Movie Discussion: Rarity: Retro Video Game Collecting in the Modern Era

[inasuma | 1,206]

New doc on game collecting free to watch on Plex: https://watch.plex.tv/movie/rarity-retro-video-game-collecting-in-the-modern-era

Featuring the video game dentist, aka the most prolific video collector in the world who loves games and definitely didn't find interest in the hobby purely from an investment standpoint.

[TDIRunner | 2,777]

The video game dentist has so much to teach me.  I can't wait to hear what he has to say.  

[fox | 1,679]

His fav game must be Plaque Attack

[Tabonga | 2,344]

20 minutes ago, fox said:

His fav game must be Plaque Attack

Maybe Mr. Driller!

 

[inasuma | 1,206]

i might have misrepresented the film. it's actually really cool. the dentist is only in it for like 10 mins. maybe less.

[8bitsupremacy | 208]

I was in this (Robert Komen) and the Dentist was thee worst, but overall it was fine I guess.  I didn't hate it, and I didn't love it.  The girl from Sweden seemed the most legit and sincere in my opinion, and also the console collector guy was pretty interesting too.

Edited February 3, 2022 by 8bitsupremacy

[platformagnostic | 17]

Watched the movie and determined that I prefer the stunt double of 8bitsupremacy over the real thing.

Edited February 3, 2022 by platformagnostic

[a3quit4s | 4,126]

I watched it for like 10 minutes and its just the same stuff thats been said over and over. No offense to anyone in it, just not for me

[AlfPogs | 29]

I appreciated the humble sincerity of the dentist for constantly pointing out how everyone is just jealous of him. It takes a lot of courage to speak the truth like that. What a guy. Definitely not the kind of person who leans on his wealth to hide the fact that he has no personality or nothing else of interest to bring to the world. Nope. Just a really down to earth guy with a passion for video games.

It feels great to know that the video game collecting hobby is in such great hands moving forward.

And I'm also glad that the movie never once for a single moment veered into wata propaganda territory. I liked how it presented both wata and vga in a fair and nuanced manner instead of propping up one while diminishing the other. It definitely never felt like Deniz Kahn didn't make some sort of behind the scenes deal that he would only be in it if it presented him and his company in a certain light and that he had to approve the cut before it was released. No. Not at all.

Also could have used less of that Robby guy who posted in the thread earlier. There's no place in video game investing for guys like him. What's his collection worth? $20-$30k topps? It's not even graded and he doesn't even have to keep it locked away in a vault. Definitely nothing to be jealous of. Not like my hero the dentist. I mean. He didn't even pay top dollar for it at Heritage Auctions. He went to places like flea markets and garage sales and got deals. Can you imagine? Yuck! If you're not paying a 20% buyers' premium on top of current market prices then you're doing it wrong!

Movie woulda been so much better if it had focused on Deniz Kahn and the dentist. They are the true stewards of video game collecting moving forward. I could listen to either speak all day long. I hope some big time Hollywood producers were watching. Maybe they'll give them their own series; 'Deniz and The Dentist,' where they just talk about how much their games are worth and how many 5,6,7 figure offers they've turned down for individual games. Maybe there could be a segment called 'you're just jealous' where the dentist shows off a game from his investment portfolio and talks about how much he could sell it for on Heritage Auctions if he wanted to... but he's not going to because then no one would be jealous and what's the point of living if people can't be jealous of you? It would be sponsored by Heritage Auctions and wata, of course.

 

[fcgamer | 4,754]

Just started watching now while doing some other things, had to devote my full attention when the angelic voice of Deniz came on. 

[platformagnostic | 17]

41 minutes ago, AlfPogs said:

Also could have used less of that Robby guy who posted in the thread earlier. There's no place in video game investing for guys like him. What's his collection worth? $20-$30k topps? It's not even graded and he doesn't even have to keep it locked away in a vault. Definitely nothing to be jealous of. Not like my hero the dentist. I mean. He didn't even pay top dollar for it at Heritage Auctions. He went to places like flea markets and garage sales and got deals. Can you imagine? Yuck! If you're not paying a 20% buyers' premium on top of current market prices then you're doing it wrong!

 

 

[fcgamer | 4,754]

Just got to the dentist, yup I'm definitely jealous of him. 

[G-type | 2,534]

2 hours ago, a3quit4s said:

I watched it for like 10 minutes and its just the same stuff thats been said over and over. No offense to anyone in it, just not for me

every video game documentary heavily features talking heads of the same 5 youtubers. They all blur together for me.

[DefaultGen | 5,436]

The beginning is pretty Youtubery/Wata-y. For better or worse the movie goes all over the place, so it doesn't stay the way.

Like @8bitsupremacy I enjoyed Stopxwhispering and Donny Fillerup (the Dutch hardware collector guy) the most. Donny seemed like a total nerd showing off his trove of Nintendo treasures, which was a stark contrast to Eric Naierman's "Hello, my name is Eric, my collection is worth $xxxxx" and showing off every game he says "I paid $xx, people want to offer me $xx, but I won't sell". I mean it's not exactly a secret that a certain crowd is in games for the money, but Donny has a bunch of rare, exciting, expensive stuff without making every aspect of him showing it off about the value.

[fcgamer | 4,754]

I enjoyed the video as background entertainment as I was editing images for my Family Bits book. In terms of actual content though, I felt it was lacking.

I enjoyed the Dutch collector and the Swedish one. In a sick, twisted way, I enjoyed hearing the voice of Eric, and similarly, watching the Deniz sections. Complete contrast.

My issue though is that I wish there'd be more of the Swedish/Dutch collector types on there. I'm tired of always hearing the stories of the same old YT personalities plus Wata crew. Throw dreamtr on there, or Martin Nielsen, hell I'd even like to comment a bit. But with the same ole folks everytime, it gets to be a bit predicable and boring

[GPX | 1,374]

I think what would make it look a whole lot better is to have collectors from all around the globe with various mixed collections of US/Europe/Australian games/consoles. This way, seeing the contrasting collections would be something to keep the viewers more interested in. Also this way, the collecting views would likely to be more of a general theme, instead of what’s being portrayed is seemingly too US-centric with the majority being US collections and WATA biases. 

Regarding Eric the dentist, I like how he mentions on a few occasions “the only one in the world”, where he should mean to say “the only one currently graded at WATA”. And he says “it’s now worth X amount but I wouldn’t sell for a million”. A lot of marketing propaganda going on, rather than to actually show off his collection. A lot of love for the money, the acrylic case and the numbers, close to zero love for the game itself.

 

 

[fcgamer | 4,754]

1 minute ago, GPX said:

I think what would make it look a whole lot better is to have collectors from all around the globe with various mixed collections of US/Europe/Australian games/consoles. This way, seeing the contrasting collections would be something to keep the viewers more interested in. Also this way, the collecting views would likely to be more of a general theme, instead of what’s being portrayed is seemingly too US-centric with the majority being US collections and WATA biases. 

Regarding Eric the dentist, I like how he mentions on a few occasions “the only one in the world”, where he should mean to say “the only one currently graded at WATA”. And he says “it’s now worth X amount but I wouldn’t sell for a million”. A lot of marketing propaganda going on, rather than to actually show off his collection. A lot of love for the money, the acrylic case and the numbers, close to zero love for the game itself.

 

 

I totally agree. I learned long ago, those are dangerous words to say "the only one in the world"

[T-Pac | 7,590]

I really enjoyed watching this. Even if a lot of the topics are familiar to those of us who've been in the collecting scene for a while, there's always people just diving-in who can get a lot out of documentaries like this.

Also - it's a great snapshot of "retro game collecting in 2020", so to speak. In a few years we'll be able to look back at this and see how collectors' interests have shifted and evolved.

-CasualCart

[Brickman | 4,017]

Not a bad watch. I just skipped over the Deniz, dentist and grading scenes and that made it more enjoyable.

Nothing new, but it is a good snapshot of the different collectors in the current scene.

I would have liked to have seen a more wider selection of people from across the globe instead of the focus on mainly US collecting though.

The Kuon scene was just a waste that could have been filled with something interesting.

The console guy scene was really good, I would have liked to have seen more things like that as well as the Japanese market and PAL market.

[Antihero | 3]

Thanks for the feedback everyone. Truly appreciate it. For Part 2 we are going with completely new topics and adding a lot more diverse cast from around the world. 

 

if there are any collectors we NEED to have in part 2 please send a list. With limited marketing budget Youtubers are necessary for promotion but we really want to hear from collectors of all kinds. 
 

Also feel free to send topics you would like to hear discussed if you would like. Niche topics are totally fine.

[docile tapeworm | 4,204]

@8bitsupremacy so true I often remember friends “down the block” or people in general. That’s a big fuel for my nostalgia via video games.

Ill never forget jody, she lived the next block over. She had bible adventures and the neon button inserts on her controllers, first time I experienced either. Across the street from jody was hunter I want to say she had bubble bobble 2, might had been 1, first time seeing bubble bobble. I can still see their houses and walk through them in my mind. Where the Nintendo and crt was set up.

i only knew Jody a year then she moved but I will never forget her in those moments….it’s crazy to think about.

Hunter moved out of the neighborhood but was always around, never best friends but always within a mutual friend away even to this day.

so bb and bb2 (I had to get) have an attachment to them that I can revisit.

just like the neon inserts and bible adventures.
 

Edited February 7, 2022 by docile tapeworm

[inasuma | 1,206]

6 hours ago, Antihero said:

Thanks for the feedback everyone. Truly appreciate it. For Part 2 we are going with completely new topics and adding a lot more diverse cast from around the world. 

 

if there are any collectors we NEED to have in part 2 please send a list. With limited marketing budget Youtubers are necessary for promotion but we really want to hear from collectors of all kinds. 
 

Also feel free to send topics you would like to hear discussed if you would like. Niche topics are totally fine.

Hearing more about PAL and JP markets would be awesome. There are a ton of great exclusive bundles and games from those regions that would be cool to learn about.

[8bitsupremacy | 208]

6 hours ago, docile tapeworm said:

@8bitsupremacy so true I often remember friends “down the block” or people in general. That’s a big fuel for my nostalgia via video games.

Ill never forget jody, she lived the next block over. She had bible adventures and the neon button inserts on her controllers, first time I experienced either. Across the street from jody was hunter I want to say she had bubble bobble 2, might had been 1, first time seeing bubble bobble. I can still see their houses and walk through them in my mind. Where the Nintendo and crt was set up.

i only knew Jody a year then she moved but I will never forget her in those moments….it’s crazy to think about.

Hunter moved out of the neighborhood but was always around, never best friends but always within a mutual friend away even to this day.

so bb and bb2 (I had to get) have an attachment to them that I can revisit.

just like the neon inserts and bible adventures.
 

I can recite the first time I played any game from my youth and what person's house I was at when I did...I can barely remember anything from 5 min ago but I can still remember all that clear as day.  Definitely had a Flanders-esque family in my neighborhood and was excited to play Nintendo when I was at their house the first time......boom, Bible Adventures...all we were allowed to play.  I later got banned from coming over anymore, for swearing. 

 

 

 

 

 

[SilverspoonGaming | 334]

I watched it last night and really enjoyed it, even though there were a few ppl in it that I cant stand.  In the end, at least they didnt have Pat the NES Punk in it...

I am definitely jealous of the dentists collection!  Its pretty sweet, but he seems like a smug prick, so we probs wouldnt get along.

The story from @8bitsupremacyabout tracking down the son of the old owners of the video store was epic.  To be honest he was by far my favorite person interviewed.

[RegularGuyGamer | 2,018]

11 hours ago, Antihero said:

Thanks for the feedback everyone. Truly appreciate it. For Part 2 we are going with completely new topics and adding a lot more diverse cast from around the world. 

 

if there are any collectors we NEED to have in part 2 please send a list. With limited marketing budget Youtubers are necessary for promotion but we really want to hear from collectors of all kinds. 
 

Also feel free to send topics you would like to hear discussed if you would like. Niche topics are totally fine.

@Braveheart69needs to reveal the true scope of his collection to the world.

Edited February 8, 2022 by RegularGuyGamer