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$1.50 AntiqueWeek T HE W EEKLY A N T IQUE A UC T ION & C OLLEC T ING N E W SP A PER VOL. 53 ISSUE NO. 2676 www.antiqueweek.com JANUARY 19, 2021 Super Mario has been saving the princess for 35 years By Brett Weiss and Brian Lesyk of ambivalent consumers back to the home Right: Super Mario Bros. was the console scene. pack-in title with most iterations With the bitter taste of buyer’s remorse of the NES, which resurrect- Super Mario Bros., the landmark Ninten- still fresh in the mouths of many gamers, ed console gaming in do NES game that revolutionized the plat- it took something undeniably enticing, un- North America after forming genre and changed video games imaginably ground-breaking, and incompa- The Great Video forever, has turned 35. While 2020 was a rably fun. It took a plumber…and a lot of Game Crash of rough year on many fronts, this is reason to mushrooms. 1983. celebrate. Not only was Super Mario Bros. a Super Mario Bros.’s North American re- smash hit for Nintendo, it was a major play- lease coincided with the debut of the Nin- er in reviving a dying industry. tendo Entertainment System on Oct. 18, It’s hard to imagine now, but the home 1985. Nintendo was confident in their new video game console industry in North gaming machine, but realized its success America was all but dead prior to the release relied heavily upon the inclusion of a game of the NES and Super Mario Bros. What that would showcase their technology and would come to be known as The Great Video hook audiences from day one. As a pack- Game Crash of 1983 was the low water mark in game with most NES units, Super Mario of what was considered an exciting and in- Bros. did just that. It heralded a new era in novative hobby just a year prior. An over- gaming, both as a technological masterpiece crowded console market, publishing control and an endlessly entertaining romp. conundrums, increased competition from Featuring the brothers, Mario (player personal computers, and an overall lack of one) and Luigi (player two), Super Mario consumer confidence fueled by an over- Bros. is a side-scrolling platform that sends abundance of low-quality games nearly sent our heroic plumber siblings (one at a time) the industry to an early grave. on a quest to save Princess Toadstool from Speaking of graves, former industry gi- the game’s ultimate baddie, Bowser, by tra- ant Atari confirmed many years later the versing the eight fantastical worlds of the urban legend that they had, in fact, buried Mushroom Kingdom. The Mario brothers’ over 700,000 of their over-produced game path is blocked by numerous obstacles and cartridges in a New Mexico landfill follow- enemies that must be successfully navigated. ing their most commercially disastrous sales The eclectic collection of bad guys is year when they concluded that it would be made up of flying fish, turtles (walking and more economical to throw them away than flying), carnivorous plants, armored beetles, attempt to sell them. Atari’s claim was fur- and even anthropomorphic bullets, to name ther verified in 2014 when Fuel Industries just a few. The brothers’ primary method partnered with Microsoft and the New Mex- of self-defense is to jump atop the enemies ico government to explore the purported to subdue them or use an acquired fireball site and successfully exhumed about 1,300 power-up to deal damage. Different enemies games some three decades later—a sad and require different tactics, so what works for sobering reminder of a time when it was al- one may not be as successful when dealing most “game over.” with others. Finding a magic mushroom As the console industry was in full crash makes your player double in size and makes Above: A loose Super Mario Bros. car- Above: During the comic book boom of mode in the North America in ’83, things him capable of taking one additional hit tridge is worth only around $5 to $10 the early 1990s, Valiant published a series were moving in a different direction over- from an enemy before losing a life. Level loose, but this graded “hangtab” ex- of Nintendo comic books. A graded ex- seas. A scrappy company called Nintendo designs are equally creative, incorporating ample sold at auction for a stunning ample of this promo edition sold on eBay was simultaneously introducing Japanese unique locales like castles, underground $114,000. recently for $2,495. consumers to the Family Computer (or lairs, giant mushrooms, hidden cloud stag- Mario quickly became Nintendo’s loveable zuka, Super Mario Bros. was astonishing for Famicom), which would later be remodeled es, and water worlds. Collect coins, stomp mascot. In 1992, through advances in audio its time. Gamers had never seen anything and remarketed as the Nintendo Entertain- enemies, explore water pipes, break bricks, technology, Mario would finally receive his like it. It truly was a quantum leap forward ment System (NES) for global distribution. and save the princess! voice via actor Charles Martinet by way of and successfully demonstrated the quality Founded in 1889, Nintendo was far from The character of Mario was based on the the CD-ROM game Mario Teaches Typing. of which the NES was capable. It would go a household name to most Americans pri- real-life Mario Segale, who served as land- In 1996, we’d first hear the classic line “It’s on to sell over 48 million copies worldwide, or to the launch of their 8-bit video game lord (notably not a plumber) to Nintendo’s a-me, Mario!” with Super Mario 64. With making it the sixth best-selling video game console almost a full century later, but it headquarters just outside of Seattle, Wash. each iteration of Nintendo’s franchise, Ma- title of all-time. It helped legitimize Ninten- had been a prominent playing card and toy Mario’s first appearance was in Nintendo’s rio’s personality became more and more do as the premier video game manufacturer manufacturer in Japan. Nintendo’s name 1981 arcade hit Donkey Kong, where Mario fleshed out. loosely translates as “leave luck to heaven.” was initially named Jumpman. Adorned in The brainchild of legendary game de- It would take quite a bit of luck, amongst his trademark denim overalls, red shirt and signers Shigeru Miyamoto and Takashi Te- See Super Mario on page 19 other things, for Nintendo to lure a world matching hat, and face-spanning mustache, Atlanta Expo Centers 3,500 Booths! Ohio Expo Center 800-1,200 Booths! SCOTT ANTIQUE MARKETS Atlanta, GA Columbus, OH ANTIQUE AND DESIGNER ITEMS 2nd Weekend *Dates subject to change (covid19) TM 740.569.2800 www.scottantiquemarkets.com Jan 7 - 10 Mar 11 - 14 Every Month Nov 27 - 28 2021 America’s Favorite Treasure Hunts! 2021 Feb 11 - 14 Apr 8 - 11 Dec 18 - 19 WWW.STONEWAREAUCTIONS.COM AUCTIONS RUNNING 24/7/52 Page 2 WWW.ANTIQUEWEEK.COM January 19, 2021 NEWS Humpty Dumpty: A riddle, a King or a cannon? By Larry LeMasters ty Dumpty sat on a wall. Hump- was included in the rhyme by the fact ty Dumpty had a great fall. All the that “humpty dumpty” was 18th-cen- king’s horses and all the king’s men tury slang for a short, clumsy person. Humpty Dumpty is a nursery rhyme couldn’t put Humpty together again. Whereas a clumsy person falling off egg with human characteristics. Most Nowhere in the rhyme does it state a wall would not be irreparably dam- children, especially Baby Boomers, that Humpty Dumpty is an egg. When aged, an egg would be; therefore, the are familiar with the rhyme: Hump- first printed in 1810, the rhyme was riddle’s answer always seemed to be intended as a riddle, and misdirection an egg. There are other thoughts about the origins of Humpty Dumpty. Humpty Dumpty was a powerful cannon used in the Siege of Colchester during the English Civil War. It was mounted on top of St. Mary’s at the Wall Church in Colchester defending the city against siege in the summer of 1648. Although Colchester was a Royalist stronghold, it was under siege by the Roundheads for 11 weeks before fi- nally falling. The church tower was hit by enemy cannon fire and the top of the tower was blown off, sending “Humpty” tumbling to the ground. Above: Rare Regal China “Humpty Dump- Naturally all the King’s horses and ty” cookie jar with gold trim that sells for $75. all the King’s men (Royalist cavalry and infantry respectively) tried to A gunner of deadliest aim of all mend “him” but in vain. From St. Mary’s Tower his cannon An extended version of the rhyme he fired gives additional verses, including the Humpty-Dumpty was its name... following: In another theory, Humpty Dump- In Sixteen Hundred and For- ty referred to King Richard III of ty-Eight England, the hunchbacked monarch, When England suffered the pains the “Wall” being either the name of of state his horse (called “White Surrey” in The Roundheads lay siege to Col- Shakespeare’s play), or a reference chester town to the supporters who deserted him. Where the King’s men still fought During the battle of Bosworth Field, for the crown he fell off his steed and was said to There One-Eyed Thompson stood have been “hacked into pieces” while on the wall shouting, according to Shakespeare, Left: Thomas Nast illustrated “Humpty Dump- ty” book, circa 1870s, that is valued at $30.

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