Ep 132: Call of the Collectors - Part 2 w/ Gamer Ahmer

[00:00:08] Hello and welcome to episode 132 of A Gamer Looks At 40, I'm Bill Tucker, and this week we continue our month of collecting by welcoming a brand new friend of the show, YouTuber GamerAmer. Now when I talk to people about the stuff they have, I'm always struck by the why. Like I said last episode, everyone has their reason for why they collect pretty much anything.

[00:00:37] For Joey last week, it started as a way to impress friends and grew into something more. For others, it's purely monetary, you know, high value things that hopefully increase in value. But for today's guest, her why is on the surface simpler, yet emotionally more complex than I would have ever initially believed.

[00:01:01] With an incredible collection that continues to grow on a weekly basis, seriously, check out her YouTube channel, it's in the show notes, it's ridiculous, it's crazy. GamerAmer is in the process of amassing a what's what of gaming history, one deal at a time.

[00:01:19] Time to jump in the car, hit the highway, and visit a garage sailor five as we embark upon episode 132, Call of the Collector, part two, with GamerAmer. GamerAmer. Thank you so much for joining me to chat a bit about your collection.

[00:01:46] I'm doing a series next month about collectors, why they collect their cool collections, the fun things they have. And your name came up in some of my searching about, and I was like, someone I think mentioned you. And then I looked at some of your YouTube's, I'm like, oh, this is perfect. This is perfect. So first, I'd love to hear a bit about your channel, some of the stuff you do on that channel, and maybe a bit about how you got started in gaming in general. Yes.

[00:02:16] So, so I'm GamerAmer, and I do a little bit of everything when it comes to content creation. I'm like all over the place. I make short form, long form, you know, just a whole variety of different things. But really, I love nostalgia when it comes to video games, vintage toys, collectibles, you name it. I probably own something related to it.

[00:02:40] So it's just, you know, kind of taken over a lot, and I love every bit of it. That's awesome. So what was the first system or console you received? Like, what was your entry point into games as a hobby or a genre? So we'll take it all the way back. Like, I have older cousins, and they started out with the Nintendo Entertainment System. And me being much younger, I had to wait my turn for that controller.

[00:03:11] I wasn't allowed to just go over there and just start playing their games. It was always, they would play, if they lost, I got my turn. And, you know, I watch them play a lot too. So I learned a little bit, you know, about video games and like kind of how to do different things. And then I finally got that chance to practice, and I was hooked. So even though that's like a little bit outside of like, you know, like my age range,

[00:03:39] it's still like the first thing that I played, the first thing that I fell in love with, you know, Super Mario Brothers, Super Mario 3, just playing all of those, Duck Hunt. Like, I loved those games back then. That's cool. And I would say for me, my parents got me a Nintendo 64 one year for Christmas. Okay. And I got the Jungle Green Nintendo 64 with Donkey Kong 64 and of course, Tony Hawk Pro Skater 2.

[00:04:08] Naturally, as you do in those days. And I fell in love. I love the soundtrack. I love the games. Then my cousins had Tony Hawk Pro Skater 1. We had a whole bunch of games. We would like trade games to play. I'd go across the alleyway to a friend's house. She had like fighting for 64. I love that game. Oh. I loved playing it. She didn't always want to play it, but I loved it. And, you know, I would just bring my controller wherever I could.

[00:04:36] I'd bring memory cards, bring games. And if someone had an N64, I was playing it. That's awesome. So N64 was the first one that you actually had and were able to amass a collection for. So when did it turn from just the thing you did and the thing you enjoyed to that collecting side of it? When did it turn into that? So back in the day, it's not like my family had like any crazy amount of money.

[00:05:05] Like we used to go. So I grew up with like my grandparents and I think allowance was like a quarter or something like a week. Like, that's okay. That's I mean something right. But yeah, not a lot of games like that. But not enough. Yeah, not enough to be buying video games. So we would do secondhand stuff like we would go to flea markets, thrift stores, yard sales, mostly yard sales back then and like big outside flea markets.

[00:05:32] And I would find a 10 to 64 games for like a quarter or 50 cents a piece. I got like paper boy. I got Glover. I got so many different games back then. And you know, when you got a game, you played it until you couldn't really play it anymore. Yes, indeed. Indeed. Absolutely. Correct. So it just kind of like started like that. And then, you know, of course, like the jump to PlayStation and PlayStation 2.

[00:06:00] And I got a secondhand PlayStation 2 from my grandfather. He ended up getting it in some car or something, and he thought maybe I'd want it. And then it was the wrestling games, you know, just smack down, shut your mouth, smack down. Here comes the pain, all those games that I just grew up playing, you know, dance, dance revolution. And it was always just a few games here or there. And then put a pause on some things, go away to college.

[00:06:29] Of course, my room, my dorm room was like everyone could come over, play rock band, guitar hero. We were playing trivia. We were having a good old time. That's fun. You were to see your, your room was like the fun place to be. Like you had all the fun things. That's cool. And it was like really fun because it kind of turned into like a little blockbuster where I would rent out movies and games. Nice. But I didn't really charge anything. It was kind of like a donation if you feel type of thing. That's cool.

[00:06:59] So, you know, it was just always a fun place to be. And then when I got into my career path is when I walked into a flea market and I saw all the things that I wanted back in the day that I could never afford. And next thing you know, I dug out of storage my childhood jungle green Nintendo 64. Love it. And I started adding more and more and more games.

[00:07:25] Next thing you know, I went for a full North American library of the games. Right now, I currently have almost a worldwide set. I have the PAL releases. I need 19 more Japanese exclusives for the whole worldwide set of Nintendo 64 games. I have a worldwide set of consoles. I'm a couple controllers, two controllers away from a worldwide set of controllers.

[00:07:53] And, you know, it's just it kind of like took off. Like when you get a little bit of money and you're still living in the home. Sure. You have the opportunity. Yeah. Disposable income. You're able to kind of do these things. And I think it's really interesting that you got in when you could still get games for a buck or two at Goodwill at a flea market. Like that's not the world we live in now, obviously. And we'll talk a bit about how the world of collecting has changed from when you started to what it is now. Good and bad, of course.

[00:08:23] But that's fascinating that you that it was just basically out of necessity. It sounds like it's like I like these games. This these are the funds I have to work with. So I'm just going to stick with the old games. And I think that's really cool. And it's allowed you to build this really impressive collection. When you say a full world console, what is that just for N64? Like you have all the different versions of N64. Is that what you kind of focus on? I that was just what I was focusing on at the beginning.

[00:08:51] Like I have all the fantastic colors. So I have like the watermelon, the ice blue, the jungle green, the grape, so on and so on. And then I have the Japanese exclusive. So they had a couple different like two toned consoles where it's like the watermelon, but it's like the clear on the bottom. And then it's the ice blue and then clear on the bottom. All the Pokemon ones, you know, just the gold Toys R Us gold. That's wild. Just crazy. It's so cool.

[00:09:19] Korean, like doesn't even just stop like, you know, here in Japan. It's like Korean, Australian, the pal, like just so many different ones. That's so funny. So, so, so that was kind of where you, you started and it's came. It sounds like it started from, from kind of a need, right? Like you want to play these games. This is the funds you had. Here we go. So what would you say is, was your, what's your strategy? What was your strategy back then for, for getting games?

[00:09:48] Um, it sounds like, again, you were sticking to N64, then you were branching out to PS one and PS two. And it sounds like you were always a little behind the curve when it came to like the newest systems, which makes sense. Again, you know, college limited funds. I'm going to buy what I can get. Right. That makes total sense. Um, what would you say your, your favorite piece, one of your favorite pieces in your collection are from a personal standpoint? Like not so much the, the, the piece in your collection that is worth the most.

[00:10:18] We can talk about that if you want, because those are always sometimes fun to talk about. What's the piece in your collection that means the most to you? There's a few of them. So obviously my jungle green, Nintendo 64, like everyone always says, if there's a fire, what are you going to save that one? Because that one was my childhood one, even though it's not the most expensive. I still have that, but I don't have a lot of the other systems that I grew up with.

[00:10:46] I think some of those were traded in. They might've been given away. Like I had a Sega Genesis and my mom threw that and like 50 games away. No, I don't know why she did that, but she did. Oh, she doesn't need this anymore. Fling trash. No. Like that. And then I have, um, I love it. It's, uh, this Mario statue that they only made so many hundred of back in the day.

[00:11:15] And it's like a promotional one. That's like right around the N64 game cube era. And it's like a life size, like Mario or it's like, but those ones go for quite a bit. Like they can go for over $6,000. Yeah. And then, um, I love this KB toys cabinet that I have, like the full actual cabinet display that they would put games in.

[00:11:38] And on the side, it says Nintendo 64 KB toys and it was converted to a game cube. So it like really fits nicely with my game cube. Cool. The statue. And then that, so like, there's just so many, it's like, depending on the day, I'll probably say different things. Sure. Sure. Sure. But those are three biggies. I think that's interesting. Especially, I mean, the obviously obvious one is that, is that green N64, right? Yes.

[00:12:06] That one sounds like it's a really personal one to you. Um, I'd love to hear some stories of, of finds in the wild. I always find that really interesting to hear from collectors. Cause obviously you're always out there looking for the next thing in your piece, next piece in your collection. I'd love to hear some stories of either amazing finds in strange places, or maybe the one that got away. I'd love to hear just some stories of adventures from the road, you know, just hear about that.

[00:12:37] Yeah. I mean, Craigslist back when that was like golden, I search Facebook marketplace all the time now. Mm-hmm . And I know collecting has changed and we'll probably touch on that at some point. But I still find stuff. Like just the other day, I went to Virginia and I picked up this PlayStation one light up sign, the store display. Mm-hmm . And no one kind of knew what it was.

[00:13:02] And I was a little hesitant on it myself because I didn't know if it was real or not. Sure. It had a different plug on it and like, it wasn't North American at all. And it said VIP on it. Like this yellow. Yes. I saw the video for that. You did a video on that. Yes. Yes. So it's like, it was $150 and those things definitely go for like much more like store displays signs. They go for, sometimes they can go for like over a thousand dollars.

[00:13:31] So I saw it and the guy, you know, said, it's yours. Come get it. Over a hundred people reached out, yada, yada. Mm-hmm . So I drive out there and then, you know, I ask around in the groups and someone said, this guy worked over in Sony or something. And he's from Italy or somewhere. And he told me it was Italian because it has the three prongs and the middle one is, he called it the earth, but it's like the grounding. The ground, the ground prong.

[00:14:01] Yeah. Okay. The ground one. And, you know, he said that it was awarded to different stores depending on how much they sold or bought of Sony merchandise. Oh, so interesting. And it's just like every little item like that has a story. Yes. And then there's some like, like one of them, for instance, one of my more expensive items, I was on Facebook Marketplace and two and a half hours away, I saw something listed. Cause I have my radius all the way because I don't mind a good drive. Sure.

[00:14:31] And, um, there was this box and it said Nintendo on it and it said Mike Tyson's punch out. So I was like, what is this regular looking cardboard box? And why does it say this on it? And I said, what if that's the original cardboard store display standee of Mike Tyson? That big, huge cardboard display. Yes. Where he's like holding the game or showing the game. Yeah. So the guy had it listed for 70 or $75.

[00:15:01] And I just booked it. I was like, need to go right now. Just go in the car, drive two and a half hours, meet the guy. And he's like, I know it's probably worth more, but I didn't do research. And I'm like, are you sure you don't want any more money for it? He's like, no, I should have did research. It's yours. Da da da. So I give him $80 cause I only had twenties on me. I wasn't worried about any change. Yeah. And I tried to give him a little more. He said, no. Wow.

[00:15:29] And I get home and the box is still sealed. So it's a sealed five foot, I think nine or so. Mike Tyson's punch out that store display cardboard standee never open, never displayed. What? And someone offered me $10,000 for it. 10? Oh my God. What? That is insane. So of course I said no, like any reasonable person would say no.

[00:15:58] Every reasonable person. Yeah. Every reasonable person is like, nah, that's fine. I don't want to make, I don't know, 800% profit on my, on my investment or whatever. I don't do math. That's so you still have it. I still have it because it's the only known one that's sealed. That's never been open or displayed. And it's just a crazy find. Like, it's so crazy. That is a crazy find. That's insane.

[00:16:24] I've never, I, I never, I can imagine this thing, but wow, that's cool. What a cool story. I love that. And the guy didn't want anything extra. He was just like, yeah, just take it off my hands. It's this five by nine thing is taking up room and wherever I am. Yeah. No, he didn't want anything. Um, his brother, so him and his brother, they worked at a store back in the day that sold Nintendo games and his brother took one home as well, but he opened his and his brother still displays one every boxing night.

[00:16:53] Cause they have that as like a family. And he just put it up in the attic and he's like, well, I never opened mine and never touched it. Maybe someone else will enjoy it. Wow. That is so interesting. I love that. And you still have it. That's great. That's great. I'm going to, I might do a tick tock on that one and you may get a few more phone calls about it or emails rather just saying, just saying I might. That's really, that's really awesome.

[00:17:20] Any other stories like that where you have these like really cool finds just out of nowhere, um, surprises. Yeah. One time I was at a video game convention in Pennsylvania and, um, I won't say which one just because things were a little bit overpriced there. Sure. And, um, that's fair. So I wasn't, you know, having like the best of time. Cause I'm looking for those deals. I want the deals. I don't want to overpay. And a lot of conventions I go to, I still find deals, but this one in particular, just,

[00:17:50] it wasn't, you know, I wasn't really finding anything. Yeah. So someone messaged me and they sent me this picture of this world of Nintendo fiber optic sign. It's like the store display from back in the day, they're pretty massive in size and it's like the little sparkle fiber optic lights. And it has like this color wheel, like this pattern and it looks so beautiful. And those things go for over $6,000.

[00:18:20] And he messaged me and this was a guy that I didn't really know. I bought something off of him and I think he bought a Wii system or something that I had found a double of. And I didn't really know this guy. So I didn't know if he was messing with me. I didn't, I didn't really quite know. Cause I didn't know how to like read this guy. I didn't know. So he sent me a picture of that and he said, do you know anything about this? And immediately like my heart just started pounding and I'm on the convention floor.

[00:18:48] And I'm like, I think I have to leave the convention. Like, I think I need to go. Something's telling me I need to go meet with this guy and see what he has. And he's like, come on out to my house. We can make a deal for it. Um, so I show up in his front yard and it's sitting on top of this burn barrel in his front yard. Like it's just sitting there. Almost as if it's like up for sacrifice. Like it's up for sacrifice.

[00:19:18] That's so funny. So you go there and it's now, mind you, there's a risk involved with this as I'm kind of like playing through my mind, right? Like you're, you're going to someone's place. Like you're leaving a safe area to just go to a random place to find these things. What happened? So he has this extension cord. He turns it on. It's so beautiful. Like the little sparkle of this fiber optic. And he goes, I got it for free. Do you want it for like a hundred bucks? And I was like, a hundred dollars.

[00:19:48] I was like, is there an ATM around here? I'll be right back. And he's like, all I want is a hundred. And I was like, I have to give you more. So the ATM that I went to was like in the middle of nowhere. And the limit was like $400 or something. So I took out $400 and I gave them, I think like 450 or 500 for it or something. And I probably would have gave a little bit more if I had more, but I just went to this convention. I bought a few things.

[00:20:17] I'm not made of money, you know, I may have a lot of stuff, but I don't like sell the stuff. You know, it's right. Right. So he was super happy. He was like, thank you so much. That's going to pay, you know, rent and help me with some things. He was happy. I was happy. And I was in total shock. And I mean, I go to some sketchy places for video games and I just walk into people's houses and I go in their basements.

[00:20:43] And one time some guy was like, do you want to see my Smurf collection? It's in my bedroom. And I sure enough went in that bedroom and I saw that Smurf collection. Braver person than I. There's those, the combination of those two words, the Smurf collection in the bedroom. I don't know if I could, I don't know. That's wild. I mean, who would lie about that? Who would make that up? I guess it's too specific. I guess it's pretty specific. My concern is the person that's telling the truth.

[00:21:13] That's, that's, I don't know which one's weirder. I, that's the thing, but I'm teasing. Of course, if you're into things, you're into things. Um, but that's really interesting. And what I picked up on the, on that story was you were willing to give more than expected. You were willing to, and you've already said that twice in our conversation, which I think really says a lot about you as some, I've never met you personally.

[00:21:39] Um, that's really cool that you recognize you're, you're, you're willing to spend more for something when you know it's worth more and you're not trying to screw people over. I think that's really admirable. So congrats for that. Like, congrats. That's really cool. Cause a lot of people would have been like, sure, here's your hundred dollars and walked away with it. I think that's really admirable. You chose to know this is worth way more than that. Here's the most I can give you. I wish I could give you more. I think that's really cool.

[00:22:07] Now, I really appreciate that. I just like if, if I knew, and if I had even more, like I'd probably give more just because let's say it's like a hundred dollars. And you know, like, I feel like I know the value of money to people. And I feel like there's like some days where like a hundred dollars could like mean the world to someone. So like, I don't want to intentionally go out there and be like, Hey, I'll give you 20 bucks for it or something. Right.

[00:22:35] I would, I would never feel comfortable doing that just because, you know, like there's even things on like Facebook marketplace. And I mean, I might have been that person that really messed the deal up for people because there's some things that are worth like $10,000. And this person will have it listed for like 20 bucks and it could be a scam or it could be a legit old lady or something. Sure. And I'm like, Hey, you might want to do some research on this.

[00:23:02] You know, I'd love to, to get this, but you should really do research on this. I just, you know, looked at your page and you see go fund me's and you see people are sick. And it's like, you know, there's people out there who were going to pay certain amounts. Even if someone has it for like a slight deal, I still feel like that's like a win for everyone. You know, there's no need to completely take advantage of people, you know, and like gloat about it and stuff, especially if some people resell.

[00:23:31] But, you know, I just, I feel a certain way. So I always want to try and help whenever I can. And I think that's really cool. Cause again, you're not, you, you put it, you hit on something as well. You're not a reseller. You're not looking to flip these things for a profit. You are looking to amass a collection because you enjoy having the collection. You enjoy the things you enjoy amassing this stuff. Um, yeah, I think that's really cool. And again, I think that's admirable that you're willing to say to somebody, Hey, you know what? You should probably ask for a little more for this.

[00:23:59] Like, I'm not going to get it, but you should probably ask for a bit more. And I think that's fair. And I think that's also understanding where people are at now, again, situations are different, right? I mean, if you're at like a convention, you know, bargaining at a convention, it's like a, it's like a, I don't know. It's like a European bazaar or something out of Arabian nights. Like you can bargain and that's expected at like a convention or something. That's a different story than a little old lady on Facebook marketplace trying to clean out their garage. Right. Yeah.

[00:24:28] And so actually you've separated those two is really cool. That's really great. So kudos, kudos. Probably don't get that enough. Kudos for that. Cause that's really awesome. I appreciate that. It is time now to say thank you. Thank you. Thank you to my wonderful patrons for their wonderful patronage.

[00:24:53] These wonderful people include Seth Sergill of the All In Media Network, Julian of the Stage Select Podcast, BT Goebbels, the Let's Play Princess of Nerds Broadcast, Games with Coffee, Greg Seward of the Player One Podcast and Generation 16 series of videos, Terry Kinnair, the aforementioned Joey Coro, Philip Becker, Lindsay Harney, Lucas Thompson, and the editor extraordinaire Pete Harney.

[00:25:20] If you would like to join these amazing human beings, mosey on over to a Gamer Looks at 40 on Patreon. Check out the tiers. And if something inspires your spirit of philanthropy, then by all means, sign up today. Let's jump back into the episode.

[00:25:44] Have you ever had a situation where you've learned the story behind the item that was more than you expected when you first picked it up? Or has there been a situation like that where the story behind the item really surprised you? You already mentioned a couple of those already. Was there anything else like that? Well, I'd say one, it was early on in collecting. So I didn't really know about like worldwide variants and stuff back when I started collecting for the Nintendo 64.

[00:26:12] And I went into the mall and there was this video game store that had moved there because their old location was located in this like historic town and it completely flooded. And I was there the day that it flooded, but I had this like weird feeling that I needed to leave. And when I left, I remember jumping onto the beltway and I was under the underpass and this torrential downpour started pouring and everyone on the road stopped.

[00:26:42] And then next thing you know, their entire town was like underwater and all these cars were being like washed down the roadway. So this store I hadn't been to in a minute because it literally like suffered this like tragic water damage and this whole, you know, situation that had happened. So they moved their location temporarily until they could rebuild to the mall.

[00:27:07] So I had went in there and I was looking in the showcase and they have these two Nintendo 64 controllers, a red and a gray one. And they had some like weird language writing on it. And I didn't really know what they were. And they had $75 on each. And I was like, that's kind of weird. And he's like, yeah, someone traded them in. I don't really know much about them. And I said, that's kind of crazy to pay that much for a controller. Yeah. And I left.

[00:27:37] And then two, two months later, I went back in there and he said, hey, you're the only person who's ever asked about these. If you want them both for 25 bucks total, I'll give them to you because we have nothing in them. Yeah. And I said, okay. So I go home and I post a picture of them. And someone said, oh my God, those are rare Korean variant Nintendo 64 controllers.

[00:28:03] The gray one you can get on eBay now with the console for like a couple hundred dollars. So I bought one. So I have two gray. I had the console Korean. I ordered it on eBay, a couple hundred bucks. They came in. And then I posted a group photo of those with the red controller. And someone at that time, I think offered me three or $4,000 for that red controller. Just the red controller. Just the red controller.

[00:28:31] And I said, no. Thank you. But no. Wow. Wow. And I learned that there's only a handful of the red ones out there. And at one point during COVID, that controller got up to be around $8,000. Yeah. So it's kind of like mellowed out a little. I think it's back around like the $4,000 mark. But at one point, I could have sold it for $8,000.

[00:29:00] Should have probably did it, but I didn't. So this might be jumping ahead a little bit in like my mental schedule of things to ask. But I'm going to ask it now. You know, you've had a number of situations you've discussed already where you could have sold it for big money, right? And we're talking not like a couple hundred bucks. We're talking substantial money. And if you don't want to get into it, that's fine. But the question for me is why don't you?

[00:29:25] What about the thing, what about having the collection is worth more to you personally than potentially thousands of dollars? Which for a lot of people would not be as strong. I don't think I could be as strong as that, you know, with two kids and the mortgage and all the rest of it. What value in those items are more than that monetary value? I think it's always hard when these questions, because obviously a nice several thousand dollars would be really nice right now.

[00:29:55] You know, I have a house. Mortgage would be nice to pay completely off. But then, you know, I wouldn't have this stuff. And I feel like life is too short that you have to enjoy those moments. And this is my thing that I enjoy collecting. And eventually I have like bigger plans for this stuff. Interesting. Like, I want one day all of this stuff not to be in my house.

[00:30:22] I want it like donated somewhere where people can see it. And sure, the money and stuff would be nice. And, you know, all of that. But I think a lot of these things I get attachment to with the memories, the history, and like the friendships and stuff that I make along the way, like the community, the collectors, my friends, like just learning about this stuff and just seeing the joy on people's face

[00:30:49] when they come over my house and they get to play the kiosk. They get to hold the $5,000 prototype. They get to, you know, hug the Mario statue. They get to touch these items that are essentially meant to be played or enjoyed. And they get to learn, you know, things about this stuff. Like, I don't care that some of this like plastic toys and stuff are worth a lot. I got a lot of this stuff for some really great deals.

[00:31:17] And, you know, I think because I have way less in some of these items, it doesn't bother me that bad. But if I was spending like $10,000, $10,000, $10,000, then it might like change things. But because I'm not paying those amounts of money, like I'm okay with having, you know, certain things. I think you have the heart of an archivist, like almost from a historian standpoint.

[00:31:44] You want to acquire these things and get not to turn a profit. And no offense to those who do, it's a business and I get that, right? But I think for you personally, since I'm having this conversation, I think what I'm hearing is you have this kind of heart of an archivist, like a historian. I want to amass these things as a collection because you appreciate not only the aesthetics of them, but the history behind them, the story, kind of what you just said. So I think that's, that is a good driving motivator.

[00:32:13] That makes sense to me where you're like, well, no, yeah, you could give me $10,000 for this, but I'd rather have this item and archive it and keep it safe and keep it clean and keep it well preserved from a preservationist standpoint, which again, I think is really admirable. And it says a lot about you as a person where that your focus is more about that than turning, making a substantial sum of money. Yeah. And I mean, don't get me wrong.

[00:32:40] There's like a few times where if I'm at a thrift store and I find a Wii for five bucks, I'm going to pick it up and I might resell it as a bundle, but I'm not getting like top dollar. I'm not going to get a hundred and some dollars. I'm a market at 40, 50 bucks tested clean. Yeah. Right. Add a couple games to it that are duplicates and then, you know, just make maybe five, 10, 20 bucks. I'm not like the best business person in that sense because, you know, I, I sold something on eBay for the first time and I lost money.

[00:33:11] So, cause shipping was way more than I expected. So I lost, I lost $6 in total. So, I mean, not the best when it comes to that, but duplicates sometimes I will pass on and, you know, there's who knows, maybe at some point I would have like some sort of game store or something like you never know what the future may hold, but there's stuff that's untouchable for sale and there would be, I would have to buy all new inventory.

[00:33:41] Yeah. And that, I think, I think that's, I think that's very interesting in that you have, again, you have that historians archivist kind of mindset, which I think is cool. And that's actually really, really neat. My dog thinks it's great too. She's, she's, she's a big fan. The dog is very happy. I've actually another, another question for you. What is the longest you've traveled to pick something up that you found on Facebook marketplace or Craigslist? What's the, what's the longest distance you've traveled to acquire something? That's like a little hard to say.

[00:34:11] So I've, I've driven, so I'm, I try to be smart about it. I watch stuff on Facebook marketplace for months. And if I know that I'm going to a convention that I'm driving to in South Carolina, or if I'm going on a family vacation to North Carolina, or if I'm going to a convention in Georgia, Alabama,

[00:34:36] you know, something like that, I will go a little out of the way to pick up an item. Um, and like, for instance, I went out to PAX East last year and that's in Boston, Massachusetts. And there was something in Rhode Island that I wanted. So I made a pit stop off in a whole different state, probably an hour and some out of the

[00:35:00] loop just to pick up this Batman standee, this cardboard display for like 40 bucks. And, um, there's times where like a weekend I might make a trip out to like New York or New Jersey or Virginia, West Virginia. And then if I go to a convention in Ohio, I'll make a pit stop in like Pittsburgh or somewhere that's like four or five hours away from me or more.

[00:35:30] But because I'm going in the route and it's like an hour or two out of the way, um, you know, I'll do that. Sometimes it could be like a three hour, um, there and three hour back. So like a six or seven hour round trip. And then I have to work the next day. So it really just, you know, kind of depends like on how big of a deal it is, how rare it is. Like I'll make a trip out if I can, you know, make sure the person's going to keep it and

[00:36:00] not get rid of it before I get there. Yeah, that makes sense. Yeah, totally. If there's an urgency behind it, you'll, you'll make the trip. Yeah. I'd also like to talk to you. Uh, you mentioned the community of retro gamers and retro collectors. I'd love to hear your experiences with that community because I, and I'm not a collector personally. I know a lot of people who do it. Um, I don't have that bug. I don't have that archivist gene. I'm trying to get rid of things at all times as opposed to collect.

[00:36:25] But, um, I'd love to hear some stories about people you've met in the community, friendships you've made. Um, I'd love to hear some of that flavor for the community in general. Yeah. Yeah. So I'll actually start with my like weird story of how I got into, um, YouTube. So I had created an Instagram account and I had posted video game pickups and some random

[00:36:54] person saw that I was tagging in Maryland and he said, Hey, I'm a YouTuber. I'm not that far from you and I want to offer you a business, you know, proposition. And I said, okay, strange person. Where do you want to meet? So they, I know it's terrible. Um, use caution and really, uh, you know, do some research on the people.

[00:37:22] So I meet this person at like Bertucci's. We have lunch together. He shows me his YouTube channel where he does magic, the gathering cards. And he has like over 30 or 40,000 followers at this time. And he told me he makes a few grand a month making YouTube videos. So he said with your knowledge, with your collection, he's like, you should start a YouTube channel. He's like, I'll come over. I'll film your videos. You just talk about the stuff.

[00:37:51] We'll talk percentages later. Um, and he's like, I'll go ahead and edit everything. You just be you. And we'll go from there. And I said, sure, strange person. So I invite him over my like little apartment that I had at the time. He films for like six hours, my game room tour. I'm nervous as anything. I stutter on my name. And, um, it's a little cringe to watch now. And he edits it.

[00:38:18] And then he doesn't post it for like a few weeks. And then finally he posts it. And I start to get like a couple hundred subscribers. I get like over a thousand views. Nice. And I'm like, oh, that's kind of cool. Like. Yeah. What else can we do? So he comes back over and he films a couple more videos. And then he kind of goes ghost. And I was like, did I do something? Or like, what's the deal? And I was like, hey, a lot of people are messaging me.

[00:38:47] Just curious when I can tell them. And he's like, it'll take some time. So like another week passes. And then he posts a second video. And it does decent. And then I just stopped hearing from him for almost like a few weeks or a month or something. And then he told me, hey, I'm so sorry. I didn't realize this was going to cut into like my family time. You know, my YouTube, my this, my that. And he's like, good luck to you. I wish you well.

[00:39:17] And you got this. And I was like, okay, I appreciate that. You know, thank you for the knowledge. And thank you so much. And then I like went into panic mode because I'm like, I don't know what I'm doing. I don't have a camera. I guess I'll record on my phone and have no microphone or nothing. And I just put it on a little tripod and I would just talk. And I would be super like awkward at the beginning.

[00:39:40] And it took me quite a few years, like over three or four years to finally start like getting a little bit more. Because like there's like a difference between real life versus talking to a camera. In real life, I find a deal and I'm happy. I'm screaming. I'm, you know, I'm just like, oh, my God. I can't believe. And then I get the item on camera and I'm like, today I found this really rare, really cool thing.

[00:40:10] It's so awesome. I can't believe it. Ha ha ha ha. Yeah. Like you just it's like so. Yes. Totally understand that. Yes. And like boring and all of that. So I ended up getting invited out to a convention. It was a Southeast Game Exchange and it's in South Carolina. And they saw like my YouTube content and they invited me to speak on a panel about women in gaming. Cool.

[00:40:39] So I started meeting some YouTubers there and people were coming up to me and they're like, wow, I watch your stuff. You have the coolest game room. And I was like, thank you. And then, you know, it's like you start. Hey, you want to come out to dinner with us? Hey, you want to do this? Or, hey, do you have this in your collection? Or, hey, come over here and look at this. And, you know, next thing you know, you're starting to, like, make friends with these people. And then you leave the convention. You're on this all hyped up. You're happy or adrenaline.

[00:41:09] You're just having a good time. And then they start messaging you. You start messaging them. Hey, can't wait to see you at the next convention. Hope all is well with your family. Yada, yada. And then you see them at another convention. And now it's kind of just like this, like, little, like, group of, like, all these YouTubers. So, like, it really doesn't matter, like, what state. Like, I go to different states for conventions. And then you kind of run into the same YouTubers.

[00:41:39] So, like, Retrowolf, he, like, came out to my house and he filmed my game room tour one year. And he did such an amazing job. And his editor did. And, you know, that video kind of, like, took off. And, you know, I still talk with him. There might be a convention that I'm going to this year that he'll be at. So, I'll catch up with him. And then, like, all these other people. And then even Retro Rick, he was just asking me if I was coming out to his convention this year.

[00:42:09] And I told him I just have to make sure everything's, you know, go with the schedule. Right. And then I'm hoping I can. Just because, you know, it's been a minute since I've seen him. And then, you know, I've met Pixel Game Squad. And I've met, like, all these other YouTubers. Small, large, like, in between. And everyone's, like, super nice. Super helpful. Super welcoming. And my buddy Tech Buzz Gaming in Ohio.

[00:42:37] Like, we just get to see each other. And, you know, we catch up. Families and stuff talk. And, you know, we get to see his kids. And, you know, everyone just has, like, a great time. And we'd still, like, keep in contact. And, you know, we might be having, like, a project or something soon that no one knows about that we're going to be working on together. Oh, that's exciting. Okay. So, you know, it's just, like, cool little things like that. And then there's, like, local guys. Like, my buddy Marcus.

[00:43:07] And then Josh. Like, they're just local gamers where we can go to game stores and we'll see each other there. Or, you know, we'll go out to a brewery or something. Like, it's just, I meet their families. And, you know. It's just really cool. And I feel like a lot of people are welcoming and they understand, like, collectors and, like, kind of how we are. I think I'm always struck by video game communities.

[00:43:35] I'm always struck by, because growing up, again, I'm 44 or so. You know, I'm probably maybe older. I don't know. But I, growing up, it was, gaming was always this singular activity. Right? I had friends who'd come over to my mom's house and we would play games. But it was never, for me at least, there was always a small community around that. And it was always a stigma of the loner gamer. Yep. Which I think couldn't be further from the truth. Because, and that's why I love exploring communities and how they get together.

[00:44:04] I find it really interesting that you, through the retro collecting, have met this really great group of people that you have a connection with, that you'll spend time with, that you'll socialize with. And I think that's important to talk about because I still think there is that weird stigma among people. That gaming is this, like, person in the basement by themselves. When that couldn't be further from the truth. And all you need to do is go to one video game convention. Yep.

[00:44:30] And if you don't walk away with at least one or two new friends, you've probably been like me and been Mr. Social Anxiety. And not talk to anybody. You know? But it's, I think it's very interesting that you mentioned that as a piece of the collection, of the collecting thing. That's really cool. Yeah. I'm glad you're able to find that. Back in the day, like, people kind of did think you were like this nerd, this loser, you didn't have friends, yada yada. And it was kind of more like, come on, go be outside, be active.

[00:44:59] It was always like that stigma of something. But I feel like as time has shifted, it's like pop culture. It's like the cool thing now to be into gaming, collectibles, you know, you hear people with, like, Pokemon cards. And they're like, oh, you nerds. And then you see one sell for, like, a million dollars. And you're like, oh, you rich not nerd? You rich nerd, I guess? You very wealthy nerd, I suppose. Yeah.

[00:45:26] And then when people, like, see, like, my collection, like, they think it's crazy. But then when I start pointing out valuable items, it's kind of like they go, oh, I understand it a little bit more. And then there's, like, people at work and stuff who are grown men. And they're playing video games. And there might be a few people, like, why do you do that? And then they say, well, me and my buddies, we get on. It's, like, time to relax, this and that. There's millions of other people.

[00:45:54] And then, like, people, like, start to see that it's, like, more common instead of, like, always a negative thing. Like, you could use it for positivity. And there's, like, critical thinking and different skills and different stuff that you use and you learn. It's always not just you're just being fat and lazy in a basement. Like, there's more to it. And I think we are shifting as a society to that, shifting away from that paradigm.

[00:46:20] I think we're shifting away from that where it's now becoming more – because for a long time, if I told somebody I binged a TV show over the weekend, I'd be like, oh, yeah, me too. That was really cool. If I told them I played Fallout New Vegas for eight hours straight, they'd think I was a crazy person. When there really is no big difference between the two. In fact, I'd rather my to-be nine-year-old – I'd much rather him play a game for two hours than watch TV for two hours. Much would prefer that because I know he's getting engaged in lots of different ways.

[00:46:49] So I think that's really cool that you were able to find that community. So have you ever been to – so what would you say your favorite convention is to go to? It sounds like you've been to quite a few. What's your favorite or one did you go to all the time? There are always – like there's always something fun in each one. But I will say like my first one that I went to that I was invited to, the Southeast Game Exchange where Austin runs it.

[00:47:15] But he's so nice and he's so welcoming that I absolutely love that convention. And I've been out there I think at least four years in a row. This year due to some other stuff, I'm not sure if I'm going to make it, but that's one that I usually always try to go to. But then I also really enjoy going out to like – they have conventions in Ohio and all of them so far have been a lot of fun.

[00:47:41] And they feel like this like close-knit like you're just catching up with your friends there. And usually the experience is so much fun that we all go out to eat and we socialize. And it's just one big party that like doesn't end. Like it just – it feels like so much fun. It is a lot of fun. And the whole community is very welcoming and opening – welcome – the whole community is very welcome, welcoming and open.

[00:48:11] And yeah, I think it's a really, really very, very cool part – sorry, very cool thing to be a part of. With our last few minutes, I want to just talk a bit about the world of collecting then and now, right? Things have changed. And you mentioned it yourself, like getting games for a quarter to 50 cents now. Good luck getting – doing that. What do you think some of the benefits of modern collecting and what are some of the pitfalls?

[00:48:38] And do you as a collector think this is sustainable? Like this kind of ever – it feels like we're always pushing for the next highest dollar, right? Do you think A, is that sustainable? And B, where do you see the pros and cons of modern collecting? Yeah, so definitely when I started collecting, like actually collecting, it was like 2015 or so.

[00:49:04] And at that time, it was like you could go to any yard sale, any flea market, anywhere, and you could find cheap video games. Yeah. You wouldn't pay like more than, I don't know, $10, $5 or something for like certain games. Now there was always the valuable ones and some real high dollar ones, but you wouldn't really pay more than like $100. Like things were still inexpensive. You could find things for under $5 and just games all day long.

[00:49:33] And I feel like when I started collecting, I'm glad that I kind of went a little crazy at the beginning and just dropped paychecks on games. Sure. Because nowadays you can still find deals. You really can, but you have to put in more effort and more work to find them. And you have to be willing to travel. You can't just go to one, you know, yard sale, flea market, or thrift store and expect to find gold.

[00:50:01] You might have to go every day for a week and then you might find a $60 game priced for $2. Like, so you might find them. You just have to be consistent and you have to put in the work and the effort. And, you know, everyone has their view on resellers and things like that, but we all buy from resellers essentially.

[00:50:24] So like, I don't always knock resellers and, you know, yeah, there's more interest in it. Yeah. It became a little bit more popular. So there are more people who normally wouldn't be into video games who are only doing it for a profit and they're buying things and they're taking the deals that you want. So of course you're going to get a little salty about it because you're jealous that you didn't find that deal too.

[00:50:51] But, you know, it's, it's just a part of life, like with anything really. So I feel like there still are deals out there, but I am glad in a way that things are a little bit more popular. Because that shows that maybe the younger generation will get into this retro collecting. Because we all know things going digital and all that, that future is here. And that may very well happen.

[00:51:19] But I am glad that there is like this whole collector's market. There are conventions popping up. There are younger generations getting into this. People get all upset when they change a character and they, you know, with certain things. But it's bringing the younger crowd into it. We can't hold on to the same stuff over and over and over again. It's like you want to show more popularity. You want to get the younger crowd into this. Because without it, this could totally die off.

[00:51:47] Yes, it can, as quickly as it, as it flared up, it could, it could die out. I totally agree with you on that one for sure. And I think that also leads into probably one of my final questions also is advice you would have for people who want to get into retro collecting. What advice would you have for somebody who is new to it, who's starting from ground zero? What advice would you have for someone who wants to engage in that and continue and start that? I mean, I definitely say be patient and figure out early on what you're interested in.

[00:52:17] So maybe don't go out there and think you want to buy every little thing because you'll quickly learn that that brings you down this rabbit hole where you'll start with one thing. Then you do this. Then you do that. And then it's like it just feels like a lot at one time. So it's like figure out what you like. Do you like, you know, certain games like RPGs? Do you like Pokemon? Do you like Mario games? Do you like Nintendo? Do you like Sega?

[00:52:46] Figure out like what you really enjoy because the passion has to be there. You can't do it just for a money sake. You have to do it because you enjoy it. So figure out what you want to do and then start doing some research. Figure out, you know, what the games go for. And then just look around on different used sites, whether it's a eBay auction. You know, they have whatnot, Noncore and all those other like new ones and stuff like that. And, you know, Facebook Marketplace.

[00:53:15] Go to local video game stores. Get to know the owners. Go to conventions. Get to know the vendors. Get to know the community. Reach out to YouTube people and content creators. Because I'm always willing to have conversations and help people. And then, you know, just start looking. Be patient. And try not to overspend. You can always find something a little cheaper where you don't have to like overspend. So I say go for it. There's never, it's never too late.

[00:53:44] Yeah, you might not get stadium events for a dollar anymore. But, you know, you might be able to find some really good fun stuff, especially if you enjoy playing those games. I think that makes sense. I really am a fan of being niche. I think that's a big piece of advice. My son likes Pokemon cards because he's eight years old. So, of course, he does like Pokemon cards. And one of those things I actually have now that he likes Pokemon cards, I kind of like Pokemon cards.

[00:54:13] And, again, we're not these serious collectors or anything. We have like one graded card that I bought him for Christmas a couple of years ago. A graded Charizard. But I think about collecting. If I were to start, I would be like, I would pick like one thing. Like I'm a big fan of Clefery. I think I love Clefery because it makes me happy. So, like I would click Clefery stuff. Why not? Things like that, like stick to a niche, I think is a really good takeaway from that.

[00:54:39] Like pick something that you just dig that you can just do inexpensively and just enjoy and not worry about the big ticket item. I think that's a really fair, really fair point. Awesome. Well, this was delightful. Thank you so much for chatting with me. This was really cool. I think that you have a great collection. I think you have a lot of cool stories. And thank you for sharing your insights on this. I really appreciate it. Thank you so much for having me.

[00:55:04] I always love talking about, you know, the collecting journey, all the crazy kiosks and displays and stuff that I find. And, you know, it's just it's like never ending. And I feel like every day something else new happens. And I'm always looking forward to that, like next adventure. So, you know, thank you so much for having me on. I love talking about this stuff. And, you know, I had to listen for some other collectors and stuff, too. And yeah, definitely.

[00:55:31] And real quick, before we before I close the recording part of it, again, where can people find you? Where can people find your stuff so we can you can share your journey and go on that journey with you? Yes. Anywhere, really. I'm all over the place. I might be in your state. No, I'm kidding. But just gamer aimer on everything, whether it be TikTok, Instagram, Facebook. YouTube is where I make more of the content and stuff. But I'm all over the socials.

[00:55:59] I'm even on some of the ones that just didn't really take off. And I'm still there. Fantastic. I just love it. I love seeing everyone's amazing scores, finds, you know, and like the Facebook groups and stuff. And, you know, I'm just all over the place. Love going to conventions. Love meeting new people. Love finding that one weird item that I never knew about because I'm still learning, even though I would have thought that I've seen everything at this point. And I sure haven't. That's amazing. I love it.

[00:56:29] You never know. Many thanks once again to gamer aimer for spending time with me a few weeks ago chatting about her collection. Please, please, please find her on all the socials and on her YouTube channel. Which is linked in the show notes. Next week, we will be doing probably nothing.

[00:56:59] I don't have anything planned. I have Final Fantasy 8 and 9 stuff to go through. But I just don't have it in me to do right now. So this may be the last episode. This may be the final one. Which is fine saying here because nobody listens this far into the episode. Anyway, so yeah. This may be the last one you ever hear. If that is the case, hey, I really appreciate the journey this has been. I appreciate the road this has taken.

[00:57:28] I appreciate everybody who's spent even a little bit of time talking with me or listening to my ramblings and, more importantly, my guests' ramblings. It's been awesome. And who knows? Maybe in a couple weeks you'll have another episode out here. I don't know. But just in case that doesn't happen, I genuinely appreciate every single one of you who's given this show a listen and given this show a chance. Yeah. And yeah, until next time, whenever that happens to be, please do yourself a favor.

[00:57:59] Be kind to yourselves and each other.