EricDeLee Posted September 17, 2008 Share Posted September 17, 2008 There is a bit of interesting Vectrex stuff on ebay. Especially this lot: DarkTower, Pitcher's Duel, etc. I don't even know what to think of this stuff. This is the first time I've seen a vectrex cart where you can attach eproms to it (like back in the old hacking days of Atari). And then he has a vast amount of rare items. Stuff that are considered to be holy grails so to speak (Dark Tower, Mail Plane, etc.... all in cart form). What is your take on these? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iwan-iwanowitsch-goratschin Posted September 17, 2008 Share Posted September 17, 2008 Looks interesting! But I don´t really know anything about the Vectrex! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigO Posted September 17, 2008 Share Posted September 17, 2008 It's pushing near $700 of interesting to somebody. I thought eBay was in the habit of pulling auctions for prototype and similar game cartridges. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zwackery Posted September 17, 2008 Share Posted September 17, 2008 Protos for the Vectrex are extremely rare. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trade-N-Games Posted September 17, 2008 Share Posted September 17, 2008 That is some neat stuff! I hope it's not just new burned items. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tempest Posted September 17, 2008 Share Posted September 17, 2008 Those look authentic to me. It appears to be a mixture of a programmers personal lab copies and loaner prototypes. I wouldn't be surprised if this lot went into the thousands, as Zwackery mentioned, Vectrex prototypes are nearly unheard of. Tempest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hhwolfman Posted September 17, 2008 Share Posted September 17, 2008 I would love to have those. If I only knew for sure,they were real. HHW Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EricDeLee Posted September 17, 2008 Author Share Posted September 17, 2008 I thought they looked real, but like mentioned, it is hard to find any vectrex protos. To see a huge lot with that many stunning titles reminded me of the Craigslist crap someone pulled last year with wonderful Rarity 10 titles and whatnot sprinkled throughout the pacmans, and asteroid carts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tempest Posted September 17, 2008 Share Posted September 17, 2008 I suppose it could be a nasty trick, but if it is those are increadibly well done fakes. The inclusion of the checksums is a nice touch. Still, I think these are quite real. If I was still buying prototypes I'd be all over these. Tempest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djpubba Posted September 18, 2008 Share Posted September 18, 2008 When I was a teenager, back in 1986, I bought a Vectrex from the Recycler (classified newspaper) in southern California and it came with some protos. One I remember was Dark Tower. The guy included a printout from the programmer that was a map of the game done in ASCII text. I had no idea of their value back then and I didn't pay any more than used carts. Sadly the system and the protos are long gone. I don't know what happened to them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EricDeLee Posted September 18, 2008 Author Share Posted September 18, 2008 That is a sad story. I think I need a beer to lift my spirits now. lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EricDeLee Posted September 18, 2008 Author Share Posted September 18, 2008 Quick story on these items from the seller: It's my understanding that decades ago, a former toy company employee rescued these on their way to the dumpster. That would have been something like 20 years ago, so I'm afraid I don't have any details for you Seems pretty legit to me. Wish I had the extra cash floating around, but, still not sure I'd buy these. I love my Vectrex, but I'd rather sink the money into prototypes for another system. Still a really cool thing to have. Lots of wonderful games in that lot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hhwolfman Posted September 19, 2008 Share Posted September 19, 2008 Quick story on these items from the seller: It's my understanding that decades ago, a former toy company employee rescued these on their way to the dumpster. That would have been something like 20 years ago, so I'm afraid I don't have any details for you Seems pretty legit to me. Wish I had the extra cash floating around, but, still not sure I'd buy these. I love my Vectrex, but I'd rather sink the money into prototypes for another system. Still a really cool thing to have. Lots of wonderful games in that lot. The auction was removed. I hate narcs Somebody is going to get a good deal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigO Posted September 22, 2008 Share Posted September 22, 2008 The auction was removed. I hate narcs Somebody is going to get a good deal. Does that mean that eBay pulled it on the basis of them being prototypes? (That still seems ignorant to me.) Maybe somebody could contact the seller about CTCW? There seems to be a fair amout of activity on that site and he'd probably do better there than craigslist or some other local channel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EricDeLee Posted September 22, 2008 Author Share Posted September 22, 2008 The seller knows about CTCW I advised him to use it already. I think he may if his auction gets bumped again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mayhem Posted September 22, 2008 Share Posted September 22, 2008 Curiously enough, so did I... wonder which of us was first heh... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hhwolfman Posted September 22, 2008 Share Posted September 22, 2008 Curiously enough, so did I... wonder which of us was first heh... Oh jesus are you watching this to. I hope he doesn't ship overseas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EricDeLee Posted September 22, 2008 Author Share Posted September 22, 2008 I've been talking to him for a bit since the auctions first opened up. I wish the guy would split the auction, I even told him so, but I told him he should avoid side deals. I didn't want to get mixed up in anything, but I know he's had people tell him to leave a lot of information out of the auction so it will go unnoticed. I already told him the hardcore Vectrex guys/gals already have their teeth into this auction and will be looking out for it. Besides... most Vec collectors start paying attention to items that are over the $200 price range if they haven't seen it prior to reaching that amount. Great stuff... would be cool to see it on CTCW in different auctions! If noticed by the right people, this could go for what... $2k or more? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jahfish Posted September 22, 2008 Share Posted September 22, 2008 I've been talking to him for a bit since the auctions first opened up. I wish the guy would split the auction, I even told him so, but I told him he should avoid side deals. I didn't want to get mixed up in anything, but I know he's had people tell him to leave a lot of information out of the auction so it will go unnoticed. I already told him the hardcore Vectrex guys/gals already have their teeth into this auction and will be looking out for it. Besides... most Vec collectors start paying attention to items that are over the $200 price range if they haven't seen it prior to reaching that amount. Great stuff... would be cool to see it on CTCW in different auctions! If noticed by the right people, this could go for what... $2k or more? it's the second time his auction was removed .... a friend of mine from italy was also really interested, but unsure about whether the stuff is authentic or not ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mayhem Posted September 22, 2008 Share Posted September 22, 2008 Hard to say though. Most of the programs have already been dumped and the code available. Just depends if there are any variants or changes from the released versions or other protos already discovered. Although there is no working dump of Mail Plane currently, apparently someone in France has come forward with a fully working copy and is looking to dump it shortly. So after that, none of the programs present should be unavailable for emulation/VecFlash use. Still doesn't mean original chips aren't gonna be worth something... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mayhem Posted September 23, 2008 Share Posted September 23, 2008 On top of my previous post, if either myself or Chris Romero win then Mail Plane will be dumped and released anyhows. Most likely then it will in the public domain for people to try out (who also have lightpens!)... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jahfish Posted September 23, 2008 Share Posted September 23, 2008 On top of my previous post, if either myself or Chris Romero win then Mail Plane will be dumped and released anyhows. Most likely then it will in the public domain for people to try out (who also have lightpens!)... who actually bought my lightpen a few years ago? i don't remember where my collection went ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ianoid Posted September 24, 2008 Share Posted September 24, 2008 Could certainly have gone higher. I would have expected much higher. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tempest Posted September 24, 2008 Share Posted September 24, 2008 I think there were concerns about the authenticity of the items. I don't doubt for a moment that they're authentic, but since there are no standard Vectrex prototype labels, it makes it hard to tell for sure. Tempest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mayhem Posted September 24, 2008 Share Posted September 24, 2008 Could certainly have gone higher. I would have expected much higher. Actually Chris and I are surprised it went as high as this... as I stated only Mail Plane remains unavailable ROM wise and even so, it may become available in the near future (Chris sent a programmer to the seller so he is going to dump the ROMs out before sending them off to the winner, who may allow them to be distributed) either via the auction or this other copy that was revealed. So technically it's a bunch of chips with code on them that already exist in the public domain. The winner btw is a Vectrex collector who owns the other complete Mr Boston... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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