This past weekend, I attended one of the most unusual marketplaces celebrating consumer culture that I’ve ever experienced. Hosted at the same venue as PAX Australia, Collect Fest brought an array of stalls to the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre, particularly backed by EBay. The event showcased an extensive range of products from various hobbies, ranging from sneakers to film reels, enticing every kind of collector.
However, if you’re a PC gamer, your experience might have been less than satisfactory. Amidst a sea of Pokemon cards, I anticipated discovering a rich selection of vintage PC hardware to reminisce over. Yet, I found the event severely lacking in offerings tailored for PC enthusiasts. While retro consoles had significant visibility, PC gaming was notably absent.
I surveyed four different booths dedicated to video games and examined their selections of older titles and revamped consoles. Every gaming generation was present from the dawn of digital play to just last week; it was unmistakably clear that nostalgia is a powerful draw. Collectors of all ages eagerly gathered around piles of naked cartridges, either nostalgically engaging with vendors about early gaming days or purposefully searching for hidden gems among less-favored titles.
Much to my shock, PC hardware featured virtually nowhere. Littered amongst rows of consoles from Xbox to Atari, a lone Tandy TRS-80 Computer caught my eye. Encased behind glass, complete with two joysticks and an old-school cassette drive, it was priced at nearly $400 AUD at Hard Copy.
Every shop I visited prominently displayed highly-modified GameBoys of various iterations, outfitted with dazzling OLED screens, each selling for between $200 and $400—a point of pride for their respective stalls. Alternatively, buyers could opt for untouched units and even modify them themselves.
When I inquired at Nexus Toys and Collectables regarding their best-sellers, they confirmed that these Nintendo handhelds were the standouts for collectors. Conversations with other vendors revealed a consensus that the modded portables sparked the greatest interest and sales at Collect Fest. One vendor noted that a customer recently spent over $1,000 on multiple handhelds.
Regrettably, when it came to PC hardware and software, vendors reported a lack of interest resulting from low demand, high pricing, and the overwhelming availability of downloadable games. Most mentionable titles like Half-Life are the only ones with enough following to justify physical sales.
As I navigated deeper into the expo, I encountered a plethora of comics, tabletop games, and an astonishing volume of Pokemon cards, but almost no representation of PC gaming. If your interests lie within Nintendo, retro consoles, or trading cards, Collect Fest would be a worthwhile visit—but PC game lovers may find themselves disheartened.
