Show us your collection: #35 Dana Meddings

Dana Meddings (@Dane83) describes himself as an ‘average every day guy who just happens to love collecting video games’. He started out with the mighty Amstrad CPC 464 at an early age and amassed a large collection of games (many of which he has recently sold off to fund collecting other things) before going on to the Master System, followed by the SNES. He says: “The PlayStation blew me away and I’ve stuck with SONY for my new consoles ever since. I originally got back into older systems in the early 2000’s, but in an unwise move for beer tokens sold them all at car boot sales. Hence why I can be found most weekends at my local car boot sales hoping to get them back. The outcome of my finds can often been seen on my recently launched YouTube channel.

The Collection

Q and A with Dana Meddings

When did you become interested in video games and what was the first video game you played?

Dana: Being the youngest in my house, I always saw my brother playing his C64 and Spectrum, but as I was a lot younger I was never allowed one until one birthday or Xmas (I was very young and they are only a month apart so I can’t be exact) my parents got me a CPC 464 first with a green screen. It didn’t take long for me to break the screen, but the shop we got it from replaced with the colour screen (bonus). The very first games I played was the Amsoft pack in games mainly : Oh! Mummy, Roland on the Ropes and Roland in the Caves. So gaming was a part of my life from a very young age as much as say watching football was.

What was the first games console or computer you owned and how old were you?

Dana: As above.

What got you into collecting videogames, computers and consoles?

Dana: In my early 20’s I had a period where I went into playing older consoles, but I moved them on. Just before I turned 30 I fell out of love with my current console, the PS3, mainly because everyone had moved onto the Xbox one or PS4. I hadnt got the time in my life to update games constantly or play games that had essentially become more like movies, I wanted something I could pick up and play. One day I went up my Mom and Dad’s loft and found an old Grandstand Astro Wars we had once upon a time and it all went from there… Seeing what was on ebay 1st then moving into the booty’s, the collection grew quickly and spiralled.

When did you go to your first car boot sale?

Dana: I’ve been going to Boot sales since I was a child, my collecting at Boot sales probably went hand in hand with my new found interest in Retro Gaming a few years ago.

What is the best bargain you have ever got whilst car booting?

Dana: I’ve had a couple of nice finds; a complete in-box Puck Monster handheld which I paid a quid for and I picked up a US SNES for £20, not even being sure if it a bargain at the time I just assumed that I may never see one again. Oh, and the TRS-80 Model 1 I sold to Ant recently.

What is your most prized retrogaming possession and how much did it cost you?

Dana: I’d say it’s my PC Engine with CD-Rom2 and my turbo duo. I got them both in a huge auction lot so hard to say how much they cost – I covered that though by moving on a lot of the other stuff in the lot.

What is your favourite console or computer?

Dana: It’s hard to choose between the Master System and the PS2; both I played the hell out of, but if your making me choose I’m going with the MS. I spent many hours playing that, the first game I ever completed was the classic Sonic The Hedgehog. My brother told me at the time I couldn’t play another game till I beat Sonic. One of my fave games was on that system Psycho Fox.

What console/computer have you least enjoyed playing?

Dana: The Speccy. Haha I’m joking. I’m not sure if you class it as a console but the Barcode Battler ruined my Christmas the one year as a kid – what a rubbish thing that was… I’m still bitter as you can tell. But if you’re talking about a non-handheld I’d have to go with the N64; she has not aged well at all and the only ties I had to it was playing Golden Eye with friends on it in my late teens. Unfortunately that game has not aged well either.

The burning house scenario: which part of your collection would you save first?

Dana: The Mallet of course! But, really it would probably be my Astro Wars as it started it all and was mine originally. Everything else although brings nostalgia to me they are not my originals other than the PS3.

The Desert Island scenario: which one console and game would you take?

Dana: If I could get a LAN connection (unlikely on a Desert Island mate – Ant) then it would have to be PlayStation 2 with SOCOM 2.

Where do you want to go now with the collection?

Dana: There are a few items I would really like to add that I once owned but don’t yet have they are my main targets. But like everyone else who collects, I’d like some more time to play and enjoy them. I’m a game hunter I never know where it will take me.

Have you any tips for budding retro games collectors?

Dana: Start with what you loved to play with first and work from there. ebay is not an evil thing and can be a great tool, especially if you look for typos and misspellings. If boot sales is your way, do the leg work it will reward you, and may the odds be ever in your favour when it comes to beating the resellers!

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