The Central Station Marketplace belongs to that subgenre of American business
known as the "flea market." The concept is simple enough - one big
building, usually an old storage building or failed retail outlet (or mall)
subdivided into a number of booths of various sizes. These booths
are rented out to various people, who then fill them with whatever resaleable
merchandise that they want to push. Central Station is one of the
better large flea markets in southern Arkansas, located on Highway 7 south
just a short drive down from the Oaklawn Race Track. It is located
inside an abandoned department store, and within you can find just about
anything from old radio tubes to the latest collectable Barbies straight
from Mattel. I've been a regular customer to flea markets for some
time now, and pretty much knew what to expect. Fortunately, the video
store clerk had given me detailed instructions as to where to go in the
mall, so I wasted no time in homing in on my destination - a mid-sized
booth known as the Game Room.
Aaaaaahhhhh ... nirvana ....
The images you are about to see are from my third and most recent trip, which I made earlier today. I went to square away some details about a planned visit to the Game Room's warehouse, where they have considerably more than is shown here. Among my goals this time was the location of two games - Double Switch for the Saturn (a request for the Snake) and Shining Force CD (for Eidolon). While I didn't find them today, I will have another opportunity to search again once my date with the warehouse visit arrives. That will be in two weeks, and I will be taking my camera at that time as well, so stay tuned. In the meantime, enjoy the pictures, and be sure to remember to use your "View Image" option in your browser anytime you want an enlarged view. I hope that the level of detail is enough to whet your appetites.
Of course, if you see anything in the pictures that, well, umm, might interest you, then you better start making those lists.
Let's start with the south wall of the Game Room booth, right next to the
entrance. Note the video poker machine - Hot Springs (horse racing)
and West Memphis (greyhounds) are the only two places in Arkansas where
gambling is legally permitted. NeoGeo fans will have little trouble
identifying the big black box so prominent on the top shelf. Right
behind it is a boxed Jaguar - who could mistake those eyes? Those
eyes ... THOSE EYES ... AAAARRRRGGGHHHH!!!! Of course the one on
the next shelf down is far easier to see - the one sitting right next to
the boxed Odyssey 200, just a few feet away from a boxed Sega Master System.
I'm sure that Sega fans have already spotted that, as well as the two boxed
32Xs and the two boxed Genesis Mark 1s on the top shelf - right below the
boxed Atari VCS. Oh, and is that a boxed Super NES sitting beside
them? And what's this on the lower shelves? Games? You
bet - PlayStation (old oversize boxes), Saturn (right below them, two shelves),
and a whole rack of Atari VCS carts. The man at the counter is looking
over a "small" sample of the hundreds of SNES carts that the Game Room
has in stock. See the magazine rack beside him? Now you know
from where I'm getting my old gaming mags. There are also a fair
assortment of used white-cased CDs in the glass case behind the couple
- you know, the ones that belong to a certain 128-bit Sega console?
Moving the camera to the southwest corner reveals even more goodies.
Yes, those are two bins full of lone Genesis carts, and they have tons
more "out in the warehouse." The folks at the counter are looking
over a similar bin full of SNES carts. Looking back up at the shelves
for a moment, it seems as if I made a mistake earlier. There are
not one, but TWO boxed SMS consoles back there. On the top shelf,
we can now see four boxed classic NES systems (cough, cough), including
a sport pack variant. A little farther down the top shelf are some
boxed late-model SNES consoles, along with the SNES version of Batter-Up
(in the plain white box). Below are various accessories and cleaning
tools for various consoles, as well as old retail "flip racks" advertising
SNES titles. In the glass case below the shelfs and to the right
of the couple are two bins of used N64 carts. Behind the counter,
with his back to the counter, is Mike Barker, one of the co-owners of the
Game Room. We will be seeing more of him as our panorama of the Game
Room continues.
Okay, now it's time for the west wall. Yes, that's a PlayStation
arcade stick on the table, and that's nothing but PlayStation stuff in
the right glass case. That's a PlayStation steering wheel sitting
on top - these guys have joysticks, light guns, and other kinds of alternate
and unusual controllers for most major classic consoles out the royal wazoo.
Along the right edge of the picture is the first of two "spinner" racks
full of boxed (and complete) Genesis games. They have lots more,
both boxed and loose, along with manuals, accessories, and spare consoles
"out in the warehouse," of course. More of the back wall behind the
glass counters can be seen, as we now spot such vintage items as a boxed
Sega CD (model 2), along with your pick from all three versions of the
Genesis. Ooohh, is that a Sega Saturn in the box? You mean
the one just above the boxed Genesis TeeV Golf club and right below that
one white box that says ... uh ... um ... wow! I've never seen one
of those in that kind of box before. And what's that right above
the PlayStation "flip rack?" Hmmm, they look a lot like Genesis cases,
but they're too wide. Perhaps a bit of a zoom-in would help?
"Ooooooohhhhhhhh ... aaaaaaahhhhhhh ..." intones the NeoGeo emufans.
Yes. There they are - in original packaging, complete and with their
original instructions. Actual NeoGeo carts. I didn't see any
NeoCDs, nor did I have time to ask, but I'll keep my eyes open during my
future warehouse visit. I wouldn't be surprised what I find there
at this point. Stacked on top of the NeoGeo games is that Genesis
TeeV Golf club, and on top of that are a couple of mint-in-package 3DO
controller pads. Ooohh, and look to the left of the picture
- boxed 3-button Sega Genesis arcade sticks! Never leave home without
'em, and never play Street Fighter 2 without 'em, either. Right?
Right!
Now we pan around to the northwest corner, where the Genesis spinner racks
can be plainly seen. I found a complete-in-box copy of Shining
Force in there - one of the few Genny RPGs that I didn't have at that
point - and you want to know something? I paid less than half of
what the thing has been known to fetch on eBay. "You bastard!" scream
the vintage game buyers, to which I can only grin in thrifty satisfaction.
Just behind the spinner racks are the shelves holding 3DO and Sega CD boxed
games - a few in plain-vanilla standard CD jewel cases, but most in original
packaging with instructions. There was a large supply of 32X games
here on my last visit, but they seem to have disappeared this time.
No matter, they don't have the one I need (World Series Baseball 32X).
Much to my surprise, though, I found instead a rare store promo copy of
the first issue of Lunar: The Silver Star for Sega CD - you know,
the yellow-lettered, non-embossed original release but with the PROMO USE
ONLY stamps? Too late - it's mine now ... bwuhahahahahahahaha!
No, I'm not going to tell you what I paid for it, but it wasn't US$65,
that's for sure. It was less ... a LOT less, in fact. I wonder
what other Sega CD classics I'm going to find in the warehouse? Oh
well, let's worry about that later. Next to the 3DO/Sega CD shelves
are ones containing nothing but unboxed NES carts - some with slipcovers,
but most without. Stacked on top of these two shelving units are
such relics as a couple of boxed Intellivision systems, another Odyssey
variant, and that deluxe boxed GameBoy set. Do the blessings ever
end? No, we've still got more to go!
It's time to see the north wall of the Game Room. Here we see the
gentleman who was looking over SNES carts a little earlier getting ready
to review his picks on the store's testbed setup. "Try before you
buy?" No problem for loose carts or open boxes, but absolutely nothing
doing on shrinkwrapped or sealed titles. Store policy, you know -
but there's plenty enough loose carts and CDs for most contingencies.
Back to the subject, though - the Game Room has six vintage consoles routed
to a common TV - Atari VCS, NES, SNES, Genesis, PlayStation, and N64 -
and can easily hook up others per customer demand. To his left is
a shelving unit that is solid boxed SNES games from base to top, and above
the gentleman are various boxed and shrink-wrapped consoles and accessories.
Yes, more boxed Sega Saturns are to be seen - the console was actually
kinda popular down here during its day - and one might also take note of
the somewhat rare boxed NES Challenge Set. A rather rare boxed version
of Sega's standalong game Pods is also in evidence, as well as a hint of
yet another glass cabinet to explore. Yes, there are more shrink-wrapped
consoles behind the glass, as well as cleaning kits for just about every
kind of major cartridge-based vintage gaming system you could imagine.
Here is the first of two pictures covering the entire east wall of the
Game Room. As you can see, our customer has his game up and running
on the store's testbed SNES unit. Mike Barker, store co-owner, is
busy cleaning a console, ready to help his customer at a moment's notice.
Hmmm ... I wonder if Zophar would give an award to the ZD user who can
correctly guess which game the customer is reviewing? Anyway, take
a gander behind those cleaning carts. That's right - an old Commodore
video monitor. They make great dedicated videogame console screens,
don't they? Lots and lots more goodies are in evidence, such as that
boxed 3DO system, those Dragon Ball Z Goku dolls, the bin full of
plush Nintendo characters, and lots more NES and SNES stuff (these guys
dabble in Pokemon trading, too), and even ... yes, by gum! Game Gear
stuff! Oh, man, wait until the MEKA crowd get a load of what these
folks have. The blue glass display case has various and sundry accessories
for classic game consoles, and hanging on the overhead rack are those blasted
NES footpad thingeys ... I forget what they're called, and I really don't
care, because they were a bitch. Mike Barker has so many of them
that, as he jokes, "We use them for insulation." Don't blame him
- it's just as good a use as any.
Well, we're finally back where we started - the entrance to the Game Room
- and here's the last picture for your viewing pleasure. I was going
to take more, but the memory card on the camera could only hold 10 pics
at its highest resolution. Anyway, you can see Mike Barker getting
ready to help a new customer who has just walked in through the booth's
only door. The lady on the phone behind the cash register is Becky
Barker, Mike's wife and the other co-owner. She's a real sweetheart,
and she's only too happy to do business with you - after all, they've got
a whole warehouse of vintage gaming gear to move, right? Between
them on the back wall are even more classic console games and supplies,
and in front of them is a green shelving unit full of codebooks and back-issues
of popular gaming mags. I found my third true treasure in here -
the highly prized Phantasy Star 2 Official Hint Book from Sega.
It was used and the cover was worn, but it was still quite serviceable.
Oh, and did I mention that the price was right, too? Speaking of
which, you see those two white bags on the table, between the box of Genesis
carts and the PlayStation arcade stick? Those are mine. Both
of 'em