Oh boy, here's the second shocker for the day. I've acquired Dain's collection of video games. I simply couldn't help myself once I experienced it!!!
The press release below might sound a little "salesy" but I think it explains things pretty well. So rather than try to reword it here and circulate it elsewhere, I'd just assume be upfront with everyone about the news, as it will be communicated...
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The Carolina Collection is a unique and exceptional archive of video game history with a particular focus on the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). What makes this collection truly outstanding is rooted in the person that meticulously assembled it over many years - Dain Anderson, founder and highly active member of the NintendoAge forums. NintendoAge has acted as the hub of information and communication for NES collectors for over 15 years. Dain’s relentless passion for collecting and archiving the history of all things NES is undeniable to anyone that has experienced the collection in its entirety. Rare and valuable pieces range from several of the best known examples of the most highly coveted NES games to historical “paper” items that contribute to the fascinating evolution of at-home video gaming.
The collection gets its name from the pure coincidence that both the original curator (Dain Anderson) and current owner (Jeff Meyer) live in neighboring cities in North Carolina. Jeff is the founder of GoCollect.com (a leader in valuation and collecting tools for comic books) and a passionate collector of golden age comics. The introduction of robust grading from Wata opened the doors to expand GoCollect to offer accurate valuation and collector tools to the video game community.
“Accurate and easily accessible information is the cornerstone of any mature collectible,” says Meyer, “and NintendoAge was the clear hub of the most complete information available through both their console archives and long-standing discussions found deep within the forums.”
After a long series of discussions around preservation and improvements an agreement was made for GoCollect to acquire NintendoAge. It was during this time that Jeff became aware of Dain’s amazing collection. “I was staring at a physical representation of the data we wanted to extract from Nintendoage and became overwhelmed with the collector instinct that I absolutely had to own and share this treasure chest of NES history.”
A deal was struck between the two collectors that included a single, undisclosed purchase price in exchange for absolutely every everything Dain owned that was related to video games. Not just the “good stuff,” not just games, not just NES... everything. An entire, tightly packed conversion van was needed to transport the collection to the GoCollect offices.
The GoCollect team is meticulously archiving the collection, while using it and the NintendoAge web site, to develop a suite of tools that are sure to please the video game collecting community for years to come.
The Carolina Collection will be slowly exposed to the collecting community through a small handful of best-in-class auction houses and trusted collectibles dealers. Jeff intends to also hold a small selection of pieces himself for the time being, but promises to keep those pieces available for viewing online once all are well preserved and certified by the team at Wata. Initial viewing of these “hold back” pieces will be available at the HeroesCon in Charlotte, North Carolina in June, 2019.
Given Dain’s prominence in the collecting community, there are bound to be a vast number of questions and concerns about the actions described here. Aside from the future of NintendoAge, the collection itself contains many hand-written letters and gifts to Dain as well as a large number of items that were designed and branded with the NintendoAge insignia. Both Dain and GoCollect kindly request that all questions be posted to the Nintendo age forum thread dedicated to the topic.
Daniel Greenberg, George Mason University Game Design
