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[Image] We do like a bit of obscure merchandise here at the Junkyard, and even more so when it pertains to the good old Dreamcast. Merchandise has come a long way in the 300 years that I've been alive, and these days you youngsters have all sorts of phone cases and wallets to keeps your 'plastic' in that give hints as to the way in which your nerdy bread is buttered. Back when I was a wee lad in the early 1700s we had nought but a flash of treated ox hide with our workhouse name pressed into it to remember our opulent upbringings. Eh, they don't make merch like they used to.

Anyway, for fear of losing literally everybody who actually bothered to click the social media links to read this, let me fast forward to the present, and the fine pieces of Dreamcast-related (and in some cases, lesser spotted) Dreamcast merchandise recently acquired by the Vvcollectiv (which stands for Valley Vintage Collectiv).
[Image] The Vvcollectiv is a two man operation made up of Rene Guard and Eddie Bogard, and these fine gentlemen are also behind the annual Dreamcast event held in Burbank, CA. When not hosting events, they collect and display more interesting items of Dreamcast paraphernalia (one being the Dreamcast Control Unit we featured a few years ago). Here are the latest acquisitions made by Vvcollectiv - at least one of which I have never previously seen (the Hawaiian shirt). These items were acquired from a former Sega of America employee and while some of them are fairly common, it's the stories behind the items that I find most interesting...

A Dreamcast branded Hawaiian shirt:
[Image] [Image] "The Hawaiian shirt we had to wear along with the Dreamcast fishing hat for the Weinie Roast concert event where we had kiosks of Dreamcast games set up. Nothing too memorable happened there. We were near the front of the event far away from the concert stages so not that many people were ever at our booth. It was a two day event and I was exhausted by the end of it!"

A Dreamcast bowling shirt:
[Image] [Image] "The bowling shirt we had to wear for a concert event that was held at the San Jose fairgrounds. We had about 8 kiosks running Dreamcast games for concert goers to check out."

A Dreamcast bag and folio case:
[Image] [Image] "As far as the messenger bag and organiser, during my four years with Sega I had a great relationship with the PR team. Around the time the Dreamcast was going to release in America (9/9/99), Sega was doing a lot of promo events to build up hype for the system prior to launch. I proposed that we should have a presence at San Diego Comic-Con. PR agreed and worked out a deal with the Marvel booth for us to have a playable Marvel vs. Capcom demo unit at the show. They sent just me down with a couple Dreamcasts and copies of the yet to be released USA version of Marvel vs Capcom. That is when they gave me the messanger bag which I used to carry the systems and games to the show. It was a great trip because work paid for everything and all I had to do was get the systems set up and the game running, and then put them away at the end of the day."

A Dreamcast display unit that - according to Vvcollectiv - was only used in games stores in Los Angeles, California:
[Image] [Image] [Image] "This one is quite unusual as apparently is was only used in the L.A. area. We've never seen this one in use anywhere else."

So, there we have it - a few more lovely pieces of Dreamcast merchandise documented thanks to Vvcollectiv. Personally, it's more the stories behind these items from the former Sega employee that I find most interesting, simply because those experiences and accounts of Dreamcast history are things you can't really put a physical value on. Now though, they're recorded here (and at Vvcollectiv) for posterity. Who knows - in another 300 years I might look back on this post and smile. Maybe.

Thanks to Vvcollectiv for sharing these items and their background stories with us. Be sure to check them out on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

And as ever, let us know what you think in the comments, on Twitter or in our Facebook group!

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