World of Commodore '24

I haven't blogged about World of Commodore since 2019. Now, to be fair, we did have a worldwide pandemic between then and now. In 2020 there was no in-person event. Maybe it happened online, but I didn't participate.

In 2021 World of Commodore happened again in the flesh, but we were all masked up. I don't remember much about that event. I did take lots of photos, but I can only assume that attendance was low. I think they did the show via Zoom in parallel with the in-person event. At this time, C64 OS had not yet made its v1.0 debut. I was very busy preparing for the release though. Instead of blogging I was writing the User's Guide both printed and digital, and trying to finish everything up in the following 6 months.

By the time 2022 rolled around, I had released C64 OS just a couple of months earlier, and my life and time availability had been completely deranged. That was one of the busiest times I've ever experienced. I was making sales every few minutes. I had a huge backlog of shipments because I couldn't fulfill them as quickly as they were coming in. Obviously that's leveled off since then, but at the time I was just completely swamped.

The above image is of my C64 Luggable in 2022, which I brought with me, flanked by some C64 OS v1.0 promotional displays.

In 2023, the masks were off, things were getting back to normal. C64 OS sales had slowed down to the point where I could focus and think and spend time on other things. I did take a lot of photos, but I had fallen out of the habit of writing a long blog-post review of World of Commodore. I was still busy, blogging had taken a bit of a backseat to other work, and so, no review in 2023.

The image below is from the preparation for my showroom table in 2023. It had matured quite a bit from 2022. I had that nice new white monitor shelf. I'd printed out beautiful little spec-sheets for each computer. And I had tri-fold brochures available for the first time.

It wasn't a perfect experience though. I must confess. Having three machines set up was a bit too busy for just one table. Even though one of the computers was small, and demonstrated that C64 OS can be run on TheC64 mini, it was not obvious that this computer even was a Commodore 64. After all, it has a small HDMI LCD display, TheC64 mini's mainboard has been de-cased and mounted to the underside of the display stand. I think it looks boss, but with the wireless keyboard and no visible computer, people assumed it was just a PC and took little interest in it.

It didn't help that the C64 Luggable also doesn't look like a traditional Commodore 64. It has a built-in LCD VGA display, a PS/2 keyboard and mouse, and is in that hotrod black all-in-one luggable case. Again, I thought (still think) it looks totally rad, but people who see it don't know what they're looking at, and are not titillated by that nostalgic and classic C64 look. Another unfortunate circumstance was that my table in 2023 was situated in one of the corners at the back of the room.

WoC2023 was a strange event for me. I was still making so many sales of C64 OS on the website that over just that weekend my online sales outnumbered my sales from the show itself. That alone isn't a disappointment, but it puts the commercial value of the show in perspective compared to the commercial value of the internet and c64os.com. Don't get me wrong, I love being at events like World of Commodore. I would go even if I had nothing to sell. But, from a sales perspective, of the people who would buy a copy of C64 OS, it's mostly the same people who come back each year. Those people have either already purchased a copy, or they'll probably never purchase a copy, because an operating system for the Commodore 64 is just not their bag. People who come just for the nostalgia of seeing their childhood machines and talking to people, they're not really in the market. This kind of attendee doesn't show up, and go, "oh, hey an operating system for my C64, that's just what I need." This is why sales via the website are much more numerous.

Also, strangely, in 2023 there was more-or-less no party on Friday. I drove in, got there, a few people were setting up. I started to bring my gear in and set up. A few people went for dinner as a small group. Then later, just myself and two others went to dinner on our own, mid-evening. When we got back, the room was quiet and we just went to bed. That was kind of a let down, as it's one of just 2 nights spent at the show.

World of Commodore... in 2024

World of Commodore this year, in 2024, was a totally different animal. It was so much better that it inspired me to write another post-show review.

I took off both Thursday and Friday from work, so I'd have plenty of time to get myself prep'd, print out brochures and promotional material, practice my presentation, collect all my gear together, pack the car and drive to Toronto. I didn't make any stops, and traffic was light and moving along quickly, with the exception of one short stretch going into Toronto. I should also say that I did a better job packing this year. I brought with me more expensive gear, like the CMD FD-4000 and CMD HD-4000. And I took more time to pack things in plastic totes. So the drive itself (the starts and stops) felt less stressful.

I arrived relatively early, 6:20pm. But as I was setting up my gear, lots of other people were showing up. The place felt way more active and alive. Not to mention, I got my choice of table this year and had a great spot right near the main doors of the showroom. I reduced the number of machines at my table from 3 to 2, which made the table less busy.

After setting up, a whole bunch of people went out for the Friday night dinner at East Side Marios. That was a tradition I'd come to love, and I sorely missed it when it didn't really happen that way in 2023.

Upon returning from dinner, the room was still alight with activity. People were hanging around, games and music were being played, computers were still being set up. And beer was consumed. Having the Friday night "before/after" party (day before the show, evening after the set up period) is such a blast. It's an essential part of the experience, in my opinion. Because, you go home on Sunday, so Friday night means you get two nights of partying. This makes the long trip (and longer for some people than for me) feel much shorter.

Tour around the room

There is a ring of tables all the way around the outside, then two rings on the inside for vendors. Starting on the left when coming into the main showroom, was my table with C64 OS and my Ultimate64 and C64 Luggable.

Next was Leif and his table, he was showing Blue-64 with a wireless XBox controller, the Retro mechanical C64-style keyboard from 8BitDo, and some other cool stuff. We upgraded his Ultimate64 + IDE64 to beta 3 of C64 OS v1.07. It took a bit of fiddling to get the Ultimate64's built-in 16MB REU (at $DF00), the IDE64 in the physical expansion port (at $DE00) and the Ultimate64's emulated Swiftlink Wifi modem (at $DF80) all working at the same time. But we figured it out, and he got his C64 online with C64 OS and the Commodore Network Protocol server.

Then CRT (Jon Hammarberg) had his table with sound sticks and a Sony PVM showing amazing new demos from the past year. He also had a few other nice things: A new Mega65, an Altair 8800 reproduction computer, and a new C64 mainboard called C64i by François Léveillé and Francis Bernier. He also had a Vectrex, because his c2 cross assembler can assemble code for multiple processors, including the Motorola 6809 used in the Vectrex.

Next came a few tables in a row with machines being demoed by Aaron Middleton from One Maybe Two Retro. What a personality this guy has! So friendly, so exhuberant. Great sense of humor and very helpful. I bought a 1084S monitor at the show and Aaron helped me test it out ahead of time on his Amiga 500. He's from Ottawa which is not far from my home city of Kingston. It was great to meet him and hopefully we'll be able to get together again for some retro fun and goodness before having to wait a whole year for the next World of Commodore.

Aaron had an Amiga500, some C128s, a C64c, all complete systems with displays, for sale. He also had an SX-64 with a RAD (naked, no case, and the short version for the PiZero.) On this was the custom software for playing DOOM on your C64. It actually runs from the Pi, but the C64's keyboard, sound and display are used. Despite the fact that it's not running on the 6510, it's still a fun and impressive demo. And, since I've got a RAD, it feels like it's worthwhile checking this out and getting to play DOOM on my C64.¹

Later in the show, maybe on the Sunday, he also pulled out and set up a Commander X16 from the 8-bit guy. It was running a Sonic the Hedgehog demo. This is the first time I've seen this machine in the flesh. If that wasn't enough, he also hooked up a SideKick to one of the C128s, so I had a chance to poke around at that a little bit too.

Further down there were monitors and some other C64 hardware for sale. CRT monitors have become somewhat expensive over the last handful of years. So if you've got a few, don't throw them away. They're quickly becoming precious. Then there was Signals from Space, selling retro-computing themed cookies and cookie-cutters, buttons, stickers and such.

Around the corner from that were some Amiga 3000s, including a crazy tall A3500 tower. According to Wikipedia, this is listed as an unreleased machine.

Prototype of the Amiga 3000T, it was housed in a Commodore PC60-III tower case. Wikipedia - Amiga Models and Variants

Remembering Tom Luff

Next up is a counter top with some cabinets beneath it. The TPUG banner, printed on a hardy plastic tarpaulin-like material, and created by Tom Luff, was on display here where it usually is.

Sadly, Tom Luff, long time member (original member?) of TPUG, passed away this year. I thought I'd share a personal anecdote to add to his memorial. When I was 17 years old, I went to one my first Commodore expos. We drove down to either Louisville Kentucky, or Chicago Illinois, I can't even remember now which one it would have been. I took a bus from Kingston to Toronto, and camped out on the couch at Joe Palumbo's house.

We went over to Tom's appartment, and he was one of the first Commodore people I got to know. His place was jam packed with bits and pieces, computers and electronics parts from the 70s and 80s. He was friendly, fun, and full of stories to tell. A true Commodore Nerd, in the best sense of the word. He clearly got bit by the Commodore bug in the early days; the machines, the company, the hobby and culture grabbed on to some part of his soul, like it did for so many of us, and it never let him go.

I should also mention that earlier in the year, Bryan Pope left us too for the great Commodore expo in the sky, where the SIDs are always pumping and the smell of solder and dusty old electronics is wafting on the air.

Two local Commodore folk in the same year. That hurts. It reminds us to make the most of the time we've got, to savour the joys and the passions of our hobbies. And look up every now and then from your computer to say hello to the people in the community who share our interests. We will not be here forever.

Extra tables, bigger and better.

Someone once said, in a moment of gloom, that there is only one way that the popularity of Commodore clubs and shows goes. He didn't finish the thought, but the answer was "down" and "smaller." But, you know what? That's not true. Sure, in the end, we're all going to age out and our kids and grandkids will give less and less of a care about the machines that lit fires in our hearts. But we're not there yet.

And the truth is, World of Commodore has been getting bigger and better, year over year. When I left the scene in 2008, World of Commodore was being held in a church basement where we were surrounded by neon green painted cinder blocks, and the crayon drawings of Sunday-school kids ornamented the walls in the side presentation rooms.

When I came back in 2016, we were in a Hotel conference room, split down the middle by the fold-out partition. The showroom was half the room (or maybe two thirds), and the other half of the room was for presentations. The event then was a one-day affair. I also had nothing to show or present back then, and (correct me if I'm wrong) there was no Retro Rewind back then.

The show grew to take up the full weekend, and the showroom floor expanded to fill the whole room. The presentations got there own room. At first it was hard to fill the extra tables though, and sometimes a table or two would be found empty. Then COVID was annoying, let's be honest. But the show has weathered that storm.

This year, the showroom floor was overflowing. The "free giveaways" table had to be moved out to the conference room lounge because there just wasn't space for it in the showroom. They had to set up new tables at weird angles to make room for more displays. And, who would have thought that the show would be getting corporate sponsorship? Retro Rewind had a nice centralized table near the entrance, just across from my table. And large professionally printed displays could be found at the entrance and around the showroom.

New hardware and new software are available for sale. And stunning new machines like the Mega65, the Commander X16, the Foenix256, the Ultimate 64, and more were on display. New expansion devices and add-ons were all around, like Blue64, TeensyROM, CMD HD and FD-4000, and brand-new Dual 1581s!

The show is far from dying. In fact, it's growing. Rumor is that the organizers are looking at possible alternative venues that are larger still. It's all very exciting.

Thanks should also go out to Lucas Gramajo for bringing new energy to the organization and planning of the show. Here are a few rock solid improvements:

• The ZOOM-video feed was ditched. You want to experience the magic? Get off your couch, buy a ticket, and come to the show. This was a good idea and it worked.
• The recording of the presentations was much improved. The presenters were mic'd, there were multiple cameras plus a direct video capture of the presentation screen.
• The presentations will be released on YouTube in a gradual and paced manner, building and spreading out the intrigue, and without diminishing the value of coming to the show in person.
• The name-tag badges were improved. More stylish, with color-coding to help show-goers identify who is an organizer, who is a presenter, a visitor, etc.
• The after parties felt more like they were officially sanctioned, with pizzas and wings (and things I shouldn't mention) being provided, Saturday evening.

Let's continue the tour

Some equipment and a personalized Commodore 64 that belonged to Tom Luff were on display. Then an extra table crammed in for someone else's C64-oriented display. He had boxed software, drives, computers and extra hardware on display and for sale.

On the other side of the emergency exit is usually where the Amiga folk are set up. They had a beautiful, tall, black Amiga banner hanging. I love stuff like this. They had Amigas set up for playing games, including an Amiga CD32. They also had a TheA500 mini on display, and what looks like a new A600 implementation, in a small stand-alone black case. It's called an A600GS (GS is for Games System), and it's being sold new from AmigaKit.com for just 135 GBP. See? Here's another example of brand-new hardware being shown off, in 2024.

An amazing looking black Commodore CDTV was on display too. Though it wasn't all Amiga here, the CDTV was soon followed by an Apple Macintosh LC475 (with a beautiful and matching Apple display), a Macintosh Plus, a Mega65, a VIC-20 and a Commodore 128.

Speaking of extra tables being snuck in, there were more machines in the following space where there is another counter top and cabinets built into the room. Here there was a C64 playing games and a TurboGrafix16! I haven't seen one of these since they were on display at Radio Shack.

There was another table with a Commodore 64 and some vintage printers hooked up being shown off.

Around the bend from that was Digital Man. He had some pretty rad gear on display and for sale. A Mega65 running C64 OS! That was nice to see. He also had a new CMD HD, but he'd built it from kit, and it had a custom case. I think it's pretty great that this is an option for people who are handy with a soldering iron, enjoy this kind of work, and who want to save a bit of cash. In the end, they get a brand new CMD HD reproduction unit. Makes me particularly satisfied that I spent so much time making the CMD HD a first-class citizen of C64 OS.

Digital Man also had on display (and for sale, but ran out of stock by the time I got around to checking it out) the TeensyROM cartridge. It can do lots of neat stuff, and the list of what it can do is growing. A MIDI USB host is one of its main early focuses, and he had a MIDI keyboard set up with an EVO C64c to show off some of those capabilities.

That EVO C64 must have cost him a pretty penny, but it looked absolutely stunning!! Another brilliant example of impressive, luxurious and brand-new retro Commodore hardware at World of Commodore. The work and love that people are putting into our favorite computer is still blowing my mind. Below is a picture of an EVO64. I wish I'd taken a better picture of the one Digital Man had, his had a transparent keyboard to go along with the transparent case of the CMD HD and C64c. Pretty awesome.

I was particularly interested in the TeensyROM's ethernet port for wired internet. This is implemented as an emulated SwiftLink cartridge with a TCP/IP stack in hardware. We had a brief discussion about some tweaks to its command and feature set that I'd love to see, to make it easier to support with a network hardware driver in C64 OS. So, we can look forward to the TeensyROM being another affordable option for fast networking under C64 OS.

On the table next to Digital Man, was Jorge Abreu with several computers with branding from the foreign South American market. A Talent MSX DPC-200, a CZ Spectrum, two "Drean" Commodore 64s, a bread bin and a C64c from Agentina.

Next up was Chiron Bramberger. His table had an Amiga 2500, for sale, and demoing his boxed 2023 Amiga arcade game, Jerboastar vs. the Gersmows.

He was also demoing a prototype of the PetSynth II MIDI for the Commodore PET. That was pretty cool. And two different Commodore MIDI adapters (C64 and PET) along the same side of the room.

Next up was David Hill. He had a table of 16-bit competitors as complete systems for sale. Some kind of Atari, an ST Mega 2, I believe. The computer is not inside the keyboard but inside a pizza box case with front mounted 3.5" floppy drive. On top sat a matching Atari SC 1224 monitor. The computer was sporting a PS/2 adapter with standard PS/2 mouse and keyboard.

Right beside it was an Amiga 1200 with matching Amiga-branded monitor. And beside that was an Amiga 500 with a 1084S display sitting atop an Xetec hard drive. This is the first time I've ever seen an Xetec hard drive in person (this drive has an amazing history.) I didn't get a chance to see if this was actually being used by the Amiga 500 though, it might have been for a flat C128 that he also had available for sale.

Interestingly enough, this is the 1084S that I ended up buying, for use with my Amigas. It needed a bit of clean up, but it's in good working order.

Next up, and around the corner, was a table showing off some amazing new products by BitBinders. This table was manned by Craig Smith, and he was selling new power supplies for the Amiga, C128 and C64. These are branded as AMIpower, 128power and 64power. They look nice.

But the real eye-openers were these super sexy "BitBinders 1581 Replica Disk Drives". They are complete reproductions of the 1581 disk drive, in a 3D printed case that look very faithful to the look and feel of the original. With the added bonus that there are also two models of dual 1581; Two 1581s in a single enclosure, either stacked vertically or side-by-side. I've gotta say, these look really really cool.

According to the website they've been popular. From what I understand, the dual drives have two complete 1581s in a single enclosure. That is, each drive has its own controller board, it isn't just one controller board with two 3.5" mechanisms. Each controller board has its own RAM, ROM and CPU, but the drive as a whole has just a single power switch and if a serial cable is connected to the whole drive, both 1581s are on the bus. Each 1581 controller board has DIP switches to control which IEC device number it has.

Here are some closer pics, from the BitBinders website. Such beautiful work.

Unfortunately, I was so busy that I didn't take as many pictures, or at least I didn't take them in as systematic a way as I did in previous years. The two tables that followed BitBinders were for other vendors. One was selling used commodore equipment and the next table was called Reverse Order, and they were selling shirts and stickers with a retro computing and retro gaming theme.

The middle of the room was also packed with tables this year too. The middle of the room has two rings of tables, so that the whole room forms a kind of figure-8. The ring on the left-side of the room when coming in the main entrance was straight across from my table.

This ring was occupied by three main groups: Retro Rewind, Vintage Computer Federation and JPPBM.

Retro Rewind had the strip of tables directly across from my table. Frank Linhares and company were selling many of the products available in the Retro Rewind online catalog. They were also taking hardware in for repairs, doing some repairs on the spot, and had some cool machines on display too.

I took the opportunity to pass off the mainboard of my original CMD HD, which needs to have its aging and flaky RTC chip replaced by a new, modern RTC module. I also brought them my original CMD Expander 3+1. When I was a teen, I put one of the ports askance so that an REU could be connected and still clear the top of a SuperCPU. Later, I tried to restore it to its original condition, and overheated the delicate PCB and accidentally lifted some traces. Oops.

The SixtyClone had a nice external C64 keyboard in a custom blue 3D-printed case. I didn't get a photo of that though. They also had an imposingly tall Amiga 3000T, a tower A3000 with four drives built in: CD-ROM, two 3.5" floppy drives, and a 5.25" floppy drive.

Around the corner from Retro Rewind was Jeff Brace from Vintage Computer Federation. They had a beautiful and tall advertisement banner too. These graphical displays make the show look more like a commercial enterprise than just a few geeks and nerds in a basement. Personally, I like to see these banners. The table cloth also bore the graphical logo of the Vintage Computer Federation.

At one end of the table they had TheC64 mini and TheC64 Maxi, one with a SNES-style USB game controller, the other with the standard competition pro style USB joystick. Next to that they also had a breadbin C64, but to it was connected a sweet little adapter for a Playstation game controller.

At the other end of their tables, they were selling T-shirts, mouse pads, and had other pamphlets and brochures.

The other main group around this table ring was Joe Palumbo, of JPPBM (Joe Palumbo, Products By Mail.) He's a vendor who is always there. He sells original boxed software for Commodore VIC-20, C64, C128, and Amiga, and also has loads of books and manuals, and miscellaneous cables and adapters.

This year, sadly, Joe was selling off some of Tom Luff's personal Commodore equiment. These two were personal friends going back further than I can remember. One interesting piece of kit that Tom Luff had put together was an early uIEC from Jim Brain, but it wasn't a uIEC/SD, it had a Compact Flash adapter for storage. The unit was mounted inside an original 1581 drive case. A unique creation, for sure.

Around the other ring of tables in the middle of the room, the most interesting to me personally was the biggest assortment of Commodore PETs that I think I've ever seen in one place. Ben Kayfetz had on display, and for sale, 5 or maybe 6 PETs. They were all working, and he also had several Commodore Dual Floppy drives for the PETs, 4040s and 8050s. What a collection.

In addition to the PETs, he was also selling a VIC-20, a breadbin C64, a C64c, a 1702 monitor and some peripherals. He also had an assorment of boxed VIC-20 software on cartridge, and some brand-new cbmSD mini drives. These are SD2IEC drives with IEEE-488 support for connecting directly to a Commodore PET.

On the other side of this ring of tables was another vendor, I apologize that I didn't catch their name. This vendor had a large assortment of original boxed software, games, productivity software, and operating systems, mostly for the C64 and Amiga. There were also C64s and Amigas for sale in the original boxes, and a fun mix of other products to explore. Books, t-shirts, posters, user's manuals, and many odds and ends, both new and old, like a vintage port expander, and a new Foenix 256 computer.

I hope I didn't miss anyone, but I'm sure I did. Some people showed up for just one of the days, either Saturday or Sunday, and so some tables changed up who and what was on them over the course of the weekend.

Closing Thoughts

It was as great weekend. I had a ton of fun.

One thing different for me is that I had very little time to enjoy the presentations. I mostly stayed at my own table, but I did circle around the room to talk to people, take photos, make some purchases and so on. I didn't buy any books this year, that feels like a change for me. I almost always come home with some cool new (old) Commodore 8-bit books.

I sold more copies of C64 OS at this show than I have at previous World of Commodore events. I was a bit more prepared this year though. My brochures were better put together, my display table was better organized, and I printed out C64 OS License Registration Cards to help me keep better records about who bought what and when.

I felt that my presentation went very well. I had the last timeslot on Saturday, 4pm to 5pm. Because no one was following my presentation I had some leeway at the end to take questions and show some things that I hadn't originally planned to show. And I didn't feel as much pressure to meet the exact deadline of 45 minutes.

On Saturday, presentations were given on the main floor of the hotel, in the dining room. A large flat screen TV was rented for that day and set up on a table at the head of the room. Tables for eating were removed, and the chairs set up as usual for the audience.

As I mentioned earlier, the filming and capture were better this year. Every presenter wore a wireless lapel mic, so the quality of the audio should be much better this year. Plus there were two cameras rolling from two different angles (which you can see below.) And there was also the direct digital video capture of the screen.

The videos are being edited together for YouTube, and they will be uploaded one at a time. At the time of this writing, I've got the raw footage from my presentation so I could review it for myself, but the video of the presentation is not yet available on YouTube.

If you want to see the presentations without waiting for their eventual release online, then, next year, you'll have to come out to World of Commodore in the flesh! Stay at the hotel, and enjoy the communal meals out at restaurants and the after parties in the showroom. We play games, listen to music, chat, drink beer, eat pizza, test out hardware and software, make friends and enjoy the atmosphere of Commodore computing.

I hope to see you there, in 2025!

1. Since coming home from the show, I have installed the DOOM software on my RAD, and ... I gotta admit, it's pretty rad. Check this Tweet.

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