Post a Comment On: The Dreamcast Junkyard

[Image] This last weekend (Saturday 5th March 2016) saw the third annual RetroCollect Video Game Market, where traders and online retailers converged at Yorkshire's Doncaster Dome to sell merchandise, consoles and games at reasonable prices to thrifty retro gamers. That was the theory anyway - some traders were clearly not singing from the same hymn sheet, asking stupid money for old consoles that were so yellowed they could be mistaken for blocks of cheddar. On the whole though, it was a fantastic event and the sheer number of people in attendance was mind blowing.
[Image] Thousands of people looking for yellowing Dreamcasts... I was amongst that number representing the Junkyard, and it was great to meet so many people who visit this hallowed blog and listen to our podcast - in fact I was a little taken aback by how many attendees knew of the Junkyard and asked about articles they had read here, so if you were one of them - thank you. As it was primarily a market, I was able to leave my little corner of the venue and venture into the fray briefly and I'm glad I did because I managed to acquire some quite lovely Dreamcast-related stuff at Video Game Market 3. Here for you delectation is a run down of the swag I got my hands on...
[Image] What a fool. James & Watch: Tooth Cracker
If you're up to speed with the new releases on the Dreamcast you'll no doubt be aware of 2015's Game & Watch-inspired James & Watch: Arm. It's an indie game developed by Dave Lancaster from the ever-popular Retrogaming Roundup podcast, which we reviewed here at the 'Yard.
[Image] Tooth Cracker is a sequel of sorts and once again utilises the Game & Watch aesthetic but offers a totally new (yet inspired by real life events!) experience. I won't say too much now as I will be reviewing the game here very soon, but massive thanks to Dave for seeking me out to furnish me with this very special, one of a kind 'Dreamcast Junkyard Edition' of Tooth Cracker.

Dreamcast Magazines
If you're a regular visitor to the 'Yard you'll have probably seen my recent series looking at Paragon Publishing's Dreamcast Magazine (I'm currently up to issue 10 so if you haven't, scroll back through the posts and you'll find them). There were a few issues in the run of that particular magazine I was missing, so I visited a stand run by SegaMags - a website dedicated solely to the championing and documenting of Sega magazines from the UK.
[Image] On SegaMags' stall I happened to find issue 34 of Dreamcast Magazine which happened to be one of the ones I was missing (and also the final edition); and also a few others that looked very interesting - issue 1 of US magazine DCM, issue 10 of Official US Dreamcast Magazine (complete with cardboard backing and demo disc), and issue 1 of the UK's Dreamcast Monthly.
[Image] Alongside these, I picked up the August 1998 issue of Sega Saturn Magazine (above) as it contains quite a bit of info on the Dreamcast reveal, tech demos like Tower of Babel and an interview with Yu Suzuki.

Total Control Magazines
As well as the Dreamcast magazines mentioned above, I also managed to acquire the complete collection of Total Control magazine, a short lived multi-format mag from the UK. While this may not sound that relevant, Total Control was a publication that ran from November 1998 to September 1999 and as such almost every issue features a ton of Dreamcast stuff. I recently posted scans of issue 1's Dreamcast reveal here at the 'Yard, and pretty much every one of the 11 issues of this fantastic magazine is stuffed full of Dreamcast-related previews, reviews and long forgotten news snippets (many featuring items that vanished into the ether not long after being showcased - more soon).
[Image] Total Control was produced by a publisher called Rapide Publishing, and the untimely demise of this company is fascinating for a major Dreamcast-related reason that will be revealed very soon here at the Junkyard. Massive thanks to Matt and his team for this collection, as they spent the best part of half an hour in the cold and dark trying to retrieve them from the inner recesses of their van after already packing the magazines away!
[Image] If you'd like to know more about SegaMags and Matt's quest to collect every single issue of every UK Sega-related magazine ever produced, please feel free to visit his site here.

Mr Yukawa's Treasure Hunt Promo Stand
Mr Yukawa was the managing director of Sega during the Dreamcast era and he became something of a celebrity due to the series of TV commercials he appeared in. Due to this new found fame, Sega saw fit to not only produce a console box with his mug festooned on it, but they also gave him a cameo in Shenmue and his own game.
[Image] [Image] Mr Yukawa's Treasure Hunt (aka 湯川元専務のお宝さがし) is a fairly rudimentary puzzle game in which you control the titular company executive and must dig up VMUs and other bits of Dreamcast paraphernalia. It was only released in Japan naturally, but this nice piece of promotional merchandise is something I had never seen before. Not until Nathan from Every Bit Gaming brought it over to me anyway. It's a really cool and unusual item and I have to give my thanks to him, and also for the next item too...

Giant Gram 2 Promo Poster
Another piece from Nathan at Every Bit Gaming, this Giant Gram 2 promotional poster is something I'd never seen before and it looks like it was used in games stores in Japan.
[Image] [Image] [Image] The poster is double sided and while one side really just shows art from the game, the other gives details of Dreamcast/NAOMI connectivity via a VMU and a VMU mini game that comes as part of the main game. I can't make head nor tail of the text on the poster, but this is a really cool and unusual item.
Lego Dreamcast Sonic the Comic Online is the internet-based continuation the printed media version of Sonic the Comic. You probably didn't need me to spell that out for you, but there it is. I used to buy STC on occasion during my formative years, and this weekend I had the pleasure of meeting Michael Stephenson, the editor-in-chief of Sonic the Comic Online. The reason I tell you this, is that Michael isn't just a talented illustrator - he also makes awesome things like this Lego Dreamcast:
[Image] [Image] [Image] The level of detail is brilliant - the GD door opens up to reveal a tiny lens and the bottom of the model even mimics the yellow warning sticker found on most systems. Obviously, this is a stylised rendition of a Dreamcast, but it's a very cool little item with lots of neat details and certainly an unusual piece to have in the collection. If you'd to contact Michael to enquire about getting one of these yourself, check out his Facebook page here.

Dreamcast Gun T-Shirt
How cool and unusual is this? I got this Dreamcast Gun shirt from the guys at Badnik Bazaar, an online retailer specialising in all things Sonic and Sega. The simplicity of the design is what drew me to it, and it only cost £10 - a bargain however you look at it.
[Image] Gun added in case you didn't know what one looked like. Um. Other Stuff
The Video Game Market wasn't just about buying stuff - it was also a great opportunity to meet up with lots of familiar faces from the UK's huge and vibrant gaming scene. As many of us live in all corners of the UK, these types of events are generally the only times we get to see each other in person, and so it was great meeting up with all the other guys from RetroCollect, Lewis from Sega Driven, Ally the Retro Hunter, the Maximum Power Up podcast guys, Aaron the Angry Amiga Nerd, Lee from Sore Thumbs, Rick from Warp Zone, YouTuber Tooty UK...and everyone else who came to say hello and chat about the Dreamcast and DCJY.

I also had the pleasure of meeting Sonic the Hedgehog 2 artist Duncan Gutteridge and Super Play / N64 Magazine / Rare artist Wil Overton. All in all, it was a great day and hopefully the next one will be every bit as good.
[Image]