In a world that was fair and just,
Leonard “The Game Scholar” Herman would be a household name, or at least as
well-known as the more popular YouTubers. Not only did he write ABC to the VCS,
the first comprehensive Atari 2600 book, he penned Phoenix, the first serious
book on the history of video games. Alas, the world is unjust, but Lenny labors
on (Phoenix is now in its fourth edition), and most everyone with a deep knowledge
of retro gaming and video game history holds “Lenny the Legend” (as I and certain
other gaming writers have taken to calling him) in high regard.
As a guest at the recent Coleco Expo in New
Jersey, which has been getting gleefully skewered online, even by people who weren’t
there, Leonard has a first-hand account of what it was like at the show. He admits
that the turnout was fairly low (and my impressions are that there wasn’t
nearly enough actual Coleco stuff there), but he had a nice time regardless.
Without further ado, here’s Lenny's take on the event:
I first met Chris
Cardillo at Toy Fair, 2016, during the Coleco Chameleon fiasco. We became
Facebook friends, and I was happy when he disassociated Coleco from the
Chameleon after it was definitively discovered that the console on display was
a fraud. I assumed he was above board, and I personally have had no problems
with him since then to change my opinion. So when I learned that Coleco was
going to have a show in Edison, NJ, I immediately contacted them to sign up. Ever
since Phoenix IV came out in November, it has been difficult for me to attend
shows that are not within driving distance. The books are just too heavy to
take with me on a plane and would be too expensive for me to ship. Then there's
the added problem of having to ship them back home if I don't sell them all. So
the idea that there was going to be a convention only 20 minutes from my house
really appealed to me.
Unlike
other people who would be at the show, I was not invited, and therefore would
have to pay for a table. Unfortunately, I inquired for details and learned that
the tables were very expensive--much too expensive for a first-time unproven
show.
Chris
Cardillo contacted me several weeks later and asked if I was going to come, and
I told him I wouldn't be and the reason why. He then offered me a table at a
much reduced price and I agreed.
Over
the next few months I received emails from Tina Cassano of Coleco about the
show. I was mortified when I saw Facebook posts going out that showed the other
writers who would be there, but there was no mention of me. And then Tina asked
me if I wanted to give a talk. I agreed, only to discover that the best time
they could give me was 8:00 p.m. on Saturday. I hadn't even been aware that
the show would be open past five or six.
I
asked how many people they were expecting, and she said there were over 2,000
pre-orders. Unfortunately I only had 45 books to sell. I was very optimistic and
thought that I should at least have enough books for 5% of the attendees. So I
ordered another 50 just in case. And I had three of the deluxe color copies, but
I ordered an additional five, not really expecting to sell too many because
they are so expensive.
So
Saturday morning, August 5, I drove to the show. My friends, Rob
Faraldi and Joe Mannarino, who both help produce my Game Scholar videos, agreed
to meet me there to help out.
It
turned out my table was not on the main floor. Instead, I was set up by the
arcade machines, which were loud. Tina explained to me that after people
entered, they would walk down a small hall and enter this room before entering
the main hall. I was located next to author Patrick Hickey, Jr, who was between
me and author Jeffrey Wittenhagen. I had never met either of the two before but
we soon became good friends. And throughout the day Tim Lapetino and Antoine
Clerc-Renaud hung around with us. At one point the four of them decided to do a
panel together and asked if I wanted to join but I bowed out.
I
did give my talk at 8:00, by which time I was tired. Then there were problems
setting the projector. Because of this I don't think my talk about Ralph Baer
and early videogames went to well. Even so, there were about 20 people in the
audience, despite the time.
Was there a good amount of foot traffic at different times? Were there 2,000 people?
I don't think so. Someone later heard that there were just 650
pre-orders.
That
night I went to dinner with Tim, Jeffrey and Antoine. We had a great
time together and decided that even if nobody showed up on Sunday, a day
that is traditionally dead, we were going to continue having a good time.
The
New Jersey Exhibition Center was huge, and so the aisles were wide apart. This gave it
an appearance of being very sparse. If the coordinators blocked off some of the
room and made the aisles narrower, then it would have appeared to be more
crowded. I didn't walk around that often, but I saw at least three large booths
that were selling old games and hardware.
On
Sunday they moved our tables into the main room right next to the entrance.
Again, there seemed to be traffic, which was good considering it was Sunday.
I've been to many shows where Sundays were completely dead. I sold all of my hard cover books so I was happy.
I
also met Tyler Bushnell (Nolan's son) on Sunday. He was cool and very outgoing. I offered to
drive him to the airport after the show since I was going that way, and we had a
great talk about his father and Ralph and Ted (Dabney).
I
heard about the controversy regarding Chris and the community. I had been under
the assumption that Coleco had banned homebrewers from using the Coleco and
ColecoVision logos, which he had a right to do. I asked Chris about it, and he
told me that there was one homebrewer that was producing a porn game, and Chris
didn't want him using his logos, which I thought made sense. Later I learned
how he was strong-arming other homebrewers. I have no opinion on this. All I
could say that Chris and his staff were very cordial to us. They even had one
girl who constantly came to us and asked if we needed anything.
If
I knew about the controversy right before the show, would I have attended?
Probably. I had money and books invested in the show, which I couldn't afford
to lose.
In
the end, was I glad I attended? Yes. I sold books and met new friends and
contacts. Could the show have been better? Possibly. But I've been to shows
that did a lot worse than this one. Did the show suffer because of the
controversy? I really don't think so. How many additional people would have
attended if there wasn't a boycott? I don't think whatever that number might be
would have made much of a difference. ~ Leonard Herman
