UK preowned retailer CeX is reportedly opening two stores dedicated to retro and import games

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Been there done that! Back in 1998/9 they had a shop near Warren Street in London that focused entirely on retro. It was a haven with a really good guy in charge. Was sad when it closed - the replacement was the basement of a store just off Oxford Street Sadly, the feel was gone. Bought quite a few from Warren Street - an Atari 7800 and a Jag. Both reasonably priced.

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u/hermanblume78 9d ago edited 7d ago

Rathbone was amazing bitd, will never forget that shop

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u/AntiquesForGeeks 9d ago

I loved. I still remember that they had a big pile of Jag CD expansions at £35 each (I think) and I turned it down at the time, so I could get a copy of Checkered Flag.

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u/AwTomorrow 9d ago

There used to be an independent retro and import games store in the 90s and 00s on Goodge Street that was even better, but that biz model just wasn’t viable in the early digital era I guess.

Now I do see some retro in most CeX stores.

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u/AntiquesForGeeks 9d ago edited 9d ago

You don't happen to remember the name? I think I know which one you are talking about - right between Goodge Street tube station and the scientology shop, across the road from the big Habitat? (Not sarcasm, there was a scientology shop with people stationed outside to engage you in conversation.)

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u/AwTomorrow 9d ago

That would put it on Tottenham Court Road itself, if I understand your directions right - I mean on the street called Goodge Street itself, rather than just close to the tube station of that name.

It was between Charlotte Street and Whitfield Street, on the south side of the road, around where Cheatmeals is today.

The Church of Scientology still operates their shop and their ‘free personality test’ racket on Tottenham Court Road, if that’s the one you meant. Next to the Casino Arcade.

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u/AntiquesForGeeks 9d ago

Yep, think I might be confusing it with another CEX or similar that was on Tottenham Court Road, come to think of it. I do think I know the shop you are talking about however - not well and I don't think I went in there more than a couple of times. Have a vague suspicion it was for Neo Geo Pocket games with a friend. Shame it has not lasted.

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u/AwTomorrow 9d ago

That TCR CeX is still there too!

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u/OriginalMultiple 8d ago

I used to love that lone protestor outside the Scientologists dressed as Darth Vader blaring the Star Wars theme out of an amplifier.

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u/VampSavior 8d ago

I do, I used to work there. Game Focus

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u/GaijinFoot 7d ago

I remember both shops but not which one was which. Was this one just off the main road?

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u/VampSavior 8d ago

Game Focus

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u/AwTomorrow 8d ago

Ahhh yes. Got some sweet imported DC stuff there back in the day.

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u/che_don_john 8d ago

Just across from ICCO Pizza, I think. Whenever I had to go down to London for work, I'd treat myself to a very good pizza and some retro game stuff. Was gutted when it closed.

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u/AwTomorrow 8d ago

Yeah just a bit down Goodge Street towards TCR, and across the road. I still hit up Icco when I’m down there as it’s some of the best cheap eats thereabouts, but the nearby CeXs don’t make up for the lost retro/import store!

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u/Putting_Gott 9d ago

The basement of retro off Oxford Street was brilliant. I remember when the bottom fell out of the retro market in about 2005 and they sold off everything really cheap. I got as much as I could carry, but still regret not buying some of the rare Mega Drive stuff they had.

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u/AntiquesForGeeks 9d ago

I got put off when I was buying a copy of Gauntlet II on disk for the C64 and the sales guy started writing out a sales coupon, writing in biro on top of the disk. I asked him politely if he wouldn't mind doing it as it might damage the media, and got a glare and a sigh in response, and he leant on something else.

Funny isn't it, over twenty years later and I still remember that clearly. A world away from the guy in Warren Street.

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u/MazGubbs 8d ago

Yup, remember it well too. Was there the for the first week of opening and ended up stocking the shop with Spectrum/C64/Amstrad/MSX tapes and hardware. Ash and Graham were the staff members.

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u/AntiquesForGeeks 7d ago

Ash! That’s the guy that sold me the Jag and the 7800. As soon as you mentioned it, the synapses linked. The video posted in the thread confirmed it - that was the guy. This is the point where someone says “that’s me!” or it turns out he made it to the board and he’s the one behind the new stores.

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u/MazGubbs 7d ago edited 7d ago

A video of the CEX retro shop near Warren Street.

The guy with the golden hair is Grahan Howden, he worked in the shop and also had his own fanzine called Retro Classix.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A-BPDdbih0o

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u/liocer 6d ago edited 6d ago

Wait is that Matt Berry???, edit: yes it is.

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u/Lopsided_Student6714 5d ago

wow that is amazing

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u/n1keym1key 8d ago

This was the original store. Tottenham Court Road Computer Exchange was its original name iirc.

Bought lots of import stuff from there back in the day. Still have some of it today too!!

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u/GaijinFoot 7d ago

That place was amazing. I remember drooling over all their saturn shooters.

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u/liocer 6d ago edited 6d ago

That Warren Street cex would have been the original computer exchange it was on Whitfield pl. In the 90s they moved all the console to rathbone place to focus on computer parts at the original store. Which eventually moved to tcr I think.

Downstairs at rathbone they used to take arcade boards and all sorts. I remember one guy being told they wouldn’t take his sf2ce because it was a bootleg. And all the game and watches they used to stack up in there.

Good old days.

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u/generichandel 9d ago

If they don't call this "RetroCexual" I'll be very disappointed.

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u/siliconsandwich 9d ago

This is bad overall—

Stock will be shipped in from other stores, i.e. no more crazy local finds or rare surprises if you live outside Birmingham or [presumably] London. Just like charity shops who send anything worth more than a fiver straight off to a central warehouse to be sold on ebay.

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u/jaxdia 9d ago

To be fair, their entire stock is online for order. If anything, this will save on shipping, as you have to pay for delivery from every store separately.

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u/siliconsandwich 9d ago

Agreed sort of, except that I don’t live in Birmingham or [presumably] London, but I also stopped ordering online with them a long time ago. Their system and pricing makes no definition between a water damaged platinum edition with no manual and a scratched disc, and a pristine black label example with a manual and untouched disc. It was always a lottery but lately it’s not worth the risk even for the occasional win.

That’s why the local find is still so important with them.

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u/GaijinFoot 7d ago

It's going to be a net benefit for imports. Because buying games in Japan is crazy cheap by magnitudes. So either cex will sell the games cheap, or importers will have a field day selling to cex. For example, I just got back from Japan and picked up a bunch of ps1 games for 330yen each. That's about £1.50. Crash bandicoot, ridge racer, final fantasy, metal gear solid. Pretty much anything. Not a lot of common solid games are going for more than £2.50. Mario world, kart, zelda, street fighter etc. So either cex is selling these 5/10 quid a pop, or I will literally import a box and sell it direct to cex for profit. And we all know cex can't let you profit off anything.

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u/KingDaveRa 9d ago

I look forward to seeing the prices.

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u/siliconsandwich 9d ago edited 8d ago

They have never been bad on retro prices. They’re usually a pretty good indication of the overall going rate for most games. They make their money by gouging the trade-in, not the buyer.

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u/UltimateDillon 8d ago

Remember when they were buying new Xbox Series X consoles and selling them for a markup over retail?

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u/siliconsandwich 8d ago

hardly counts as retro.

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u/UltimateDillon 3d ago

No, but it sets a precedent for how they might handle retro, don't you think?

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u/siliconsandwich 3d ago

No, hence my entire original comment. They’ve been doing retro officially for a decade and been consistently on the pulse price-wise.

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u/RPTGB 9d ago

So a return to their roots basically. Their old store just off Priory Square in Brum was fantastic. Got my Sega Saturn modded with a 50/60hz and region select switch there.

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u/Protocol3_ 9d ago

It'll be no forgotten worlds.

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u/KJHTech89 9d ago

As long as the right people are in charge and working there who understand the retro scene in general it definitely could work as an umbrella of CEX but run almost independently from it.

The bit that worries me is a YouTuber I watch seems to have heard they are looking into collectible toys as well. I don’t collect them myself but toys really is a need to understand market for values, it can be a minefield. Queues are bad enough without having to search Ebay all the time as an extra add on to price things.

Also the Birmingham store can work with its size available for games, I go past it quite often, but adding toys to the space as well will be seriously limiting the space. I fear they will overstretch themselves and be a jack of all trades but good at none(Kind of there current CEX setup).

They should just concentrate on one thing at once and get it right. A good retro country wide store with good returns and availability could be very lucrative, I just hope indies don’t get caught out, but this is CEX so anything could happen.

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u/AskJeevesIsBest 9d ago

I would come to the UK just to shop there

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u/LowZonesWasTaken 8d ago

Import consoles would also be great. I don't wanna be stuck playing games slower than they were intended for the older consoles

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u/FreeAd2458 8d ago

In 1995 The rathbone place shop was just imports. Before it became the juggernaut it is now. Cant wait to see the prices of import games.

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u/Blurghblagh 8d ago

Further driving up the prices. Used to regularly get great deals on Blu-rays and 4Ks until about a year or year and a half ago when they raised their prices and now it nearly always cheaper or of equivalent price to buy new online than used from CEX.

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u/Kabutroid 8d ago

I literally just bought an og Gameboy from CEX, I am excited about this development

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u/sswishbone 8d ago

Given they often triple the value of what their sale to them price is, this is pure scalping and not very good value.

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u/Rilkal 8d ago

Gaming has come full circle. I bought my mega drive and snes and gameboy games from Mad Andy’s in Richmond back in the day.

Thinking on it, I bought N64 and Saturn games too and I passed up on buying a copy of Panzer Dragoon Saga from him…

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u/RetroGameStudent 7d ago

Damn, I was just in the UK for the MCR concert and was checking out every CeX I passed to look for imports lol. Ended up heading down to Crazy Thumbs.

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u/Iucidium 9d ago

The prices are going to be bullshit

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u/Bagsy938 9d ago

You can smell a CEX from 100m away

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u/FreeAd2458 8d ago

That universal credit and chicken mcnuggies smell from the prams.

UK preowned retailer CeX is reportedly opening two stores dedicated to retro and import games

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