Retro Hunting

Thrill Of The Chase: FurySevenSix visits the Canberra Vintage & Collectible Centre

December 20, 2022 By ausretrogamer

Who doesn’t like a sneaky weekend trip to the nation’s capital?!

Well, that’s exactly what our good friend, Noel Wheatley, did this past weekend. Noel (aka: FurySevenSix) shared photos of the amazing retro gaming centre he found in Canberra on his Twitter and Instagram accounts. The Canberra Vintage & Collectible Centre is one of those places that will wow and indulge you in some very intoxicating nostalgia.

Sneaky weekend trip to Canberra yielded some spectacular surprises at @CanberraVCC.🤩

And yes you better believe I’ll be going back there again.😊#RetroGaming #Gaming pic.twitter.com/qeD5QvAe9x

— Noel Wheatley 🎮 (@FurySevenSix) December 18, 2022

The below photos attest to the amazing collections found at the Canberra Vintage & Collectible Centre (Canberra VCC), from iconic gaming systems, classic video games, to mouth-watering collectibles that have been lost to time. Make sure you add the Canberra VCC to your must visit list now!

PS: Check out Noel’s Instagram for more pics and vids of this amazing place!

The important details:

Venue: Canberra Vintage & Collectible Centre
Address: 11/90 Barrier Street, Fyshwick, Australian Capital Territory

image source (used by permission): Noel’s Twitter and Instagram accounts

Thrill Of The Chase: Retro Games Hunting In Brisbane

May 28, 2018 By ausretrogamer

The Thrill Of The Chase feels great doesn’t it? That buzz you get never gets old!

A little while ago, we went retro games and vintage hunting in Queensland’s capital, Brisbane, aka: BrisVegas! So what did we find? Well, we found the Woolloongabba Antique Centre & Cafe before it moved and became the Camp Hill Antique Centre.

Luckily Ms Ausretrogamer was on the case (she found this place!), as she dug up and found a heap of gems I would have missed. Rather banging on about it all, we’ll let the photos do the talking. Enjoy!

If you intend on using any of the photos within this feature, please credit them back to this article – thank you.

Gone Retro Hunting

February 1, 2017 By ausretrogamer

What does one do on a lazy Sunday afternoon? They go hunting for some old school classic gear at the local vintage market in Brunswick East.

After a few goes on the Daytona USA and Tazmi’s TX-1 arcade machines, we got hunting. So, what did we find you may ask? Take a gander below…

Here we go!

One always starts their hunting by playing some Daytona USA

Then one must take it back a notch to playing the three-screen marvel, TX-1

Wish we could take this one home!

Cockpit is a bit worse for wear, but it’s still functional

Once we exhaust our coins, we get hunting. This is a pretty good start!

Now that is one cool framed movie poster!

The singing budgerigar – with a giant poster inside! Whoa!

Who you gonna call?

We wonder if we’ll see a The Last Jedi cup in the near future…

Master System games under $15! That is unheard of! *smiles*

Lights, camera, action!

The menacing King Kong Bundy!

Not the VHS tape we were looking for…

Skateboard anyone? Tony Hawk would be proud.

Liberace would’ve loved this phone!

A Fisher Price record player! No way!

Forget the Fisher Price record play, this is what you should play your vinyl on!

Those eyes!!!

Game of Nightmare, anyone?

G.I. Joe! Hang on, Sloth from The Goonies! *mind blown*

Duck Monster? Nah, that’s a P!

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Return To Geelong’s Amazing Mill Market

May 18, 2016 By Ms. ausretrogamer

We always love a trip to G-Town, and no visit is complete without a stop at the The Amazing Mill Market. We already showed off all the beautiful retro gaming goodies we spotted, but there was so much more – and we couldn’t resist putting together a second story to show you all the other weird and wonderful things we found. As the Mill Markets website says:

‘At Amazing Mill Markets you will find a selection of vintage clothes, vintage furniture, collectibles, antiques, memorabilia, home decor, fine china, art, glass, coins, jewellery, books and records – to name a few things!’

Welcome to the Amazing Mill Market

So much to see

A blast from the past: House Party!

Awesome vintage women’s wrestling photos

Something for the hipsters

Made by ACME?

Just beautiful!

Treasure hunting anyone?

This clever little guy is safe from Gargamel

Pure retro goodness

Gorgeous!

Who else loved this game as a kid?

‘I’m Badgeman’

The best Elvis?

Surely they can’t all fit on two records?

I, Robot

We, Robots

Sew pretty

Marvellous LEGO minifigs

High octane nightmare fuel

Not sure ‘From the Director of The Abyss’ is the best way to sell a DVD…

Yippee Ki-Yay!

Now, that’s a cool little car

Awesome retro projector

Take a seat… or two

Books, books…

…books

‘Skate Wars’ or maybe ‘Darth Boarder’

It smells like time to buy some records

Alex Boz a.k.a. ausretrogamer

ms ausretrogamer

and mama ausretrogamer

The Geelong Amazing Mill Market is located at 114 Bellarine Highway, Newcomb. Open 10am to 6pm, 7 days a week, every day except Christmas.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Ms. ausretrogamer
Co-founder, editor and writer at ausretrogamer – The Australian Retro Gamer E-Zine. Lover of science fiction, fashion, books, movies and TV. Player of games, old and new.

Follow Ms. ausretrogamer on Twitter

Easter Retro Gaming Hunt At The Amazing Mill Markets

April 6, 2015 By ausretrogamer

While kids everywhere were busying themselves on their Easter egg hunt, Ms. ausretrogamer and I were busy going on a different kind of Easter egg hunt. On our way to Queenscliff, we decided to pop in at the amazing Mill Markets in Geelong to see what was on offer. Upon entering the market, we knew we had hit the jackpot – there were all kinds of antiques, memorabilia and collectables to discover, from books and vinyl records, to toys and classic video games. We’ll let the photos below show the breadth of cool stuff that was on offer at the market.

What started as a quick visit turned into a three-and-a-half hour hunt – the Mill Markets is the kind of place you need to take your time to look in each stall and search for that little gem that others may have passed in their haste. Our nostalgic senses were in overdrive as we found items of interest in almost every stall!

There were retro games and systems aplenty, with most items being at reasonable prices. We were pleasantly surprised to discover retro gaming gear in a number of stalls on the ground floor and the mezzanine – obviously, our go slow and meticulous hunting plan paid off. The temptation to walk out with a boot full of stuff was hard to resist! I did manage to buy a few items, with the Milton Bradley Berzerk board game being my favourite of the lot.

If you happen to like going to vintage markets, even for a look, then Ms. ausretrogamer and I highly recommend The Mill Markets. There are three Mill Markets in Victoria – in Daylesford, Ballarat and Geelong (Newcomb). Best part is, they are all open 7 days a week from 10am till 6pm. What are you waiting for, go hunting!

Australia Day, Ausretrogamer Style

January 26, 2015 By ausretrogamer

Some Australians celebrate Australia Day with a barbie (Ed: that’s barbecue for the uninitiated), others choose to sink a few beers and watch the cricket. For Ms. ausretrogamer and I, we chose to hit the road in search of some arcade and pinball machines.

Luckily for us, there were a few stores opened on this public holiday Monday. We did find a warehouse on the outskirts of Melbourne packed with arcade machines and pinball tables from all eras. We definitely got our fix of retro gaming eye candy this Australia Day!

Retro refreshments for Australia Day!

Oh yeah, some Sega Sport Car Ultimate Drive (SCUD) Race

Oh no, a Galaga I & II in need of some TLC!

*Scottish accent*Get in my belly!

Shagadelic baby!

Are you scared stiff?

They’re creepy and they’re kooky

I’ll take the Dalek!

I don’t think that light will fit

Lot of history in this place!

Care for some old school hockey?

Old beauties!

Pinball lovin!

May the force be with you!

Pinball tables from all eras!

Pinball tables as far as the eye can see

No one puts Virtua Striker 2 or Virtua Tennis 2 in the corner!

Evel Knievel and Playboy = what a match!

Operating on an ultimate cab

No joint is complete without a Zoltan!

The Thrill Of The Chase: Game Over For 2014

December 30, 2014 By ausretrogamer

As the year draws to a close, it had to happen, we had to go for one final thrill of the chase!

With the adrenaline rushing at this time of year, there were classic gaming items to be found and bargains to be bagged. While everyone else was recovering from their Christmas festivities, Ms. ausretrogamer and I hit the road to find those elusive retro games and vintage toys.

There were a number of places that were closed due to the festive season, but that didn’t deter us from going to the next stop on our hit-list. We did hit the jackpot at our final stop – we may not have found what we were looking for, but we did have a blast playing some Daytona USA, Speed Race and the three-screen extravaganza, TX-1.

So with another year in the history books, we eagerly await the new year. Roll on 2015 for more thrills! Happy New Year to you all!

Spotted! Topless Skeletor

Open Pokemon

Close Pokemon. See, I can do magic!

Namco made digital alarm clocks? *Mind Blown*

Master System games + Hillbilly Jim = Perfect!

No way, A (broken) Robot Armatron!

Seeing is believing

Don’t get these two wet!

Give your TV some old school action!

Dayyyyyytonaaaaa!

20c for some action? That’s cheap as chips!

Go Speed Racer!

Gotta get pole position!

Nooooooo, it’s GAME OVER!

The Thrill Of The Chase: Vintage and Memorabilia Hunting

December 2, 2014 By ausretrogamer

It had been some time since our last The Thrill Of The Chase. With the close of 2014 getting nearer, we are aiming to squeeze a few more thrills before the curtain falls on this year!

With the adrenaline rushing, we blazed a path across Melbourne to some vintage markets, pawn stores and a very funky memorabilia store. What we found was great and thrilling, but prices of items precluded us from taking things back home.

So, what did we find you may ask? Rather than words (Ed: boring!), check out the below photos!

Celebrating like it is 1984!

Let’s take a look, shall we

Um, this memorabilia store is a fire hazard – it’s packed to the rafters!

TANANA NANANA TANANA NANA TANANA NANANA TANANA NANA GHOSTBUSTERS!

A very expensive Freddo!

Old school WWF is where it’s at baby!

E.T. will phone home!

At last, some Game & Watch beauties

The ubiquitous Pac-man and Simon!

Sega, Atari and Nintendo games!

Donkey Kong Hockey Micro Vs for $65? No!

Atari is best

Scarface playing cards? Say hello to my……

Perfectly tactile QWERTY keyboard

I spy a MOTU boxed product!

Whoa! I wonder if this Taito Asuka & Asuka arcade cabinet is for sale?

Before DVD, there were some big ass LaserDiscs

Oh man, Gakken Super Puck Monster tabletop! Very hard to resist

Let’s hookup this Mac to the internet

Scarface – enough said!

Surely this Taito Speed Race machine is for sale?

Oh damn, it’s for fun only

I play while Ms. ausretrogamer shops

Three screen action aplenty!

Yoda overseeing our shenanigans

The Thrill Of The Chase: Slaying the Vectrex

April 13, 2013 By ausretrogamer

Finally, the great Vectrex has been hunted down and captured!

What has seemed like a life time of looking for the elusive (and in working condition) Vectrex, it is now in my grasp. The actual hunt was nothing too exciting.

Last Friday, as I laid in bed checking my phone one final time for that last tweet, I got a pop up message from eBay saying that I had new items to check out. To my astonishment, I saw that there was a boxed Vectrex which had just been listed (who lists a Vectrex at midnight!). I quickly saw the price and noted that the seller had offered a “make offer” option on the auction. I ran through the description to ensure it was in working condition and I then put in an offer $50 under the “buy it” now price. My heart rate went berserk once the offer was accepted and I received the “Congratulations” message, followed by the “Pay Now” button. With quivering hands, I had no hesitation to pay immediately.

To say I was thrilled would be a massive understatement. Another rare white tiger is crossed off the list. Next target, the Commodore SX64.

Vectrex_boxed_ausretrogamer

Vectrex_action_ausretrogamer

The Thrill Of The Chase: NYC Style

March 28, 2013 By ausretrogamer

If you are ever in the city that never sleeps, then you are in for a treat. Apart from the many great sights and sounds, you must head down to the gritty and cool East Village (Lower Manhattan) area – there, you will find two amazing retro gaming stores: ‘8Bit & Up’ and ‘Video Games NY’.

I was lucky to be in the Big Apple on my last US trip when a few kind Twitter friends passed on some inside tips on these two stores. I seized the opportunity, and I am glad that I did. For mine, ‘Video Games NY’ is the pick of the two – it oozes retro from floor to ceiling, literally! The hardest problem you will have is getting an increased luggage allowance to bring your retro haul back to your country of origin (or state).

Oh yeah, while you are in New York City, you must also visit the ‘Nintendo World’ store – you can read about it here.