Retro Gaming Collections - Marcel Weber AKA our man in Zurich

His name is Marcel Weber and he lives in Zurich. After putting a post up on RetroCollect.com we were lucky enough to get a reply from Marcel about his fantastic collection. Thankfully he was well up for an interview and gives us a glimpse into his gaming life! 


Here's how it all went down.

TGS: Hi Marcel, thank you very much for agreeing to chat with us, you have a very impressive collection and we cant wait for our readers to see it!

Firstly can you tell us how many systems you own, console & handheld?

MW: I own the following Consoles:

Nintendo: NES, SNES, N64, Gamecube (2x EURO 1x JAP), Wii

Sony: PS1 (4x, one with the A/V Out ports), PS2 fat, PS3 40gb fat

Sega: Megadrive 1 (with Power Base Converter), Megadrive 2, Saturn (PAL but region modded), Dreamcast

Others: Radofin Telesports, Mattel Intellivision, Vectrex, NeoGeo AES

and the following Handhelds:

Nintendo: Gameboy, Gameboy Color, DSiXL, 3DS

Others: MB Microvision, NeoGeo Pocket Color


I think that’s all of them.

TGS: Wow! You're definitely not messing around! We are very jealous of the NeoGeo AES! 
Now can you tell us how many games you own (at a guess)? 

MW: I guess about 550-600. The Collection Tracker from retrocollect.com states I own 478, but the modern games and some Japanese ones aren’t in that list.

TGS: How many years have you been collecting?

MW: Not long actually, I think it’s a year and a half. I wasn't into collecting until the sudden urge to play Need for Speed 3: Hot Pursuit did arise. So I located a PS1 with that game in the classifieds and that started the whole thing. Thanks kid who called himself King Chickenwing for making an ad at the right time!

TGS: Whats your Geographical location?

MW: I live in Switzerland. Originally from Schaffhausen, I now live in the canton of Zurich, around 15 minutes away from Zurich City. Yes I see the Alps. No I can't yodel.



TGS: Nice! Retro gaming near the Alps sounds cool. :) Can you tell us any Interesting facts about you / your collection?


MW: I wasn't allowed any video game consoles as a kid, my parents were pretty strict. So I mostly played at friends houses or borrowed their consoles. I did have a Gameboy at one time which I bought off of my neighbour but god knows where it is now. It wasn't until I turned 14 that I bought my first console, the PS2. That was in 2002. I guess the reason I collect retro games now lies in the fact that I missed out so much as a child. Ironically my parents are now amazed by my collection.

TGS: What is your earliest gaming memory?


MW: I'm not really sure about that, I think its Tetris on the Gameboy which a (female) friend of mine had. It could also have been some SNES game from another friend. I'm not sure. That was like 20 years ago.

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?

MW: Well I spent a lot of time online. Most of the stuff is from eBay (and mostly from eBay Germany). Flea markets and charity shops firstly aren't that common here, and even big flea markets have very few games and stuff. I recently visited a rather big flea market; I found two Gameboy cartridges and some common PS2 games. Charity shops mostly, if any, have sports games.

So yeah, eBay. However paying in Euros and shipping and custom costs made that rather expensive, so I eventually abandoned eBay in favour of a Swiss auction site (Ricardo). It’s Switzerland only, and has always interesting stuff. And since the collector scene isn't that big, the odd bargain can be easily found. However that can also mean that once a desirable item appears, the other collectors throw themselves at it like vultures. 


My tips:


Research your stuff. Learn what to look for, learn the rarity, learn the prices. Its invaluable to spot fake stuff, suspicious auctions and the like.


Tell the people, your friends and family, co-workers, that you collect. I have more than once heard "Hey I heard you collect games, see I have this console with some games in my attic that just gathers dust, do you want it?". The same day I typed this interview, a coworker approached me concerning his old PS1 that he was about to throw away. Then he told me he remembered that I was into video games, so he thought he’d ask me first. See, it works!


Learn patience. Seeing a game turn up at an auction which you really want can quickly evolve into a bidding war. Which is never good, especially at night time. It will turn up again, maybe even cheaper. Especially considering Murphy’s Law.


Try to find bundles. More games at once, mostly cheaper than buying separate, and a chance that underneath all the FIFAs there's a treasure. If you go for full sets that’s your best bet for a solid foundation.


If you use eBay and the like, tell the guy selling his stuff how he should ship it. It sounds weird, and somewhat logical to securely pack the games, but trust me you’ll regret not doing it and receiving destroyed stuff because somebody decided to ship a N64 game in an envelope without padding.

TGS: Great Advice which I'm sure people will take up. What would you say is your most treasured retro gaming item and why?

MW: Pokémon Red, Blue and Yellow, all CIB. Pokémon Red was the first game I owned and so many memories are tied to that game. So this trinity is very special to me. Even more so since my original Red is lost.

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

MW: The Vectrex 3D Imager, I so want to play 3D Rollercoaster…



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

MW: Well I did wind up with a CIB copy of Mega Man 6 for the NES. It was part of a NES bundle I bought off eBay, a CIB NES and some six games for it, too. Paid 230 Swiss Francs I believe for the lot, and considering MM6 alone fetches that easily if not more, a nice bargain. However that was somewhat accidentally as I didn’t know about the value of that game. As for intentionally acquired bargain, there’s the brand new and mint Gameboy which was never used. For 25 Euros.

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)


MW: My stuffed animal leopard. It’s the one material possession I value and cherish the most. Also my hard drives, as they contain irreplaceable pictures and other data. Gaming wise, maybe the valuable stuff like Mega Man 6 and some of my Japanese Saturn games. The other stuff is replaceable.

10 quick fire questions:

1) Favourite System: PS2
2) Favourite Sports Game: SSX Tricky
3) Favourite Multi-Player Game: Mario Party
4) Favourite Beat ‘em up: Tekken
5) Mario or Sonic: Mario
6) Favourite HandHeld: Gameboy
7) The worst game in your collection: I have some unplayable pieces of garbage, but Gifty (or Gift) for the PS2 takes the cake in doing every possible thing wrong.
8) Favourite arcade game: Probably Street Fighter
9) Game spent most time on: GTA San Andreas
10) Finally – and probably the hardest – Favourite EVER game: Giants: Citizen Kabuto (albeit on PC, although the PS2 version is very good, too)

TGS: Last thing, do you have anything else you would like to talk about? (Feel free to plug at this point if you’d like)

MW: Yeah, where's that cake you promised me? And why are you flooding the room with neurotoxins?




Thank you very much for chatting with us and showing us your fantastic collection. We hope that this article helps other would be collectors with their upcoming collecting and gives our reader an insight into your world!


Get yourself down to RetroCollect.com and you can speak to like minded Retro Gaming people.




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