Heroes of Time: getting to know Gianmarco Pezzino

Hello! I’m Gianmarco and I come from Rome, I’m 36 years old and I grew up on bread and video games, like I think most kids from the 90s.

I started playing with my uncle's Sega Mega Drive by blowing out the Sonic cartridge and from there it all began… I fell so in love with it that a few years ago I decided to get it tattooed!

My very first console ever was the N64 and then over time I moved over to Sony.

For the past 15 years, however, I have decided to recover all the consoles that I couldn't own when I was little, collecting more than 30 of them: from Ataris to Commodores to all the Sega and Nintendo ones, including handhelds too!

Collecting means maintaining a deep connection with our past and the games we have loved. What are your all-time favorite titles? In your own words, let us “see” your shelves and the collection, or collections, that represent you. 

The video game that fascinated me most growing up was Mortal Kombat: I loved it so much that I even cosplayed Scorpion from 2011 until a few years ago in various skins. 

I have had Mortal Kombat games for every console, and in 2019 I even managed to get two childhood games (Mortal Kombat 1 and 2) for Sega Mega Drive signed by Daniel Pesina, the actor who played some characters in the two video games.

⁠By grading your title, you made an important choice and from now on it has become something more, not just as a collectible value. How did you get to know the world of grading? Have you already had similar experiences with other collections of yours, even ones different from video games?

I got to know the world of grading through TCG cards, and then by searching online I saw that it also existed for video games, and having those two autographed titles that are truly important to me, I said to myself… why not? 

Let’s rate them! 

They must remain with me forever in another form.

What were the main reasons why you wanted to grade the title you brought us? Beyond the nostalgic aspects related to the game, are there other motivations behind your decision to entrust TGM with the grading procedure?

I decided to have it graded simply because it seemed to me the right way to preserve something that meant something to me and that gave it that something extra to make it more than unique! 

⁠Every game has its own story, just like its owner; the bond that is formed goes far beyond the simple owner-object relationship. When the title was finally returned to you graded, what did you feel?

When it came back from grading, I was thrilled to display it among the other video games and the Mortal Kombat statues!

I was absolutely not interested in the vote, but in the aesthetic factor of seeing them inside the splendid display case.

To conclude, we can only ask you the classic question: which aspects of our service did you like the most? Thank you not only for giving us your time, but also for choosing to place your trust in us!

What can I say… an excellent service in every respect!

Immediate assistance, professionalism and precision in every aspect, and speed in shipping, grading, and return.

A service worthy of top marks!