Community & Events Trading, Swapping, and the Ethics of Fair Deals Among Collectors COMMUNITY & EVENTS | CGCC.ca Trading sits at the heart of the collecting hobby, allowing members to fill gaps in their own collections while helping others do the same, often without either party needing to spend significant money. Within…
Community & Events High Score Culture: Why Chasing Records Still Matters COMMUNITY & EVENTS | CGCC.ca Long after a game’s initial commercial run has ended, and even after the cabinets or cartridges themselves have become collector’s items rather than everyday entertainment, a dedicated subset of players continues chasing high scores with genuine,…
Community & Events How CGCC.ca Built a Nationwide Collector Community COMMUNITY & EVENTS | CGCC.ca Building a genuinely connected collector community across a country as geographically vast as Canada presents a unique challenge. With significant distances separating major population centers, and with the retro gaming and coin-op collecting hobby representing a comparatively…
Community & Events The Starburst Coinop Auctions: A Collector’s Playground COMMUNITY & EVENTS | CGCC.ca For decades, the Starburst Coinop Auctions have served as a recurring fixture on the Canadian collecting calendar, drawing buyers and sellers to the Toronto area for a chance to bid on everything from full sized arcade cabinets…
Community & Events Inside the Toronto Pinball and Gameroom Show COMMUNITY & EVENTS | CGCC.ca Each spring, collectors, hobbyists, and curious first timers converge on the Toronto Pinball and Gameroom Show, an event that has grown over its run to become the only show of its kind in Canada. For CGCC.ca members,…
Collecting & Restoration Preserving Cartridge Based Games for the Next Generation COLLECTING & RESTORATION | CGCC.ca Physical game cartridges, once a completely ordinary part of everyday gaming, are increasingly recognized as fragile historical artifacts deserving careful, deliberate preservation. As digital distribution has become the dominant way most people acquire games today, the…
Collecting & Restoration Building a Home Arcade on a Budget COLLECTING & RESTORATION | CGCC.ca The dream of a personal home arcade, a dedicated space filled with working cabinets ready to play at any time, can feel financially out of reach for many collectors just starting out. Full sized, professionally restored cabinets…
Collecting & Restoration Joystick and Controller Repair: Keeping Retro Hardware Alive COLLECTING & RESTORATION | CGCC.ca Few components see more physical stress during a gaming session than the controller in your hands or the joystick mounted on an arcade cabinet’s control panel. Decades of use, combined with aging plastics, worn contacts, and…
Collecting & Restoration Sourcing Rare Consoles Across Canada: Tips from Veteran Collectors COLLECTING & RESTORATION | CGCC.ca Finding rare or hard to source consoles in Canada presents its own unique set of challenges compared to hunting in larger, more densely populated markets. Distances between major cities, smaller regional populations, and a comparatively…
Collecting & Restoration A Beginner’s Guide to Restoring Classic Arcade Cabinets COLLECTING & RESTORATION | CGCC.ca Bringing a neglected arcade cabinet back to life is one of the most rewarding projects a collector can take on, but it is also one of the most intimidating for newcomers. Between electrical systems, delicate artwork,…