NEW YORK — Remember when you bathed in Super Mario bubble bath, or carried your PB&J in a Nintendo lunch bag? A makeshift museum popped up over the weekend to showcase nostalgic Super Mario Bros. artifacts like those, including costumes, games, bubble bath, ponchos and even a Mario cake pan.
“I didn’t know Mario had so much random stuff,” said Jason, a longtime Mario fan. “A cake pan? Some of this stuff is Kiss-level gratuity, but I love it.”
The museum, set up by Nintendo to celebrate the Saturday release of New Super Mario Bros. Wii, was part of a launch event at the Nintendo World Store in Rockefeller Center. The items on display were collected by Nintendo employees over the years.
It was pouring rain in midtown Manhattan, but that didn’t stop throngs of Mario lovers from lining up outside to buy their copy of the game a day early, participating in gaming tournaments or checking out the Mario museum. Wired.com was there to witness the fan frenzy firsthand.
Chris Kohler contributed to this report.
Photos courtesy JesseAngelo.com