Item Number 38: Portable Game System, Sega Game Gear (x3)

Time in possession: Between 6 and 4 years, depending on the individual unit.

Description: 3 Sega Game Gear systems, all suffering from various degrees of abandon. Only one of the systems actually works for any length of time, although I haven't checked in a while so that may no longer be true.

Cost: One of these systems belonged to an ex-girlfriend who was done with it, but I honestly can't remember where I came across another two. If I had to guess one of them would have been bought at a flea market (I'd often buy boxes filled with old video game stuff from people who weren't aware of what they were selling or just didn't care) and another off an eBay case lot. Really though, I couldn't tell you for sure. Lets just say $40 for the lot. That's actually pretty generous considering.

Story: I didn't know a lot about video games when I was a kid. I mean, I did read all the game magazines I could get my hands on and played as many as my parents would allow me, but in hindsight there wasn't a lot of thought going into my video game selections. The early games I nearly broke myself trying to beat on my NES? Mission Impossible, Werewolf, Iron Sword? They really, really sucked. If not for my childhood ignorance and stubborn drive I wouldn't have played any of those games for any length of time. I certainly wouldn't now. All that being said, I always, even back then, knew that the Game Gear was a shitty system.

The Sega Game Gear was Sega's answer to the Game Boy, a phenomenally more successful machine. (according to the ever reliable wikipedia the Game Boy sold 69 million units while the Game Gear only managed 8.9) Now before I go off sounding like a Nintendo fan boy (which, to be honest, I am) there were some nice features on the Game Gear: It had a colour screen which was back lit, a feature that would take Nintendo over a decade to implement in their own handhelds. It was easier for many people to hold, being wider. It eventually got a TV tuner, turning the system into a portable TV which was a pretty neat use of the technology. See, already I'm grasping at straws. The system's flaws more then make up the difference here: The colour screen was prone to becoming a blurred mess and worse than that was prone to burning out (the problem with two of my systems). The machine was a battery monster, chewing through 6AAs typically in 5 hours. Those batteries made the thing a heavy brick (just what you want in a portable electronic device!) and the worst sin of all: It didn't have any good games.

It is telling that when the original Game Boy was being given the intense shot in the arm that was Pokemon ('98) the Game Gear had already petered off into nothingness, dropped from support and forgotten. Owning one, I find myself seldom drawn to do anything with the system, although should a bugler ever break in I would not be opposed to hucking it at their head. These things have got to be good for something, right?

(Edit: Actually, they are good for something! They allowed this post to use both the "broken" and the "broken?" tags. Nobody cares except me...)

Item Number 32

Time in possession: 3 or 4 years.

Description: According to Amazon.com "Brother PT-65 P-Touch Home and Hobby Labeler with LCD Screen", priced at about . My particular unit is a bit busted up- In particular the back plate is missing a few teeth that are normally used to hold the two ends together. Much like my piggy bank, it is held together with faith more than anything.

Cost: It was a Christmas gift, but the aforementioned Amazon.com page prices it at around 49.50. Works for me.

Story: Several years ago I decided to get my disorganized ass... organized. To that end, I asked for two rather unusual Christmas presents: A label maker and a filing cabinet. While many people laughed at the very notion, once they saw how useful both have since proved, more than a few of my friends have bought their own storage solutions and whatnot. Yeah, you'd think I got enough of this crap at the library, but apparently not.

Anyway, I ended up getting two label makers- Both my Grandma and Erica, my girlfriend at the time, decided to get me one and I found myself at a cross roads. In the end, I went with this model, the cheaper one, as I found it had really all the features I want in a label maker. After having experience using the other model at work, I'm glad with my choice: While the other model had a few more options, the quality of both of them was equal and frankly this guy is the perfect size for me. Big enough not to get lost but small enough to squeeze in to the gaps in my bookshelves or tech drawers, depending on my mood that day.

Nowadays you can find this baby pretty cheap, in clearance bins at your local Staples or what have you: Makes sense to me. These guys really make their money on the tape- That crap is ridiculously expensive and I've found myself buying it in bulk when I find a decently discounted price. You know, kind of like how your mom buys tuna. Anyone? Anyone? Just me, eh?

Item Number 30: Coleco Telstar

Time in possession: About 4 years

Description: White plastic Coleco Telstar dedicated game console. Features two knobs for game play as well as several switches for game variations and a reset button. Runs off of AC power or 6 D batteries. Face has several decals, one of which is a peeling faux-wood panel motif. Because when you think video games, you think WOOD.

Cost: $10 at the local flea market, the Mulvey Market.

Story: When I first began collecting video games, a friend of mine informed me that he had an original Pong TV game machine. I instantly wanted one. Well, I didn't really want it, but I felt like I should have one, that no video game collection could be complete without it. Little did I know at the time that there were actually many, many different pong clones out in the world. The Telstar was simply Coleco's attempt at it: One that would be re-iterated over and over until the market was glutted with game systems that played Pong and Pong variations. Still, at that time I thought the idea was quite novel and so I mentally reinforced my desire to own a machine.

When, years later, I came across one, I bought it almost on instinct. Plus, $10? I've spent more money on CANDY. Well, I can't actually back that up. Stupid stuff, though, I've definitely spent more than $10 on stupid stuff. That, this blog backs up pretty well, I think. The thing was, did I care? Umm... not so much. Once I got the system home, it took me weeks to attempt to hook it up, and, after one unsuccessful attempt, I gave up on it. So now it sits on my game systems shelf, gathering dust and wondering when I'll get around to tinkering with it again. Time is probably not coming any time soon. I mean, if I want to play a two player game, I've got tons that are better then a Pong machine, and if I really want to play Pong, I'll probably just play Air Hockey in Wii Play instead.

For now it remains a $10 conversation piece, and only really appreciated by nerds. Maybe I could turn it into a lunchbox or something....

Item Number 28: Nokia Cell Phone

Time in possession: Over two years (Since the start of Feb '05 to be excact- Thank you blog/google!)

Description: A Nokia 6100 cell phone (as far as the interweb can tell me) with a fair ammount of damage all around. It sports its third faceplate, which is actually missing the back-plate. No idea where it went. Also has an annoying number pad that is at this point totally worn away. Makes text messaging a bit of a chore.

Cost: $150 (So says my blog at least. Who am I to argue?) plus two additional face plates at $15 a pop, making the grand total $180. Unless I count my air time, which I'm not doing for fear of breaking down in tears.

Story: It took me years to get a cell phone. Yes, like many, I resisted the call of a freeway ride to brain cancer, valuing my privacy and not having to worry about my cell going off in movies and classes (both of which have since happened to more times than I would like to admit) and whatnot. But, eventually, I caved.

My dad was upgrading his cell phone, and so had an extra one just lying around. He suggested that I look into a pay-as-you-go plan, which I did, and finding the cost to be quite reasonable, I decided to give it a try. 15$ a month, and if it doesn't work out I can just drop it like that, right? Little did I know what I was getting myself into. Well, that's actually a lie. I'd seen what happened to people with cell phones for years. I guess I just thought that it would never happen to me.

Fast forward to the present, and I'm on my third phone: You can tell I haven't been upgrading because I'm all up ons on the phone technology: No, rather I had simply lost my first two. Thankfully this phone is doing a decent job of sticking around and it's such an outdated piece of crap that I can't imagine anyone else wanting it. Frankly, I couldn't really get around without my cell right now- It lets work get a hold of me to offer me shifts, whereas before I would usually miss the messages and therefore miss out on the chances to work. It also lets me take auditions as they are offered, something else that I would miss out on before. It also doesn't cost me that much- I'm up to a little under 30$ a month now, which is still comparable to what I'd be paying on a contract, which I'm not doing, which gives me the freedom to stop at any point. Woot.

Here's an aside that might make me look like a bad person: I've used my cell on more then one occasion to avoid uncomfortable situations. I don't want to talk to someone? Oh, I've got a call. I need to excuse myself. It's really quite pathetic sometimes, but there you go. Do other people do this? Or am I just a jerk?

So, in conclusion, my cell phone is crappy, but it works. So now I am one of those guys, who wanders around talking into his palm like an asshole. Oh well.