Bloomington-Normal Game Con 2022: We Bought A Star Wars Xbox 360?!?

In this episode, we share our adventures from the 2022 Bloomington-Normal Game Convention, where we add, of all things, a very special Xbox 360 to our collection!

When people ask me what my hometown convention is, my answer is a bit strange because I don't have just one. Being from Milwaukee, the Midwest Gaming Classic is my hometown convention. It is 3 hours away but the MoGameCon was the first convention I ever attended, the first convention I was ever on a panel on, and we have very special memories of it, so in a way that's also my home convention. But my closest convention is one that has really blossomed the last several years, and that is 45 minutes from my home at the Bloomington-Normal GameCon.

Returning again to the Interstate Center, the footprint of the area is actually very similar to the MoGameCon, however, I would say this hall is a bit deeper, whereas MoGameCon is a bit wider. Vendors from all over the country were in attendance, along with terrific guests. Walter Day was on hand, Daniel Pesina from Mortal Kombat, Tim Kitzrow who was the voice of NBA jam, and many more. I was on hand this year to once again support our local store, Live Action Games, but I also sold as well. I had some of my commons and duplicates for sale, extra systems that I had purchased on Facebook marketplace with the idea to flip, and a ton of 3D prints.

This single-day convention was held on May 21st, 2022. Doors opened at 9:00 a.m. and people flooded the center. It was great to see this convention get this type of support. I talked to many people that had no idea that conventions such as this were a thing and this was their first event. It's great to see something like this grow the interest in the hobby so well.

Around lunch, a pretty severe thunderstorm rolled through the area, and that kept a lot of people in the convention center. But it also kept many new people from coming to the convention center. There was plenty for people to do though between the storms, including a separate room that housed a fun free play arcade. People could play different retro and modern video game consoles, and some classic arcade games. I will admit to trying to turn more than a few laps on Ivan the Iron Man Stewart Super Off-Road.

Last year, I talked to Wes and Robert from Gaming Off the Grid to come on down and check out the event, and Wes was on site again. This time he was selling and brought Megadan29 with him. GotG are good friends and have been killing it lately and have really been rocking out the results on youtube, so I wanted to print them off a copy of their logo on my 3D printer that they could paint and display in their game room.

Pickups:
I actually only made one purchase at this year's event and something that I saw early in the morning as I was doing just a quick walk-through. Sin and Punishment for the Japanese Nintendo 64 is a terrific rail-shooter that I have wanted to have in my collection for some time. I'd seen it at the same event 4 years ago complete in box for $65, and I'm kicking myself ever since we're not getting that copy. Well, I only paid $50 for this version but it was not complete like that was.

The rest of my pickups are all items that I either traded 3D prints for or traded items for my booth. I traded two Nintendo Switch cartridge holders, which hold 12 games each, for a copy of Rock Man 2 and a Super Famicom Super Game Boy. Considering my time and cost of materials in the prints, I definitely made out ahead on this.

My final pickup of the event was something I had seen earlier in the day and kept coming back to and wondering if I wanted to drop the money on. I ended up not dropping any money on it, but traded a Wii that I picked up off of Facebook marketplace for only $20, a Wii U which I also bought on Marketplace for only $50, and a model 2 Sega Genesis & Sega CD for a boxed Star Wars Xbox 360, a copy of Link's Awakening for the Game Boy, and a decent amount of money coming back my way. In fact, the cash coming back my way more than covered what it cost me for the Wii and the Wii U. In the end, a roughly $175 investment netted me the system, the game, and cash back. Not too shabby

I'm thrilled to see this event continue to grow and improve, this year adding some amazing guests and an NBA Jam Tournament with the voice of the game doing play-by-play. And talking to the organizers, they're already planning on expanding for next year, adding a second building on the grounds that they will have even more for people to do and enjoy. I'm already planning on being there next year, I hope to see you there as well.

#GameConvention #BloomingtonNormal #NBAJAM