Atari Wristband
Atari
wristband
Given as a gift years ago
by someone very close to me. I have two of these, one is sealed and
the other is actually used when I work out.
Game Wristwatches
Nintendo
- Donkey Kong
Nintendo
- Donkey Kong (close)
Nintendo
- Donkey Kong (close up of Donkey Kong logo on band)
Nintendo
- Tetris (with documentation)
Nintendo
- Tetris
Nintendo
- Tetris (close)
Nintendo
- Tetris (close up of Tetris logo on band)
One of my all time favorite
collectibles are these, LCD games built into wristwatches. I'm surprised
that these haven't came back into production given the advancements in
small display technology. Nintendo created a few based upon their
most popular franchises and there were a couple other companies (one being
Nelsonic which also created a few for Nintendo) that released other game
wristwatches.
Gashapon Figures
Namco
Girls - Cassandra from Soul Calibur
Namco
Girls - Hitomi from MotoGP series
Namco
Girls - Taki from Soul Calibur
If you've ever played Shenmue
then you should know all about gashapon figures, found in capsule toy machines
throughout Japan. These particular gashapon figures are famous female
characters from Namco games. Each one is about four inches tall and
required a bit of snap together assembly but the amount of detail is amazing.
Cassandra has developed some problems with standing upright over time (the
plastic changes as the temperature increases / decreases) but over all
they are well crafted collectibles. Here we have Cassandra and Taki
from the Soul Calibur games as well as Hitomi, the grid girl from the MotoGP
series. A side note here, a couple years ago when Namco was showing
teaser videos of the forthcoming "Ridge Racer 6" they showed Hitomi as
being the mascot of the game.. well we all know when the game was actually
released, as the lackluster R: Racing Evolution, she was nowhere to be
found - which is disappointing since next to Reiko Nagase (who made somewhat
of a cameo appearance in Ace Combat 5) she's one of the most popular non
game specific CG characters. You have no one to blame but yourselves,
if more people would have purchased Ridge Racer V then Namco would have
stuck with the classic arcade racing formula.
Hallmark Looney
Tunes Pinball Christmas 2005 Ornament
"Pinball
Action" Looney Tunes ornament (boxed)
"Pinball
Action" Looney Tunes ornament
"Pinball
Action" Looney Tunes ornament (operating)
During Christmas 2005 Hallmark
released a Looney Tunes pinball machine ornament. The ornament features
Bugs Bunny playing a Tasmanian Devil pinball machine. Daffy Duck
has his head smashed up through the bottom and Tweety is atop the backglass
looking down at the playfield. The ornament runs off three button
cels and when the plunger is pulled back and released a little pinball
is shot inside the machine. Additionally the bumper lights flash
in sequence, the ornament makes classic pinball machine sounds (yes, it
actually does sound like a 1960's era pinball machine), and the backglass
lights - eventually lighting "TILT" at the end.
Keychains
Asteroids
(closed)
Asteroids
(open)
Space
Invaders
The Asteroids keychain contains
an LCD game more like Astroblast / Astrosmash than Asteroids. It's
a little nicer than the other game keychains I've seen since it folds shut
to protect the screen and buttons. The Space Invaders keychain plays
a lot like classic Space Invaders and it is small enough so it doesn't
get in the way with keys on the keyring.
Legend of Zelda
Wristwatch Wall Clock
The
Legend of Zelda wristwatch wall clock
The
Legend of Zelda wristwatch wall clock (face area)
The
Legend of Zelda wristwatch wall clock (clock face)
The
Legend of Zelda wristwatch wall clock (clock face with cover removed)
The
Legend of Zelda wristwatch wall clock (3 quadrant)
The
Legend of Zelda wristwatch wall clock (6 quadrant)
The
Legend of Zelda wristwatch wall clock (9 quadrant)
The
Legend of Zelda wristwatch wall clock (12 quadrant)
The
Legend of Zelda wristwatch wall clock (back)
Long overdue, here are the
pictures of my Legend of Zelda wristwatch wall clock. I was very
fortunate to obtain such a rare piece of Nintendo nostalgia, especially
considering the modest price I was able to pick it up at. Basically
it's a wall clock made to look like a giant wristwatch, these were somewhat
of a fad through the 80's but never really caught on (that is, outside
of Swatch stores). It is a hair over 4 feet, 9 inches long and is
8 1/2 inches across the widest part of the middle. It's printed at
the bottom of the face as being copyrighted by Nintendo in 1989 so that
puts it right around the time of Zelda II and the height of the NES marketing
juggernaut. It runs on a single AA battery and currently keeps perfect
time. The top of the face has the classic Legend of Zelda logo and
the 3, 6, and 9 quadrants all have illustrations of Link engaged in combat
with enemies from The Legend of Zelda and Zelda II the Adventure of Link.
Drawings of the Triforce mark 2, 4, 5, 7, 8, and 10 o'clock, basically
anywhere there isn't a drawing along the face, the time is marked with
the Triforce. There are some surface scratches on the plastic over
the face, however they will be buffed out once I have the time to do so
properly. Authentication of this clock being officially produced
by Nintendo was confirmed when I was contacted by another individual who
also owns one of these incredibly rare pieces of Nintendo memorabilia.
However this is the only other Zelda clock of this design that I have ever
heard of. If anyone out there has any additional information or happens
to own one of these clocks, please
contact me!
Maracas PaRappa
Maracas
PaRappa (boxed)
Maracas
PaRappa
Maracas
PaRappa (box back)
Maracas
PaRappa (box side)
This is actually one of the
coolest video game related items I've ever come across. It's PaRappa
from PaRappa The Rapper holding a pair of maracas that have little shakers
inside. He stands about a foot tall and runs off AA batteries.
What's cool is when he is turned on he dances and shakes the maracas to
any sound or music he hears. It's a lot like the dancing flowers
and soda cans of the late 1980's except I've yet to see another one of
these. It was acquired on eBay from a Japanese video game toy seller
that I've done lots of business with in the past and I'm still impressed
of just how mint this item is. It wasn't all that expensive either
and just happened to be something I stumbled across.
Megaman 15th
Anniversary Action Figures
Quickman
with enemy
Produced to low quality standards,
the Megaman action figures usually aren't that desirable, at least to me.
Quickman, however, is the exception as he is well detailed and constructed.
Megaman II always was my favorite game in the entire franchise.
Mini RC Mario
Kart BitCharG / RC Microsizers Cars
Mario
RC Microsizer (box)
Mario
RC Microsizer
Released in both Japan and
the USA, tiny toy car sized radio control cars were all the rage for about
a year. They use cellular phone vibration motors as a motion source.
In Japan they were called BitCharG and in the US called RC Microsizers.
Many popular Japanese car model versions were released and soon enough
there were officially licensed Nintendo models based off Mario Kart.
Each of the Mario Kart models comes will accessories such as little turtle
shells and banana peels, very accurately detailed and recreated.
Nintendo Branded
Candy
Nintendo
Jelly Pop (boxed front)
Nintendo
Jelly Pop (boxed back)
Nintendo
Klik candy dispensers - Mario, Link, Donkey Kong
For awhile Nintendo began
to release all kinds of candies in the United States. Au'some Candies
brought a bunch of their products to the USA in an assortment of different
forms. Without a doubt the coolest of any of these were the Nintendo
Jelly Pops of Mario, Link, Donkey Kong, and Yoshi. I still have an
unopened box of these (was hard to come by since most stores would open
the box and use it as a counter display) and they've held up surprisingly
well over the years. The Klik dispensers were a little more widely
released and are basically Pez dispensers except they hold smarties.
Pac-Man Lunch
Box
Front
of Pac-Man lunchbox (front)
Back
of Pac-Man lunchbox (back)
Back
of Pac-Man lunchbox (sides)
Back
of Pac-Man lunchbox (top and bottom)
Back
of Pac-Man lunchbox (inside)
From the nearly forgotten
era of metal lunch boxes comes this nice relic of the arcade age.
This Pac-Man lunch box is from 1980 and was picked up for $20 at the local
flea market years ago. It's a little scratched up around the edges
and has obviously seen a good amount of use. However it's still very
functional and is a nice display piece. There's a tiny bit of rust
on the inside I need to grind out one of these days but it's nothing compared
to what is usually found on lunch boxes of this type.
Pins
Nintendo
- NES control pad pin
Sega
- Sega Saturn lapel pin
Sega
- Sonic the Hedgehog lapel pin
Sega
- Sega "Welcome To The Next Level" lapel pin
The origin of most of these
pins is somewhat unknown, I've simply been able to pick them up along my
gaming travels. I usually wear the Sonic the Hedgehog character pin
on the collar of dress shirts (where people usually wear flag pins or the
like) but the others rarely get any use. I don't see a whole lot
of video game related pins any more and many that were made simply didn't
survive in good condition since they were usually put on kids jackets or
hats.
Plush Toys
(UFO catchers)
Animal
Crossing (Girl series 1) plush, picture 1
Animal
Crossing (Girl series 1) plush, picture 2
Aiai
Super Monkey Ball 2 plush (front)
Aiai
Super Monkey Ball 2 plush (back)
Aiai
Super Monkey Ball 2 plush
Link
UFO catcher from The Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time
Sonic
the Hedgehog Christmas UFO catcher
UFO catcher machines are
insanely popular in Japan. These are similar to the claw games in
the US that are usually filled with cheap stuffed animals. However
in Japan they come filled with all kinds of high quality plush goods and
other items. Of course with video games being a national pastime
in the land of the rising sun, many of these machines are stocked with
video game related prizes.
Sonic the Hedgehog Necktie
Sonic
the Hedgehog necktie (box front)
Sonic
the Hedgehog necktie (box back)
Sonic
the Hedgehog necktie
Sonic
the Hedgehog necktie (close), picture 1
Sonic
the Hedgehog necktie (close), picture 2
Sonic
the Hedgehog necktie (close), picture 3
Sonic
the Hedgehog necktie (close), picture 4
Sonic
the Hedgehog necktie (back)
From the same source as my
maracas PaRappa comes this super rare item. It's an adult sized necktie
that is officially licensed from Sega of Japan. It has anime drawings
of Sonic and Tails in the Casino Night Zone from Sonic the Hedgehog 2 on
it. What is even more interesting is that this was a prize inside
a UFO catcher machine (more commonly known stateside as a claw game or
Challenge-R) - where all those Japanese plush toys come from. I've
never come across another one of these and I've been looking pretty hard.
For the most part it sits in its box in a poly bag but I do wear it to
certain formal occasions. Basically if you see me wearing it then
it must be an important function. If I'm able to pick up another
one I won't be as nervous when wearing this one out - one to use and one
to put away. If you happen to have one of these or have come across
one in the past, please
contact me! I have seen other bootleg Sonic the Hedgehog ties
but this one is officially licensed.
Super Mario Bros. Telephone
Super
Mario Bros. Telephone (box front)
Super
Mario Bros. Telephone (box back)
Super
Mario Bros. Telephone
Super
Mario Bros. Telephone (close up of Mario)
Super
Mario Bros. Telephone (close)
Super
Mario Bros. Telephone (keypad)
Back in 1990 Bondwell released
this favorite of video game collectors. It is a one piece Super Mario
telephone that resembles a pipe with Mario standing atop the opening.
These were released in three colors: red, blue, and green. The phone
is hung up by a small cradle button being depressed when the phone is set
on a flat surface. It features a colorful keypad with star shaped
buttons but none of them look like a Starman, regardless of what the box
says. The Mario figure can be rotated and the "Super Mario Bros."
text on the phone is reminiscent of the original SMB logo. This one
is totally complete - the phone, box, inserts, instructions, even the local
phone number stickers. I picked it up off eBay for less than $20
including shipping, a phenomenal deal I'm still not sure how I was able
to pull off.
TRON 20th Anniversary Action Figures
TRON
mint on card
Released for the 20th anniversary
of my all time favorite film, this was given to me as a gift as well.
The TRON action figures are translucently cast so light can glow through
them to create an effect similar to the movie - well, as close as can be
done with an action figure anyway.
