It has been a busy, hot summer. After exhibiting at the London MCM show and London Film & Comic Con, Retro GT will be returning to the Midlands for another Memorablilia show. It takes place at the NEC in Birmingham on Saturday 12th and Sunday 13th of August. We debuted our ‘Pong’ design at the London Film & Comic Con, this time we’ll reveal our new ‘Gameboy’ T-shirt… and perhaps another Streetfighter T-shirt?
“Shun Goku Satsu!!”
Late last month, RetroGT exhibited at the Memorabilia convention in Birmingham. Two large halls of the NEC was filled with traders dealing in collectables like sports, sci-fi and movie memorabilia. There were sections dedicated to talks, movie showings, star photos and guest signings. Some of these star guests included the crew of Red Dwarf, and yes, Craig Charles was among them.
We didn’t venture away from our stall very often. Only food and toilet breaks were important enough to stop us playing Street Fighter, albeit briefly. So it wasn’t until the 2nd day when everyone was packing up that we decided to put down the joypads. It was at that moment when Craig Charles strolled past looking rather merry. We called out to him and beckoned him over. When asked if he liked videogames, his reply was a simple “yup”, it was instantly obvious that he had been drinking. It was our second encounter with the Red Dwarf legend, the first being in an old London pub a few years back. We offered to him a free T shirt of his choice so he gratefully picked our ‘Break the System’ one. During our chat we asked for a photo of him in front of our stall. He clocked on to our ruse for a free photo opportunity and humorously exclaimed “oooh, you don’t get something for nothing in this world, do you?” He remained merry and left with a smile on his face, after a quick photo of course.
So Craig, if you’re reading this, we apologise for duping you into the photo and hope you enjoy your T shirt. It was an Honour and a pleasure.
“I got to the other side of the road and crossed the river. There was nothing there… so I did it again.”
Not only has our traffic dodging friend reached the other side but he has also reached a ripe old age of 25. Our frog expert sources tell us that 25 is old for a frog. Their longevity averages between 4 and 15 years with the oldest reported being a European Common Toad who had a lifespan of a whopping 40 years.
Frog facts aside, Konami have launched a website (see related link) and a promotional campaign to celebrate the Frogger franchise’s milestone.
“One of the original video game icons, Frogger remains just as popular today as when he first tried to cross that busy street 25 years ago,” said Konami senior VP of sales and marketing Catherine Fowler. “We are celebrating Frogger’s silver anniversary with a variety of new products and programs that will ensure that he remains an enduring figure to an all-new generation of gamers as well as the millions of existing fans of the franchise.”
This Sunday (5th March) Retro GT will be on the road once again. This time we are heading to the town of Cheshunt in Hertfordshire, just north of London, to attend a collectors fair. If you’re in the area, why not drop in and say hello? There you will find around 200 traders dealing in all sort of collectables like toys, comics, autographed memorabilia, trading cards and much more. But most importantly, we will be there plying our trade… mention this bit of news and you’ll get a free badge!
Admission is only 1 pound for Adults and 80p for Children.
Doors open 11am – 4pm.
(Early bird admission from 8.30am is 5 pounds)
Grundy Park Leisure Centre,
Windmill Lane,
Cheshunt.
Last week, at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, saw the revealing of a new handheld machine under the legendary Commodore brand. The Beverly Hills based company, Yeahronimo Media Ventures, aquired Commodore International in January 2005 with plans to revive the brand and have 3 hardware products lined up for release.
The first is the Commodore Navigator Combo, a handheld “Personal Media Player” that runs on Windows CE. It contains an internal 20GB hard drive, touch screen and has GPS functionality as well as the ability to play games, music, video and FM radio. The Combo will ship with 5 NES games, with 90 more available via download.
The second, named The Multi Media Tower, is a kiosk aimed at retailers and businesses. It will offer consumers the ability to download digital music, ringtones, games and wallpapers onto their portable devices. Payment can be made using the integrated card reader, a percentage of which, goes to the retailer.
The last product is nothing more than a set-top box. The Media Box has a 80GB hard drive and will record your favourite TV programs.
“We are excited to be launching our initial offerings at this year’s CES,” stated Commodore president and CEO Ben van Wijhe. “We expect our Tower, Media Box and Navigator to both advance and uphold the world-class quality of yesteryear’s Commodore products. Never before has a brand come out of hibernation and truly reinvented itself to position competitively in an ever-evolving digital media marketplace.”
It’s hardly the stuff of legend but we’re happy to see the brand name still kicking about.
Wehey!
Our funky new news system is online just in time for us to tell you about the Colchester Sci-Fi / Film & Sports Fair on Sunday 29th January 2006.
We’ll be there selling our fantastic range of retro games t-shirts, and as always we’ll have a nice little setup for you guys to come and challange us at some of your favourite retro video games…
As if coming to see us wasn’t enough, the fair will feature guests from some of the most classic movies and tv series, including Star Wars, Harry Potter and Doctor Who; sports celebrities, page 3 models, and more cult memorabilia than you can shake a joystick at…
Check out the link for a full guest list, ticket booking and location.