Visiting London and looking for retro shops, flea markets and retro events. Need

[michellekg]

Greetings!


I'm from Russia, but in a few days I will be in London and will stay there until June 26. Can someone tell me where can I find retro shops, flea markets, garage sales or retro events in London or the surrounding areas?


I want to buy some games for retro computers like Amstrad CPC,ZX Spectrum, BBC Micro and old consoles. And maybe buy these computers themselves.


I know about the Retro Games Fair on June 24, but don't know about other exhibitions and places.


Really need help from you guys. Thanks in advance!

[GeoffB17]

Sorry, but there might not be such places in London, certainly central London.   Might have more luck on the outskirts/suburbs.


I think there recently was a big retro fair 'up north' in Leeds recently, and I'd guess that there is more life in the retro scene in some of the other cities (Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool, Leeds etc).


Other than that, a fair bit of searching via Google for 'retro computers uk', 'retro tech uk.


Dobre diem


Geoff

[||C|-|E||]

Yeah... I live in London since 2010 and I still need to find a place like those. I also use Internet for everything retro related. I have seen a few things in Brick Lane, but it was just by chance and everything was quite trashed. Of course, there are always people trying to sell stuff in some events like Hyper Japan, but it is usually crazily expensive...

[dragon]

Googling:


https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mid=17AUnhWKQUWwSGnV93L1y9J1iHD0&ll=51.470094354137125%2C-0.14165758102637938&z=9
https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mid=17AUnhWKQUWwSGnV93L1y9J1iHD0&ll=51.470094354137125%2C-0.14165758102637938&z=9


http://londongamingmarket.com Next event 23 july,

https://www.retrogamebase.co.uk


http://xelectrical.com/stock/games-consoles


Add typical cex, cash converters, cash generators. Typical second  hand stores.

[deepfb]

I spent some months in London, twelve years ago. I attended every car boot sale I could locate during this time. There was a magazine that listed every flea market in England & Wales, it was sold at the entrance of some of them:



I used to go to three flea markets each saturday and sunday -providing I had no car, it was  difficult to reach all of them before closing, just travelling by tube and bus. I used to leave home around 6.00 am and I wouldn't return until 4.00 pm xD I had to plan every move in advance, taking into account which underground lines where closed, so I could attend the more of them:



There should be something similar to this magazine nowadays, an online listing I guess, but I am not able to find it.

Besides, I wrote chronicles of each weekend (at least, those weekeds I could afford the car boot sale-raid) in the Amstrad CPC spanish forum, here.

...and twelve years ago, it was worth to pay a visit to the Computer Game Exchange at Notting Hill, which was not so expensive. Also by that time, the most "profitable" car boot was the one around Brick Lane (particularly, the not-so-legal stalls located in Chesire Street, heading to Bethnal Green, and outside Shoreditch High Street Station). From that notes, it was also very "interesting" the car boot sale at Kilburn (plenty of software and hardware, I bought some Amstrad NC100/200, a BBC Model B, a GX4000, some Amiga games), and the one at Seven Sisters (Atari ST software), and Rotherhithe (this was little crowded, and I found tonnes of C64 games there).

Five years ago I could spent another two months in the Wallington/Sutton area, and I attended all the flea markets and fairs I could, again. This time there were less interesting things, and I can only recommend the flea market hold in a school at Sutton (large number of stalls, it is impossible not to find something there). At that time I spent a lot of money at Game Focus in Goodge Street. Don't know if it's still running, but I managed to buy some games there despite its prices very similar to ebay's

[||C|-|E||]

Yes, main problems I am encountering these days in physical places are:

a) Prices: since the "retro" thing became fashionable people inflated the prices a lot. You can always find bargains buying directly from the owners, but you need to use the web for this.

b) Lack of second hand 8 bit systems, that were so common in the past. The exceptions are maybe the NES and the Master System, but computers are becoming harder and harder to find in flea markets (or I am very unlucky  )

However, I am sure that if somebody is as dedicated as deepfb you can still find things! 

[GeoffB17]

Hello,


It's prob not a lot of help given your time scale, but it's the only thing I can suggest.


Someone has just reposted a note in the 'News & Events'  section regarding an event in Leeds.   This includes a brochure for the retro event.   The brochure lists all the main 'sellers' who will be there, with a note as to the sort of things they sell.   Some give a hint as to where in the UK they are from.   You could try tracing the ones that might be useful, but I'll bet many are NOT in (or near) to London.


Remember, while London IS the capital, and is a major city, the UK is nothing like as London-centric as Russia is Moscow-centric.


As well as the above info, if there IS a retro event on on London while you're there, go to that, and pester all the sellers there about other sources.   Many may not be too helpful (if you're not buying their stuff).   So pick the ones that do NOT sell the things you're looking for, but DO have something close.


Otherwise, best of luck!


Geoff

[Dagger]

I'm close to East London. You always welcome to pay a visit. Got a few Amstrad machines and some software  available

[AMSDOS]

I know if I was going to London I'd be heading to the British Library to hunt down obscure Amstrad programs out of Magazines.

[sigh]

Retro Game Base

430 Streatham High Road, Streatham
Common, London, SW16 3PX

https://www.retrogamebase.co.uk/

if you want to play arcade games:
Heart Of Gaming which is VERY VERY close to London.

https://www.facebook.com/TheHeartOfGaming

GAME FOCUS NO LONGER EXIST