Whether you remember hanging out at an arcade in the ’70s or ‘80s, or gathering with friends around your first gaming console in front of your tube TV, some area businesses are making it easier to connect with your past.
Universal Collectables, N90-W16937 Appleton Ave., Menomonee Falls, Owner Alex Huiras said the store is a buy, sell and trade business specializing in video games. The store has been operating for 21 years exclusively as a brick and mortar store.
Before opening his own store, Huiras originally worked in the first video game store in all of southeastern Wisconsin in Menomonee Falls. The store ended up shutting down around the 2000s.
Retro Games has Big Monetary value
Huiras spoke of the first gaming system, the Magnavox Odyssey, which came out in 1972 – a very basic system with little memory.
He said in 1977 the Atari was released, which “exploded” in the market. That’s when the classic and popular games were released in the ’80s, including Space Invaders, Pac-Man and Donkey Kong.
Huiras said now, the most popular classic video games are on the old Nintendo systems, GameCube and Wii.
To name a few popular classic games, Huiras said they are Mario Brothers 1, 2, and 3; GoldenEye 007; Mario Kart; Zelda; and more. Pokemon is “smoking hot” on all game systems, Huiras said.
Of course, handheld games, including Game Boy and the Nintendo DS, are also popular.
Huiras said most game systems will work on a flat screen; however, for some games like Mario Duck Hunt, a tube TV is needed.
Huiras has watched video game technology continue to advance throughout his career and said trends aren’t that predictable. However, things keep going up in value — as more people collect, the supply gets harder to find, he said. Recently, a rare, graded copy of Super Mario 64 sold at an auction for $1.56 million.
“I had one of those, a brand new copy of that, that was mint (and) I sold it for $350 two years ago to a guy who took it to get graded,” Huiras said.
Huiras thinks he would have gotten $2,000 – $3,000 for the item back then. He’s unsure what he would have gotten for it now, but said the $1.56 million buyer “went crazy.”
David Scott, a Hartford resident who said he travels regularly to Universal Collectables, said he collects game memorabilia and video games due to nostalgia.
He fell in love with video games when he was introduced to the Nintendo when he was 4 or 5 years old.
Scott doesn’t keep his items in mint condition and considers himself a private collector.
“I have a lot of stuffed animals from certain lines … I have nieces and nephews, they come over, I don’t keep those in cases,” he said. ”They’re meant to be played with, they’re meant to be loved.”
Arcades
If you’re nostalgic for your favorite ’80s arcade atmosphere, The Garcade, N85-W15920 Appleton Ave., Menomonee Falls, is the place to be. The business opened in 2017 with around 50 arcade games and has grown to have about 200 games available to freeplay all day for $15.
Co-Owner Gar Nelson started to collect arcade games in 2010 as a family hobby and decided to open his own arcade when he ran out of storage space.
Nelson said it has become harder to find vintage arcade games as it’s grown to be more popular — especially more recently throughout the pandemic. Arcade games have been destroyed in the past by owners avoiding storage hassles and some have developed technical issues.“ For the most part the whole geek culture, nerd culture has exploded over the last 25 years,” Nelson said. “All of those (nerdy) things (from) back in the 1980s, 1990s (have come back) … the kids that may not be necessarily sports-oriented can find more things to do now than ever before, they find more social acceptance than ever before.”
New indie games are also becoming popular, including Wreck-it Ralph and Fix-it Felix, Nelson said. A new arcade game has also seen popularity — Cosmotrons — created by developers in Sussex, Nelson said.
“It’s nice to see that there’s still new, educational property being developed,” he said.
Music
Classic tunes that come along with the gaming experience also can flood someone with memories. Another business selling vintage video games and music sells something video game fans may have not heard of — vinyl video game soundtracks.
Stephen Howitz officially opened the doors to his shop Nostalgia Music and More, 321 W. Main St., Waukesha, on Jan. 5.‘It’s a mix of new or used vinyl depending on what you’re looking for,’ he said. ‘(It’s) quality, not quantity … and we specialize in video game vinyl, which is weirder and nerdier.’ Some niche video game records he has are “Mario,” “Kirby,” “Zelda,” “Sonic,” “Doom” and more. The business also has two arcade games available for the public to play.
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