Beforemario
@beforemario.bsky.social
Blog and book about Nintendo toys and games from 1889 to the early 1980s; from before Mario. (+ occasional transgression into things more recent) beforemario.com
A little over two years ago, I spent two days at the Nintendo Museum in Kyoto during its opening week. Full report below!
Beforemario@beforemario.bsky.social · last yr.Just wrapped up the 7-part report on our Nintendo Pilgrimage in Kyoto in October 2024: Stay at Marufukuru ✅ Nintendo Museum visit #1 ✅ Meeting legends ✅ Nintendo Museum visit #2 ✅ Big Wii-mote cushion ✅ Honoring a legend ✅ Super Nintendo World ✅ All here: blog.beforemario.com/2025/05/a-ni...
Ha! This. Just yesterday pulled out the Wii U for Nintendoland.
Another addition to the collection, an item I did not know existed until recently: Big (the biggest known) 'mixed' set of Nintendo N&B Blocks from the late 1960s. Model number NB2800-MX.
New addition to the collection Vintage Nintendo playing cards
In this power battle of Nintendo vs Microsoft there is the clear winner: Nintendo Computer TV Game PSU is the beefiest at 2.2kg, leaving the (original) Xbox360 PSU in the dust. I mean, not even close :-)
The Nintendo Computer TV Game from 1980, the rarest of all vintage Nintendo consoles. First time I see one sell for well over 1 million yen (around 7,000 US$). Complete but in used condition.
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder... An empty somewhat battered vintage Nintendo shipping container just sold for 67,666 yen (US$ 425). This type of box can be seen "in action" on the right in the last picture, taken around 1970 at a Nintendo factory.
Original vintage Nintendo glass shop display, with vintage hanafuda playing cards
Three new amiibo appeared! Collection completeness restored.
First ever Pokemon Center, near Yaesu exit Tokyo station (picture taken in 2004)
One of Nintendo's rarest early consoles: the Nintendo Computer TV Game (コンピュータ TV ゲーム) from 1980 just sold for 207,000 yen in okay(ish) condition, without box How many of you out there are looking for one?
I opened an old stock, unused, mint PC Engine CD-ROM² and interface unit from 1988 Pristine!
Some auction results I spotted... (I was neither seller nor buyer, just observing) Nintendo micro hanafuda ¥67,200 (US$420) Vintage Nintendo shipping box (empty) ¥83,200 (US$520) Game & Watch shop display (unused) ¥92,200 (US$575) Game Boy Pocket and playing cards set ¥244,456 (US$1525)
Nintendo vintage commercial jingles are like, extremely catchy... For instance: Nintendo Paper Model from the 1970s
ニンテンドーのペーパーモデル
YouTube video by しん・かセ
youtube.com
amiibo wave incoming ... And me thinking that Sora back in 2024 would the Swan Song Absolute favorite: Elephant Mario
Nice scene on this Japanese postcard depicting "Girls playing flower cards" (Hanafuda), sent in 1903 to a Japanese diplomat in Belgium
Latest addition arrived today: vintage Nintendo glass showcase for shops Admirable packing skills were applied for a safe intercontinental journey
This is a great story, told in a very well produced video! A real hit!
74XX Arcade Repair@74xx.bsky.social · 7mo agoHi folks! Last year I came into possession of some film reels from Wild Gunman (1974) by Nintendo, and felt it was my destiny to play the game. youtube.com/watch?v=TOfq...
In the 1970s Nintendo made a promotional variant of its (Hasbro licensed) Mach Rider toy, called Dash Rider (ダッシュライダー). Full story here: blog.beforemario.com/2026/04/nint...
Recent addition to the collection: Nintendo Annual Reports for 2003, 2004 and 2005 Interesting documents, with behind the scenes pictures and (in the 2005 copy) the announcement of project Revolution (that would become the Wii)
The Nintendo Computer TV Game from 1980 is one of Nintendo's old pre-Famicom consoles. As it has an arcade counterpart (Nintendo Computer Othello), I frequently get the question if they share the same hardware. The answer is yes: there's an arcade board inside, even including the service switches!
Still baffled by the prices this Mario Pikachu hanafuda game is fetching consistantly 572,001円 = US$3,500 = EUR 3,100 Does anyone know what's the deal here?
