Barrie was the place to be this weekend for anyone on the hunt for pop culture collectibles, vintage video games and all things "nerd."
Chris Hodgson is a co-organizer of the Barrie Game Exchange, which took place at Eastview Arena in the city’s northeast end on Sunday. The event, he said, has grown significantly since its inception 15 years ago.
“It’s grown from an event with maybe 30 tables to one with over 150 to 200 tables (with) vendors that sell video games, collectibles, toys and all that geek and nerd culture,” he told BarrieToday as the lineup into the event began to make its way down the arena’s hallway. “It’s an amazing community of people that like to come out, collect and hang out and geek out over this kind of stuff.”
Kevin Chau came up from Toronto for Sunday’s event, telling BarrieToday he likes to attend events outside of the city as they tend to offer a different selection and variety.
“Usually I find the vendors here a little bit cheaper and (there is) more unique stuff because they’re from more north of here and they come down south,” he said, while rifling through bins of vintage Nintendo games.
Chau said while he always has his eye out for unique video games, he wasn’t looking for anything specific on Sunday.
“I just really like browsing each booth and seeing what unique things they have. Pretty much anything they have underneath the tables in the bins I like to dig through those,” he said.
Chau described himself as a “retro gamer”.
“I am also into pinball and arcades, so I do have some machines at home as well,” he said. “Everything Nintendo is always great to play. I have nothing specific that I like to play all the time … but Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, Chrono Trigger … I will always gravitate back to."
Six-year-old Ava Widemann and her older brother Nate were having fun trying to win a prize from a claw machine, in between looking for “cool retro stuff” for Nate to help set up for his XBox in his bedroom.
“A particular game I look for is Gran Turismo Sport,” said the nine-year-old from Orillia.
“I never had any of this so it’s all new to me with these guys. It’s fun just watching how much fun they’re having running from table to table and recognizing stuff,” added step-mom Jessica Sawyer.
