DrThielegood Posted November 7, 2010 Share Posted November 7, 2010 Hey All, My brother just returned from picking up some free building supplies from an older woman looking to clear some space in storage. He surprised me with the news that she had also allowed him to take a large (pc monitor) box of what was labeled "video games". Even though he could have cared less about this box he picked it up knowing that I was a collector. It may sound strange but I am very excited about opening this sucker up. To me, and this may just be the historian taking here, this seems like a time capsule. As far as I know the older lady wasn't an employee of a game company or some person with industry connections, just a woman who had kids who were into the same stuff that we all were. Even still I asked that my brother keep the box closed and I even had him tape it shut......I suppose its more of a surprise that way. So what do you all think? Should I be this excited? Has anyone ever gotten something like this (I don't think that this situation is too out of the ordinary)? Also, while I have never tried something like this before, would the "unboxing" be something worth video taping? What do you all think? Cheers Bob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IntellivisionDude Posted November 7, 2010 Share Posted November 7, 2010 Speaking from someone who is involved in the Retro Gaming Community on Youtube it would be exciting to me. I post unboxing videos all the time. And i love watching all my friends unboxing videos. It's even more exciting not knowing what's inside. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nathanallan Posted November 8, 2010 Share Posted November 8, 2010 Heck yeah!! I'd be excited as you are, that's a treasure chest of things and since you don't know what is inside it makes the suspense even stronger! You are perfectly right to be excited, hope you get some neat stuff!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the-topdog Posted November 8, 2010 Share Posted November 8, 2010 It is always exciting to open stuff like that... and as long as it isn't a box full of ET cartridges, it is going to rock no matter what! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nathanallan Posted November 8, 2010 Share Posted November 8, 2010 It is always exciting to open stuff like that... and as long as it isn't a box full of ET cartridges, it is going to rock no matter what! Well, if it's a box of concrete-encrusted copies of ET carts with a note that says "dumpsite recovery" that would be a different story. Even better if there were polaroid pics inside of the guys with shovels out in the desert. But I digress, not going to hijack the thread Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaybird3rd Posted November 8, 2010 Share Posted November 8, 2010 It's always nice to "inherit" someone's stash of video games, but I don't know if I'd go so far as to call it a "time capsule." Most classic video game stuff isn't all that rare yet, so unless the items in the box are all new/sealed or are exceedingly rare, it's just a box of stuff. Open it up and have fun with it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nightwheel Posted November 8, 2010 Share Posted November 8, 2010 (edited) Is it possible you could video you self while doing this. That way us users can also have the experience of whats in the box too. Anyways, I've yet to be fortunate enough to come across such a box yet. Edited November 8, 2010 by nightwheel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrThielegood Posted November 9, 2010 Author Share Posted November 9, 2010 (edited) I made a video of the "opening". Unfortunately no concrete encrusted ET carts or anything like that. Found some stuff that I didn't have and a few surprises but nothing that will take the hobby by storm. Overall...it was a great experience that capped a pretty awesome gaming weekend which started by picking up an Asteroids arcade cab in beautiful shape. In any case, I'm new to the world of "posting videos" but once I upload it I will give you all an update and a link. Cheers, Bob Edited November 9, 2010 by DrThielegood Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuck D. Head Posted November 9, 2010 Share Posted November 9, 2010 Oh well, no matter what you found, FREE is a great price. Unless you gotta pay to get rid of it! Morgan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Charlie Cat Posted November 9, 2010 Share Posted November 9, 2010 Hi guys, I would be excited. Free stuff would make me jump for joy! Anthony.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nathanallan Posted November 9, 2010 Share Posted November 9, 2010 I made a video of the "opening". Got a link to the video? Unboxing vids are always fun. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the-topdog Posted November 9, 2010 Share Posted November 9, 2010 I made a video of the "opening". Unfortunately no concrete encrusted ET carts or anything like that. Found some stuff that I didn't have and a few surprises but nothing that will take the hobby by storm. Overall...it was a great experience that capped a pretty awesome gaming weekend which started by picking up an Asteroids arcade cab in beautiful shape. In any case, I'm new to the world of "posting videos" but once I upload it I will give you all an update and a link. Cheers, Bob You got a link to the video so we can share in the gaming delights? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrThielegood Posted July 12, 2011 Author Share Posted July 12, 2011 Sorry to re-ignite a long-dead thread but I realized this weekend, as I taped over my unboxing vid with a "kids at Disney" vid, that I never updated this thread with the promised video. For that I am sorry. For what its worth, the box included: -approx. 20 colecovision games with instructions. -25 or so intellivision games with overlays and instructions. -A TON of Colecovision controllers. (Black and Beige versions) -An intellivision system in pretty rough shape. (controllers are pretty bashed up.) -A Colecovision Expansion module 2 (thats the wheel..right?) -A Colecovision rollerball controller in pretty nice shape. -A pair of Super Action Controllers. -A bunch of random wire and power supplies. All in all....a very nice haul...especially when you consider the price: $0.00 Again...sorry that I never updated this thread....I guess I just lost my train of thought after I didn't find anything super rare in the box (well that and the wife, kids, job, life stuff...lol) Cheers, Bob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raskar42 Posted July 12, 2011 Share Posted July 12, 2011 (edited) nice find - but no pictures or video = now i'm wondering what i would put in a video game time capsule. Edited July 12, 2011 by raskar42 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SlowCoder Posted July 12, 2011 Share Posted July 12, 2011 Sorry to re-ignite a long-dead thread but I realized this weekend, as I taped over my unboxing vid with a "kids at Disney" vid, that I never updated this thread with the promised video. For that I am sorry. For what its worth, the box included: -approx. 20 colecovision games with instructions. -25 or so intellivision games with overlays and instructions. -A TON of Colecovision controllers. (Black and Beige versions) -An intellivision system in pretty rough shape. (controllers are pretty bashed up.) -A Colecovision Expansion module 2 (thats the wheel..right?) -A Colecovision rollerball controller in pretty nice shape. -A pair of Super Action Controllers. -A bunch of random wire and power supplies. All in all....a very nice haul...especially when you consider the price: $0.00 Again...sorry that I never updated this thread....I guess I just lost my train of thought after I didn't find anything super rare in the box (well that and the wife, kids, job, life stuff...lol) Cheers, Bob Rare or not, I'd be hopping all up and down and making a proper fool of myself if I found something like that! Don't knock it because it wasn't something special to you ... It would have been EXTRA special to me. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaybird3rd Posted July 12, 2011 Share Posted July 12, 2011 Seeing this thread again raises an interesting question. Let's say that somebody wanted to put together a real video game time capsule, containing classic consoles and/or computers in their original packaging, with the intention of preserving them in a working and playable state for a century or more. How would the capsule need to be designed? It would obviously need to protect from moisture, but there are also the effects of age on the electronics (capacitors drying out, rubber or soft plastic parts breaking down, etc). Would a vacuum-sealed capsule in an environment free from temperature extremes be enough to guard against these forms of deterioration, or is this even possible? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DickNixonArisen Posted July 12, 2011 Share Posted July 12, 2011 Doubt it's possible. You'd have to include instructions for repair, and hope that the lizard-men that inherited the earth after our fall could interpret the pictoglyphs well enough to recap a game gear. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Wolfe Posted July 13, 2011 Share Posted July 13, 2011 reminds me of an experience I had a number of years ago, like a decade ago now that I think about it, when I cam across a seller at a flea market who had a nes toploader, no controllers or power supply, for $5. I asked him if he had any more stuff and he said he had just been given a huge cache of stuff from the dad of a guy he knew who passed away. this guy was clearly a collector based one what I eventually came away with. I asked the flea market guy to arrange to show me the stuff the following weekend. when the day came I was led to the guy's van where he unloaded box after box of stuff right onto the sidewalk on a sunny afternoon day on the infamous South Street in Philadelphia. After sifting through tons of stuff, a lot of which I had no interest in, I wound up with a Turbo Duo, A Vectrex w/ bad controller, and a some nintendo stuff including my first ever famicom pirate cart. add to that the $5 nes top-loader from the week before and I had quite a hall. My best ever to date actually. I did not pay more than $75 total for everything. the US Turbo Duo is currently one of my most prized video game possessions since I only paid about $35 for it. I wish I had kept the guy's contact info and made arrangements to look through the game collection more closely. I bet there were some rare carts in there. the guy had no idea what he had and I told him I would help him put prices on stuff so he could sell it on ebay but he never got back with me on it. The irony was that I had no idea what the turbo duo was either and we both thought it was broken. when we hooked it up and put in one of the cd games that came with it, the disc did not spin up or do anything. I bought it for $35 on the notion I could fix it and that I knew it had to be rare. this was when I first started collecting. when I got home and looked it up, I was blown away as realized all i had to do was press the "RUN" button on the controller then I found out the console would sell very easily for $100 or more.... as would the top loader NES I got for $5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
godslabrat Posted July 13, 2011 Share Posted July 13, 2011 Seeing this thread again raises an interesting question. Let's say that somebody wanted to put together a real video game time capsule, containing classic consoles and/or computers in their original packaging, with the intention of preserving them in a working and playable state for a century or more. How would the capsule need to be designed? It would obviously need to protect from moisture, but there are also the effects of age on the electronics (capacitors drying out, rubber or soft plastic parts breaking down, etc). Would a vacuum-sealed capsule in an environment free from temperature extremes be enough to guard against these forms of deterioration, or is this even possible? I am fascinated by time capsules. I've thought about this a lot. At times, I've even (kind of) made some for myself! I graduated college in 2003, worked several jobs at once, and didn't play a lot of games. I still had the interest, so I kept buying them. I'd buy a bunch of stuff, box it up still in the shrinkwrap, and let it sit until I had a better job and my own place. That ended up being in 2006. By the time I was opening those boxes, I had stuff I never even remembered buying! Very fun. To get back to your question, I don't know that you'd have to encase them in lucite... but you'd certainly want an environment capable of being unchanged. The real problem with time capsules that last for more than 2-3 generations is that either people forget about them, stop caring about them, or the land upon which they sit changes owners. Not only do you have to provide an environment that can't be corrupted, you need to make sure the place it rests will be undisturbed. That takes a lot of planning and a lot of money. Designing the container might be the easy part! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akator Posted July 13, 2011 Share Posted July 13, 2011 Seeing this thread again raises an interesting question. Let's say that somebody wanted to put together a real video game time capsule, containing classic consoles and/or computers in their original packaging, with the intention of preserving them in a working and playable state for a century or more. How would the capsule need to be designed? It would obviously need to protect from moisture, but there are also the effects of age on the electronics (capacitors drying out, rubber or soft plastic parts breaking down, etc). Would a vacuum-sealed capsule in an environment free from temperature extremes be enough to guard against these forms of deterioration, or is this even possible? I think an "unmaintained" time capsule isn't a good method of preservation. Mammoths may have been frozen in tundra, permafrost, or glaciers for tens of thousands of years... but those are all melting, so that won't work Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
STICH666 Posted July 13, 2011 Share Posted July 13, 2011 Yeah just look what happens when they leave a car in a time capsule for 50 years. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Y1_jEe7UBc&feature=related Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Wolfe Posted July 13, 2011 Share Posted July 13, 2011 I use storage containers that seal. they are not completely air tight but damn close. use some of those gel thingies you find in medicine bottles to deal with humidity and you should be good to go for long term storage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tz101 Posted July 13, 2011 Share Posted July 13, 2011 Seeing this thread again raises an interesting question. Let's say that somebody wanted to put together a real video game time capsule, containing classic consoles and/or computers in their original packaging, with the intention of preserving them in a working and playable state for a century or more. How would the capsule need to be designed? It would obviously need to protect from moisture, but there are also the effects of age on the electronics (capacitors drying out, rubber or soft plastic parts breaking down, etc). Would a vacuum-sealed capsule in an environment free from temperature extremes be enough to guard against these forms of deterioration, or is this even possible? I have suggested this on threads before: Best solution for long-term storage of game consoles and games is vacuum storage bags like seen on TV and a dark temperature-controlled closet or attic. My suggestion would be to use two vacuum storage bags per "time capsule". Extra protection in case one leaks over time. The main enemies of electronics over time are oxygen, humidity, and UV light. Storing your vacuum-sealed packages in a darkened closet or attic solves all of those issues. Your games and systems will be good for the great grand-kids using this technique. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Wolfe Posted July 13, 2011 Share Posted July 13, 2011 big ziplocks are a great idea. they have those storage ziplocks at your local grocery store. they cost about $10 for 3 of them i think. the gallon sized ziplocks should be great for carts and discs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tz101 Posted July 13, 2011 Share Posted July 13, 2011 The bags I am referring to allow hookup of your vacuum cleaner hose to remove all the air from the bag. Ziplocks do not allow for vacuuming out the oxygen, so do not offer long-term protection like the vacuum bags. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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