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Post by rupert on Aug 9, 2017 8:23:21 GMT
So 11 years ago today Shakira was at number 1 in the UK charts with 'Hips Don't Lie', Miami Vice was number 1 in the UK cinema box office and I decided to join this fantastic forum. Although my activity here is less - still to this day sega8bit forum is my first port of call on the internet, pretty much my home page. I've met many of the UK based members across the 8 official meet ups as well as at other gaming events. I feel I've made some solid friendships too. playgeneration must have the patience of a saint as I used to message him most days picking his brains about valuations, variations etc etc (thanks again!). There has been the odd bad egg member over the years but I have to say this is by far the friendliest forum I've ever visited (the only exception is perhaps SMSPower). It's amazing how a 30 year old piece of gaming hardware can bring so many people together in enthusiastic conversation. Here is a copy of my first post: Hi, My name is James, I'm 25 and live near manchester, england. This is the first time ive been to this forum after it was recommended to me by someone off sms power. I started collecting sms games and accessories in october 2005. It all started when my dad decided to have a clear out and came accross my old sms 2 and about 8 games. Everything still worked(or be it with alot of cart blowing) and I was hooked. Started buying a few games from second hand shops and ebay, gained abit of knowledge from chatting with other collectors via ebay and sms power and now have over 400 games and still going. Its slowed down alot now though, mainly because everything I still need is abit pricey. My fave games are Alex kidd In shinobi world (easy but fun), Castle of illusion, Putt and Putter, columns and mean bean machine. (list is subject to change). so thats me.So if my maths is correct that's 400 Master System games in 10 months. My memories of those early days of collecting is a combination of buying large, relatively cheap, bundles of stuff on eBay and snapping up £1.99 BOGOF (Buy 1 Get 1 Free) games in Gamestation stores all around the North West. I was living at home with my Mum and unemployed during this time. I just had occasional work for a marketing and promotions agency which paid well but was mainly random weekend work. This meant I had lots of spare cash and lots of spare time - the perfect combination for any budding Master System collector. I have many good memories of digging through large bundles not quite knowing what I had bought. Parcels were turning up most days, sometimes a few. I would also be selling spares back on eBay to fund more collecting, the excitement of the closing minutes/ seconds watching your 99p auction suddenly shooting up into double figures! Here is the earliest collection pic I can find, taken on 1st October 2006. I count about 500 games here.. Fast forward 11 years and things are very different for me. For a start I couldn't tell you who is number 1 in the charts, I've probably never heard it. I'm 36, I have a 1 year old son, I have my own house and a real job with responsibility. I have very little spare time and very little spare money. Some things remain the same - I'm with the same girl, the forum is still here and looks mostly the same. A few of the old guard are still active and many new members are asking the same questions I had when I was starting out. My love for the Master System has remained. My collection has remained and expanded but at a slower rate. I'm now up to around just under 900 Master System games (I need to do a new count to confirm exactly). Most of my purchases are via instagram, this forum or from video game markets, hardly ever eBay. In fact I rarely look on eBay any more mainly due to not wanting to spend too much money and having less time to keep searching. Here are a few newer pics of my collection to show how things have progressed since that other photo - Anyway I think this post has got a bit too self indulgent but I just felt like I wanted to acknowledge how much this place means to me! Thanks all (you know who you are) for keeping it going and keeping it good.
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Post by gallos_11 on Aug 9, 2017 18:35:11 GMT
My screen was filled with SMS stuff! It's really nice to read this kind of stories and feelings.
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Post by Kenneth on Aug 9, 2017 19:23:35 GMT
Thanks for the topic, made me feel all nostalgic of the good old days
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Post by flatapex on Aug 9, 2017 20:07:22 GMT
Really interesting post mate, shows how much life has changed for you since joining up back in 2006.
Maybe some more would like to share either what their introduction would have been back then (if they were around) or what has changed since they joined up
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Post by rupert on Aug 9, 2017 20:13:43 GMT
Really interesting post mate, shows how much life has changed for you since joining up back in 2006. Maybe some more would like to share either what their introduction would have been back then (if they were around) or what has changed since they joined up Yes please do, would love to hear them (read them)!
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Post by ian on Aug 9, 2017 21:21:10 GMT
Great post mate! You certainly have been a pillar of the SMS community over the last 11 years. To this day you're keeping the system alive with your excellent Instagram feed. A lot of members have come and gone over the years, so it's fantastic to see you still haven't lost interest in our beloved system after all this time. I don't think you've ever missed a meet-up either! I think I speak for everyone when I say your contributions here are enormously appreciated. I'm still waiting on my invite to your SMS museum however I've just recently made 13 years as a member. A lot has changed for me in that time but the one thing that will never change is my love for this community
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Post by flatapex on Aug 9, 2017 21:30:55 GMT
well first of all, my intro from April 2013: Hi everyone, I'm Andy, 31 years old from Manchester in the uk.
Bit about me (not related to games) I live here with my fiancee, her name is Laura and she is 28, we are getting married next year, we dont have any kids but we have an aquarium with 11 tropical fish in it. I work in insurance and before that worked in telecoms.
Games related stuff: I started gaming in 1989, my parents bought a 286 pc and we had games on there, I got a mega drive in 1992, I had about 30 games back then and kept it until about 1998, I also had a game gear but didnt have much for that, I sold them to buy christmas presents for my family. Since then I have owned a ps2 (still have), ps3 (Laura's), xbox 360 60gb (still have), SNES (sold a few years back), PSP (still have), nintendo ds (still have) and now a master system.
I bought the console for £20 and paid the same for a stack of games all were boxed, in decent condition (some extraordinary condition for the age) and about half have manuals sonic 1 sonic 2 lemmings spiderman populous bram stoker's dracula james pond 2 codename robocod double dragon
I am in the process of deciding which I want to keep and which I am willing to sell/swap as well as a wish list of future ones.
I also have a retro games group on facebook but will let you all decide if you want/are happy with me posting where it is
If I was posting in August 2006 this would be my intro:
Hi I'm Andy, 25 years old from Manchester. I live with my parents (for now) and for a living I run a tobacco kiosk in a local supermarket, although not for much longer as I have been offered a job in telecoms and start that soon. I don't have a master system, but have a snes and ps2. When not working, gaming, or sleeping (lots of midnight finishes where I work), I am usually out with my pub quiz team, playing yu-gi-oh (terribly) or at the cinema, I've also just finishing studying a specialist accountancy software qualification. Unsurprisingly I am single, but nothing much I can do about that.
and fast forward to today
Hi I'm Andy, nearly 36 years old from Manchester. I live with my wife and I work as an educational designer. I have 4 master systems and about 20+ retro consoles. My collections are a ps2 budget label called 'play it' (9 off a full set) and master system card games (I am only 3 off a full set). When not gaming, working or sleeping, I'm a massive btcc fan and also attend classic car shows. I also review films for a blog when I get time (which isnt anywhere near enough for what it deserves).
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Post by rupert on Aug 9, 2017 21:46:31 GMT
Thanks ian kind words! In the next couple of years when my collection room gets sorted out properly I'd be up for hosting a mini version of the forum meet up at my place. Perhaps regulars only invite or something like that. Great intro flatapexwell first of all, my intro from April 2013: If I was posting in August 2006 this would be my intro: Hi I'm Andy, 25 years old from Manchester. I live with my parents (for now) and for a living I run a tobacco kiosk in a local supermarket, although not for much longer as I have been offered a job in telecoms and start that soon. I don't have a master system, but have a snes and ps2. When not working, gaming, or sleeping (lots of midnight finishes where I work), I am usually out with my pub quiz team, playing yu-gi-oh (terribly) or at the cinema, I've also just finishing studying a specialist accountancy software qualification. Unsurprisingly I am single, but nothing much I can do about that. That's spookily similar to me, other than our age and location, the part time marketing job I spoke of in my first post was mostly selling tobacco at events for a large tobacco company. I had actually started my first proper office job in IT the week before I joined sega8bit but carried on with the tobacco job as well for a few months when I could get the time. Those early days in IT were pretty stress free and I had the spare time in the office to browse sega8bit for hours each day! These days I'm lucky if I get time to send a text message to my girlfriend when I'm at work.
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Post by ian on Aug 9, 2017 21:56:32 GMT
In your honour, I have created a photo montage of all 9 times we've had a meet-up. Someone's been drinking from the fountain of youth, you haven't aged a bloody day!
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Post by rupert on Aug 9, 2017 22:50:19 GMT
In your honour, I have created a photo montage of all 9 times we've had a meet-up. Someone's been drinking from the fountain of youth, you haven't aged a bloody day! Ha brilliant, and thanks. I think I aged about 10 years in 1 day when I shaved my head so maybe I've caught back up with myself now. I learnt how to smile half way through it seems.
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Post by Rastanfarian on Aug 10, 2017 4:11:11 GMT
In your honour, I have created a photo montage of all 9 times we've had a meet-up. Someone's been drinking from the fountain of youth, you haven't aged a bloody day! Yeah but he still looks like the guy from Aqua (you guys have to remember the Barbie girl song). 😜
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Post by Retrobob on Aug 10, 2017 8:38:11 GMT
I managed to find mine from 13th November 2003, nothing exciting, just conversation about Alex Kidd/Root Beer. The search function allows you to set "before" date which is pretty good though seems to show a maximum number of posts so had to keep going back. I discovered I am responsible for the Off Topic forumWow Rupert you really haven't aged!
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Post by rupert on Aug 10, 2017 9:19:30 GMT
I managed to find mine from 13th November 2003, nothing exciting, just conversation about Alex Kidd/Root Beer. The search function allows you to set "before" date which is pretty good though seems to show a maximum number of posts so had to keep going back. I discovered I am responsible for the Off Topic forumWow Rupert you really haven't aged! It's great looking back through some of the very old threads here. So much has been discussed a book could be written.
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Post by kungfukid on Aug 15, 2017 9:14:54 GMT
Great thread - I never thought of looking back at really old posts, let alone my own intro (I hate reading things that I wrote a long time ago - makes me cringe in the same way that listening to your own voice on a recording does). But I had a look back and found my own intro from April 2006 (has it really been that long??), and the first paragraph was:
"So I'm here at last! Been hanging around the forum for a few days now and just got the time and effort to create a profile! I'm 25 years old, living in Scotland where I have all my life, my first console was the atari 2600, and around the same time I had an amstrad pcw, which had a fantastic array of green and black games! Got the SMS when it first came out and loved it, built up a pretty big collection (around 40 - 50 games) by about 1993, mainly due to a spoilt kid in my street who got anything he wanted getting his parents to buy him every game going then getting bored and selling them for £5 each a week or two later!"
At that time I was in my honours year of my law degree, living in my first owned flat.
Now, over 11 years later I went on to do my PhD, got a job working as a lecturer in law at a University, did a bit of work for a law firm in London, and now am programme leader of a criminal justice degree. I'm married with a son, and another kid on the way, living in a house in Renfrew. How times have changed!
One constant is that although the time I have available is dramatically less, I still, of course, love the Master System. I still have my entire collection, and wish I had more space to display it better. Although I don't often have the original systems set up often, I do have the Retron 5 to play on my main TV. I just wish I had the time to post here as often as I used to!
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Post by Kenneth on Aug 15, 2017 14:50:07 GMT
Found my first post "Introduce Yourself Apr 17, 2005 at 1:01am likePost Options Post by Kenneth on Apr 17, 2005 at 1:01am Hi boys Felt in the master system in 1987 with the pack containing hang on. My parents bought the master system for my brother's birthday (Kenneth is my bros, don't ask me why I did choose is name as nickname on the sms network ) and as they didn't want any jealous, I had a Spy vs Spy card ^^ Soon after came kung-fu kid and wonder boy. And then, the megadrive arrived. Before the playstation. And the dreamcast. In 1998, we began to collect. First, buying all the games and systems we were dreaming of in our childhood. When it was finished, my brother started a "all around collection", buying anything rare and expensive he could find. Me, my choice was more "quantity rather than quality" lol, anything cheap I found had to finish in my room ^^ But about two years ago, I decided to collect only sega 8bit and 16 bit and this year I made my choice: the 8bits will be mine ! I have something like 250 master system games (including 5 us versions lol), 50 mark 3 games, 60 game gear game but still not a lot of hardware. Try to concentrate on the software (not to say "try to concentrate on the cheaper stuff" ;D )"
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