I`m Back Again: My CIB Small-box Nintendo Famicom Collection

As the part of the title that precedes the colon states, I`m back.  Well, I never left really, I have just been too busy.  Today I am home sick from work (just a cold, nothing to worry about) and for the first time in 2013 I find myself with a few spare moments to devote to my beloved blog.

Ah how I have missed it.  I thought I would do a post on one of my sub-collections - the small box early Nintendo carts CIB.

This is a very difficult to name series because it doesn`t quite correspond to the pulse line carts - Hogan`s Alley for example doesn`t have a pulse line version of the cart but has one of these boxes while Devil World, which does have a pulse line cart, was only sold in the larger silver boxes so far as I know. So tempted though I am, I can`t just refer to it as a CIB set of the pulse line carts even though that is almost what they are.  That means, you know, just look at the pictures to figure out which CIB games I am talking about here.

These, along with the early Namco boxes of similar size, are my favorite Famicom games in terms of boxes.  They just have the right balance of size, color and evocative-yet-simple artwork on the cover to lure me in.  If I had been a kid in 1983 and been confronted with a sales display full of these I definitely would have bugged my parents for them until they became so massively fed up that they just bought me one to shut me up.

Come to think of it I was a kid in 1983.  Lucky for my parents that they never took me to Japan.

Anyway, I only have 10 of these which means I am still a few short of a set.  That includes some of the nicer ones like Mario Bros and Donkey Kong Jr. Math.  Fortunately none of them are expensive so hopefully I`ll track them down at some point.  Sadly that will probably have to be on Yahoo Auctions or somewhere similar as I don`t get out to the shops anymore like I used to.

Anyway, I think the Donkey Kong one is probably my favorite of the ones I do have.  It is a very cool piece of pop art.  I think once I finish the set my next project will be to try and devise some way of properly displaying them all as my current method (putting them in a box stored under the bed) just isn`t doing them justice at all.

Famicom Cart Mosaics: The Luigi Wall

Notice anything interesting in the above photo?

Well, OK, there is probably a lot of interesting stuff in the above photo, so let me narrow it down for you. Take a close look at that picture of Luigi's face on the wall there. Know what that is made of?

You guessed it, Famicom carts:
I found this creation at the "other" Omocha Souko store that I sometimes visit, which is about a 30-40 minute bike ride from my place.

Somehow I have managed to visit that store at least 3 or 4 times without having ever noticed this awesome thing before. I suspect that on my previous visits it was probably hidden behind some merchandise as the space in front of it is used as a shelf. They must have sold something since the last time I visited and voila, Luigi has been revealed.

This thing is great. It reminds me a bit of that Akihabara Famicom chair that has become a shrine that all Famicom collectors must make at least one pilgrimage to during their lifetime. I haven't been to that one yet, but it really pleases me to be able to share the Luigi Mosaic out here as western Japan's own Famicom collector shrine.

In contrast to the Akihabara Famicom chair, I don't think anybody's ever taken notice of the Luigi Mosaic. I'm not even sure that most of the staff at the store are even aware of its existence. I think it is absolutely fantastic though.
A rough estimate arrived at by measuring its dimensions suggests that it took more than 1,000 Famicom carts to make it. I particularly like the way they used the oversized white carts to make the "L" in Luigi's hat.

So anyway, add the "Luigi Mosaic" onto your list of must-see Famicom stuff. Or don't, most people don't maintain such lists after all. And this store is really inconveniently located. Heck, just look at the pictures I put up here and that'll probably be good enough.