The Nintendo World Championships: Dallas, Texas (Video Games & Computer Entertainment - June 1990)

In 1990 Nintendo of America held the Nintendo World Championships which took place in 30 cities across the United States and Canada with the finals hosted by Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida. That's according to this four-page article from Video Games & Computer Entertainment's June 1990 issue that covers the first stop on the tour in Dallas, Texas. Wikipedia, not a 100% accurate source, states that it was held in 29 U.S. cities with the finals in Universal Studios Hollywood, and makes no mention of Canada other than to say it previously was host to the Nintendo Challenge Championship. I'm going to assume the magazine is more accurate since it was written in 1990 and the writer was at the even in Dallas. Either way, Nintendo's event took place around North America and is still remembered today, largely because of the cartridge used at the event. The cartridge features portions of Super Mario Bros., Rad Racer, and Tetris, and there are both gray and gold case versions. The gray cartridge was given out to finalists in each city and the gold cases were used for the finals which makes it quite rare. In 2015 the Nintendo World Championships returned and were last held in 2017.

Year 8: January Update

The blog has made it through seven years now! I didn't really have any expectations on how long I'd do this when I started and I've slowed considerably over the years but it's been a good run and I'll keep going. If you don't recognize the toys in the image below, those are the California Raisins that were created for an advertising campaign in 1986. They became quite popular which led to a variety of merchandise like the figurines pictured, as well as music albums, clothing, posters, and a comic book mini-series. Capcom even developed a California Raisins game for the Nintendo Entertainment System that was completed but never released.

The video game awards took place in December as they always do. Though I really don't care too much about awards for games or any other media, I do watch these for the new game unveilings. If you're curious, Baldur's Gate III, Alan Wake II, and The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom were among the top games at the show. Being a Sega fan it was nice to see a trailer showing off new versions of Golden Axe, Streets of Rage, Crazy Taxi, Jet Set Radio, and Shinobi. Streets of Rage is a bit of an odd choice to bring back and seems unnecessary because DotEmu released Streets of Rage 4 in 2020. I'm not sure what to think about Golden Axe's new look and the last attempt at a modern Golden Axe starring Tyris Flare didn't go over too well. I'm still hopeful though since the original is one of my favorites and a goal this year is to finally post a full playthrough on the YouTube channel. While Shinobi will be side-scrolling, the others all feature 3D graphics. Here is an image from a .pdf file on Sega Sammy's corporate website.

I'm currently trying to come up with a YouTube channel name where I'll upload the commercials that I deleted from the Vault 1541 channel last year. I'll likely put other clips from VHS tapes on there too when I do get it up and running. I have the header image ready which is a Kermit the Frog sitting on a toy chair watching a TV which is actually a Viewfinder-like souvenir. Here is a photo I'm not using where I colored (in Photoshop) the plastic souvenir white on the TV screen. That ET figurine looks perfect for the channel but I decided there were too many characters and that I should make something simpler. 

Back in the April 2023 blog update I mentioned how E3 2023 had been canceled. Last month it was officially put to rest as the Entertainment Software Association stated E3 will not be returning. The second week of June 2023 was still a very busy time for gaming news and will likely continue to be through various digital presentations despite there being no expo to attend. Something that still isn't dead is the Intellivision Amico. In the October update I wrote about the Amico games being released on PC and consoles, and Intellivision has since launched apps for Android and iOS. I'd thought the actual Amico system must be dead, however, the company still hopes to release it. Hard to believe, isn't it?

Thanks for reading the blog and Happy New Year!

-Jonathan

[YouTube] Sparking Santa Spinner

https://youtu.be/zu9cP-eFyfY

This is a spinner toy with a Christmas theme as it has what I believe is a sticker of Santa Claus on the center. It's made of metal and plastic, and requires users to press a plunger rapidly that pushes against a gear to spin the device, eventually causing sparks. I'm not sure when I received this toy but my best guess is late 1970s. The only markings I see on it are Kurt S. Adler Inc., New York and, much to my surprise, it turns out this company, which began in 1946, is still in business today and specializes in holiday products. While it's not the highest quality toy, it does still work, more or less, despite likely being 40+ years old. Trying to use one hand to spin it and the other to take photos of it in action was a bit challenging, and I opted to crop out my blurry hand so you only see the top piece in those pics. 

[YouTube] LEGO Bullseye Dog (2010)

https://youtu.be/6uLg4KvuB_M

This post is of a product that's newer than I would usually cover but I like LEGO toys and thought it was worth a look during the holidays. It is a 31-piece LEGO set featuring Bullseye the dog from Target store advertisements that was sold around Christmas in 2010. The set was packaged in a plastic case that doubled as a Target gift card.

Gaming Ads: Backfilling #17

Last video games ads post was September 2022  so it has been a while but I do have more and will hopefully continue getting them from time-to-time. One is fitting for the holidays as it's a Christmas-themed Game Boy ad from Nintendo. Two of them are retail ads from Target (Game Boy) and Walmart (Konami handhelds), and the last is a PC controller from Microsoft.

Hallmark Keepsake Ornaments (White's Guide to Collecting Figures - July 1997)

I've posted about ornaments on the blog more than I ever thought I would. However, Hallmark does make detailed ornaments based on numerous fandoms and other subjects, from comic books and toys to sports and Coca-Cola so I think they're worth taking a look at. Previous ornament posts include Star Wars original trilogy and prequel trilogy, Star Trek, and then a few ornaments appear in Superman and Batman articles. For this post I've scanned a 4-page article titled "It's Christmas in July" from the July 1997 issue of White's Guide to Collecting Figures which obviously covered more than just action figures. Below that I'll highlight some of Hallmark's 2023  Keepsake ornaments as they're still going strong and they've got some very nice video game selections this year. 

Although the magazine is about collecting and I do mention the value of things from time to time, the article rightly states, "It doesn't matter if they go up in value or not because they will bring you pleasure every year when you put them on your Christmas tree." That being said, it does often pay to wait as the cost can drop below the MSRP when the store discounts the unsold stock or they show up on the secondary market a few years down the road. I've found when selling some of my 25-year-old ornaments that they commonly go for less than what was originally paid, especially the athletes. There are too many 2023 ornaments that are based on Star Wars, video games, toys, Disney, Star Trek, and other things that relate to the blog to list here so check out this link if you want to see more: Hallmark Keepsake. Hallmark is even selling a Star Wars tree skirt that lights up (it's $119.99!). 

Nothing says Christmas like Han being frozen in carbonite! Of course, most of these licensed ornaments have very little to nothing to do with Christmas but that's okay and you really don't need to use them as ornaments. Many also look great sitting on a shelf and being displayed year round. My personal favorites are these light-and-sound Sega and Nintendo game consoles. Unfortunately, they are only sold online and three of them are currently out of stock so these might actually end up being difficult to get.