We all love video games here. We love the characters that we meet, the enemies, the stories, the objects and the places that we find, and we love the worlds we spend time in as a whole. This love can drive us to collect things related to some of our favourite worlds, ranging from figurines, clothing, replica weapons, art books, or any number of items.
I’m sure everyone reading can relate to wanting to have a small piece of their favourite fictional worlds, or wanting to see how they were developed from nothing into the amazing experiences presented to us on our screens.
In any case the crew this week was asked to share some stories about our favourite gaming collectibles. Feel free to tell us about yours too.
Senior Stiv:
My favorite piece of gaming paraphernalia would have to be the Yoshi bobble head I’ve had since I was a kid. I can’t quite remember where or when I first got him, but he’s sat on my desk in every place I’ve lived in (I moved around a lot in college). He’s still here and covered in dust with that wobbling , bobbling head.
Sheriff Dan:
I’ve had bad luck with video game merchandise. When I pre-ordered Skyrim, I remember the promise of a cloth map. Don’t get me wrong, I would have pre-ordered Skyrim without such promises, however once the idea is in your mind you get excited. This cloth map is going to look awesome! Skyrim’s going to be great! That thing will hang on my wall so I can check it out at a glance when I’m riding dragons (or whatever you do in Skyrim). Then comes the release and it’s a glossy plastic/paper map… In the end the game more than made up for any map snafu. But the Dhovakin in me was saddened at the poor imitation of parchment.
Have you played Magicka? It’s a fun game with wizards in robes shooting lazer beams and working together through all sorts of video game puns and geek references. Advertised through Steam and Magicka’s social media was a budding Entrepreneur who was putting together Magicka themed bathrobes. These robes came hooded and looked just like they did in game with multiple colours to choose from and a special deal to buy a 4-pack. So I eagerly placed and paid for an order on the 30th June 2011. Having three friends chip in for a Robe each we began planning some big LAN nights or just general shenanigans that can be done in a wizardly bathrobes.
Living in Australia I’m used to international products taking a while to reach me, but after a few months I began to worry. A couple of emails back and forth to enquire and I find out there were lots of people like myself who had ordered the robes. Okay so a few more months I’m told, no worries, I’m happy to wait, put the Wizardly beers and beards back in the fridge for a little while longer. Since the last email from the store advising me it was just a little bit longer, “complete shipping sometime in September
(2011).” My emails since then haven’t been responded to. I had written this off as a cautionary tale on buying stuff through the internet Wizardly or otherwise.
Out of nowhere I received an email earlier this year from Paradox Interactive, the very makers of Magicka.
“We were contacted by a lot of you, our wonderful and super awesome fans, regarding problems receiving Magicka robes ordered from Sinn D’Signed. We definitely weren’t happy with how you described your experience with them, so we’re stepping in to create a unique Bathrobe designed by RGBY. (This does not remove your claim with the before mentioned company). ”
So whilst I still haven’t received the second set of Robes yet, they did send through a code for the Magicka Complete Collection so I have plenty of in-game robes. Buying game stuff online has certainly been a saga of epic proportions. So thanks to Paradox Interactive for going the extra mile. But I think next time, I might just stick with Critical Hit for my gaming attire and goodies.
KRS 2:
To be honest, I don’t approve of “Collectors Editions” of games when they just come with a tacky key chain and extra DLC like costumes or a spare weapon or two. However , my Achilles heel when it comes to those collectors editions are anything containing art books. Because of this, I have quite a selection of cool ones ranging from BlazBlue to Bioshock Infinite. I even have a pizza box and t-shirt from Catherine! But my favourite of all special editions, the one thing I’m truly proud to own is for Bioshock 2.
It came with a MASSIVE art book, three propaganda posters from the game (which I plan to frame), the soundtrack for Bioshock 2 on CD, and best of all, the soundtrack to Bioshock on vinyl record. It’s simply an amazing collection and puts all other companies efforts at special editions to shame and is the sole reason I have to buy a record player when I actually have room for one.
I also have a tendency to collect t-shirts, official art books and the occasional figurine from my favourite games. My best collectible of all however, even above the Bioshock 2 box, is my replica Super Nintendo classic control compatible with the Wii. See whenever you buy Nintendo games, you can add them to your Club Nintendo account for points that you can put towards cool collectibles like limited edition posters.
They very briefly had the a Super Nintendo Classic Control, which I got instantly with the help of one of my friends who never registered her purchases. Luckily I snapped up one of the last ones as they were sold out the next day, and had to produce more to meet the demand for these controls. Now, whenever I play Donkey Kong Country or Super Mario RPG on my Wii U, I play with a Super Nintendo control so I can relive the glory gaming days of my youth.
Do you have any special gaming collectibles? Tweet them to us @nfgLive or post in the comments below.
