For ten years now the Southern California Classic Collectors group (SC3) had their annual get together at founders Steve Hertz backyard and was one of the best ones yet. There was a good turnout for the event but it did seem to be a much more manageable size this year. Last years fall event was overflowing and seemed a bit more hip type event than the real gamers.
One change was to the sell/trade area that had some issues last time with people taking too much space and showing up hours before the event. So this year you had to put in a request for table space and made it a far more organized and gave more people a chance to bring stuff and not have to worry about “professional vendors” It definitely felt more like the spirit of collectors selling and trading than a swap meet atmosphere.
Photo courtesy of Camille Rodriguez
The other change was twofold. First you were required to wear a wristband that made sure that everyone had to donate to party fund to get in and the certainly helped keep it more intimate party. The other was not having the food be a free for all that kept people from taking a whole pizza (and yes people did that) and it also help keep the food in the upper lawn area away from the games. In the past there have been a few issues with people taking food and drinks and sitting them on the machines.
One of the best things was that a lot of people brought their kids to the event and I love when kids are introduced to both classic arcade games and home consoles. They not only adapt quickly but a lot of them find the older classic games to be a lot more fun than more modern gaming. There were also a lot of female gamers that thankfully is bucking the trend that female don’t play video games and they do and SC3 makes everyone feel welcomed at their events.
The raffle was again hosted by Mark Weber of VideoGameMuseum.com and it was one of the wildest ones yet. Ironically one of the most talked about item in the raffle wasn’t even video game related. It was the Alf telephone that surprisingly lasted for the first four ticket draws. Once he was chosen the crowed was quite sad. There was a lot of great items to choose from and I walked away with quite a bit of items myself but I did buy $30 worth of tickets.
One of the really fun things at the event is the big backyard screening with this years lineup one of the best with The Wizard, Nightmares (Bishop of Battle segment) and Man Vs Snake. After the raffle there is the ever popular Sega Saturn 10 player Bomberman blowout that is both a blast to play and to watch.
Overall the event was one of the best. It was really organized with the food and trade area and felt more like a true gamers event. It was nice to see Steve’s backyard event get back to its roots and make the event about playing games and having fun.
I want to personally thank Steve for hosting the event and to all of the SC3 staff and volunteers that made this 10th anniversary party one to remember!
Here are some more pictures from the event.
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