Collector’s Corner

This month’s collector has a truly exotic collection of games

This month’s collector is a home computer fan with a penchant for exotic imports. Gary Pinkett’s first love was the ZX Spectrum +2 and he moved on to an Atari ST, but he ultimately got rid of all of it during his first serious relationship. Still, it wasn’t possible to keep him away for good. “I started collecting again between three and four years ago,” he explains. “During a visit to my regular comic shop in town I was asked if I wanted to buy a load of Atari ST and Amiga games, to which I instantly said yes. The nostalgia bug had bit me before I even realised.” He soon set his first collecting goal, which he’s tantalisingly close to achieving. “Soon after, I decided to try

and get all the ZX Spectrum Codemasters budget games as I figured it would be easily achievable. Wrong! I still have one left, DJ

Puff, which I don’t seem to be able to find for love nor money!”

Gary’s collecting habit soon moved beyond nostalgia, as he began to explore the less- documented world of Japanese computers. “I was talking to my good friend Andrew Dalton on The Retro Man Cave’s discord channel where we were discussing Cinemaware games. I happened to recall

The King Of Chicago with fond memories which made me randomly query to myself, ‘What other systems did this come out for?’ Looking through the list I saw the Sharp X68000 which I had never heard of and after some Googling I knew I had to have one.” Part of the appeal is the gorgeous look of the games. “I was lucky enough to be given two boxed games with it two which were two of the most shelf-worthy boxes I had cast eyes upon. I need more, I wanted more… I started buying up lots from Yahoo! Japan to amass my collection. Everything Japanese is so much more exotic in my humble opinion.”

According to Gary, collecting for Japanese computer systems is not too hard but it is expensive (he admits to the charge of “more money than sense”). As a result, he’s had to find ways to optimise his spending. “I would recommend buying some lots or a load of games from Yahoo! Auctions Japan using Buyee or a similar proxy service, and letting them build up over a month before paying about £10 for protective packaging (this is a must!) and sending them on the slow boat where shipping costs are the cheapest (I’ve waited three months for delivery) to maximise the gain on your spend.”

Of course, practical realities sometimes kick in and one particular issue has caused Gary to switch his retro collecting focus for the time being. “I don’t actually have any boxed FM Towns games, I would love to start collecting them too, but for the moment I’m pretty much out of space, and I would like to build up my Playstation and Saturn collection a bit right now,” he tells us. But with the switch towards consoles comes the thrill of a new hunt – something that we can all relate to. “I have been

“A Retro Man Cave Discord member named Dechief sent a link to the system on Yahoo Japan Auctions. I looked for a few seconds then knew I had to have it.” NAME: Gary Pinkett Favourite system: Atari ST Location: “I honestly have no idea, thousands I would have thought. I buy out of love so I tend to push the numbers out of my mind.” twitter: @Stompyrr Somerset Estimated VALUE: “Another system I knew nothing about but had to have. I was lucky to find a BEEP refurbed system on import and have cuddled it ever since.” “This is something I had to have and purchased as a custom build with a carbon fibre wrap, all the controller inputs and a lightgun attached to the back.”