Since then, Ellerbe, 68, of Port Royal, has collected more than 200 games. A stockbroker with Smith Barney before he retired, Ellerbe said he didn’t become a serious game-collector until his two daughters grew up, and he learned that children and collector games don’t mix after they destroyed his childhood Monopoly game.

Most of his collection is stored in a climate-controlled storage facility. Some are on display or played. Others are meticulously placed on top of bookshelves, tables and in corners of his home.

More than a half-century after receiving his first game, Ellerbe now is gathering the cream of the crop of his extensive collection – the interesting and rare – to display at the Charleston County Public Library.

“It’s the largest collection from a personal collector that I know of,” said Frances Richardson, a library spokeswoman. “It’s really unique.”

It sounds like they’re implicitly referring to “antique” games, although Quirks doesn’t seem old enough to be called antique yet.  But 200 games that are more than, say, 50 years old does sound a little more impressive.

Agreed.  Particularly since I could have gone into a Toys R Us 10 years ago and found over 100 different games there on the shelves.

The funny part is that the person involved in the article is VP of the Association of Games and Puzzle Collectors who are hosting a yearly gathering in the town.

Many of those folks have more games than 200. That group does run toward antique games, although there is that copy of Quirks in the first pic.

(Although, come to think of it, I keep mine in the house, and we monitor humidity and run a dehumidifier during the summer months. So climate controlled isn’t that weird.)

I only have maybe 30 or 40 games that are more than 50 years old. It isn’t THAT hard anymore, now that the golden age of 50’s Parker Brothers games is in that window.

I just checked, and I’m at 210 right now. Time to sell some games :)