Welcome to a new edition of People of RFGeneration, formally written up by Izret, I would like to thank him for the chance to revive an old tradition into something more regular. You will notice these are longer and take a fair amount of time to get put together. I hope you take a chance to read them over when they are put up so you can learn more about some of the people of RFG!

First up on my list was a recommendation as well as an obvious choice, bickman2k, a director here at RFG. Read up and see what we can learn about him!



Preview

Location: Olathe, KS (near Kansas City)

Where does your screen name come from? For that story, we have to look to the future. All the way, to the year 2000...

How did you find RFG? I was using IGN to track my collection. At the time, that was mostly GameCube titles, but was quickly growing to include the NES, Genesis, among others. I was running in to more and more titles that just weren't on the IGN list. I began my search for something new and RF Generation was on the list of things to try.

What made you stay and become part of RFG? At first, I was using RF Generation as a test for tracking my collection along with an Excel sheet, Access database, Collectorz.com, and Cart Commander. I could never get the software stuff to look just the way I wanted it to. With the additions and submission system to the database, I know that my collection will always have every game in. I've never really been in to posting on forums because I felt like I was late to the party and could never get involved. At first, I sort of felt the same way (on my end, of course), but once I started posting more consistently, I realized that this is a community I really wanted to be a part of. It's really the only forum I'm constantly active on.

Have you ever met or personally know anyone at RFG? I have not, but I'm sure if Funk_Buddy ever wanted to meet, we could make it happen! I periodically check the member map, but for some reason, things didn't click until we got connected on Facebook.


Basics


Number of Games Owned (at time of printing): Including variations (hi Tynstar!): over 2200

LoL @ Tynstar comment. Number of Games on Wishlist (at time of printing): 0. The reason for this is that I rarely do much game buying/trading/selling over the Internet. Or I could cop out and say that anything that's not on my owned list is on my wish list.

Number of Systems: Including variations: over 50


When did you start collecting? Growing up, we had the NES and SNES, but when we moved on to the next system, my parents sold the older ones or we traded them in to get games for the new console. Once we hit the N64, we kept it. I was given a GameCube for high school graduation by my then-girlfriend, but didn't dump the N64 (maybe a game or two). I went off to college and loved playing GameCube games, but I had always played games on emulators (NES and SNES mostly). I was getting the itch to start getting the old games again. So, I started calling old friends and neighbors to see if they had their stuff sitting in a closet. Eventually, I got to the point of being on the hunt. I'd say the hook was successfully planted in the summer of 2003.

What was your first system you owned? The first system I personally purchased was a PlayStation from my best friend (who is now my brother-in-law).

What was your first game? I have vague memories of Major League Baseball on Intellivision, but I really remember Super Mario Bros./Duck Hunt.

What was your first game you bought yourself (if different from above)? Taking out birthday presents where I could go choose a game, I'd probably have to say Super Punch-Out!!

What made you decide to buy that particular game? I enjoyed playing Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!! on the NES at my neighbors' house when I was younger.

Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!! is a classic. First game you ever beat? First one I can remember is finishing all levels on both games on Donkey Kong Classics for the NES.

Have you ever broken anything due to frustration from a game? Nope.


Interview

Are you collecting now, if so what anything specific? My collecting has slowed, but I still enjoy the hunt. I just can't hunt as much as I used to. Hopefully things will change that will allow me to get back in to the swing of things.

When did you feel a tipping point from gamer to both gamer and game collector? I think that goes back to the summer of 2003 again. I've always enjoyed playing games, but it was that summer when things really took off.

What are your goals as a game collector, how have you developed them, and how do you feel about your progress toward them? I don't really have set goals for my collecting purposes aside from "get them all". I really find all games to be interesting. There are plenty of people out there that like to focus on one thing or another. I don't think I could restrain myself like that.

How many games, systems, etc. are "enough"? Again, all of them... The greatest thing about collecting is that no one can define when you're done.

What's your proudest moment as a game collector? Probably the day I realized that I had over 2000 games. There are a lot of milestones that a collector will hit. I think it starts with 10, then 25, 50, 100, 250, 500, 1000, 2000, and so on by thousands on up. It seems to get easier to hit milestones once you're already getting that high. It is harder to store it all though...

2000 is a lot of games, I doubt I will ever reach that! What's your least proud moment as a game collector? After entering my collection, realizing that I have 2 boxed (maybe CIB) copies of Barney for the Genesis. Why? WHY?!?

I am at a loss for words, Barney? Honestly Barney?Remember, he loves you! Anways, where/how do you store it all? We have a small house right now, so there's obviously no room to store it all at home. I have my PS3, Wii, Xbox 360, and GameCube games that I'll play on a shelf. I also have the PS2 SingStar games at home since you can play them through the PS3 SingStar version. There is a small collection of NES, SNES, and Genesis games as well. Everything else is in a storage unit.

What's your favorite part of your collection? Probably my SNES collection. I remember some gaming on the NES, but my favorite memories are on SNES games. Although I really do love my collection of non-game gaming collectibles.

SNES did bring some good quality collection stuff, I agree with you there. What about a favorite series? Overall, it has to be the Mario series. There are a lot of series where there is a game or two that I really enjoy, but the body of work across the entire Mario series is hard to beat.

Again, I am going to agree with you. The Brothers have brought many a good time. What is the most valuable part of your collection? I'd say my SNES collection, specifically my SNES RPGs. Lots of CIB goodness.

What would you like to improve in your collection? Probably my SNES collection. I have a lot of games for it, but there are just so many more that I either used to have and want to get again or never got to play and would like to try.

I am seeing a trend, you like your SNES! What do you think was your best deal while game buying? Tengen Tetris for $5 or my free model 2 NES.

Wowzer, that is dandy of a deal. What item in your collection do you feel you overpaid for? Please make me feel better about these: CIB Jaguar with all original packing material, bags, cords, and Cybermorph for $100 and Virtual Boy with 10 or 11 games, books for games and system, and hard plastic Blockbuster rental case for $100. I still think I may have paid too much for them, but I had never seen them around here before. As I mentioned, I don't purchase much from the Internet. I had also just been paid for doing some computer work, so it was extra money, which makes overpaying a little bit easier.

What do you feel is the strangest or weirdest item in your collection? Batter-Up for Genesis. For those who don't know, it's a motion-sensing baseball bat that you played baseball games with.

That was ahead of its' time by a few years huh?! What item(s) do you not have in your collection that people are surprised to hear you don't have? Well, I'm seeing that I have a manual, but no copy of Tetris for Game Boy. Yes, it's true.

That is strange, even I have that Is there any way you'd ever stop collecting? The only way I'd stop collecting would be if we had a severe financial crisis and I had to have a massive sell-off. I just don't think I could go through it all again if that happened.

Do you have a funny story about your collection? It's funny now because I could have saved myself $50. Summer of 2003, I'm working at a golf course and my best friend calls me. They are having a garage sale and they have a Genesis, Sega CD, 32X, and a bunch of games for sale. As you can imagine, $50 for it all. I get up there and purchase the whole bundle from his sister who was there. As I mentioned above, my best friend is now my brother-in-law as well. Yes, I bought my first Genesis, Sega CD, and 32X from my future wife.

Ha! That is funny, although I think I would have asked to take her out to dinner and call it even Have you ever had to move your collection to another house? What was it like? Yes. It's... not done yet. We were living with my wife's mom and stepdad for about a year before we bought our house. It was nice because we had a storage room there that we could use. Since we weren't forced out, we moved gradually, but my games stayed there because we simply didn't have the room to keep them at home. A few months ago, we got a storage unit that's closer to the house. So, I cleared out my collection entirely and as we moved things from the old location to the new, they had a stop at our house to be entered online. I'm almost done!

Sounds like a good way to go, I would be so scared to put stuff in a storage unit though. I guess I need my stuff where I can go see it and go through it! If your significant other told you no more games, what would you do? I'd laugh nervously, then wait for her to say "April Fools!" She's somewhat a gamer, too. Loves SingStar, Rock Band, and Sonic the Hedgehog (the good 2-D one).

That is good, "Couples who play together, Stay together"! What percentage of your games are still sealed? Less than 5%.

What percentage of your game have you actually played? Completed? I have no idea. It gets hard to play through an entire game (especially newer titles) when you have a kid and responsibilities and all that adult-type stuff.

Do you own any complete collections (every game for a certain system)? No, but I'm only one game away from Virtual Boy (Jack Bros.).

I am the evil interviewer with these questions....
What is your favorite game of all time (Top 5 if you need to)? I'd have to say Earthbound. If I ever fire up an emulator on a PSP or my phone, Earthbound is usually the first to get a playthrough. Really, there are so many games that I consider favorites, that the top is sort of an amorphous blob with Earthbound on top.

I would say I like your choice, although I don't own it, I remember playing it through at a friends house and totally loving it. Least Favorite? I've never played them, but, Ubisoft, please, PLEASE stop making the "Somethingz" series. Seriously? "Babyz"? "Horsez"? Let's stop this.

I agree, all those Ubisoft releases are really annoying when it comes to adding to the Database especially.


Others

Do you collect anything else besides games? I am growing into a LaserDisc collector. They are an interesting beast. We first started getting them because the art was very cool. Way better than a narrow VHS cover art and it's GIGANTIC! Mostly started with Disney titles with the intent of using them as decoration, but then I came home with a haul of 60-70 that I picked up for $10 and this past summer I got a working player!

That is interesting thing to share, I am sure most people here didn't know that you collected them. What do you outside of games? Mostly spend time with my family. I also enjoy golfing.

Golf? You need to think of a hobby, golf isn't even a sport?! Just messing! Well, I'm also trying to teach myself some more advanced web programming languages and programming for Android.

Finally, what other features would you like to see more of at RFG (Example: Reviews, Articles, Interviews, Previews, etc)? I really enjoy all of the articles that are written by everyone on the site. I really hope that the interviews take off because I really enjoy being able to learn about everyone on the site. You can pick up things in the forums, but a user-focused article lets everyone get a really good grasp on where they are coming from. The review articles are great, again, because each one is different. The topics may include similar items, but the viewpoint and experience is what sets each one apart. I also enjoy reading the finds blog entries because it's quite interesting to see just what kind of things are being found elsewhere in the country. I do get somewhat jealous because nothing cool tends to make it here...

Thanks for your time! Below you can find Adam's Gamercard and RFG Collection.

[img width=470 height=155]http://gamercards.exophase.com/36335.png[/img]
[img width=468 height=60]http://www.rfgeneration.com/images/banners/generated/collection/bickman2k.png[/img]

I am open to suggestions/comments and everything else. Please let me know via PM or email if you are interested in being interviewed. Thanks again!

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