No worries - I am still here

It has been a while since the last blog post. For those of you wondering what's going on - here's a short message letting you know that all is ok.

I have been quite busy recently with all sorts of things, except blogging. I simply did not find the time to add new stories to the blog. In a few weeks from now, I expect to resume regular updates again. So stay tuned.

One of the things I have been doing, is cleaning out the attic and gathering doubles in my collection. I plan to auction these off in the near future.

Some off this stuff will be auctioned off soon

You can expect an announcement here when the auctions start.

And some of this as well

In the meantime, for the Facebookers amongst you: if you haven't already, please like the beforemario page to get a daily Nintendo retro fix.

Nintendo N&B Block Parts sets (任天堂ブロックのパッツセット)

The Nintendo N&B Block construction series consists of many model sets, with building instructions and just the right blocks to build a particular model, like planes, boats, houses or rockets.

Some examples of Nintendo N&B Block model sets

These sets show the wide range of building possibilities and allow inexperienced builders to create quite sophisticated models.

Just as satisfying, if not more, is to let your imagination run wild and design and build your own models. The so-called Mixed sets cater for this, by providing a good selection of all sorts of blocks.

Nintendo N&B Block Mixed sets

Besides the Mixed sets, there are also special Parts sets (任天堂ブロックのパッツセット). These are affordable sets that allow you to extend your block collection with exactly the blocks you need.

Nintendo N&B Block Parts sets

There are Parts sets for most of the different block shapes.

Was the Nintendo Light Telephone inspired by the Astro-Phone?

The Nintendo Light Telephone is one of the vintage toys that, to me, embodies the spirit of Nintendo in the 1970s: a great mix of engineering, creativity and drive to stand out from the competition through novel ideas.

Nintendo Light Telephone (1971)

Now, it has recently been brought to my attention that ten years before Nintendo released the Light Telephone in the Japanese market, a similar toy already existed in the United States.

It is called the Astro-Phone and was released by American company Infrared Industries, Inc in 1961.

Nintendo Computer Othello (コンピューター オセロ, 1978) - Leaflet #2

Some time ago, I posted a leaflet for the 1978 Nintendo arcade game Computer Othello (コンピューター オセロ). I recently found a second one, shown here.

Nintendo Computer Othello (1978)

Computer Othello was Nintendo's first video arcade game, though Nintendo had created other types of arcade games before (e.g. electro-mechanical games).