bloatedmonkey

Wow I've never seen anything like that! I wish I had something crazy like that to commute in! Thanks for the comments. I'll try to answer all the questions: I had originally planned to build shelves out of 1/8" fiberboard, but once I had amassed 30 cubes, I started going down that route since it involved fewer power tools - plus it was cool in its own way. I collected the cubes over 5 years through buying game lots on Ebay (starting in 1999). I also wound up with two Atlantis II's through that same bulk buying, which I don't think you can get away with as easily these days. I actually had another 30 cubes or so that I tossed for being too icky - was rare to get cubes that weren't full of dog hair or dust. You can't fit as many games in the same space as if you stacked them, but it makes it easier to get them in and out. Once you get them all together, it weighs alot more than you'd think. The cabinet took at least 2 years to get together. But I had a newborn and I was pretty anal about the craftmanship. You can tell from the pictures that I was on to my second house when I finished it. The doors were the hard part - they took as long as everything else put together. By the time I finished it, I had too many games to fit in it. So I have more in boxes in the space below the TV. The loose games are organized by publisher. Maybe I'll take a video of it. YouTube is good for random stuff like that...

Thanks. I tried to strike a balance between satisfying my Atari collecting disorder and staying out of divorce court, so I made an effort to make it presentable. However, I wanted it to be played with, so any sealed games I might have bought have all been opened. That's right - I'm not afraid to say it - I've set more than my share of Atari games free! I'm just gonna assume you didn't grow up in the golden age of the great Thomas Magnum. Kids my age (in this country anyway) tend to get goosebumps around this car. Back in the day, that was one of the few shows that would get me to turn off the 2600 for an hour. I can say that about the A-team also, but I didn't think a black van would look as sexy in the driveway!

Here's a link the latest pics of my game room. Bloated Monkey's Game Room I haven't added to it in a couple years. Just bought my dream car - keeping with the 80's theme, of course - so all spare cash has a new home....

I haven't been collecting much lately, but I finally got around to posting my "Playin My Atari" video. It's my original song played with a whole bunch of screenshots. The music volume went a bit screwy when I uploaded it, but you get the idea. Just thought some of you might enjoy it. http://www.myspace.com/bloatedmonkey

Just got a letter today from my credit card company. The chargeback went through. Viva Visa! What happened to all of the Ikari's and Motorodeo's? I haven't seen many on Ebay lately. I still need them.

So I put the chargeback through Visa and got an email from PayPal that they will look into it. Not sure what that means, so we'll see. I still haven't gotten a response from Claudia, and I've been very cordial. I hope nobody's still trying to do business with her. That said, what's the going rate for a pair of Motorodeo and Ikari, and is anyone still selling both? I haven't been watching Ebay lately.

I read my policy, and it said I could protest up to 60 days from the statement date. And it happened to be the 60th day. So I called and put it under review. Although the seller is international, the card issuer pays PayPal, which is not. So we'll see what happens.

I paid on 11/30 (unfortunately outside of Ebay), and still no games. No response to my emails either. Is there a time limit to contest a charge with Visa?

Just want to make sure you're not thinking it's me: this bidder's history I have a genuine intellectual curiosity about what this will sell for. I've asked a few times here, and never really got an answer, so we'll see. I got this one in 1999, and I happened to get a second one in 2000, both by reading auction descriptions of big lots in some detail. It's doubtful one of these would slip through the cracks these days, so I consider myself very lucky. That said, since I can't find much to buy these days, I'm getting rid of the rest of my dupes this month. This is pretty much the best of them.

I don't generally pimp my auctions here, but I wouldn't want someone to miss this one: Atlantis II & more

I bought something from this person in November and I still haven't received it. Please keep us posted on how your situation goes.

Maybe I'm new to this topic, but I don't get why everyone's complaining about Mab's ethics. He's offering his games on the open market, and people are buying them up. Maximizing profit is good business in my book, at least if he's being honest and fulfilling his obligations. That said, I'd like to know where I can get both of these for $80. If you really want the prices to go down to the "fair price", you should give up your source!

That sounds like a pretty good deal. Might you share your contact?

Thank goodness for email, especially those with long histories. Also, he did offer to send the game back, but after I said to do that, I haven't gotten another response. Live and learn. I'll try the police angle, just for kicks.

Where is that quote from? According to the emails I've gotten from him, he's been strapped for cash since January. Thanks for the advice, guys.

Yup. That's the guy. Didn't realize he hung around here. Is there any recommended legal action for these type of things? I've heard that small claims court is tricky across state lines.

So I did something a little dumb (you don't need to remind me). I sold a bunch of rare games to a guy who started paying them in installments. He had paid $400 of the $600 he owed me and said the rest was coming in a couple of days, so I went ahead and shipped the games. Then every time I asked when the rest of the payment was coming, it was always in a couple of days, but it never came. Now it's been too long to report to Ebay, and I am wondering what my options are. Is there a way I can encourage him to pay me? I'm hoping someone here has had a similar experience. The guy lives across state lines, so that's an added complication. Also, he's no longer a registered user. http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...item=8165252737 Thanks.

I shipped his games only last Friday. Quick turnaround! Nice guy, though. The game used to bring $200 by itself a couple years ago, but I guess there's more of them around these days.

That's usually what I do. But with something that is very rare, I think it's best to float it at a high price to see if someone bites. When you do that, you only need one person who REALLY wants it, while with a standard auction, you need two to get the same price. By the way, the label looks better than the picture. It's hard to take an accurate picture of Imagic carts because of the reflection. But I agree with your valuation.

I had 10 people watching the auction, so I thought someone might actually bid on it. Oh well...

This has already been discussed briefly in the auction forum. Since my copy of Atlantis II did not sell on Ebay, I'm offering a chance to win it for free. The details are spelled out in the following link: http://home.houston.rr.com/bm/atari/pokercontest.htm I'm also giving Atari Age members an additional way to qualify for the card draw, in case you're a little squeamish about betting money on-line. Pull out your Casino cartridge, switch to game 4 (poker solitare), and post a picture of your best score right here. Only actual 2600 play counts - no emulators, please. In the event of a tie, I will choose the qualifier by coin flip. Only one player will be allowed in the game by this method, and his/her inclusion will not affect the prize level, which is determined by the number of players qualified by completing the steps in the link above. Let me know if there's anything is unclear. Enjoy!

That's the best idea I've heard all day!

It's not a contest yet. The verification part that you're referring to is just to make everyone comfortable that it will be honest. I have not asked the Atari Age staff to participate - they can choose to ignore their email if they want. Regarding the Upromise thing, let me fill everyone in who wasn't here. I tried to host a contest a couple years ago involving the Upromise college savings program. In exchange for "contributing" to my kid's account, people would have the chance to win some games. Unfortuately, Upromise's process (that I didn't know about at the time) was such that money would not transfer into a child's account until the total money collected passed $50. Since I only got a few people to sign up (thanks in part to some people questioning the legitimacy of Upromise), the total collected did not exceed $50, so no money transferred into my kid's account, and there was no way to determine a winner. I had no provision for such an outcome. A couple people demanded that I randomly distribute the promised top prize (about $500 worth of games) to everyone who signed up, but that didn't seem very fair to me. Despite the fact that I did not benefit financially from the contest, I still sent out over $100 in consolation prizes for everyone who signed up. In general, the participants were very supportive over the outcome, though a few outsiders have continued to make it an issue. I actually still have that box of rare games and am considering doing a charity auction, so that I give them away while at least getting a tax deduction - interestingly, nobody suggested that idea. I have no desire to repeat the same mistake, so this contest, should it occur, is much more straight-forward, and there is guaranteed to be a clear winner by way of a transparent selection process that you all can witness. More than anything, I want to attract some of the interesting people I've met here to play poker with me. But if you don't like the idea, you certainly don't have to play.

I generally don't post my auctions here at AA, but these are some pretty rare ones, and I just wanted to make sure those of you who don't scan Ebay daily don't miss them. Includes Chuckwagon, Qubes, Tooth Protectors, Music Machine, and both Exus games. http://search.ebay.com/_W0QQfromZR7QQfrppZ...dmonkeyQQsojsZ0

Thanks for all of the nice comments. It took maybe 6 months to finalize the concept for the atari cabinet. I made some drawings in powerpoint, then scribbled dimensions on them. I got a book on how to make cabinets and went from there. It's standard techniques - you just need to make the measurements to fit your space. So the answer is I don't really have plans that would make sense to anyone. I bought the MAME cabinet on Ebay about 2 months ago. It cost me $1000, and it was hands down my best purchase ever (and I've bought alot). I could never build one for that price, plus it was high quality and arrived fully configured. It actually has 3 joysticks (2 8-way and the red 4-way) - 2 are black so you can't see them very well. It had a former life- I don't know which game, but it was red cabinet (I scratched it getting it up the stairs - that's a funny story - imagine dragging an odd-shaped 500lb object up the stairs and having it slip out of your hands....) I shopped for six months for a MAME and jumped on this one because it's the perfect shape, in my opinion. The Cubicolor is from Ebay about 2 years ago. Not cheap.