I was given for Christmas when I was around 10 or the Galaxy Invader 1000 I had when I was much younger. I still have both of these in their boxes and they have a strong sentimental value that binds me to a simpler and easier time.

TGS: Is there anything you wish you had in your extensive collection which you do not have?

AN: I’d really like a Grandstand BMX flyer handheld game. The LCD display on those is absolutely amazing and I drool over them whenever I see them on EBay. Sadly, I just don’t have the money to get one for myself at the moment.

TGS: What would you say was the best bargain you have ever picked up?

AN: Without a doubt it would have to be a Spectrum 48K with a huge stack of games that I won for 99p off EBay. Seriously, I just couldn’t believe it. The seller had put collection only and it was only a few miles from where I lived so I put my max bid on and no one else went for it. I felt really sorry for the bloke as it was his wife forcing him to sell.

TGS: It’s time for the TGS burning building question:

Your house is on fire, you have time to run in and grab as much as you can physically carry in both arms (No bags allowed!); what do you grab? (Doesn't just have to be gaming related)

AN: Without a doubt my son would be first, he’s my life......plus he could also hold some extra bits for me. I’d have to grab my stamp collection, I know people think it is boring but I have some really old pieces. I’d also have to save my handhelds – especially my Grandstand ones. I’d get my son to hold onto as many computers as he could hold whilst I’m carrying him.

TGS: We've heard you have tabletop handheld systems. How many have you got and what are they?

AN: I have 51. Far too many to list here but they range from really obscure ones such as Ogre Eater which is a Pac-man clone and Detective Shoestring by Grandstand to quite common ones like Scramble and Astrowars.

10 quick fire questions:

1) Favourite System: Acorn Electron

2) Favourite Sports Game: It was for the Acorn Electron. Called something like Track and field or something. Can’t rightly remember but I remember my dad telling me off for almost knackering the keys whilst banging them to make the little man run.

3) Favourite Multi-Player Game: Rebelstar 2 on the Spectrum +2a. Great 2 player game

4) Favourite Beat ‘em up: Yi ear kung fu – fun little fighter but quite frustrating on the later levels.

5) Mario or Sonic: Mario wins it for me but Sonic isn’t without his charm.

6) Favourite HandHeld: CGL Galaxy Invader or possibly Grandstand’s Scramble.

7) The worst game in your collection: It has to be Terrormolinos for my Acorn. It was such a frustrating adventure game and I always seemed to be dead by angry locals after half a dozen commands.

8) Favourite arcade game: You know, I can’t remember what it’s called but it was a bit like BMX flyer. A side scrolling bike assault course type game. If anyone knows its name let me know please.

9) Game spent most time on: If we count it as the same game over several systems then I’d have to say Sim City. Wasn’t that a great game?

10) Finally – and probably the hardest – Favourite EVER game: Blimey, that is hard. I couldn’t tell you which is my fave as there have been so many lovely ones that I have such fond memories of over the past 30+ years. Would come down to Bumble Bee for the Acorn Electron, Rescue for the 128k Speccy or Utopia for the Amiga.

TGS: Last thing, do you have anything else you would like to talk about?

AN: I’d like to do what you guys do. How rewarding is it to actually interview so many interesting and cool people? I am currently doing some writing for the fantastic www.Xboxramble.com which is a website dedicated to all things Xbox and I’m thoroughly enjoying it.

I’m also currently making a few retro games videos for my youtube channel (when it’s up and running). I’m going to start with my Acorn and Spectrum then move through my other systems. I’ll try and do games that don’t get as much coverage and yes I may even show how good I am at getting killed on Terrormolinos.

Another shameless promotion is my other half does hand crafted cards if anyone’s interested. (maybe that will earn me something retro for my birthday J )

She is on facebook at http://www.facebook.com/GizmoCreationsHandCraftedCardsAndStationary
and her website* http://www.gizmocreations.co.uk/

*Under construction

Andrew is a top bloke who deserves a follow on twitter - http://www.blogger.com/goog_807588674Retrocollie - GO GO GO!

The Games Shed Blog

Pages

Friday 22 June 2012

Retro Gaming Collections - Andrew N - AKA @Retrocollie

1 comment: