Last minute Christmas shopping guide: Gifts for Retro Gamers

Just starting your Christmas shopping or just looking for a perfectly unique present that you can't find in retail stores? We've got you covered.  If you've got friends or family with a flair for the geeky we've probably got the perfect something in stock at www.avaneshop.com right now!

We're going to do a series of these shopping guides over the next few days and this is our sixth  and final guide focusing on gifts for retro gaming fans. Be sure to check our  previous guides for Sailor Moon Dolls, Sailor Moon Toys, Anime Collectibles,  15 gifts for 80's Kids & 10 gifts for 90s kids.

We have tons of vintage game collectibles for sale. Gaming goods are our primary personal collection and because we like them so much we stock a bunch of them.

Spyro The Dragon 32 inch Plush Doll:

Vintage Spyro the dragon plush

This Spyro Plush falls a bit outside the realm of retro having been released in the early '00s, but it's still his old loveable character design popularized in the late 90s PS1 days. I remember back when Spyro was the "face" of the PS1 along with Crash Bandicoot and Sweet Tooth (Needles Kane) from Twisted Metal. The perfect gift choice for thos who fondly recall picking up gems, hunting dragon eggs and trying to set those annoying egg thieves on fire. Due size and rarity he's priced at $50 but it's a small price to pay for such an awesome present.

1989 Legend of Zelda Link Shaped Gum Container:

Vintage Legend of Zelda Collectible for sale

This is a super vintage NES era Link gum container, note his delightfully simplistic old school character design. Everyone loves the Link, so there's pretty much no way to go wrong with this gift choice unless the recipient tries to eat the 24 year old candy. If you don't let that happen it's $13 worth of vintage gift goodness. (we also them available in blue & red)

Sonic The Hedgehog 3 Knuckles Figure:

Sonic Knuckles Figure for Sale

Back when Sonic and Knuckles came out, it was the coolest thing most gamers had ever seen. Not only did we get a sweet new sonic character, but he could be back ported into the previous Sonic games. And thus everyone's love for knuckles was born. This figure was technically a Sonic 3 promo but probably came out  a few months after Sonic 3 was released to coincide with Sonic and Knuckles. This Knuckles is just $3 and his special lock on technology allows him to be placed just about anywhere one needs some vintage gaming nostalgia.

Final Fantasy VIII Zell Figure:

Final Fantasy 8 Zell Figure for Sale

Final Fantasy has been a staple game series for the last 26 years, but the Playstation era games really took them up a notch. Anyone who owned a playstation and had even a passing interest in RPGs put at least few hours into the game. Really those 90s days of excellent PS1 RPGs hasn't been matched since. So for $4 Give Zell to friend to help them remember those glorious PS1 days where the JRPGS were plentiful and well crafted.


Super Mario Brothers 3 Wristband:

Super Mario Brothers 3 Raccoon Mario for Sale

This is a newer product only a few years old but features Mario's vintage classic SMB3 Raccoon Design embroidered on the front. Mario 3 was one of the greatest games ever made so you're sure to have some on your gift list who's appreciate this, and it's easy on the wallet at only $6.

Tekken 3 Xiaoyu and Panda Figure:

Tekken 3 Figure for Sale

Tekken was the fighter that defined fighting games for the PS1 and Tekken 3 is certainly one of the best Tekken games ever made, if not the best. Xiaoyu first appearance is in Tekken 3 (though she's in every subsequent game) and this vintage figure from 1998 features her in her original outfit with panda. She's only $12 and the perfect gift for an old school Tekken fan.

Vintage Super Mario Brothers 2 Mario on Vine Figure:

Vintage Mario Figure for Sale

This is a super vintage 24 year old figure from SMB2. Applause did a a set of these Mario 2 figures with Mario in various situations and this particular one is Mario climbing a vine, no word however as to whether or not there's a hoopster nearby. This $7 figure features Mario old school character design and would be well loved by anyone with an appreciation for NES Mario. (we've also got Mario Jumping a Koopa and Mario with  mushroom from this same line)

Virtua Fighter UFO Catcher Plush Pai:

Virtua Fighter Pai for Sale

I'm old enough to remember when Virtua Fighter was the hottest thing in the arcade. While other games where still relying on old 2D sprites, Virtua Fighter introduced us to the world of 3D fighting. By today's standards it's pretty amazingly polygonal and kind of ugly, but that doesn't mean it doesn't ignite the flame of nostalgia. This is UFO Catcher plush features Pai in her Virtua Fighter 2 outfit and thankfully is a lot less blocky than her in game counterpart. She's got her original tag and is the perfect gift for retro fighting game enthusiasts priced at just $6. 

Vintage 1987 NES Promo Box Art Rad Racer:

Rare NES Promo Box for Sale

This is an incredibly hard to find Mock Up Box for the NES Classic, Rade Racer. This features full box art from the front and the back of the game on heavy weight card stock. This was probably used in stores in lieu of letting customers handle actual games before purchase. A really unique piece for anyone's collection, if you know a hardcore NES fan this $25 gift is sure to be one of the most unique things they've ever gotten.

Vintage 1980s Pacman Mug:

Vintage Pacman Mug for Sale

There's not a lot to say about Pacman other than seriously, who doesn't love Pacman? You could give this mug to your grandma and she'd know who it was how many video game characters can most of us say that about? This mug feature's pacman's old design where he still had a nose and the ghost have arms. At $12 this is a really delightful gift sure to make anyone's morning coffee better.

 1982 Donkey Kong Sticker Card of Mario:

1980s Mario from Donkey Kong Sticker for Sale

I know this will be hard for some people to believe but at one time Mario wasn't a plumber, he was a carpenter. Not only that he sported a curly handlebar mustache and was in love with Pauline instead of Princess Peach. Crazy but true. This card is part of the Donkey Kong card collection (of which we have several if you're looking for vintage DK/mario/pauline goodness) and is a really fun image of that earliest incarnation of the Mario we know and love today. Just $2 to give your favorite Mario fan a laugh.

Soul Calibur Mitsurugi Action figure:

Soul Calibur figure for Sale

I'm going to come right out and say it, Soul Calibur was the best reason to own a Dreamcast. Don't get me wrong there were great games on the Dreamcast, especially fighting games (I'm looking at you Marvel Vs Capcom 2) but Soul Calibur was the pinnacle. This figure was from the first run of figures for Soul Calibur and features regular character, Mitsurugi the angry Samurai. This figure is new on card and is $15 of gift giving perfection. (we also have Xianghua from the same line)

Donkey Kong Cereal Commercial Cel:

Donkey Kong Cereal Commercial Cel for Sale

Donkey Kong cereal was made for only 2 years from 1982 to 1984, but those who got it remember it very fondly. This is an original Animation cel of the Donkey Kong Cereal Commercial and features DK about to toss some of the cereal's signature crunchy "barrels" down at Mario. It's in really amazing shape for being 30 years old! It's $26 and makes a really unique gift for any Donkey fan.

We seriously have tons more gift perfect for the retro game lover in your life, so if you don't like this list check out the rest of our vintage (and newer) gaming memorabilia for sale.

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Collection Oddities: Mario Brothers Christmas Window Clings

 In 1989 Nintendo seemed committed to slapping the Nintendo seal of quality on every insane product they possibly could, including a surprising amount of home decor, so long as you count plastic and cardboard as decor. In that vein we bring you  these lovely Mario Christmas Window Clings:

We've seen a good number of Nintendo seasonal decorations and these actually pretty tame compared to some of the others.  There are a few points of interest here, it has 2 flurries from Mario Brothers 2, and I'm pretty sure I've never seen anything else with them on it which is pretty cool. Also, I never knew Mario was competitive skier in 1989, I mean sure he's an Olympian these days, but apparently he started training 20 years in advance. The most important thing to note though, why does Santa Mario have breasts? Seriously there's not another way to see that, what was the artist thinking? Regardless of Mario's out of place "endowments", this set is pretty cool and has a place of pride with our collection room decor.

If you're looking for a set of these to make your holiday decor extra special we have a set in our shop right now too.

~Stephanie

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Collection oddities: Mario and Zelda II Halloween Decorations

It's October 30th so it's quite and understatement to say we're a little behind on doing Halloween themed posts, but I've got a good one today: Some super vintage Mario and Zelda II Halloween decorations. We spotted these on auction a few weeks ago and HAD to have them.

This is an official set from 1989 with the official Nintendo seal of quality so you know you're getting only the finest crack approved by Nintendo. They're flocked too so you can finally fulfill your fantasies of stroking Mario's Velvet-Soft Pumpkin.

First up the Mario 2 side:

I'm a little disappointed that it's clearly just the same art we always see from Mario 2 merchandise stuck in with some Halloween themed stuff instead of new art. However, that being said Mario + Halloween=Happy Nerd , so I'm still thrilled with the concept enough that it's OK that it's old art.

Naturally there are some things I'm not as OK, like why doesn't even freaking Nintendo know that Bowser wasn't in Mario 2?

Dressing up Bowser like Wart does not make him Wart nor does it mean he was in the game. Wart was a frog if you played the game you know this, if you've forgotten here he is for reference:

Note how that's a frog and not the demon lizard turtle we've all come to love. The Bowser in Warts clothing problem plagued a lot of the merchandise from this period possibly due to Nintendo of America's inablity to make a frog character look like a frog instead of various other green creatures, but that's a long rant best left for another time.

Moving to more positive things, my favorite part is The Ninji with his little basket full of stars.

I never got stars for Halloween, but maybe it's because I never dressed as a Ninjii. I'll work on that for next year.

Next up the Zelda side:

As you can probably tell from many of my previous posts. I LOVE the Zelda series, I'm a little fanatical about it honestly. So I was even more excited about getting Zelda Halloween decorations than I was the Mario ones. That being said they're kind of a disappointment. They just used straight up Zelda art here they didn't even bother trying to incorporate random Halloween stuff. No I'm not saying that Stalfos aren't a creepy skeletons or that it's isn't an impressively rabid evil Goya.

But c'mon would it have been so hard to put Link in a pumpkin for me? Really?  Also not that I'm sad it's there, but is the Zelda II logo/title really an appropriate Halloween decoration? What's that supposed to say to the trick-or-treaters? Don't bother stopping here, the occupant is too engrossed in Zelda to care about candy? I can't see that there's really one highlight to this set, they're all great and full of Zelda-y goodness. Though if there's one thing I must point out it's that Link's tights are flocked which naturally just invites stroking, our set of decorations is sealed so I can't partake. However, I'm sure somewhere there's some fanfic which will allow me to live vicariously.

 Mostly though this set just makes me wish that Nintendo still made decorations so we could happily display these for a festive mood rather fiercely keep them in the original packing intact like the nerds we are.

~Stephanie

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