Huzza! I just completed another magazine holy grail

[fennec fox]

Woo, I've completed Game Players! (Raku get out of that bag!)



Game Players ran from 1989 to 1991, then 1993 to 1998 under a couple different names. The later era of the magazine was awesome, with lots of offbeat humor, but the first era (89-91) is that perfect combination of unpopular and low-sales-quantity that gets any collector's blood boiling.



So here are all 28 issues from the original 89-91 run. I found pretty much all of these a pain in the ass to find, especially since I never bought any back in the day. I took a picture of them all by themselves because I was just so darn proud -- doubly so because I did something in my mag collection that Russ Perry hasn't done with his yet

In case you're interested, i'm also one issue away from completing Game Player's Strategy Guide to Nintendo Games, two from completing Game Players Sega Guide, and two more from finishing Game Players Strategy Guide to Game Boy Games. There's still much I need to learn about GP's PC magazine (I have no idea how many issues there are), and I consider it an honor to own even own one issue of Game Player's Sports for Kids, which you can see in the second pic above.

(What a tangled web of magazines this all is...)

[mills]

thats awesome, I had a subscription to game players around the SNES era. It was truly one of my favorites.

[Kevincal]

Cool, I'm a video game magazine freak myself with about 500 mags. If you need issue 3-6 of GameFan, I have those up on eBay right now and they end tomorrow (Sunday) evening. Nice mag collection though. But back to Game Players, I bought my first issue of GP in 1994 (Knuckles cover?) I subscribed soon-after. I liked the mag even though the paper quality and screenshots weren't so hot. The original crew from Ultra Game Players switched over to create PSM, or PlayStation Magazine in about 1996 iirc...

[Anthony1]

I'm collecting Game Players too, but I'm still missing quite a few of the early issues. It's hard to get them in decent condition. I actually think the early years of Game Players was pretty sucky, but I like all mags from that era, just because I think it was a great time in gaming. The middle years of Game Players were pretty good, I also thought that Ultra Game Players wasn't too bad.


I've only really been interested in the multi platform version of Game Players. I have no interest in the Game Player's Strategy Guide to Nintendo Games or Game Players Sega Guide or any of the others. I remember picking them up at newstands and taking a quick look at them, but they just didn't interest me. Any mags that don't have any previews or reviews or news about the industry I can do without.

[Technosis]

Congrats on this accomplishment! BTW, does anyone know of any sites that have full gaming magazine scans (esp. the early stuff like first run Electronic Games)?

[delafro]

Congratulations! I agree, it doesn't get much more entertaining than Game Players around 95-96. Too bad they had to change the format. Will this a future Mag Weasel update, perhaps?

[fishsandwich]

When I first saw the initial post (before the other pictures scrolled down) I was like WTF? WHY is there a dead ferret in a bag next to his magazine collection? is this a sick bastard or what?

I am glad to see said feret is alive and well and enjoys magazines and plastic bags.

Congrats on the collection! I am severely envious.

[Steven]

Sweet, brother! Right on. I too love gaming mags and trust me, I know what it's like to FINALLY cross that want off the list!

9-Month Super Play Saga

My Top 5 Magazine Publications

BTW, Anthony, I been meaning to ask you a small favor. If you can't help me though, I'm sure one of these guys can. Be PM-ing you soon...

[Aussie2B]

When I first saw the initial post (before the other pictures scrolled down) I was like WTF? WHY is there a dead ferret in a bag next to his magazine collection? is this a sick bastard or what?

I am glad to see said feret is alive and well and enjoys magazines and plastic bags.

Heh, I thought the exact same thing.

Anyway, very cool collection. My boyfriend's brother has a whole ton of Ultra Game Players, and up until I saw those, I had never even heard of the magazine before. It's a nice magazine from what I've been able to check out.

[slapdash]

Wow, I've been name-checked...

Yeah, these mags can really show up in crappy shape, but anyone who ever saw the magazine racks at Toys R Us in those days knows that those mags may have been multilated before ever even getting to the buyer.

And yeah, I still have a ways to go on Game Players stuff. It's a bit difficult just because of how many separate titles there were, and how often they changed them, even when in a particular sequence.

[fennec fox]

Aw, don't worry Russ, it's going to be years before I get anywhere near you on the PSExtreme front...

[RadiantSvgun]

To be honest, I thought you were smothering a ferret for a second....

[nationgamesdepot]

I thought the same thing too, very funny pic. Great collection, Congrats!!
~~NGD

[rbudrick]

Awww, I miss my ferret. RIP Snoot. Or Snooty Bird, or Buk Buk, or whatever I called her on any given day.

So, ummm, scan every single page and send me the pdfs, k?

-Rob