Starting a Game Historical / Preservation Society

[fcgamer | 4,754]

A few buddies of mine and I are looking to start a games preservation society / historical society, as well as a gaming museum, locally.

I tried reaching out to a prominent someone who had founded a preservation group in the states for advice, though I haven't heard back from them yet.

Any thoughts or suggestions on how to get started on making this a reality? I've got so much crap that I think would honestly do much better in a museum, as well as preserved, than in my apartment where a large portion isn't getting any use anyways. I reckon I've got probably one of the nicer collections here, tips or thoughts for turning this sort of idea into a reality?

Thanks.

[a3quit4s | 4,126]

As a for profit or not for profit? I feel like those highly rely on people making cash donations or paying an entry fee to see what you've got so make sure you've got something that people are going to want to see or make you a stop on a family trip. This model probably works best in some sort of tourist location, but that also means more expensive rent wise. 

I'd say like any business you would need a solid business plan including line item start up costs and how you plan on making your money back or at least getting back the initial investment. If you plan as a for profit you'll need to antipcate how long it'll take to become profitable. 

Personally, I'd loan out what I have to a current museum for a few years and avoid all the other junk. 

Edit: I'd be curious to know how the other person you mentioned structured the business as well. If he/she/they had partners as well or just did a sole proprietorship

Edited July 17, 2021 by a3quit4s

[phart010 | 1,708]

I thought about preservation societies before. I have a few items I’d want to give to something like that. But ultimately decided it’s better to just sell off items to collectors that really want the stuff.
 

The problem is that there’s no sure way to truly preserve items. I have witnessed state owned museums auctioning off items they no longer wanted to keep in their exhibits.

For the private museum route, there’s always the possibility of them not getting enough revenue to keep things operational, then they risk dissolving the company and having to liquidate everything. 
 

For some of these one man museum things, what happens when the guy running it dies? His family inherits the estate and they sell everything off at an estate sale.

I think there’s simply not enough mass appeal for video games to keep a video museum operational. It would require constant revenue and probably all the staff would have to be volunteers.

I know… very negative sounding post by me. With all that said, keep us posted, best wishes and good luck. Please prove me wrong as I’d like to see it work out

[Dr. Morbis | 2,092]

On 7/17/2021 at 2:23 PM, fcgamer said:

I reckon I've got probably one of the nicer collections here, tips or thoughts for turning this sort of idea into a reality?

Thanks.

Isn't your collection primarily bootleg material?  My intention is not to be condescending, but why would you try and open a museum to show off mostly illegal exhibits?  How many different versions of the Famicom or Super Mario Bros do you think the world really wants to see?  There's a reason that you're like the only person I know who collects bootlegs.  I'm sure you've noticed over the years that the videogames you desire and seek out are different than pretty much every other video game collector on the internet...

Again, I don't want to be negative, but I would hate to see someone put a ton of personal time and effort into something that's dead in the water before it even starts.

Edited July 19, 2021 by Dr. Morbis

[Code Monkey | 2,014]

2 hours ago, Dr. Morbis said:

Isn't your collection primarily bootleg material?  My intention is not to be condescending, but why would you try and open a museum to show off mostly illegal exhibits?  How many different versions of the Famicom or Super Mario Bros do you think the world really wants to see?  There's a reason that you're like the only person I know who collects bootlegs.  I'm sure you've noticed over the years that the videogames you desire and seek out are different than pretty much every other video game collector on the internet...

Again, I don't want to be negative, but I would hate to see someone put a ton of personal time and effort into something that's dead in the water before it even starts.

My thoughts as well. I think vintage bootlegs are a very narrow slice of collecting interest.

Sounds like you contacted Frank Cifaldi, he's a hard guy to get a reply from, I contacted him about more than 100 NES prototypes I received and he didn't really seem to care.

[fcgamer | 4,754]

2 hours ago, Dr. Morbis said:

Isn't your collection primarily bootleg material?  My intention is not to be condescending, but why would you try and open a museum to show off mostly illegal exhibits? 

Yeah, that does sounds a bit condescending, but instead of getting into a debate, I'll move to the question.

Aside from the clone machines (which technically aren't illegal now, since the patents expired years ago), and quite possibly that Pikachu plush, everything in the pictures shown below is perfectly legal and non bootleg. Just some quick highlights without really digging into the meat, such as the Sonic prototype I have, etc.

In reality, only about 10% of my collection is bootlegs.

[fcgamer | 4,754]

3 hours ago, Dr. Morbis said:

There's a reason that you're like the only person I know who collects bootlegs.  I'm sure you've noticed over the years that the videogames you desire and seek out are different than pretty much every other video game collector on the internet...

Yeah, that's a statement made in ignorance, no offence meant

Almost all the collectors I know, from around the world, are collecting bootleg games or obscurities/true rares on the same level as I do, literally only on VGS is this not the case, with people more concerned about sealed nonsense and what not.

[fcgamer | 4,754]

1 hour ago, Code Monkey said:

My thoughts as well. I think vintage bootlegs are a very narrow slice of collecting interest.

Sounds like you contacted Frank Cifaldi, he's a hard guy to get a reply from, I contacted him about more than 100 NES prototypes I received and he didn't really seem to care.

Regarding bootlegs: See my response to Dr.Morbis, regarding both my collection and the collecting habits of others, worldwide. It's a perception made in ignorance, at best - when I sell my extras, generally you know which items I have the hardest time getting rid of, thus I rarely buy anymore if I don't need them for my own collection? Japanese originals. The localised stuff I sell always flies off shelves.

Regarding the person I contacted, I will neither confirm nor deny whether your guess is correct, but deep down I think we both know the answer to that

 

 

[Dr. Morbis | 2,092]

1 hour ago, fcgamer said:

Yeah, that's a statement made in ignorance, no offence meant

Almost all the collectors I know, from around the world, are collecting bootleg games or obscurities/true rares on the same level as I do, literally only on VGS is this not the case, with people more concerned about sealed nonsense and what not.

 

Well, maybe it's a North America vs rest-of-the-world perspective, because that's sure not what I'm seeing here in Canada.  Just the fact that I collect legit Famicom titles is a bridge too far for most of the people I know over here, but hey, different strokes for different folks

I guess, at the end of the day, all that matters is what the people in Taiwan think and want to see, since I assume you're planning on opening up your museum in the country you're currently in?  Is the stuff you collect the kind of stuff that interests the Taiwanese?

[Code Monkey | 2,014]

I want those 8 Bit cartridges.

[phart010 | 1,708]

@fcgamer

whats this interesting looking device 

[Tanooki | 4,952]

Looks like a Famicom read/write style device maybe to copy a game onto another that can be re-written to.

[a3quit4s | 4,126]

8 hours ago, Tanooki said:

Looks like a Famicom read/write style device maybe to copy a game onto another that can be re-written to.

I was thinking the same thing

[fcgamer | 4,754]

@phart010 Yeah that machine was used back in the day at some shops, to copy carts for customers.

[phart010 | 1,708]

11 minutes ago, fcgamer said:

@phart010 Yeah that machine was used back in the day at some shops, to copy carts for customers.

I wasn’t aware that they made rewritable Famicom carts.. do you have one? Pics??

Edited July 20, 2021 by phart010

[fcgamer | 4,754]

38 minutes ago, phart010 said:

I wasn’t aware that they made rewritable Famicom carts.. do you have one? Pics??

Well, the cartridges used in this beast I don't think were rewriteables, rather one-time jobbies that the shop keeper would do for you, but we're honestly not sure, very little information about this machine aside from what the shopkeeper had said. The first two carts are possibly like what the shop would have written.

There does exist rewriteable carts too, but I don't think this machine was for them. Look at pictures 3-5, and before anyone asks, no, I'm not covering up the windows

[Tanooki | 4,952]

I had a feeling... and whoa... isn't that the castle game from FDS that's like zelda but not, on a pirated FDS cart???  Ooooh I want that.

[CMR | 522]

If this is for historical purposes, I would say bootlegs are a part of gaming history as well.

[DefaultGen | 5,436]

Whatever you do locally I hope there's eventually a website with little exhibit pages like the Strong puts out. An actual organized catalog of all the weird old shit not enough people care to preserve would be awesome. I have like a 10 year old 100 page list of games you put out at some point, is that still the English speaking world's leading source in lists of unlicensed Chinese Famicom history?

[fcgamer | 4,754]

3 hours ago, Tanooki said:

I had a feeling... and whoa... isn't that the castle game from FDS that's like zelda but not, on a pirated FDS cart???  Ooooh I want that.

Yes it's that game.

A huge gangster here from the 80s/ 90s had come up with the idea, and (unless he was a tech-head himself, surely paid other engineers to make it a reality) a device that attached into your Famicom machine. The device runs special cartridges (like the two black carts above), they won't play in a Famicom without the adaptor.

But these carts all contain disk system versions of games, very special stuff.

As for the gangster guy behind this, he also was involved with illegal gambling and all of that good stuff, had paid off much of the Taipei police department back in the day, etc.

Finally got put away several years back, though apparently it was for illegal dumping of trash, sort of reminds me of a modern Al Capone story.

It definitely makes it difficult (and somewhat risky) to try to talk with some of these guys though, as there was a lot of shady stuff going on higher up. 

[Art of Nintendo Power | 353]

If you really want your collection in a museum, it would probably be easier/less expensive/less heartache to donate it to one of the existing brick and mortar museums like the Strong.

I have a non-profit museum that doesnt even HAVE a brick and mortar component, and it literally takes up every scrap of free time and money I have. lol

Edited July 21, 2021 by Archon 1981

[fcgamer | 4,754]

1 hour ago, Art of Nintendo Power said:

If you really want your collection in a museum, it would probably be easier/less expensive/less heartache to donate it to one of the existing brick and mortar museums like the Strong.

Never gonna happen. If the time came to get rid of it, I'd rather sell it than donate it.

[Tulpa | 3,537]

Yeah, running a museum is a full time job and then some. And if you go the non-profit route, you better have someone well versed in that area on your team. Things can go sideways really fast if you have no experience.

[Ferris Bueller | 495]

11 hours ago, fcgamer said:

Never gonna happen. If the time came to get rid of it, I'd rather sell it than donate it.

My little bit of research five years back: everyone wanted me to donate my stuff to them, no one wanted it on loan.

Edited July 21, 2021 by Ferris Bueller

[a3quit4s | 4,126]

9 minutes ago, Ferris Bueller said:

My little bit research five years back: everyone wanted me to donate my stuff to them, no one wanted it on loan.

Probably trying to stay away from the liability aspect, makes sense.