Lynx collecting - how far can a cheap bastard go?

[Zwackery]

So in my love for all things Atari, a year ago I picked up a Lynx II and a group of games on eBay, about 15 or so titles, all CIB (I am unabashed in my love for boxes). This summer I picked up another parcel of CIB games, bringing my total to 32 titles. Averaging everything out, thus far I've been paying $5 per title, but what I'm wondering is how realistically can I expect to keep getting games this cheaply? Aside from the rarer titles, which I've been researching, have I basically hit the limit on the cheap stuff and am I now crossing into the next tier of pricing? Long time Lynx experts please advise. Thank you.

[BuddyBuddies]

So in my love for all things Atari, a year ago I picked up a Lynx II and a group of games on eBay, about 15 or so titles, all CIB (I am unabashed in my love for boxes). This summer I picked up another parcel of CIB games, bringing my total to 32 titles. Averaging everything out, thus far I've been paying $5 per title, but what I'm wondering is how realistically can I expect to keep getting games this cheaply? Aside from the rarer titles, which I've been researching, have I basically hit the limit on the cheap stuff and am I now crossing into the next tier of pricing? Long time Lynx experts please advise. Thank you.

GOOD QUESTION.......

[Tweety]

If you really want to expand your Lynx games, there will be a time you have to pay more for those games.

Hard to find games will be a good price now, but in the future they only will grow more expensive. Search ebay worldwide, search the ebay stores and make your fav, store list to get the best deals.

[EricDeLee]

I got my entire Lynx collection like that. It is only now that I've had to pay more for the games (homebrews and stuff).

 

For a long time I picked up great deals and only spent a few bucks (on average) for each game. I'm talking about somewhere in the $2-3 range. Then I came across a deal with over 100 Lynx games (the majority boxed) and a lot of systems. I got that at a cheap bulk price... so again... it all averaged to a cheap deal... somewhere near a solid $3 per cart mart (if you count all of the stuff I sold... then you can basically say I'm still in the profit range actually).

 

Right before I left Tulsa, OK... I bought over 60 lynx games with manuals. Again... for the average price of $2.50 each.

 

So... you can keep things cheap. You can buy in bulk at times and then sell off the extras. When you start getting the homebrews... and the pepros... then your price starts going up. When I started, one of my first games was Lemmings. So I didn't have to deal with that price tag later. Right now... I'm dealing with extra price tags on ridged carts that I'm missing. I only need a few.... but they are costing me.

[BuddyBuddies]

I got my entire Lynx collection like that. It is only now that I've had to pay more for the games (homebrews and stuff).

 

For a long time I picked up great deals and only spent a few bucks (on average) for each game. I'm talking about somewhere in the $2-3 range. Then I came across a deal with over 100 Lynx games (the majority boxed) and a lot of systems. I got that at a cheap bulk price... so again... it all averaged to a cheap deal... somewhere near a solid $3 per cart mart (if you count all of the stuff I sold... then you can basically say I'm still in the profit range actually).

 

Right before I left Tulsa, OK... I bought over 60 lynx games with manuals. Again... for the average price of $2.50 each.

 

So... you can keep things cheap. You can buy in bulk at times and then sell off the extras. When you start getting the homebrews... and the pepros... then your price starts going up. When I started, one of my first games was Lemmings. So I didn't have to deal with that price tag later. Right now... I'm dealing with extra price tags on ridged carts that I'm missing. I only need a few.... but they are costing me.

how do you tell the ridged,flat and curved carts apart if they are boxed???thanks buddies...

[EricDeLee]

I don't know about all of that. LOL Right now I'm simply after the loose carts. Being that I have the boxes for at least one of the versions of the cart already.

[+davidcalgary29]

So in my love for all things Atari, a year ago I picked up a Lynx II and a group of games on eBay, about 15 or so titles, all CIB (I am unabashed in my love for boxes). This summer I picked up another parcel of CIB games, bringing my total to 32 titles. Averaging everything out, thus far I've been paying $5 per title, but what I'm wondering is how realistically can I expect to keep getting games this cheaply? Aside from the rarer titles, which I've been researching, have I basically hit the limit on the cheap stuff and am I now crossing into the next tier of pricing? Long time Lynx experts please advise. Thank you.

 

It's possible to acquire every Atari release, with the sole exception of Lemmings, at a reasonable cost. I believe that I didn't pay more than $10 for any title (Asteroids/Missile Command was somewhat more expensive) when I bought the bulk of my collection four years ago. A loose Lemmings will set you back between $30-$50, and I haven't seen a boxed one sell anywhere for ages.

 

Telegames' games generally have two different types of pricing schemes: Atari-era releases are generally cheap, but difficult to find; average price is approx. $15. Post-Atari releases are very difficult to find, and are getting harder to locate. Expect to pay around $40, even second hand.

 

Songbird is, of course, still an active company, and you should buy most titles new from Carl. He has, after all, supported us for all these years.

 

Homebrews typically cost around $40; you'll rarely see them sold for less.

 

You'll need deep pockets, some good friends, and a bit of luck if you want to acquire P.I.T.S. Loose carts will set you back $50 (if you can find one), but what's the point of that? The entire point of the title is in its unique packaging and instructions.

 

There are a handful of other carts that you'll never see unless you're willing to pay megabucks and have deep inside connections. I believe that there are around three or four games that no average collector will ever see.

[Zwackery]

Thanks to everyone for the replies, they've been very helpful. It figures Lemmings would be tough to get - I've played almost all of the Lemmings titles available for PC and enjoyed them all (there is a nice free DHTML version of Lemmings on the internet). For some reason I've been playing a lot of Dirty Larry lately.

 

I remembered the Lynx commercials from television and that combined with my Atari brand loyalty got me into looking at the Lynx, especially with a lot of the games seemingly very affordable.

 

Basically what I have did was print off the list that AA has, and after crossing off all Prototypes, Homebrews, and duplicate listings due to cart style variations, I wound up with 88 unique released titles (11 of which are Telegames and 7 of which are Songbird). I'm not after prototypes, homebrews, or multiple copies of cart styles - basically I limit my collecting first to whatever was released commercially while the hardware was still supported by the company. I do prefer boxed titles, so I think I'll go slow and steady with this particular Atari platform.

 

Here's what I have thus far:

Basketbrawl

Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure

Blue Lightning

Checkered Flag

Chip’s Challenge

Crystal Mines II

Dirty Larry: Renegade Cop

Electrocop

Gates of Zendocon

Hydra

Ishido

Jimmy Connors’ Tennis

Klax

Kung Food

Malibu Bikini Volleyball

Paperboy

Pinball Jam

Pit-Fighter

Rampart

Robo-Squash

Shadow of the Beast

Shanghai

Steel Talons

Super Skweek

Switchblade II

Todd’s Adventures In Slime World

Toki

Tournament Cyberball

Turbo Sub

Viking Child

Warbirds

Xybots

[dogcorn]

Congratulations, that is quite a collection! I think you have just about all the currently "cheap" titles ($5-$10) that I can think of, plus a few pricier ones as well. The only other ones I can think of that are often snaggable for about $10 are Stun Runner, Power Factor, and Gordo 106.

 

I don't do much Ebaying so I can't comment on the used route. As far as new-in-box carts go, Lemmings is definitely the golden boy; I've not seen it for less than $90 in a long time. Casino and Xenophobe rarely go for less than $40, and same with the Telegames/homebrews that others mentioned. The other Ataris generally go for $20-$30 new. So you're definitely getting into tougher territory, but who knows...you've been an awesome shopper so far!

[lynxmatt1980]

Thanks to everyone for the replies, they've been very helpful. It figures Lemmings would be tough to get - I've played almost all of the Lemmings titles available for PC and enjoyed them all (there is a nice free DHTML version of Lemmings on the internet). For some reason I've been playing a lot of Dirty Larry lately.

 

I remembered the Lynx commercials from television and that combined with my Atari brand loyalty got me into looking at the Lynx, especially with a lot of the games seemingly very affordable.

 

Basically what I have did was print off the list that AA has, and after crossing off all Prototypes, Homebrews, and duplicate listings due to cart style variations, I wound up with 88 unique released titles (11 of which are Telegames and 7 of which are Songbird). I'm not after prototypes, homebrews, or multiple copies of cart styles - basically I limit my collecting first to whatever was released commercially while the hardware was still supported by the company. I do prefer boxed titles, so I think I'll go slow and steady with this particular Atari platform.

 

Here's what I have thus far:

Basketbrawl

Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure

Blue Lightning

Checkered Flag

Chip’s Challenge

Crystal Mines II

Dirty Larry: Renegade Cop

Electrocop

Gates of Zendocon

Hydra

Ishido

Jimmy Connors’ Tennis

Klax

Kung Food

Malibu Bikini Volleyball

Paperboy

Pinball Jam

Pit-Fighter

Rampart

Robo-Squash

Shadow of the Beast

Shanghai

Steel Talons

Super Skweek

Switchblade II

Todd’s Adventures In Slime World

Toki

Tournament Cyberball

Turbo Sub

Viking Child

Warbirds

Xybots

 

thats a pretty nice collection. I have 5 of those, and I definitely want to get Rampart. Most of the others I have played emulated versions, and thought they were ok. The local used bookstore near me has a few games for $6-8 each. But all they have is Electrocop, Casino, Hydra, Awesome Golf, and California games (maybe another title or 2, but nothing i am looking to get).

 

From what games I have played (emulated or original), I can guarantee that you would like the games below:

 

Ninja Gaiden

Road Blasters

Desert Strike: Return to the Gulf*

Rampage*

Double Dragon*

Stun Runner*

APB*

Xenophobe*

Lemmings*

European Soccer Challenge (if you are into soccer, you might like it)

 

*=games i still want, but haven't got yet