(Insert stupid Blog name here)

but it seems to be the thing to do around here

For all my love of lists, that's something I've never done: make a list of the games I own.

My list stems from one I'd written by hand, many years ago, to keep track of my high scores. It only has 100 games on it, and based on the order of some of the games (non-alphabetical) I'm guessing this list was written several games before I'd reached 100. It appears Activision's Beamrider and H.E.R.O, M-Network's Football and Star Strike, and Apollo's Space Cavern are late additions. This was around the time where I was picking up bargain priced games after the crash, but they were still plentiful. Also, I was still a member of the Columbia Video Game Club, since I hadn't yet added Cosmic Commuter to the list. Seems to me that was the last game I got from them. (They're also the place I got my Tigervision games.)

 

A later list (part 1, part 2) shows all 131 games I originally had. I had an electric typewriter by that point too, but I don't recall when I bought it. Mid-80's, somewhere. At any rate, Solaris and Midnight Magic had come out by then, and I think those were the last games I bought. That was also around the time I got my 7800, I think.

 

Should've dated this stuff.

 

Many of my boxes still have the original price tags on them (since not all were shrink-wrapped back-in-the-day). Some have multiple stickers on them, so you can see the spiraling prices as the game industry plummeted (like Defender being slashed from $27.99 to $1.99).

 

 

I've also got my original receipt for my 2600.

 

 

8-10-81. Over 25 years. It was a refurbished unit - the only way I could afford to buy one. It was discounted $20 to $119, but I don't know if that was the refurb price, or an additional sales discount. The game I bought along with it ($29.99) was Missile Command. I may have gone back later and bought Tank Plus (Combat) because the Sears systems shipped with Target Fun (Air-Sea Battle) instead. But I'm not sure... it's possible they threw it in with the unit. I have vague recollections talking to them about that. But it's entirely possible I'm one of the few people to actually buy Combat.

I updated my game list to include my recent haul from AtariAge.

I updated my game list to include my recent haul from AtariAge.

Ooooh - a clue!

Well, I went ahead and bought a couple of boxed Tron games from Atari2600.com. I have to say, their service was exemplary! I'm very pleased with their speed, service and quality. (I bought a couple of keypads for my Synthcart from them, too.)

 

Here are the new boxes. Interesting note - I never realized M-Network had two box-types. The older ones have silver ink (where the stripes are, and on the back of the box), and the newer (cheaper) ones are white. Even though I already owned both types before, I never noticed it until now.

 

 

Now, my original Tron games came packed-in with the Tron joystick, so they didn't have individual boxes. But I made do. I picked up blank white boxes from my local game store back then, and (shudder) cannibalized the Tron box for logos and art to make my own. (Note the sloppy lettering on the side.) Yes... this has bothered me for over 20 years. Probably closer to 25. They just never looked good next to the rest of my games. (Not to mention the whole "cannibalizing" thing. )

 

 

Anyway, it's nice to see the new boxes up on the shelf with my other M-Network games.

 

Oh, and I've updated my game list accordingly, too.

Heh, congratulations!