This Community Spotlight will highlight one of the most impressive Metroid collections we have ever seen! VGMStudios (also known as John Grabetz), has amassed an impressive collection of Metroid memorabilia over the years, ranging from games, t-shirts, figures and some incredible items that are so rare, that the vast majority of Metroid fans will likely never have seen them before! John has been featured in several different publications including magazines for his impressive treasure trove of Metroid goodies, and has kindly shared them with us, and explained how it all started.
VGMStudios
My name is John Grabetz aka VGMStudio and I have been a Metroid fan since the beginning of the franchise. I use to play the original NES game and Metroid II on the GameBoy when I was a child but didn’t really get into it until 1994 when Super Metroid came out. That is when everything changed.
Although my love and appreciation for this game grew exponentially, it is when I received the Japanese Super Metroid OST for my birthday when I decided I wanted more!
Back then, as a kid, it wasn’t easy to find Metroid items, I didn’t have a lot of money and the internet was still newish. I had no idea how to go about it and what to do. I was a subscriber of Nintendo Power though and they had their Super Power Catalogues. When I saw the merchandise they had of Super Metroid, I was so excited that I used to stare at the pictures for hours wishing I could buy all of it. I did manage to get a few items from the catalogues though, like the posters (cause they were cheap) but I missed out on a few things that I really wanted.
Years later when I was more financially secure, I started to collect seriously. Every day I would scour the internet, eBay, and web forums for Metroid merch. Then I found out about Japanese Yahoo auctions and how to buy from them. This was a game changer because I saw things there I had no idea about, and the fact that I was finally able to acquire them was so exciting to me. I am still learning about things I never knew of!
My collection grew and grew over the years. It is still growing even today and I will never stop collecting. I would have to say that one of my biggest accomplishments was being able to acquire the Super Metroid Medallion from the Nintendo Power Catalogues. It took me over twenty years to find it!
My goal is to get a Guniness World Record and open up a physical Metroid Museum of some sort to display everything for Metroid and video game fans alike to come look at things they’ve never seen before.
Other than my Metroid collection, I love to incorporate Metroid into everything I can when I customize things. For example, I have created a Metroid theme for the Wii OS and created a Light Suit amiibo for a customer of mine.
Our Thoughts
Darren
When I first learned about VGMStudios, his Metroid museum and the impressive collection of items he owns, I felt a mix of jealousy and amazement. After all these years, I was completely unaware that most of the Metroid items he owns, even existed! Not only is this one of the greatest and best Metroid collections out there, some of those items are pieces of Metroid history that might have otherwise been lost, and that’s why it was so important that we highlighted him so that more people can see it for themselves! We want to thank John for sharing some fresh pictures from his collection, and will continue to do our best to share his amazing discoveries!
Image Gallery
Video Gallery
For more of VGMStudios’s works, please visit one of the links below: