I wouldn't have made a big deal about this wallet, except that I have an odd anecdote about it. It's stories like these that make silly things like collecting Nintendo crap worth it.

About a year ago me and kalla went to visit the Strobel family over in Akron. Ben and his mom Patricia were there with their bountiful collection of classic games, and we ended up spending the weekend. I slept maybe a couple hours total during the time.

Needless to say, it was a blast. Ben had an old Tron machine that me, him and another dude named Kevin Horton spent Friday night fixing. We got it working in time for sunrise, and after playing it for a few hours, we went out thrifting in the morning. It wasn't bad, although the other dudes kept on doing the 100-meter dash to the door of every store we drove up to, trying to get to the cool stuff before anyone else could. I got a bunch of $2 nes games as well as an Atari Ultra Pong that I left somewhere and still haven't found.

The night continued, games were played, the Kid Stuff Donkey Kong record was played several times, the timeless video-game flick Cloak and Dagger was viewed... in short it was time well spent with a bunch of cool folks. Oh, and we also went to the theatre to watch SW: Empire Strikes Back Special Edition.There's a page with some pictures from this weekend up (I've lost both a fair amount of weight and the goofy Afro haircut since then).

AND - getting back to the point here - when we arrived at the Strobels' house in Akron, Ben gave me a welcoming gift - this Super Mario Bros. 2 wallet. I still use it to this day; it's so cool. It's got four pockets and a mind-blowing Sportflic-style Mario animation on the front - Mario switches between three different frames involving him standing on, hiding behind, and picking up a mushroom. Hot stuff. The girls all swoon when I show this off to them.

The Strobels and us have gone separate ways for the most part, but I still have this wallet - and the memory that goes with it.

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