I recently spent two days at the RetrowareTV table at Too Many Games 2015 in Oaks, PA.  I sold a few things, bought a few things, and helped spread the word about our upcoming RetroWorld Expo this coming October.



This was my second visit to TMG.  The first was a few years ago when Duke, Izret, NeoMagicWarrior, Russlyman, Waynepe and about a dozen others all met in Oaks, PA for a few days of fun and games.  I had a blast then and I had a blast this year.  John, Lance and I drove down on Friday morning.  We set up the table that afternoon, went to the RetrowareTV panel around 6:30 and stayed up entirely too late with a pretty impressive crowd of Retro gaming YouTube personalities.

I was surprised at how many people I ran into that were from Connecticut: people I recognize from ConnGo meetups, people whom I had seen at local trading events, local artists with video game prints that I just couldn't resist, and the list goes on.  We love going to events like these because we love games, but even more so than that, we love going to these events because we feel good to be around people who are just like us.


I have a theory about Expos/Conventions.  I think that most people plan on attending for the purpose of buying video games, or at least, shopping for video games.  So many of us spend so much time going to garage sales, thrift shops and flea markets for the CHANCE to find games.  When 80 video game specific vendors get together in once place, it's almost like our minds go into overload.  After the initial rush of being around so many games subsides, I think most people just like being with their friends and the people they relate with at these shows.  I had so many great conversations over the two days I was there.

I had a great conversation with a young boy with a LaserScope on his head.  His parents weren't gamers, but they brought their son all the way to TMG from Massachusetts and they couldn't have looked happier.  I saw NeoMagicWarrior for the second time in two years.  He was on the hunt, not for some big elusive "White Whale," but for a copy of Star Fox Adventures to play with his girlfriend.  I met Chris from OTC games, who has sponsored the Collectorcast for some time now and was able to convince him to book a table at the RetroWorld Expo in October.


These are just a few of the encounters I had with random gamer folds while I was there.  It really is a great feeling to have such great interactions with the people who love the things you love. It really reminds you why you want to put on a show in the first place.  You don't just want this feeling for yourself, you want to share this feeling with your people.

For those considering attending TMG in the future, here are a couple of tips that others on RFGen have already pointed out:

Bring Cash  Lots of cash.  Many more vendors are accepting paypal than used to, but cash is still king.

Bring Food  No offense to the food provided by the Expo hall, but it is average at best, expensive at worst, and the lines are NEVER short.  Pack a sandwich, bring your own water and save those dollars for the games!

Talk to Strangers  Yeah, I know, many of us are socially awkward (this guy), but I'm always amazed at how great it can be to talk to a complete stranger about a game that you loved growing up to find out that they either feel the same way OR that they have never played it and you have encouraged them to give it a try.

I'm not putting this last one in bold because it isn't a requirement, just a suggestion:

Buy or play a Tabletop game.

TMG has a pretty decent freeplay Tabletop area and a bunch of cool people willing to teach you how to play.  There is only so much game hunting you can do over three days.  After two days, you have pretty much seen every game there is to buy at the event.  On Sunday, play a board game.  I picked up this beauty right before we left.  Maybe my RFGen houseguests in October will be willing to give it a try with me...FORESHADOWING!

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