Man amasses massive Mario collection

Watch Steve Bagley from the West Midlands talking through his massive Mario memorabilia collection.

Transcript

00:00So my name is Steve Bagley and I'm a really big Nintendo fan and been playing the games

00:06for a very long time since early childhood. Particularly Mario, Mario is a big interest

00:13of mine. I love playing the games, that's a big part of what I do. But also I'm really

00:19interested in the history of Mario. Going back 40 years he recently celebrated his 40th anniversary.

00:26He's really popular, popular in America, in his home of Japan and that's really inspired

00:32me to build a collection. Possibly maybe two to three thousand items in the collection.

00:39A lot of them actually I can't fit into this room. They're in storage sadly. I'd have to

00:44maybe get a different facility for that. But certainly all the things that I am most proud

00:49of and the more interesting pieces, the rarer pieces are on display in this room.

00:54There's lots of games that you'll know of, that you've heard of before. But also there's

00:58lots of games that you may not have heard of. Really obscure titles, really rare, lesser

01:04known titles. I'm passionate about bringing that together in one space. I built this collection

01:11over a lifetime really. It's intended to kind of tell the story from a fan's perspective.

01:17Nintendo have their own museum and their own online websites and things where they talk

01:21about Mario history. It goes from the very early days of Donkey Kong in 1981. That was

01:26the first appearance of Mario. He wasn't known as Mario back then. He was known as Jumpman.

01:32And in addition to that as well, obviously Mario is a big part of what I do. But it's also

01:37the broader history of Nintendo. Nintendo is a very old company. It was founded in 1889 in

01:44Kyoto, Japan. They began by manufacturing playing cards. And some of those feature in my collection

01:52as well. Many antique items. Some actually dating back to before the Second World War.

01:58I love the history. The constant innovation. Today, with the 40th anniversary, there's a new

02:05movie coming out. There's a theme park. Universal Studios with Super Nintendo World. It's going

02:12from strength to strength. Massive fan base across the world. Young people love it. Old

02:19people love it. I think it's just a fascinating thing to kind of study and to be interested in.

02:24And also, it's the fun as well. It's about playing the games. I've got my own son. We play

02:28the games together. A lot of it is driven by nostalgia. Since childhood, there's a big community

02:34of like-minded collectors. 40 years is a long time for anything in terms of video games or

02:42technology. It's certainly rewarding to me. I'm very passionate about it. There's a lot

02:48of doom and gloom in the world. So to have a bit of fun, a bit of energy, engage with your

02:56family, friends, like-minded collectors, I think is a fantastic thing to do.