Unlike many users in these forums, I wasn't alive for much of the retro age. I turn 18 in November, so initially collectors don't take me seriously... But as Bane would (not) likely say; "You merely adopted Collecting. I was born in it. Raised in it. Molded by it." My mother never cared much about spending money on games, as she still had her NES and 4 games(Mario 1, 2, 3, Black Box Pinball) which to her was all she saw fit to own. But when she married when I was very young she bought a Playstion for the family along with Gran Turismo 2 and Tomb Raider 4. For years, these were all I had. The concept of a diverse library didn't make sense to them.

But around 7 years old, we stopped at a garage sale. In a box I saw the familiar PS1 jewel cases with games in them I had never heard of; Final Fantasy VII, Legend Of Dragoon, and Chrono Cross. $1 a piece I asked my mom and she was happy they were that cheap. I asked if I cou;d have the Playstation in my room, and again, she was happy I was happy(cool mom). She didn't trust me with that NES though...

Ironically, I played FFVII and didn't like it, in reality the game looked like shit and the plot was not engaging enough for 7 year old mem so I moved on. Next was Chrono Cross. This one was even worse then FFVII at the time. So finally I tried Legend of Dragoon and I was hooked, it caught my attention and I was actually invested in the game. I played untill disk 3 and then I got stuck and gave up. At the time, I didn't understand what made a game an RPG, but I knew that this one was fun.

I got thinking, what other cool games can I find? So I made my parents drive me to garage sale after garage sale, and then eentually our only thrift store, a GoodWill. Unfotunately our small rural town had no game stores, but this could also be a good thing depending how you look at it. I amassed a "decent" collection of PS1 games.

Oh how I loved how the matching cases looked all together on my desk shelf. It made me feel satisfied.

 Let me remind you, I'm not even 10 years old, and even if collecting was a thing, I had no idea. It was like 2004.

Along my journeys I passes on consoles I didn't care about or even know. N64, Sega Saturn, Super Nintendo. But I did know what the Nintendo cartridges looked like so I begun with that too, and my mom let me have that in my room too...

Oh god the NES was so much more fun!

I loved every game I had "collected for it" Mario 3 was a breath of fresh air after ugly-ass polygons and uncomfortable controllers. I spent a long time playing these games after school and summer days.

But then(2006) it stopped working... Or so my mom had told me when my games wouldnt play. So what does she do? Tosses it in the trash.

BUT then I was looking online for a replacement and found alittle known website called eBay.

She agreed to buy me one, but the one she picked was a CIB console for like $45 I think?
So props to her.

Also, at this time I got a GameBoy and Pokemon Blue. The most influencial game I've ever played. It changed my life. Pokemon. Pokemon. Pokemon. That was my childhood now. I needed money. NEEDED MONEY FOR POKEMON.

So remember those PS1 games? I sold them on ebay. I learned how to ship, and write addresses and stuff.

DO YOU KNOW HOW MUCH MONEY FINAL FANTASY VII WAS WORTH IN 2007!?!?!?!?!?!

It changed my life, I decided I would continue and did that as a hobby AND a childhood job! I was a legit reseller by the time I was 12. My town had no form of a game store so stuff was just ripe for the taking! BUT, there was a catch, I played Everything and decided if I'd keep it or not. I would sell Dreamcast games since I didn't have a DC. Same with Genesis. I ended up keping half of it though. It. Was. Exciting.

Fast Forward to 2012 and I go to the Portland Retro Gaming Expo with my best friend, and I am again, amazed but what I saw.

There were people Just. Like. ME.
Everywhere!

I was by no means a loner or unpopular, I was even a Huge Trackstar , but a community like this? Like you guys? Inspired me even more! I keep everything I don't already have, I trade, I research everyday. My friend and I started a now defunct game dealership, and it's made me know that I'm majoring in economy and buiseness next year after I graduate this spring. 

Remember how I said I sold a lot? Well there's one thing I NEVER sold: NES. I have every NES Game I've ever owned(almost 200), that some console my mother bought me, the box, every controller/periphreal(except ROB) and of course, The Memories.

For those of you who read my story through, Thank You. I'm very excited to now be a part of NintendoAge, and for those of you going to the Portland Retro Gaming Expo October 17th-18th, I'll see you there


 

I reuploaded this, can't figure out where to remove this one... working on it