The Guinness-certified, largest collection of video games in the world is being auctioned off wholesale to one well-to-do bidder. The massive video game horde of Michael Thommason includes over 11,000 unique titles for just about any gaming system you can think of. Big names such as Nintendo, PlayStation and Xbox are represented alongside games for lesser-known consoles such as the Gizmondo and SuperVision. The Guinness Book of World Records officially granted Thommason the title of largest collection in December 2013. At that time, all the games combined totaled 10,607. Since then, however, more than 400 games have been added, ensuring that this will remain the record holder for the foreseeable future.

Building the collection
For more than 20 years, Thommason has worked in the retail video game industry in one capacity or another. In the '90s he was the head of seven independent game stores, and more recently, he has been working at a national chain. In these positions, he has been able to get exclusive access to store inventories and employee discounts, enabling him to get his hands on the highest-quality versions of each game. As a result, each piece of the vast collection is in pristine condition. Furthermore, over 2,600 of the games are still shrinkwrapped in their original factory packaging, and 8,300 are complete with their box and manual.

Saying goodbye
Remarkably, this is not the first time that Thommason has sold his collection. He has started from scratch at least two times previously in order to access a bit of cash. This time he is remaining vague as to exactly why he is selling his award-winning collection, but he assures bidders that the money is being used to help his family. While the total value of the collection has been estimated to fluctuate between $700,000 and $800,000, the highest bid so far on the online auction is only $50,000 – below the unknown reserve price.

Not the end for Thommason
While selling off his entire collection will certainly be a huge setback, Thommason has indicated that he has no intention of giving up on collecting. The winner of the auction will receive the official Guinness World Record title but will have to watch out, it is likely that Thommason will build another world-class video game stash in the next 20 years that will be twice as large! 

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