Today I am happy to welcome another collector in our intermittent series of Meet the Collectors!
Let's hand over the mic to Elijah!
"Hello I’m Elijah Luttmann and I live in Lancaster, Pennsylvania USA. I’m 19 years old and I am currently at college to learn the Chinese language."
"My earliest memories of playing Nintendo are from the early 2010s. I believed it was at my cousins’ house and we played MarioKart Wii. My cousins got me into Nintendo but it wasn’t until around 2017 when I began researching Nintendo’s history and found out how old it was. The first pre-videogame Nintendo item I got was in 2022 and it was the Ultra Machine."
"Pretty much all of my vintage collection comes from eBay but hopefully I can start using Yahoo! Auctions as they have good prices. Sometimes my computer will be full of tabs with item listings that I hope to get."
"Nintendo’s history before games is not well covered and is sometimes overlooked because of how difficult it is to find information on this era. Just hearing the stories of how certain Nintendo toys came to be is fascinating and I love talking about it with those who are interested. As a young child I would actually make my own versions of these products such as the playing cards. I would copy the images by hand."
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| Elijah's hand-drawn version of a Nintendo promotional item from 1915 |
"The Paper Model kits are one item I am fond of because I bought them from Nikita Shogov (another collector featured on this site). It's great to see collectors passing off part of their collection to others."
"The Color TV Game 6 means a lot to me because it was released around the same time as Shigeru Miyamoto joined Nintendo. Miyamoto is someone I admire a lot for his creativity and passion. When I see these toys I want to be able to tell the stories behind them. For example the Ultra Hand was created by Gunpei Yokoi and it was a toy he made out of scrap parts at Nintendo. Yamauchi saw the potential in Yokoi and it led to him creating some of the most innovative toys and eventually video game innovations."
"I would like to collect more playing cards. Eventually I hope to obtain some of the N&B Block sets and a couple light guns. One item in particular would be the Love Tester. However I’m always on the lookout for new information on Nintendo as I’m curious about their past. Especially the years before Nintendo became a major video game company."
"My favorite item in my collection definitely is the Dynamic Soccer toy from 1970. I vividly remember the moment discovering this product in the book Before Mario and only dreamed of owning one. I knew I probably would never have one as I just thought it would be impossible to find one. One day I saw a listing for one online and purchased it quickly. Apart from the damage to the box the toy is in superb condition. It really was a dream come true when I played it for the first time."
"I usually leave my collection on display in my room. However when I have my friends over I like to get some items out and let them try them out. Dynamic Soccer really stands out and people are intrigued by its unique play mechanics. That’s probably the best part about having a collection, showing it off and seeing my friends enjoy these vintage toys."
"As a closing remark, I would like to say that whether your collection is large or small just remember to know the stories behind the items you have collected and share those stories with others."
Well, we couldn't agree more! Nice to meet you, Elijah!
For more Meet the Collector episodes, check this overview page.
And if anyone else out there with a passion for vintage pre-video game Nintendo would like to be featured here as well, you are very welcome. Just drop me a message!
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