Hoarders: Stories of Extreme Collectors: Phillip O'Riley

Phillip O'Riley resides in sunny San Diego California, where he has been gaming ever since he can remember, since the late 1980's. Phillip started collecting games once he started earning income in 2002. His favorite video game series has always been the Mario series. Phillip figures he started collecting because he didn't have a significant amount of games growing up, but enjoyed playing many varieties of games and systems in stores, and at friends houses. His collection consists of over 100 different game systems (including variants), and over 1,400 games. His favorite system to collect for is the NES. Phillip once met David Crane, the creator of Pitfall, and hopes to create his own video games someday.

Q: What can you tell us about your collection?

A: I currently have over 1,400 games and growing. I collect for almost every system, even for systems I do not own yet. Before I started my shopping spree, I had an Atari 5200, NES, SNES, N64, and a Dreamcast I have been gaming ever since I can remember, however, I didn't really start collecting video games with the intention of becoming a collector. Once I got my first job in 2002, my first purchase was an Xbox in June, a Gamecube in August once Super Mario Sunshine came out, a PS2 and Game Boy Advance in October. Around this time I visited a thrift store, and saw a Commodore 64 and had to have it. That is when it all began!

Q: What are your favorite genres?

A:My favorite genre is platformers. Mario being my all time favorite series. Side scrolling beat 'em ups are my second favorite, giving me the most nostalgic feelings of being a early 90's arcade rat. Run 'n gun shooters like Metal Slug almost hold the same spot for me as well. Horizontal shooters such as Gradius and Salamader (partial horizontal) keep me on my feet.

I don't know why, but I love seeing Japanese games
peppered into domestic libraries.

Q: Has your collection taken over your home, or just a room in your home.

A:I have somehow managed to fit everything in my bedroom. Or should I say, game-room with a bed. Finding room to place my new finds and purchases is always a challenge, sometimes involving rearranging entire sections of my room. I have managed to invade my bathroom with gaming merchandise. I have converted a Playstation into a tissue paper dispenser, and I have Space Invader soap bars.

I don't think that entertainment center
 can take much more.

Q: What can you tell us about the rig in your game room?

A:I have one standard definition 19" Panasonic flat screen CRT television which I have most of my systems connected to by two A/V switches and an RF switch. All ready to play on. I simply switch out the A/V cable to play the other systems . I have one television that's part of my Gamecube kiosk, and 2 computer monitors.

Q: What is the largest set in your collection?

A:I don't aim to own complete sets for any system, as I mainly collect games I'm interested in. The system I have the most games for is the NES, approaching 300 games. (Including Japanese Famicom games)

Q: Out of the 100+ consoles you own, what sticks out amongst them?

A:The one system I always receive questions about is my JVC X'Eye. People think it's a knockoff Genesis or something. The other system that perplexes people is a modern system, my Limited Edition red Wii, I'm glad I waited until now to purchase a Wii.

Remember when instruments existed in video games
that actually TAUGHT music? 

Q: Roughly how many peripherals do you have?

A:Wow, at least 5 or 6 drawers and boxes worth. I have a Miracle Teaching Piano, NES Power Pad, 2 ROB the robots, DK Bongos, Sega Genesis Menacer...

Q: What are some of the craziest things in your collection?

A:My giant Spyro plush, TOKIMEKI 2 Collector's Edition Japanese Playstation dating simulator with Pocketstation device, Konami Laserscope (looks ridiculous if placed on).

Q: Do you have any arcade cabinets or retail fixtures?

A:I have a Gamecube kiosk. I used to have a Phoenix arcade cabinet, but due to space limitations I had to let it go. It was a fun Galaga style game. I have some retail store posters and advertisements to be put on shelves.

Q: What's the crown jewel of your collection?

A:I don't have one particular item that I would say is my crown jewel, but I would have to same my boxed game systems give me the most satisfaction, mainly the Gameboy and Microvision. Oh, and I do have a prototype cart for Alien Vs. Predator for the Atari Lynx.


A great, big thank you to Phil, who has packed an ass-load of games into a relatively small space and was goodly enough to tell us about it. Truly a man who has earned the label of Hoarder. One of my favorite pictures below is of a young Phil holding onto his very first NES that he received for Christmas. This is a man who like many of us (myself included), got started in the wonderful world of video games at a very young age. If you want to catch up with Phil on the Digital Press Forums, his handle is buzz_n64. Here are some more pictures he sent us of his collection.

Somewhere there is a photograph like this of all of us.
Mine is of a confused kid looking at an orange TurboGrafx-16 box.

Extra credit for original boxes!

I'm always really impressed to see retail fixtures in the home.
Just because they don't belong there and make for an impressive centerpiece.

WhenI viewed the thumbnail for this I initially thought that wooden box
was an actual NES. Nice paint job!

Probably the tidiest part of the whole room.

It's like the 3DO was designed to be a base for the N64.

What started as a humble media center has turned into a twisted game
of Where's Waldo.

ROB has been making quite a few appearances of Retronick.com as of late.
I'm not complaining, it's just curious is all.

Ok, so what if I only added this image because of the Showgirls poster?
That IS an impressive stack of Genesis games.

I don't think I could bring myself to gut a GameCube to house snot rags.
But a Playstation...

M2 Spotted in the Wild

Even if you've heard its name, chances are good you've never actually seen one.

In brief, the M2 was to be the successor to the failing 3DO. Boasting more hardware capabilities than any other console at the time (to include the Nintendo 64), it looked like the hardware race was about to heat up, and the 3DO name would be salvaged. 


When 3DO found itself with both feet in the grave however, they sold the console to the Japanese company Matsushita, known globally as Panasonic. After 2 years of further developing the device, Panasonic decided it couldn't compete with the likes of Sony's Playstation, and pulled the plug on their consumer games market strategy. The M2 eventually WAS released, but only as a commercial multi-media device to fuel public presentations, ATMs, and vending machines. A somewhat brisk end to what was a hyped and eagerly anticipated console, but not the end of the story completely...


Just last month, a member of the Digital Press Forums answering to the alias, "Bitrate," managed to find a consumer-model M2 used in trade shows and conventions to promote the console. Even better, he also managed to snag a few demos AND the final control pad! All in the wild! It's seldom you hear about a retro-gaming haul of this magnitude or historical significance. This lot goes beyond rare. An excellent find, but don't take my word for it. Check out these pictures from Bitrate's thread on Digital Press.

Did you ever think you'd see a running M2 in 2011?
One that wasn't reminding you to retrieve your card or take your cash that is.

The steering wheel on the left is an interesting touch, but this sucker
looks like either an amputee-N64 pad, or a Saturn pad with a boner.

To see the rest of his pics and to learn more about this white elephant (and no, I don't mean that controller), then head over to Bitrate's thread on the Digital Press Forums. If you remember ANYTHING about the M2 you'll find it interesting.

Goodwill Hunting 2: Extreme Edition: Day 2

Who runs Barter Town? Actually, it's the Bellwood Flea Market. Still, would you be surprised if they had a Thunder Dome equivalent?

Despite how much ass the first day of my thrift store journey kicked, the next day would prove to be even more advantageous. Due to major life events sapping my wallet dry, You'll notice I didn't purchase a whole hell of a lot of goods. That said, the experience of being there, handling this stuff, and speaking with the shopkeepers I encountered was almost worth a truly epic find. In the interest of brevity I'm keeping this article picture heavy, and word light. If you missed Day 1, check it out before reading on. Otherwise, On to Day 2!

You can't see everything in this picture, but if I'd emptied out this bin it would have looked like the whole of the 80's-90's gaming scenes exploded into the dirt. Consoles,games, controls. Just tons of stuff! I bought
Kung Fu (didn't own it yet).

Can you tell the difference between those two Playstations?

How about now? This is the transition between the working optical drive, and the one where you had to turn the console upside down to get the stupid thing to work.

There were an awful lot of Game Gears and N64s in this place... Actually, there were a lot of Game Gears everywhere I went now that I think of it.

If it was anything but Guitar Hero Guitars and a PS-ONE I'd think this was an odd scene.

The woman running this stand wanted $35 for each of these GBA-SPs! That's actually pretty average, but there was only 1 power cable between them and I didn't come to the flea market to pay average prices.

Just to give you an idea of an idea of the scale of this joint.

Up until this point, I'd seen what could be called "typical flea market fare." Controllers, consoles, carts, and CDs stacked on tables, in bins, and the dirt. The last booth I would visit however, was far from ordinary... For a flea market at least. Behold!

Am I crazy for putting a mosaic over that kid's face? How about, I don't care, I'm not trying to get sued.

Seriously, have you ever been to a flea market where there were this many games, that clean, and under glass? How about any of those circumstances by itself even? Probably not.

The older couple who ran this stand definitely knew how to take care of this stuff... and how much it was worth too. I ended up buying Castlevania Adventure on the Game Boy from em. It was a little pricy at $5.00, but I couldn't help myself.

Not too much beyond that. I did pick up copies of Atlantis on the 2600 (which I confused with the super-rare Atlantis II), and Ducktales for the NES from another booth that wasn't all that photo-worthy, and stopping at a pawnshop later in the day would secure me a new in box copy of Vector Man for the Genesis, which only ran me around $7.00! It was a great time, and if you're ever in Richmond, VA, I highly recommend going on a little treasure hunt yourself!

That's the complete haul. Photo taken with yet another terrible camera. I'll be using my D-3000 again for the next post, so keep an eye out!

That's it for the epic thrift-store weekend. I got to see some unusual things, speak with new and interesting people, and more likely than not, became a carrier for a new strand of tetanus. I hope you enjoyed my filthy exploits. There are more pictures if you're eager to see more console porn (you can thank @AzureLeeonardo for that phrase :D), just check out the Retronick flickr page.

Goodwill Hunting 2: Extreme Edition: Day 1

This is what my camera saw the first time I tried to take a picture of this place.
This image is NOT Photoshopped. I must've turned my wrist... Or it was trying to warn me.

A thousand Apologies for the infrequency of updates. The forces that be have kept me from keeping the blog updated, but I will have a little more time free up in the coming weeks so bear with me. Last week, I teased a continuation of the Goodwill hunting series. Obviously not the movie, but the hunt through Goodwills and similar thrift shops, on my quest for rare and unusual video games, peripherals and merchandise. My travels would take me to Richmond, the capitol of Virginia. A city where I saw one stretch of about three city blocks occupied by a mammoth goodwill, a pawnshop, and four or five various other thrift stores. There was so much stuff in fact, that I will be breaking this post up into two parts, Instead of the anticipated one. So without further adieu.

The First Goodwill

I can't believe someone would just give
this thing away!

From the moment we walked into the first Goodwill on our list of shops to browse I knew we were in for a rush of discovery, but I had no idea that the first leg of our journey would contain such a treasure as this. If I didn't already have one of these that recently had faulty video capacitors replaced, I would totally jump all over this thing. I mean, a Game Gear with a Game Genie, 2 games, a screen magnifier, car and home AC adapters, and a case? For $10.25?! That is the kind of find most collectors dream about. The only issue I could find with the unit was that you had to hold it at a 70º angle to see anything, but it was otherwise perfect! There were a few other odds and ends about, but this was the only article really worth going over in depth.

The Dirt Mall

The sign seems obvious... But that's not what's in there.

Wow... Just... wow...

This was definitely an experience, I can say that for certain. What I can't say for certain is how I managed to not only go into this place twice without losing my wallet or an eye. This "FLEA MARKET" is not so much a flea market, so much as it is a dirt mall filled with knockoff shoes, clothes, electronics, color changing contacts (Good luck with those), and glass pipes for "tobacco." This place looks like an inner-city ghetto decided to squat in a K-Mart while the management was on vacation. Despite it's ragged look however, buried deep beneath the heaps of fake Gucchi bags, light-up belt buckles, fake designer jeans, and the creepy guy who tried to make me think I knew him as he walked by; this potential crime-scene held some remarkable retro gaming and pop-culture artifacts. So enough about the state of this place, let's explore the wonders within.

The Intellivision

Beautiful isn't it?

Even the "Intelligent television," has been known to go slummin'. Though I'm not the biggest Intellivision fan around, (that distinction goes to Samurai Smurfette who's featured in April's issue of Fraggs Magazine), I can't downplay the significance of this find. Seemingly complete and in near-mint condition with a manual, this bastard would have come home with me had it not been for the hefty $75.00 price tag and my lack of interest in the platform :-/. If it hasn't been micturated upon by vagrants or sold already, it's definitely a worthwhile trip to pick this thing up. 

Big Ol' Heap of Consoles

At least they aren't in a dumpster, right?

Just to the right of the Intellivision lie heaps of old, beat up consoles. Among them, a few Atari 2600s (both Junior and the old school wood-panel models), a Dreamcast, a stack of Sega Genesis systems, and some Sega Saturn games. This was the first real collection of used games and systems I came across in the dirt mall, so I Figured it warranted mentioning with a few photos. It's also the first merchandise I'd found that looked like it actually belonged in a flea market. I didn't buy anything yet, as I wasn't wanting for spare parts or systems, and I  was still waiting for a big score.

Jackpot!

An Atari what?

The last booth we visited ,was a veritable gold mine! There were two guys manning it who insisted on not using ebay for some reason or another, and despite knowing the value of their merchandise, sold everything for far less than it was worth. Odd fellows, but from the sound of it, they simply got a big thrill out of buying up truckloads of unwanted stuff and reselling it via auctions and flea markets. They both seemed sorta crestfallen by the state of this particular flea market, and remarked that the way it was advertised was a bit of a bait and switch. But I was very happy to see them there. The Atari 400 to the left was only $10, but it was filthy and didn't come with any of the components. They assured me it worked, but who knows for sure? These guys were fairly shrewd as well. The younger of the two pegged me as a collector off the bat, and actually managed to answer any questions I had without struggle. Hell, they even offered to sell me the lot of consoles for $50. As tempting as a room filled with musty old game systems sounded, I passed. That's when I saw this sucker hanging out at the end of their little alcove.

No dick jokes... What are you, twelve?

The Nerd Primes among you know exactly what this is, for everyone else, allow me to explain. What's pictured above is the coveted Fortress Maximus which-as far as I know, is the largest Transformer ever made. It also happens to be one of the rarest. This Fort Max may be in a state of disrepair, but think of it as buying a rusted-out hotrod. Sure it's rotting out in the driveway for all your neighbors to see, but as time goes by you find opportunities to work on it, and pieces show up here and there. Before you know it you've got a sleek roadster that simultaneously makes your neighbors jealous and your dick seem bigger... That, but in a toy robot... So it attracts way less pussy.


Someone tried to offer less than the $20 the owner was asking for it before I arrived, and left to try and make em sweat a bit. The owner said he'd sell it to me if I got him the cash first. Ten minutes later, I beat the kid by about 2 minutes, and got to bask in his defeated expression before making my final exit from the dirt mall. Seeing as how a complete Fort Max can demand a price well into the $600 range, it serves the brat right for trying to haggle on an already great deal. All in all, a successful trip.


A friend is going to pay me what I paid for Fort Max and I'll have his Christmas and Birthdays covered for awhile (this thing is missing quite a few pieces). As cool as Fortress Maximus is, the real cool shit went down on day 2.

A Glimpse of Things to Come

Still up to my eyeballs in work & personal stuff, but I figured I'd tease my next post anyway.

Just a taste of the crazy shit I was privy to.

On a trip down to Richmond we discovered a number of thrift stores, flea markets and other assorted purveyors of junk, crazy, and retro-gaming gold. Be sure to come back for, Goodwill Hunting 2: EXTREME EDITION!