A huge welcome to Melbourne based collector @IntrepidClassGaming. Since March 2013, Intrepid’s Instagram journey has shown some of his very rare and even obscure items within the game collection. The dedication to hunt, collect and preserve these pieces of history is simply amazing. We are happy to have you Intrepid as Australia’s first interview for Team1UpEm and can’t wait for the rest of the gaming community to hear more about your passion for gaming.
1. Firstly, tell me a little more about when you started collecting?
I’d say actively around 2003. During the early 90’s I had SNES and Megadrive and all the other console on or not long after launch, later on in the 90’s I worked at a gaming store after school/weekends and accumulated quite a bit but never considered myself as a gaming collector back then, but still have those games & consoles today so I’d consider them collected! The REAL kick off for me was in ’03 in America as i was living and working there at that time, I visited the Smithsonian Institute in DC with some friends, and spent the day walking around marvelling at endless amounts of awesome history and even went inside of the Apollo 11 space module, we moved on to the computer history section and that’s when I saw an old black and white console with weird looking controllers inside a glass cabinet display, it had a plaque which read it was the very first game console that it was released to the commercial market back in 1972 which was the Magnavox Odyssey! Tho I had no idea what it was at the time, the consoles vintage aesthetics looked amazing!! And learning of its history & Ralph Baer ‘the creator’ I was blown away! And just thinking at the time that all these old retro consoles are going to be either in museums or lost forever..and that’s when I made a decision in my mind to continue building on my consoles and games that i accumulated over the years with older retro stuff before it was too late. Later on thanks to the help on eBay and good flea marketing back then I soon made it happen.
2. What was the first gaming console you owned and a stand out game?
The first gaming console I owned was like a lot of other lucky gamers in the late 80’s, The Nintendo Entertainment System! Which I had no idea what it was or that I was getting it as a child, but would still stand as the best Christmas present to date! This was the action set which was bundled with Super Mario bros & Duckhunt. My farther just asked recently to bring around Duckhunt for a shoot? brings great memories for him also & still his favourite! And to answer a little further to this question but not being a console as such, before getting the NES I had a Commodore 16 and the standout cartridge I had for that was Jack Attack!! Which was an early platform strategy game with 64 levels, Jack the main protagonist can push & pull blocks to trap and squish or make blocks fall on top of enemies. Fair to say this game definitely got me ready to tackle Super Mario Bros on the NES a few years later!
3. Do you happen to know how many consoles you have to date now?
Unfortunately I don’t know the exact amount of consoles I own, as a lot of my collection is in storage still till I move to a bigger more accommodating house. I use to collect many loose console before collecting the box versions. but I’d say around the 200 mark.
4. Which one of those consoles would be the most obscure and why was it a must have?
Well definitely not the Casio loopy? Hmm perhaps the Sega Wondermega ‘Victor, Or counter part Jvc X’eye. The former is just an all in one console for the avid Sega fan, featuring a Megadrive and Sega Cd combo, a built in Midi capabilities allowed users to attach any Midi device along with keyboards and additional software to create their own music. Has a built in Karaoke function and a visualisation program when playing music CD’s also an active equaliser sound function with bass boost button. So fair to say a pretty awesome console!
5. Out of all those wonderful units can you pick a favourite game that you continue to go back to? Why is that you go to the game?
Donkey Kong Country 2 for the SNES – you can easily pick this game up at anytime for a play, for as long or little as you want fulfilling your game experience. The soundtrack has aged very well, still my absolute favourite! The game play is challenging enough and a bit of muscle memory is need to progress further thought the game. Plus the silicon graphics were mind blowing when DK county was first released, and with that it has definitely has stood the test of time!
6. Are you more of a handheld or home console gamer?
That’s a tough one as I keep my hand helds beside my bed so I can quickly game anytime in the evening or morning, though theirs alot of games & games exclusive to a console I want to have the full visual experience on the big screen also, I’d say it’ll be a 50/50
7. Speaking of handheld consoles if you were travelling what handhelds could you not live without on a holiday?
Well on a recent trip with a friend we flew up to a gaming convention and brought our Nintendo Switches, which was our first experience taking these things away with us! We both used them on the planes fold out trays playing Mario kart 8 which was an awesome experience!! It’s not so much the portable kinda console you’ll consider carrying it on yourself but with a backpack it’s fine and the games are very portable. But on that note I always bring my 3SD XL and usually a Gameboy Color as they both have some amazing exclusive games that are a must have travelling.
8. In 2018 what would be your top must have items for your collection?
That’s kinda tough as I am quite satisfied with what I currently have, I’ve made new lists after new lists of things I’d like to collect over the years and I’m running out of things I might want to add to my collection. Not to mention with 50 or so 90lt creates I have in storage that I don’t know what’s in half of them.. if anything more physical games to add to all the consoles I have, and different boxed console variant’s. Other things I’ve gotten more into over the years are game kiosks, arcade machines and store displays! So any one of these things to add to my collection makes it a great year!
9. Are there any plans for YouTube this year and displaying your collection for others to see?
Absolutely! I love to share my collection for others to see, I don’t like the idea of being lucky enough to find some of these very rare museum pieces and horde them away.. also as great as a platform Instagram is YouTube allows for a much more in-depth presentation and a visually satisfying experience. I would like to incorporate Australian pickup videos (for the occasion when I do actually find stuff out in the wild these days here) and perhaps also pickups overseas! Educational breakdown reviews on the obscure and unheard of stuff. Retro to new release gaming reviews. I would love to visit and interview other Australian gaming collectors to hear their story and share what kind of gaming collection they have.
10. Lastly, if a new collector asked for advice what would be your best tip?
For me personally I don’t collect for one specific console or brand, sometimes I think it’ll be alot easier if I did though..but perhaps find which direction you feel more passionate about, either it being say just Nintendo or PlayStation or maybe it’s everything across the board from past to present. Firstly I would start asking around family & friends if they had any old consoles or games, then maybe posting that question up on Facebook, also joining Facebook gaming groups, these all have worked really well for myself and other collectors.
Have a go visiting thrift stores and flea markets. Also making contact with other likeminded collector’s, who knows what they might be willing to trade or sell?
I’m Vega co-founder of team1upem, owner of thecryptonline.com, webmaster, gamer, game collector, photographer, hiphophead, father, blogger.