My romance with boardgames started when being introduced to chess, Millionaires game, Snake's and Ladders, Mastermind, then for a time Games of the Generals scrap built by an older friend of ours using the same chess board and he labeled some folders for we cannot buy yet a new game being sold I think at National Bookstore.Then touched for a short while Sorry (I can still recall the commercial being show during Saturday Fun machine cartoons at channel 9)Then my sister bought the MAD magazine game which is really a fun and crazy game. Then my best friend managed to obtain RISK thru his uncle, unfortunately without the rules so we just made up our own rules which we gave up because we somehow are not happy with it.We finally just gave up but I said to my self that someday I will play it again so I just set it aside for the meantime. I never managed to play Monopoly thou as my frustration because I think it was too expensive at that time ( even today)
The games all were either lost or simply just got overplayed and the parts started to wear/tear off .
We have to get rid off them somehow but I just dont know how my father or sister disposed them.
Eventually we got into comics collecting but I only bought the local ones published by National Bookstore, not the imported ones that you can buy at Filbars.
I remember the time when visiting the old Harrison Plaza before it burned down during the 80's visiting a comics store, I think it was either FILBARS but I'm not sure...
I remember seeing in one of the display of comics a box I with the title Dungeons and Dragons.
I was intrigued at my young age that it was quite different and kind of like radical because it says role playing game. My thought was that it is a comics inside a box plus a game. It was really expensive at that time because I think it was being sold for 200 or 300 pesos and during the 80's it is almost equivalent to a thousand now a days.
Next time I encountered Dungeons & Dragons is thru a store in Greenhills named Nova Fontana who sells tons of these Role-playing games, board games and toys. Lots and lots of toys.Imported toys that I have never seen or heard off. During that time in the 80's unless you have been to the states, our country is kinda limited with regard to books, magazines, comics and imported toys. And Nova Fontana is like the only store here that sells them.
They sold board games that I never thought that is available like Red Storm Rising, Line in the Sand, The Hunt for Red October, TSR games, books and magazines.
I already have a family to support and a limited income that I earned during my work at a pizza store.
The prices of the games vary from P660 to P990 but for a father with responsibilities already, that is too much to spend just for a hobby...
When I manage to go back to Nova Fontana, it was I think having a discount sale. And fortunately I have a spare money that I can spend and bought 1 game which is The Hunt for red October for only P133. I still have the receipt.
I miss the store for there is a lot of memories that went with it. Whenever I feel bad or have lots of worries, to amuse my self I go to the store spend just a few minutes looking atthe games and the rest and somehow it made life bearable.
I know each and everyone of us has our reasons for a certain place or a particular item or hobby and this is my own story. Hope you can relate....
