[Getting my first Atari 2600 on friday]

     Do my eyes deceive me, or is that a LIGHT sixer you've got?

     Not that there's anything wrong with that--my "daily driver" is a light sixer, and you still got a good deal, but I hope your seller didn't advertise it as a heavy sixer.

 

     Best wishes getting that E.T. collection going!

[Atari 2600 homebrew most similar to Montezuma's Revenge (if there is one)]

     Thanks for all the great suggestions...got me some thinking to do!

[Atari 2600 homebrew most similar to Montezuma's Revenge (if there is one)]

     I used to play--and loved--Montezuma's Revenge on Commodore 64 back in the day.  Had an Atari 2600 also, but did not have the Montezuma's Revenge cartridge for it.  From what I've seen and heard, the Atari 2600 version of that game is quite good and really not significantly downgraded from other systems' versions.

     I currently enjoy all my old Atari favs on the original hardware.  Looked into seeing Panama Joe on my CRT, and was disappointed to find that a Montezuma's Revenge cart is not cheap these days...on average $50 for a beat-up loose copy.

     So if I've only got $50 to blow on one cart or the other, I'm torn between Montezuma's Revenge, which I KNOW I'll enjoy, versus a homebrew which captures the spirit of my old favorite, but I'd be taking a chance. 

     Any suggestions on which homebrews are most similar to Montezuma's Revenge?  A fast-paced platforming adventure with treasures to find and a huge world to explore?  Hope to hear from some other Montezuma's Revenge fans who know what I'm talking about.

[Which one is Choplifter and which is Pole Position II?]

     Go ahead and laugh at me if you want to, I deserve it.  I opened two 7800 carts and think I might have mixed up the PCB's.  Since I don't have a 7800--these two carts were part of a 2600 cart bulk buy some years ago--I can't just plug 'em in and look at the screen.  So which is which?

[website that explains the Mr. Boston cart?]

     Would love to know myself.  Have heard so little about this game and it's now been quite a few years since its release.

[Your First Atari Memory]

     My first experience was in 1979 at a military BX.  I was six years old, and no stranger to arcade video games...I'd played Super Bug, Space Invaders, and numerous Pong clones at pizza parlors etc, but this was the first time I'd seen video games played on a home TV set.  What a magical experience.  The display had just been turned on with the Combat cartridge, and before long every kid in the store was crowded around it.

     I wanted to stay and watch while my folks looked elsewhere in the huge store, so they told me "OK, stay right here and don't run off."

     I did as I was told.

[Need guidance from community. Sold Atari 2600 on Ebay, and...]

     Thanks for all the guidance here.  Sent a label to the buyer along with a note that I wanted EVERYTHING back and would issue a refund upon receipt.  Have not heard from the buyer today.  We'll see what happens.  If it doesn't arrive by October 5, Ebay will excuse the refund (so they say.)

[Need guidance from community. Sold Atari 2600 on Ebay, and...]

     It crossed my mind that the buyer may have swapped the board, and I don't have any photos of the original board.  BUT--I replaced the TIA chip and socket plus several capacitors, and soldered the RF cable directly to the board and bypassed the on-board jack.  (Helped a LOT with the picture quality.)  So if the buyer did swap the board, he'd have buckets of time involved in copying my handiwork.

     I did ship it priority, as I most often do, but have never had to file a claim.  How does that work?  Fifty notarized forms, and six to eight months?

[Need guidance from community. Sold Atari 2600 on Ebay, and...]

     Heard back from the buyer.  Buyer says that the game select switch lever was floating loose inside the cellophane I'd wrapped the console in.  Maybe this is a legit case of shipping damage, but it would have taken considerable force not only to break off the game select lever but also mash the game reset lever permanently down.

     I pointed out to the buyer that there was no cartridge inserted and that the TV (assuming it's more modern) won't even display garbage on the screen without a cartridge.

     I did some internal repairs on this unit when it went out, so if I get it back I'll know pretty quickly if something shady happened.

     As for the power adapter tip, I not only heat-shrinked but epoxied the interchangeable / reversible tip to make it "idiot proof."

     Wish I'd taken more photos...big lesson learned.

[Need guidance from community. Sold Atari 2600 on Ebay, and...]

     Thanks for all the helpful info and commiserating.  Disgusting situation.

     Here's an update...don't know how I missed this the first time around!

 

     The picture of the Atari with all the games and accessories is the exact unit and photo I posted for auction on Ebay and sent to the buyer. 

     The other two pictures are the ones the buyer submitted with the return request.

     Maybe YOU will spot the problem immediately.  I didn't.

[Need guidance from community. Sold Atari 2600 on Ebay, and...]

     Sold an Atari 2600 / VCS on Ebay last week along with a bundle of games, controllers, and a coax adapter.  I confirmed numerous times (to hopefully avoid a situation like this) that everything worked the very day it was packed.  Received a formal return request from Ebay via the buyer today, and it sounds like the buyer just doesn't know how to hook up a vintage Atari unit.  The complaints didn't make sense.  "No light or sound."  HUH?

     Asked for a description of how the buyer was attempting to hook it up to a compatible TV using the coax adapter provided, and have yet to hear back, but the troubling thing is that the list of recourse options provided all were in the buyer's favor.  It looks I have no path to formally dispute this return request.

     Anyone else been here, and can point the way forward?  Getting through to Ebay staff is an ordeal in itself.

 

     Larry

     

[Hubtrex pedal (and whatever other) switch passthrough "hub"]

Way cool, man!👍

[Vectrex (and other) Arcade Joysticks]

     BEAUTIFUL work, A+.

[HEAVY FOUR-ER? What exactly are we looking at here?]

     As many times as I've looked at this box, how have I never noticed something unusual on it? 

     The logical explanation is that the console shown was just a prop for the box photo, but does someone here know if there ever actually was a four-switcher in a heavy-sixer case, some weird hybrid of the four and six switch models?  I've never seen one in person.

 

     Larry

[How did you receive your first Atari "back in the day?"]

     Got mine for Christmas in '84, a Vader 2600.  It came from the local Toys-R-Us for $49.95.  This price was finally within the realm of my folks' reasonability range.  I didn't care that Atari consoles and games were on clearance tables many places, didn't care that technologically superior systems had been available for a couple years at that point.

     Didn't care.  I was so happy to finally have one that I played it morning 'till night the first week (was out of school for Christmas break.)  That first week I wore out and blistered my hands on Combat, Asteroids, Dodge 'Em, Pac-Man (of course), Pitfall, and Bermuda Triangle.  That Atari 2600, for me, was the equivalent of Ralphie's BB gun.

     I'm a hopeless nostalgia junkie, so if YOU'VE got a story, PLEASE share.

 

     Larry

[Quality game grading at a fraction of retail cost!]

On 3/14/2022 at 11:51 AM, Mockduck said:

I'm not paying more than $500 for it unless you have it under sealed cellophane.

     Add another zero onto that figure, and we'll talk.  Unless...the good folks at WPAGOA come through with an Official Seal of Approval, then it will be considerably more.

[Quality game grading at a fraction of retail cost!]

     I will be sending in my ultra-rare E.T. cartridge for grading.

     Not many of these were produced, and condition-wise it's sure to rank a solid "10."  It will be arriving at the WPAGOA building via Brinks Armored Transport Service, so please keep an eye out.

     

     By the way, is there a "WPAGOA OFFICIAL SEAL OF APPRROVAL" available?  If there is, I'll be happy to cover the additional cost, whatever it may be.

[How did you find out about The Crash(TM)?]

     I knew something was wrong around 1984, when Atari games that had been $30 just a year or two earlier were showing up on clearance tables for $5, and my beloved Atari store-play kiosks and displays were disappearing, but it didn't really sink in until...

     Early 1985, finally had an Atari 2600 Vader.  Brought home a copy of Seaquest (Toys-R-Us, $3.99 + tax), racked up the required 60,000 points for the coveted Activision Sub Club patch, and mailed off my Polaroid of the TV screen.  A month later I got a letter from Activision stating, more or less, "We're not doing these anymore," and knew that Atari's heyday was over.  It was devastating.

 

     Larry

 

[Which console do 2600 gamers use to play physical 2600 games?]

     Love my Hong Kong Sixer.  All original except for the power switch and works great.  

     Seems like this one was the model I saw most often on the store displays as a kid, where I put in most of my Atari gaming time, so it's not only functional but holds a special slice of nostalgia as well.

[MiniVex CV for Colecovision--joystick and driving controller in one compact unit]

     That's a nice paddle controller!  Kaboom and Breakout-style games just aren't the same with a joystick.

[Intellivision Keyboard Component vs. ECS--fundamental differences?]

     Thank you both for the info...I understand perfectly. 

 

[Intellivision Keyboard Component vs. ECS--fundamental differences?]

     Forgive me if a thread already exists for this, but I couldn't find it if it does.

 

     Was wondering what the major differences are (other than rarity) between the first barely-released computer module and the more common second one.  Game compatibility?  Programming abilities?  Memory?  External accessories?

     I never saw either of these back at the time of their respective releases so all I know are the bits and pieces from collector guides.

 

     Larry

[Don't know where else to share this, but I have to, because I am amazed]

     His teacher should see that.

[MiniVex CV for Colecovision--joystick and driving controller in one compact unit]

     Hi, Colecovision fans.  

     I've been making compact controllers for Vectrex for a while now, as well as a few for Atari.  Always liked the Colecovision, so I decided to make a compact multi-function unit for this classic system.

     Initially my intent was to make a batch of these for sale, but that's not likely at this point.  The parts cost is too high, and it's way too labor intensive.  The average MiniVex for Vectrex takes 8-10 hours from start to finish.  THIS beast easily took more than twice that, and I don't see the time coming down much.  Just too much going on internally.

     Months of development involved here, and my plan is not coming to fruition, but that's the way it goes sometimes.  At least I got a fully-working prototype out of all that work.

     Of course I wanted to show off my cool toy here, but that's not all.  I ran into countless frustrating roadblocks and failures while developing this.  The Colecovision uses some very strange--and FINICKY--voltages in the controller circtuiry.  The worst part was the keypad functions.  So if any of you are making your own Colecovision controllers, and have slammed into some brick walls, I'll be happy to share whatever might help.  In case you're wondering (no pun intended) the case is made of 22-gauge steel like all the other MiniVex controllers.

     Many wadded-up pieces of graph paper and aspirin tablets later, this thing works great. It was worth it.

 

     Larry

     

[Federated Group /Atari]

     I do believe that's it, and the write-up about its short shelf life explains why I saw it on that one occasion at Federated and then never again.

     Thanks, glad to learn I didn't just imagine the whole thing.