An amusement game hoarder appears on A&E's Hoarders

(Thanks for Jonathan Leung for the tip)

There is a strong community of collectors in the amusement industry – people who collect arcade games, pinball machines, EM game machines, redemption, etc. But among the crowd you might find someone classified as a “hoarder” were the collecting is obsessive as the hoarder will fill up room after room with stuff whether it is still useful or not. Apparently there around 3 million people out there that fit the bill to be called a hoarder and that’s enough to warrant a reality TV series by A&E. It’s not the only series I’ve heard of that focuses on helping people get rid of their junk but from what I’ve watched, they seem to take on some bigger cases than other shows. They bring in a therapist to talk with the person, along with a clean-up crew to try and help them move on from the hoarding. In a recent episode which I’ll link to here, they visit Randy of Wildwood, NJ and look over his massive collection of amusement equipment which includes a large number of arcade and pinball machines, with his Randyland museum being just a part of it. He has some pretty rare games but also a strange collection of mannequins of himself. They also assist him in moving his equipment into a location that will allow him to open up an arcade on the boardwalk there but that’s certainly easier said than done when they get around to moving some absolutely massive games (ones that might not really be played by people in the first place). In fact if you’ve ever been involved in moving arcade games, I’m sure you will feel the pain of what they have to go through here. It also takes a look at a family being torn apart by a mother who hordes all sorts of assorted junk.

I’m unable to embed the video but you can watch the full episode here. Randy just opened his arcade in NJ a couple of months ago, hopefully for him it has improved since that time. With a primary focus being on classic gaming it can be quite a challenge, not just in terms of what people want to play but also in maintenance.

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10 comments

Shapey Fiend July 20, 2011 at 2:49 am

Damn. I’d love to watch this but the video won’t work. Tried a US proxy but still no joy.

arcadehero July 20, 2011 at 7:08 am

Hmm, I didn’t know they would do that. Perhaps a fan will put together an edit just showing Randy for Youtube. Take out the other woman in the episode and it would be around 15-20min I think

Suzanne Scott July 21, 2011 at 9:47 am

Randy is a serious, fascinating businessman. He is not sick or mentally unsound. He has spent his life in the arcade business and this is an art and a piece of American history. I thinj showing him at the same time with the mentally ill woman Viki made the differentiation very very clear. He needed to get his stuff out to be loved and appreciated; this is a very dear and important collection to him and us. Hope youngsters today will visit Wildwood and take a walk on the memory lane he has created which is more interesting than all the new games today.

MattyMo September 3, 2011 at 7:51 pm

Suzanne: The only differentiation is that Randy has more money and real estate than Vicki. He admitted that if he didn’t have a problem, he would have sold his games. I was impressed that he moved that huge horse racing game on his own.

foxx July 26, 2011 at 4:20 pm

The link only takes you to an episode of Ron/Carol even when you search for it, the A&E site takes you to Ron/Carol. There’s a clip of Randy here, but no full episode: http://www.aetv.com/hoarders/video/?bcpid=740859023001&bckey=AQ~~,AAAAAEK2ejU~,Ai-tVL3JZg3H3EXylNuBzevaAq0JeRZZ&bclid=910141054001&bctid=1057891732001

If anyone can find the full episode that would be great! Thanks!

arcadehero July 27, 2011 at 6:32 am

It was a full episode when I linked to it, they must have moved it. I’ll see if I can find it.

Angel September 4, 2011 at 2:11 am

This Amusement Game hoarder was the best program I’ve seen to date — some of your shows about horrible food and rats I just can’t watch. But this one was great. I feel I’m really learning a lot — each week practically you seem to have another tip on what might be a symptom of becoming a hoarder. I have come to the conclusion that anyone can be a spontaneous buyer in stores so anyone might have tendencies to hoard. Further, I feel some people losing a loved one as a crutch — but I know all of us are different. I wonder if it might be a good idea to stress to these people that they are “strong” willed, and strong headed and they can beat this rut that they are in – and it is more than just a rut. Still I feel so bad for these people especially other family members in the household. I enjoy seeing all your teams at work and doctors that help and support them by staying calm and discussing. I do believe some need to “talk” through and be determined long before they start their process of getting rid of things. At least once we make our own decisions it is much easier. I also feel, many of these people are often creative people with big time hobbies – I imagine if they kept a log most of them would have lists and lists of items they completed even though most of us wouldn’t realize it. You had one other man on with long hair who was a hoarder — he for some reason was very interesting to me also and I was so proud of his taking advantage of the follow-up help from docs and he seemed so sweet toward his grand children. I am a hobby person myself so I can see some of these tendencies and I am trying to ensure I donate more so that my children don’t have to do it all once I’m gone. My male cousin once said to me – he is an antique car restorer — he told his kids that once he is gone – sell his favorite cars and get what money they can out of them and be done with it — it is his hobby and his love and nobody else’ I think that is great advice.

Angel September 4, 2011 at 2:13 am

So Randy was in Wildwood — is that in Idaho?

Al May 19, 2013 at 1:48 pm

Randys antique arcade is awesome !! Its like being in a free museum.what a time trip. All these old machines are there to play at real reasonable price. I felt like there should be an admission fee just to see.this.stuff. Its worth a trip just to visit this cool place. I met Randy the owner.What a nice and interesting guy. He is sharing his prized and priceless arcade games with the public. If yoi want hands on machines you can play without pushin a computer button, this is it !! . Im going back and spend some time to go back in time to enjoy these great old games.. THANKS RANDY

mama c August 21, 2014 at 2:20 pm

Im in Wildwood now and made it a point to see his arcade…..he has so many cool games ….but the randy maniquins are a lil freaky…..he has them everywhere…..

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