"He's a collector"

by James Ransom-Wiley { Jul 12th 2006 at 1:25PM }

Brett Martin is 26. He lives in Colorado with his wife. And, by his estimation, owns roughly 10,000 to 15,000 individual pieces of gaming memorabilia. And you thought you were a fanboy...

Tags: fanboy, memorabilia, Nintendo, Super Mario, SuperMario

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Babylonian @ Jul 12th 2006 1:29PM

Is the title of this post a reference to that really odd Super Mario Bros song remix? The one with the 'noodles' thing?

If nobody else knows what I'm talking about, ignore this comment.

Anyways, that collection really puts mine to shame. Incredible. I've always wanted a huge Goomba plushie but they're impossible to find.

Robespierre @ Jul 12th 2006 1:29PM

He has a wife?!

Draco @ Jul 12th 2006 1:33PM

I don't understand this part "with his wife" could you revise the sentance please, I'm sure its a typo

Exo @ Jul 12th 2006 1:35PM

a very understanding wife it seems.

Eagle @ Jul 12th 2006 1:43PM

Shiggy would have a huge smile on his face if he saw that...

You compare that to some of the Star Wars collections out there, and you really start to notice just how big the games industry has gotten...

All I can say is, I wish I had disposable income.

manuel @ Jul 12th 2006 1:53PM

Why should he NOT have a wife.
Collecting stuff and having a wife (and a life) is not controversial.

That collection must have been expensive. 0.0
How many cars (or houses *g*) could you buy instead?
I'm also 26... maybe my collection could be that big in say... 50 years. ;)

I'm married, too. (for those who might interest it)

Nice collection.

Joe @ Jul 12th 2006 1:57PM

Maybe she's fat and ugly

Marc @ Jul 12th 2006 1:58PM

Whoa.

That makes me realize that I'm not a Nintendo nerd.

Oh, thank you Jesus!

that guy @ Jul 12th 2006 2:00PM

with is wife...in his mothers basement

darryl @ Jul 12th 2006 2:02PM

"Shiggy would have a huge smile on his face if he saw that..."

Ofcourse... he'd be thinkin' *cha-ching, cha-ching* mo' money!

Sad.

turtleboy @ Jul 12th 2006 2:08PM

It's called he has made a comprise with his wife most likely. She gets to have this if he gets to have this. I can tell some of you have never been married. I make comprmises all the time with my wife. I get to have my collection of Ninja turtles if she can have all her scrapbook crap. Does that make sense to all you buttholes that want to make rude comments about some dude you don't even know.

Tush @ Jul 12th 2006 2:09PM

I wish I was his wife!

Yoshi Likes Boys @ Jul 12th 2006 2:09PM

"7. Maybe she's fat and ugly"

Self-loathing gamers are funny.

David V. Clayton @ Jul 12th 2006 2:14PM

You mean to tell me ... all I have to do is get the ping pong ball in that little cup and I can have whatever I want....

COOL BEANS...

Joe Dirt @ Jul 12th 2006 2:29PM

A great quote comes to mind, "Run Luke, run." Nothing scares me more then a woman who tries to change a guy. The article seems to indicate his wife wants him (encouraging him) to sell his collection and move onto a new chapter in his life. That doesn't sound very understanding. In fact, I bet when they first started dating she loved the collection, then after they got serious she was merely tolerant, and now that they are married, she want him to move on to a new chapter in their life. Hey maybe I am wrong, but we have seen this happen before.

32_Footsteps @ Jul 12th 2006 2:41PM

Eh, I have a similar arrangement with my wife. She doesn't question when my video game collection (or video game memorabilia collection) inexplicably grows, and I don't question why she needs to buy 50 music CDs in one shot.

Thomas Crymes @ Jul 12th 2006 2:44PM

The people I know who collect like this have some serious personal issues to overcome.

Collecting is OK to an extent. There is a line to cross. I dare say this young lad has discerned its location and dashed acrossed it.

el nico @ Jul 12th 2006 2:46PM

"7. Maybe she's fat and ugly"
"9. with is wife...in his mothers basement"

because you know him and his wife personally? why make a troll comment that gamer must have an ugly wife or live in his mother's basement. some gamers are able to balance their games with an active social life and are not all socially awkward.

The ZeroCorpse @ Jul 12th 2006 2:48PM

Collector? No.

Obsessive compulsive? Yes. BIG yes.

Jay @ Jul 12th 2006 2:56PM

I'm a little shocked at the personal insults to the guy. It's like the people running around on HL2 saying "you're gay" etc. It's only recently this has got to me, but what the fuck do these people know about the people they're calling? Funny how by making comments like that the only fact that is brought to light is their retardedness. Maybe it's their own attempt to become a "funny" online? wonder why it fails 100% of the time.

Nice collection. Wonder if he has the Bomfunk MC's Mario mix. Probably the only rare Nintendo thing I own, next to a mint condition original GB and sealed SNES Link to the Past. but this guy puts all that to shame.

emmzee @ Jul 12th 2006 3:18PM

That's an awesome collection alright ... but him hoarding 10-15k pieces of Nindendo memorabilia means that it's unavailable to the rest of us to own! The jerk!

iceatcs @ Jul 12th 2006 3:42PM

Remind me of this movie called "40 years old virgin"

To be honest, I have found it really sad life. I gotta to safe his wife out from sex slave.

uwf_doc @ Jul 12th 2006 3:44PM

Did anyone check out his online store?

He might have agreed with his wife to thin out his collection, but he's going down swinging... He's selling most of that stuff at obscenely high prices.

If my girlfriend told me to get rid of some of my old games, and i said "sure," but then tried to sell them each for like $150, i don't think that'd be much of a compromise.

I do understand that most of that stuff is mega-rare, but only another die-hard collector is going to pay ~$50 for a pin of wario that isn't even an inch tall.

The_Wind_Waker8 @ Jul 12th 2006 5:21PM

Colorado, eh? Tell me where he lives and I'll raid his collection for some stuff to put in mine...

frodo @ Jul 12th 2006 5:24PM

a lot of that stuff looks like unauthorized cheap chinese ripoffs... though some of it is completely rad, like the shine sprite pillow.

Adam Blinkinsop @ Jul 12th 2006 6:21PM

@Babylonian (#1) - "Everything is Illuminated," perhaps?

Adam Blinkinsop @ Jul 12th 2006 6:23PM

(Oh, and the "noodles" piece is by A Scholar and a Physician: http://www.ocremix.org/remix/OCR00683/ )

Brett Martin @ Jul 12th 2006 9:47PM

Hey guys. I'm the collector. Thanks for (most of) the comments. Let me first say that my wife is gorgeous! I love her and there is no compromise. She's disliked the collection from the beginning, but never asked me to get rid of it. She just chuckles when people see it. She has asked me to quit spending though, which I can understand. Heh.
I want to sell it because we want a child and that child would be overwhelmed with such a collection, and for many other reasons (some of which are mentioned in the article).

In regard to the prices, it really is tough to price the really rare stuff, but it is aimed at other hardcore collectors. There are a ton of them collecting out on Ebay on any given day. This stuff is really popular these days. Just try to pick up some of the stuff anywhere else on the net.
Still, you can always haggle with me!

I only own one set of fakes, and that was for research. It's a Mega Man set that I needed to see with my own eyes. It's not displayed.

Video Game Master @ Jul 12th 2006 11:29PM

Wow.

Maybe he's just really, really, rich.

He's not neccesarily a geek...

...

okay, maybe so.

marsel @ Jul 13th 2006 11:55AM

wow mad haters. for all we know the man has plenty of side money to spend on what he loves, shit if this is what makes him happy then good for him, some people get more pleasure from a material thing then a weekend of drinking (i live in nyc so a weekend of drinkin im putting around $100-150.) plus he might just have a 3 foot dick, so there goes the reason for the wife.

geekRECON @ Jul 13th 2006 5:21PM

Several of the items appear duplicated (or more). Are you sure this just isn't the picure of a backroom for a giftshop of some sort?

Amanda @ Jul 13th 2006 11:48PM

And these are the same kinda guys that complain that they can't find a women that understands them, I'm guessing...

I'm a woman (big shock)...and my husband and I are both gamers. A normal night at our house would maybe be me playing some Kingdom Hearts or Zelda, taking a break so he can get in some hockey or Quake or whatever, then snuggling on the couch for some Band Brothers or hooking up the ColecoVision for some Jumpman Jr. against each other.

We've gone to DDR tournaments and Soul Calibur tourneys and all of that together...

We are going to Video Games Live for our anniversary this year...

We collect old systems (together) and have a shelf of old handhelds (Lynx, Game.com, Nomad, etc.) and a R.O.B. on our three foot tall surround sound speakers.

So to you guys that don't think that girls like games, or understand games, or whatever...GROW UP.