If you think you have a lot of gaming consoles laying about, you’ve got nothing on Linda Guillory who just scored two new Guinness World Records.
We all know how much I love collecting. While my focus has always been on Star Wars, I love looking at massive collections from others, especially when it’s video game related. As such, it’s pretty cool to see a fellow Texan getting the Guinness World Record spotlight.
Announced today, Linda Guillory now claims the title to the largest Collection of LCD Gaming Systems (like the old TIGER Electronic ones) as well as breaking the previous record for largest Collection of PLAYABLE Gaming Systems.
Linda started her initial collection at a young age after playing them with her brother. Her first system was a Red Conic basketball handheld game at the age of eight. As time went on, she amassed 35 systems but sadly lost all of them in a fire at her mother’s house.
Years later, her passion reignited to obtain the games enjoyed during her childhood after a late-night discussion with her brother. She was curious to see if she could beat her previous high score in the Coleco Pacman system.
Linda, an electrical engineer, went on to search for and collect games she had not played, as well as broken games to try and repair them. “Growing up playing with handheld gaming systems created a lifelong love of them. It took years before I considered myself a collector; I thought I was picking up a few systems that brought back memories. Initially, I only purchased broken games to see if I could fix them. Taking them apart and working on them was just a fun pastime,” adds Linda.
The hobby eventually expanded into one, then two full curios of games, and as such, brought her to local secondhand stores to eBay, online auction sites, and even Japan. She has met fellow gaming system collectors along the way to trade and obtain rarer systems.
Linda says, “Words cannot describe the feelings of accomplishment and joy. To achieve a world record for something you are passionate about makes everything just a bit better, and the world feels a little bit brighter. The satisfaction of knowing you have reached a lifelong dream is truly amazing.”
This is pretty damn cool, and you can learn more about her overall story and see more pictures of this insane collection over on the GWR site. And yes, she’s still building and adding more…
