#718-721 - L'ittle Chu and the Drunkard Crusade

#718-721
Little Samson, Master Chu and the Drunkard Hu, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, L'Empereur
NintendoAge.com forum
7/21/11

Another score from the fine forum dwellers over at NintendoAge.com! The games in this picture are very difficult to track down - in fact Little Samson is one of the "Sinister Seven" toughest games to obtain. Luckily, a member at NA had these and several more hard to find games for sale, offers and counteroffers were made and a deal that we were both happy with was finally struck.

The star of the lot is of course Little Samson. Not only is it one of the hardest games to find, it's a very fun and unique platformer. Master Chu and the Drunkard Hu, apart from it's cool name, is another forgettable Color Dreams game. L'empereur is another military strategy game that won't likely see much time off the shelf. It's nice to cross Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade off the list if not for finally being able to delete my saved search on eBay. There are actually two different Last Crusade games made by different companies (Taito and Ubisoft), but they use the same exact photo on the cover art. The Taito version is relatively common, so it was always a pain to sift through all of that version in search of the Ubi version.

Well, this purchase pretty much wiped out my disposable birthday cash. I've still got some eBay gift cards and a particular game in my sights - hopefully I'll win an auction or find a decent BIN in the coming days...

#716 & 717 - Adventures of Lolo 3 & Mario Bros.

Games #716-717
Adventures of Lolo 3 & Mario Bros.
NintendoAge.com forum
7/20/11

Another nice deal from the NA forums landed me a couple of games that I've wanted to cross off the list for a good while. Mario Bros. is a port of the arcade original - I was first introduced to it as a bonus level in Super Mario Bros. 3. It's the second to last black box game left for me to collect - again I've gone cart-only for the remaining black boxes until I can find a better deal for a box later.

Adventures of Lolo 3 is the last licensed game I needed that starts with "A", so it's been mocking me for a while at the top of my collection list. The Lolo games are fun puzzlers - in fact I can remember renting Lolo 1 from the local rental shop when I was a kid and having a good time with it, even if I wasn't very good at it.

In fact, nostalgia is a big reason for my decision to collect Nintendo games in the first place (plus the fact that the games are fun to play), so I went on a mission during a recent visit to my parents' house. The Super Mario Bros. glass in the picture was rediscovered in the very far back of a cabinet in their kitchen. I have very distinct memories of using it on pizza nights (usually Fridays) growing up. I don't know where the glass came from originally, but it's going to sit amongst the rest of my collection from now on.

I'm awaiting another mail arrival in the coming days with some exciting additions for the game shelf. Stay tuned!

#715 - Conan: The Mysteries of Time

Game #715
Conan: The Mysteries of Time
Half.com
7/15/11

I've struck upon a mini-hot streak lately with a few purchases online. I've got a couple of games coming in the mail next week, but in the meantime I can show off my latest addition; a boxed copy of Conan: The Mysteries of Time. It's a pretty cool that the box was included - apparently it isn't very common and it's got a Molly Hatchet album cover look to it. Once again, apologies for the crummy cell phone pictures - I'm in the market for a new one.

About 75 of the games in my collection are boxed. I don't seek out boxed games, but if I happen across one that includes the box and the cost is in line with what a cart-only copy would go for, then I'll pick up the cardboard, too. The only exception is the black box series - these are the original 30 Nintendo-published games that were released for the system. Games like Super Mario Bros., Donkey Kong, Excitebike and Duck Hunt all had a unifying box style of a black border around a scene or sprite from the game. They look good lined up all next to one another and I've sought out these games in complete condition. The last few I needed to complete the boxed set are a bit out of my price range, so I've gone cart-only with the hopes of stumbling across a cheap box down the road.

#714 - Jackie Chan's Action Kung Fu

Game #714
Jackie Chan's Action Kung Fu
Games Plus

Finally! It's been a while, but a round of game hunting has paid off with a copy of Jackie Chan's Action Kung Fu. Apparently Jackie Chan was popular enough in 1990 to warrant a licensed Nintendo game - who knew? You'll notice the Randall's store stickers all over the cart - I love finding old rental copies. They remind me of when I would rent games from the grocery store or rental shop on the weekends. Sorry for the blurry cell phone picture.

Games Plus is a great little franchise in the Houston area (and maybe beyond...not sure) that sells new and used video games and movies. They pride themselves on besting GameStop's prices by a buck or two on used games, but what I like them for is their stock of retro games. Most of the locations I've been to go as far back as the Atari 2600 - although I understand they're liquidating their stock at the moment. In fact, I noticed quite a bit of clearance rack titles from all systems (mostly commons and sports titles) for as low as $1. If I was just starting my collection I'd be pretty stoked to pick up a big pile of carts for a dollar each. Side note - I'm guessing the Guitar Hero/Rock Band craze has lost all momentum - there were tons of copies of GH/RB titles for $1 as well...

I'd wager to guess that at least 20-25% of my collection has come from Games Plus stores. Most of the games I've bought from them are within the $3-5 range - and they almost always feature a buy x get 1 free (sometimes it's buy 2, sometimes 3 or 4) promotion. When I first started collecting I stopped in at least once a week and left with a half dozen or more games at a time, sometimes stumbling upon an uncommon or pricey game for a deal. I still check in every so often like I did this week, and luckily came away with a new collection piece. I also snagged a complete boxed copy of Mario Kart for the Game Boy Advance - which is super neat.

Unfortunately, finding games 'in the wild' has become more difficult due to the fact that there are so few games left that I need, and the ones that I am searching for are the uncommon/rare titles. So it's back to the Internet to scour for deals...in fact I should have one arriving in the mail some time soon...

#711-713 - Let's Get Dangerous...With Cake!

Games #711-713
Wally Bear & The No! Gang, Darkwing Duck, Rainbow Islands
Birthday Gifts & eBay

Ok, we're back after a brief absence. My birthday was last month, and just like it was 20 years ago, I'm getting Nintendo games. My wife went behind my back and picked up a couple of games for me; Darkwing Duck (a MegaMan clone based off one of my favorite childhood cartoon series) and Wally Bear and the No! Gang (the infamous 'Say No!' game where forest creatures try to get innocent Wally Bear to light up, shoot up and give up). I also picked up a copy of Rainbow Islands off eBay - I notice I'm relying more and more on online deals to fill the holes in my collection. It's been more than 2 months since I picked anything up at a store or flea market.

In addition to the games, a smattering of eBay gift cards have come my way - so expect a big one to get crossed off the list soon! (Hopefully)

I leave you, dear reader, with a picture of the cake my wife made for me. She is awesome. And yes, that's all cake.