Darwin's Game Closet was founded in 1996. Initially started as an email business. I searched for people looking for games through bulletin boards, discussion forums and failed online auction bids. My first year I sold about 50 games and ended the year with about 100 more games on hand. Eventually, I filled a small mobile home with over 600 games and needed more space. Business doubled within a few years and with the evolution of the internet; I needed a regular online presence to show my reconditioned games. Thus in the fall of 2001, Darwin's Game Closet the website was born. Through that creation, I was able to have more contact with my customers. One of the first things I noticed was the intense need for old game rules. I also noticed there wasn't any one website a person could regularly go to in order to find game rules from old and out of print games. A number of times those games were published by companies that were no longer in business themselves. Seeing the need, I began a collection of game rules online. This started out as a free service but soon it became too well known and the traffic became too costly to maintain. The rules provided us with the means to be recognized as a leader in the vintage games business. I took this responsibility seriously. Before this it was common for sellers of vintage games to come and go for various reasons. It is not uncommon for sellers to have less than 5 years of experience in reconditioning vintage games. Even today there is only two other websites with any longevity in this business. Of the three businesses with longevity I am the only one with enough pride to not sell an incomplete game. As a buyer, I would find it very annoying to have missed the fine print and purchased an incomplete game. In 2003, I began a sister website called Missing Game Parts. It was meant to service a missing aspect in the vintage game business. People would purchase those incomplete games from other sellers or from e-bay, hoping to be able to have enough of the game to be able play it. In 2010 I began striving to become even better. My motto this year is "Raising Expectations, Lowering Prices". I don't want this to be merely a motto to attract business. It is something that I am standing behind. Between January and March I have lowered prices on over 200 different games. Games in Great Condition are full priced. The games I find in Acceptable Condition are priced a bit less than the games in Great Condition. Games I determine to be in OK Condition, primarily those with great stress on the boxes are priced even less than those found in Acceptable Condition. My personal belief is that I should be selling the best product available at the best price found on the internet. The idea of "Raising Expectations" reaches to my Rules Database. It is not good enough to purchase game rules and have to wait for an email or postal mail to receive the rules. In the year that the written word is getting more and more easily accessible, I feel it is only proper to improve my accessibility as well. |
. OCTOBER 2011 . We have posted our new Top 100 Games for 2011. These are the games most of our visitors are remembering and purchasing. There are some popular titles and some interesting titles in this listing. . The titles range in dates from the mid 1950's to the early 2000's. So it is a neat list of games people are looking at on our site. Take a look at the list yourself. . 2011 Top 100 Games . |
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Thank-you, the Match-Ability game did arrive timely and in good condition. I will keep you in mind for Christmas gifts! Cathy I received the Cub Scouting game, better than expected, thank you for sending so quickly. My kids and my scout group will love playing it. I will continue to look at your store for more games! Tim Thank you for your more reasonable prices that will allow children to enjoy games their parents grew up with! Mellisa Thanks so much...If I find anyone who needs game rules I will certainly tell them of your website and the great communication... Thanks again so much. Sharon I received the game today - and it's a beauty! We'll keep your site in mind for other potential games we might be looking for in the future. Steve I just purchased Mind Maze from your website for my husband, Pete. His favorite memory was lying on the floor playing it for hours. Thank You so much, the game, it brings back great memories!! Marci " I just received my copy of the 20,000 Leagues game in great condition. Thanks for having such great games available online. I appreciate being able to relive some of my childhood. Keep up the great work!" Patrick |
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