Charles Martinet

I've been meaning to make one of these for a long time, and with the excuse to celebrate 35 blissful years of Super Mario Bros., it's finally time for a Charles Martinet tribute post.

Let's face it, the Mario series simply wouldn't be where it is today without Charles.  A brilliantly gifted voice actor and an amicably well-natured guy, this sprightly fifty-somethin' took a hatted, mustachioed, pixelated plumber and further launched him into video game superstardom through the compelling power of his unique voice.  With a characteristic, bubbly, and mirthful tone, Charles breathed new life into an iconic character and indelibly cemented his fun verbality into the public consciousness.  When anyone thinks of Mario, they immediately call to mind his distinctly captivating voice — one of pure joy, encouragement, and childlike innocence, yet full of humor and with intently artistic cadence.  Martinet was instrumental in shaping the character and personality of the Mario we have come to know and love, alongside others such as Luigi, Wario, and Waluigi.  A true master of his craft, since '95 Martinet has been supplying his vocals to the most renowned and successful fictional characters of all time.

  

 

Of course, all masters have humble beginnings.  Charles began his illustrious Mario voice-acting career by using voice/face-recognition software at trade shows to entertain attendees.  He later heard from a friend that Nintendo was holding an audition to voice the crimson plumber in his next game, and Martinet squandered no effort to try out.  He arrived to the audition late just as the staff were putting the recording equipment away but was still offered a chance to read off the script.  Feeling the typical Italian-American tone might be too gruff for youthful audiences, he nervously spouted out the first thing that came to mind —"It's-a me, Mario! Okey-dokey, let's-a make a pizza pie together!  You's-a go get the sausage, I'm-a gonna get the spaghetti, we put the sausage and spaghetti in-a the pizza pot and then..."— and didn't stop until the recording tape had well run out.  It was unanimous, Charles had scored the position.  We then came to hear him in Mario's Game Gallery, and not long after, in a little game called Super Mario 64.  As they say, the rest is history.

 

    

Miyamoto may have created the Mario character, but we have Martinet to thank for discovering and fine-tuning the character's unique personality.  To Martinet, Mario wasn't simply a character on a screen, but an expressive outlet for game-players to identify with.  Of course, Martinet's path had not been trodden by him alone; with talents from the likes of Captain Lou and Walker Boone, Mario did already have a voice, but it was not until Martinet that Mario was imbued with the utter charm, gentle happiness, and warm embrace that would redefine the series from thereon after.

 

Martinet is the Mel Blanc of video game voice acting and a truly inspiring American success story.  But despite his Italian babblings, he ironically speaks no Italian, yet is fluent in French and Spanish...  The purpose of this post is to voice off personal appreciation of Charles Martinet. Feel free to comment below your first reaction when you heard his voice, your favorite voicework by him, or anything else you'd like to say to honor this wonderful man and his video game contributions.  Under the context of this article, all comments are to be positive and self-contained to the Mario franchise (even though Martinet has adeptly voiced for other series).  What do you have to share about Charles Martinet?  Now's the time to voice your tribute: LET'S-A GO!!!

The WRITER'S BIBLE of "The Adventures of Super Mario Brothers 3" (TUMF Archives)

 I am the proud owner of the writer's bible for the DIC television show, The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3! Copyright 1990 DIC Enterprises, Inc., written by Reed and Bruce Shelly 2/14/90, revised 3/30/90. All rights reserved. It is now preserved in its entirety and public online for the very first time. This was intended for studios and producers, but now YOU the fan can read it, too! Check out below for this indispensable treasure of Mario TV history!

To what extent is the size of my collection?

 This is a great question! Not just how big is my Mario collection, but how complete is it. I have been collecting Mario for a very long time and I am thankful I started when I did, as I couldn't afford to start now! But anyone can collect Mario, it just takes patience. I take pride and responsibility for my collection, but I am also humbled by the items I have amassed, some of which I couldn't have even dreamed of owning.

I separate my Mario collection into six main categories: GAMES, MUSIC, MOVIES, BOOKS, MERCH, and MISC. As detailed in a previous post, due to spacial and financial reasons, I am cutting back on Mario merchandise collecting, becoming a very selective collector of the merch I love most. I probably only own about 20% of all Mario merch, though it is virtually impossible to collect it all. However, for media it is not. I have always, first and foremost, been a Mario media collector. And in terms of media (game, book, film, OST), not to brag, but I have the biggest Mario collection in the entire world!

I will go through each of the six categories and assess them in terms of complete-ness. I will only note what I am missing, so if it isn't listed, assume that I already have it.  These categories are current as of the time of this post, and I assume will be current for many years as the items currently lacking in my collection are incredibly rare. If you own anything located in Missing, please let me know right away! Let's begin!

GAMES:

I have every single American, PAL and Japanese Mario game (NTSC is the default region for non-exclusives), with only a few exceptions, that I will list below. All of my Mario games are in like-new condition and have at least the manual, while FDS games and GameCube onward are all complete. Mario games mean a game where Mario himself makes an appearance in an integral role. (i.e. Donkey Kong Country would not be a Mario game, but Punch-Out!! would be, as though it is a cameo, Mario's role is integral.) Here is a link to my virtual game library: https://backloggery.com/tumf

 

Missing:

Donkey Kong Circus (G&W) This is so rare, and getting it with the manual causes prices to rise astronomically. I will get it, it's just a matter of when.

Super Mario Bros. Crystal Screen (G&W)

Super Mario Bros. F1 Race Limited Edition (G&W)

Mario vs. Donkey Kong e-Reader cards (GBA)

Golf: Japan Course (Gold) (FDS)

Golf: US Course (Gold) (FDS)

BS Super Mario USA (SFC)

Dr. Mario BS Version (SFC)

Excitebike: Bun Bun Mario Battle Stadium (SFC)

Mario Paint BS Ban (SFC)

Mario Paint Yuushou Naizou Ban (SFC)

Yoshi no Cookie: Kuruppon Oven de Cookie (SFC)

Other than a handful of Game & Watches, Famicom Disk games, and Satellaview Memory cartridges, I have ALL the Mario games. I own all the Nelsonic watches, PC-8801 titles, and anything else rare that comes to mind.

MUSIC:

I have all NTSC Mario soundtracks and almost all soundtracks released in Japan and worldwide. These days you have to watch out for bootlegs. I have a few soundtracks that are so rare they are unlisted in databases. I am still missing some Japanese Mario soundtracks. Here is a website that tracks all the CDs I own: https://vgmdb.net/db/collection.php?do=view&userid=16282

 

Missing:

 Mario Kart 64 on Club Circuit (biggest omission)

 3D Hot Rally (cassette and CD version)

Famicom Graffiti: Nintendo Disk Card Edition

Game Music Graffiti

Fantasic World of Super Mario Bros. 3 (cassette version)

Super Mario Bros. 3 G.S.M. (vinyl version)

Tanoshii Beyer Heiyou Super Mario World Complete Music Collection

Super Mario World (cassette version)

Mario & Luigi (Danish cassette version)

Other than that, I have all the Mario music. It blows my mind how much money and time it took, but the fact that I only don't own eight Mario OSTs, some of them alternate versions of what I already own, is pretty amazing. I also may not own the CD/cassette version of Peach-hime Kyushutsu Dai Sakusen, but that is so rare that it is debatable whether it exists.

MOVIES:

I did my movie collecting fairly early on, with some major Japanese additions later. I own the only sealed copy of Peach-hime Kyushutsu Dai Sakusen in the entire world. I also own all the Mario movies and Japanese movies, with only a few ultra-rare exceptions, listed below. (Note: I do not count "guide" videos toward this total as the video must be an original work, not simply a gameplay video with walkthrough dialogue superimposed over it.)

Missing:
The Bird! The Bird! VHS tape (SMBSS)

Pirates of the Koopa VHS tape (SMBSS)

Fire is Hot! Super Mario Fire Brigade 16mm/VHS tape

Super Mario Traffic Safety 16 mm/VHS Tape

Super Mario - ABC no Utau VHS tape (biggest omission)

Pjerrots Jul VHS tape

Honestly, just a handful of tapes here, but they are the rarest of the rare. I fully expect to wait and search another ten years before I get them all.

BOOKS:

This is by far the biggest category of Mario media, and the hardest to collect for. Seriously, collecting all the games is a walk in the park compared to this. At first I started by collecting all the Mario comics, then the manga, then strategy guides, and worked my way up. I own all of Mario's licensed North American strategy guides, but not all the Japanese ones, which I don't plan to. I do intend to own all Mario books that are original works, however. Here are some of the books I'm still missing.

Missing:

Nintendo Club Magazine -two volumes (I own almost them all but there are a few Mario comics I still don't own)

Hello Mario! Let's Play in English (Japanese English-learning book)

The full set of Super Mario-kun (it's not rare but I don't have space at the moment and there are always new ones coming out)

The full set of Super Mario Kodansha manga

A few of the Super Mario World picture books

 

There are also a few miscellaneous Mario mangas too obscure to list, but other than that, the Mario book category is complete. I have spent the MOST time on compiling my Mario book collection and I have no doubt it's the largest in America and beyond.

MERCH:
This is a category I no longer collect for completion. Thus, while I do own some very rare Mario merch that I will keep, I am not a completionist here and have (painfully) sold off substantial parts of it. There are still a few things I would like in this category though:

Dr. Mario tie

 Fiorentina Super Mario Game Boy

All the Mario Kellogg's cards

Mario ceramic clock

Mario ceramic coin bank

Mario Hi-C juice box

Mario furikake

Mario Kart DS Demo

Mario Mania mobile sign

Super Mario RPG plush

Super Mario 64 Squeezie

Super Mario Bros. 3 wristbands

1989 Super Mario fruit snacks

Super Mario AM radio

Mario Bros. Arcade Cabinet

Super Mario Nail Polish

Super Mario Sunshine Mineral Water Bottle

Super Mario 64 Amada trading cards

 

Unlike the preceding categories, these are low-priority. My Game and Music categories still need the most work!

MISC.
This is for promo material and various other things that don't fit in the other categories. Things like this include my Mario production material, my television scripts for Mario shows, animation cels, autographs, promo materials, happy meal toy displays--anything that was never for sale. As such, nothing is "missing" per se, as these are generally one-of-a-kind NFS items.

Missing?

And there you have it! Thanks for sticking around until the end. Given the small number of missing items on those lists, you can imagine how huge my ALREADY OWN lists are! I will see about cataloging and posting my gallery on here in the coming days, but I don't want to crash the site. Thanks for stopping by! Ciao~

The glorious rise and fall of The Ultimate Mario Fan

I am writing this because I feel I owe it to the public, as I never claim to be something I am not. After fifteen years, I hereby relinquish the title of “Ultimate,” at least in so far as it is to be taken by its literal meaning. Though I was that for a time, the years have changed me, for reasons I will explain below.

In middle and high school, I lived and breathed Mario constantly. For me Mario was the greatest good, the personification of joy and innocence itself. As high school became college, I began to withdraw my ostentatious display of affection and attention toward Mario, simply because I think it drew the wrong kind of company and attention (a lot of the nerdy kids wanted to hang out with me, but I am not nerdy so much as I am in the scholarly sense). It was during college that my collection reached incredible levels of success on a worldwide basis: All Mario games, books and soundtracks were collected, including absolute rarities, and I even acquired promos, rare merch and one-of-a-kind materials. It finally rivaled and even put to shame renowned international collectors like Nightram and Kikai.  At that point, people started paying serious attention to me, even Nintendo itself (they sent me a signed card from Miyamoto and Tezuka), and I began getting contacts from around the world. However, the more that people wanted me to share my collection with them, the more withdrawn I became. Something just didn’t seem right to me; I never collected Mario for fame or to “show off” but simply to surround myself and prove to myself how much I adored Mario. I think over the years my displays of intense admiration for Mario had come across to some as a form of self-aggrandizement, which I had never intended. My only goal was to aggrandize Mario.

As the years progressed, I fell in love, learned four languages, traveled abroad to Italy and Japan, worked for the government, starred in plays, wrote theses and published articles, debuted a comic strip, started a website, and graduated with my degrees. As I then gazed at my massive Mario collection, now towering over me, as I owned virtually everything Mario I could possibly want (which was everything). And I began to realize something: My collection was owning ME. An incessant labor of love, I had made major sacrifices to accrue a collection of this magnitude. I found myself in heavy credit card debt, paying rent for an apartment I didn’t want to live in, working at a job I hated. I had sacrificed almost everything for Mario, and while I was happy to do so in the past, there was something that happened that changed all of that. At the beginning of this year, I acquired my holy grail, the one item I vowed I would collect NO MATTER WHAT before I set out to complete my mammoth collection fourteen years ago. That item was a complete VHS copy of Peach-hime Kyushutsu Dai-sakusen. And after over a decade of daily searching, I had finally acquired it. TWICE.

That’s right, I acquired this tape loose, and a few months later, I bought another tape sealed, the only known extant sealed copy of the 1986 Peach-hime Kyushutsu Dai-sakusen in the entire world, Mario’s first film.

After I accomplished this pivotal feat, something shifted within me. It dawned on me the level of responsibility I had to this franchise and to myself.  I had collected so much Mario at this point that I had become a curator for a closet/room museum. I owned things that no one else had in the world of Mario, and completed entire international book, film and game collections. I truly had become the Ultimate. And not only that, I had become lonely, for as they say so poignantly, it’s lonely being at the top. No fans could understand me, and I didn’t understand other Mario fans, who were either casuals, DeviantArt perverts, or obsessed with trivia/game mechanics, showing no admiration for the actual plumber himself. I then asked myself why I collected Mario in the first place, since I had completed virtually all that I had set out to do. The accomplishment, while impressive, felt hollow. Mario would continue to exist regardless and I could glorify him without owning countless swathes of merchandise. Owning the Dai-Sakusen VHS tape made me realize how much MORE I appreciate parts of my collection than others, and the sheer extent that my collection was weighing me down. So I then made an excruciatingly painful decision, which I never would have even remotely considered a few years ago: I decided to sell most of my collection.

(This is only about a third of it)

Selling Mario felt like selling pieces of myself. I began with the big box items and caringly moved through piles, packaging merchandise as I had simply acquired too much and it took up too much space. Yes, it felt good to display the collection to myself and others, but at this point I was less impressed in what I wasn’t doing than I was impressed in what I had done. I had to make a sacrifice, because sacrifices will happen whether we like it or not. I aim to pare my collection down by 2/3 of what it was, and will try to see if I can get it down to 1/4 total. The rarest and most irreplaceable items I will still keep, as well as all the movies and games and soundtracks (and most of the books), but I could no longer keep all this Mario to myself as it was weighing me down physically, spiritually, financially, emotionally. It wasn’t even so much Mario either, it was just owning so much of one thing. I began going through all my things and selling them, Mario included.

What helped me was to consider that we are stewards of what we own; nothing can we own forever. I had bought my Mario items and had no regrets, deriving enjoyment out of owning them, but it was time to bring them to someone else who would appreciate them hopefully more than I presently am able. Selling objects dear to me felt weird, but I look at it not as getting rid of them, but transferring them with great care to other homes, sharing what I have collected with others.

Overall, this has been quite a painful process. But it has also been very rewarding. I am a very ambitious person and the collector mentality, regardless of what collection it is, no longer coincides with my life goals. I collected everything Mario and have over 2000 video games to boot. I am proud of what I have accomplished. I am also proud of what I have been able to let go. But the process has also been humbling, as it’s made me realize that maybe I wasn’t as right as I thought I was, that maybe I should have realized that those massive collectors aren’t acting out of common sense, at least as far as I can understand it. While I feel incredibly strongly about Mario and video game preservation, there is only so much you can amass before it starts to cling to your feet. By owning gigantic collections, one creates more and more ties and potential losses, more worries, more liabilities.

This has been an amazing learning process and I don’t rue the countless thousands of hours I have spent collecting, contemplating, and engaging with Mario. They comprise very fond memories of my life. And showing the community my love for Mario, proving how deep my enamor goes and how much he deserves to be enamored, has been fulfilling and fulfilled, even though there was no need for it. I will remain an extremely selective Mario collector of the ultimate rarities and will bury his games with me in my casket, but I no longer will be purchasing other Mario items I have no overt immediate use for.

Why do I write this? Because I believe in coming clean, in not professing to be something I am not, which I have not done up to this point. But if the “Ultimate” is gauged by how much of something one owns, then I am “Ultimate” no longer. Mario lives on in my heart and soul. However, forthwith there will be far less of him living in my home. It’s time I get back in touch with what made me love Mario in the first place rather than prove to myself and others what has always been the case regardless, and that is that I love Mario more than anything else there is. Mario for life.

Thank you very much for to playing my game! @(:o}D

"I'm-a tired..." Collector Burn-out

Ciao paisanos! Whew, I'm back, after a long offline hiatus. Sorry for the wait! Why was I gone? Well, I graduated in Italian Studies a few years ago and then taught abroad in Italy. (My love for Mario has always inherently stemmed from the character himself, so I'm not sure whether I love Italian because of Mario or vice-versa). I also learned how to use online proxies a few years ago for bidding for Mario items on Yahoo Japan Auctions, making my collection grow by leaps and bounds. I have gotten to the point where I have stacks and stacks of boxes in my room, totaling over 20, teeming with Mario, which rivals even the most mega Mario collectors. I've filled up full rooms and closets, and sorting everything has taken days (no collector talks about the onus of sorting!). ...And the more Mario stuff I acquired, the less attachment I paradoxically felt for the character. I felt like collecting itself had consumed my time more than enjoying the items I had already collected. Many Mario games sat lonely in a corner as I spent dozens of hours trying to find extreme Mario rarities, always gazing over the horizon rather than glancing right in front of me. Some of my acquisitions were justified, and my collection has grown exponentially, but I began to feel "stuffocated" and lost my focus as to why I chose to collect Mario in the first place. I am a Mario media collector; thus, I collect all media that Mario appears in, which primarily encompasses games, books, films, and music. (And even then, I still have to decide whether to collect all foreign language strategy guides.) But until recently, I had begun just collecting ANYTHING Mario that looked interesting to me (and everything is interesting!), which led to tons of merchandise that I did not have the space or gold coins for.  I think the problem is that, when I communicated with other Mario super-collectors, I felt the competitive need to amass more than them. But I do not share their goals: I do not intend to collect everything Super Mario as that is literally impossible. I aim to collect all media, which is already a massive commitment that I have already almost completely fulfilled.

So where do we go from here?  Have I stopped being a Mario fan? Of course not! Far from it, paisanos. I have gotten back in touch with why I love Mario in the first place, that plucky plumber who stands for fun, innocence, bravery, and universality. However, after much deliberation, I have decided to sell large portions of my collection. It's not that I have too much Mario stuff but that I have too much stuff that just happens to be Mario. I don't want my possessions to possess me; I plan to do immense things in my life so I cannot let material things weigh me down. Further, selling merch and the extra stuff has made it clear to me what matters most in my collection. I will not be selling all Mario merch, but just the items I can spare to live without. I do not at all regret collecting so much Mario either, but I have to be more conservative with my space, time, and money. It's time to turn over a new Super Leaf! Moving forward, I plan to keep my focus on Mario media exclusively (with the occasional exception ^_~).

If you are interested in cashing in on my cache after it goes live, you can find me on eBay at https://www.ebay.com/usr/italianaman

Ciao for now!

Happy 30 Years, Super Mario Bros.

 
On this day, thirty years ago, September 13, 1985, Super Mario Bros. made its fabled launch in Japan and shook the landscape of interactive media forever.  It's hard to believe that I have such fond memories attached to a game even older than I am.  I first played Super Mario Bros. as a young kid through Super Mario Bros. Deluxe, which also happened to be the very first video game I owned.  And I beat it.  A lot.  We didn't have a lot of games back then--growing up I only owned a Game Boy and about ten shared games, which eventually became a Game Boy Color and eleven games--but with Super Mario Bros., eleven was more than enough.  The game never got old for me and I became completely absorbed in its colorful new world.

I remember it took me a very long time to beat Super Mario Bros. the first time through (we're talking weeks), but that only made the final victory at World 8-4 all the more momentous.  As I played through it again and again I began finding all the Warp Zones and hidden coin areas, and eventually I had memorized almost every secret invisible 1-Up location in the game.  I then tried setting high scores both with points and times.  There were so many goals and secrets stored away in that little game.

Looking back on it thirty years later, the age of Super Mario Bros. really doesn't matter became it's a timeless game.  Super Mario Bros. sports such an appealing and vibrant aesthetic that it stands virtually unaffected by time.  It was a watershed in game design that revived the industry, so much so that practically all modern video games owe something to it.  Be it 2035 or 2070, I know I'll still be playing Super Mario Bros. the same as always for as long as I can move my fingers.  I'm sure many people can state the same thing, but Super Mario Bros. literally shaped me into the very person I am today.  Enjoy your birthday, Super Mario Bros. -- from the hearts of every gamer ever, you've earned it.

Hey paisanos!

My friends call me The Ultimate Mario Fan (or "TUMF" for short) and as my name implies, I love Mario more than anything else there is!  But this blog isn't simply to express my fandom (I primarily use Twitter or YouTube for that).  Rather, this is for the man behind the fan.  From collecting to gaming, from new experiences to old, the life of a Mario fan can be pretty eventful.  This blog will serve as a repository of my own personal thoughts, experiences, and observations as a devout fan of Mario.  These entries are meant to be as candid as possible, so if you're interested in my inner musings, or if you'd simply like to get to know me better, then read on!