Mock Posted February 28, 2003 Share Posted February 28, 2003 First off, I know there is a search function on this board and it works well...lol. Some stuff I like to re-visit becuase you never know what you will find. So, anyway...disclaimer in place...I have been reading about the prototypes and I see CPU Wiz talking about the new one he has, and it made me curious. Who were the people who ended up with most of the proto's? Were they ever returned to Atari when sent to magazines and places like that for review or did they get to keep them? What about most of the in-house stuff that never made it to production or out of house? Finally, where do these things turn up at besides trade shows? Anyone ever luck up on one in a strange place? Mock Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MegaManFan Posted February 28, 2003 Share Posted February 28, 2003 There are stories of people finding prototypes in all kinds of bizarre places - inside what appear to be normal carts, at garbage dumps and at many thrifts and pawns all over the place (but increasing in frequency the closer one gets to Sunnyvale, CA). I'd say for the average collector "dumb luck" would describe finding one, but some people make a living out of hunting for these things and know just where to look and who to ask (and won't divulge their secrets). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mock Posted February 28, 2003 Author Share Posted February 28, 2003 Out here where I live, probably not much of a chance on finding anything cool....not much here...lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joystick Jolter Posted March 2, 2003 Share Posted March 2, 2003 Who were the people who ended up with most of the proto's? Were they ever returned to Atari when sent to magazines and places like that for review or did they get to keep them? What about most of the in-house stuff that never made it to production or out of house? Mock Well Mock, I'll give you my 2 cents on the subject. Atari and most of the other manufacturers almost always requested them to be returned. Of course lots and lots of them weren't. For the most part Atari would then just turn the cartridge around with a different eprom in it and send it out again. Those that were not returned landed in lots of different places. I would bet though that a pretty high percentage of them landed in one place. The reviewers collection. Never thinking at the time that it would become a rare piece, just so that he, or she, would have that game in their collection. I know for myself, after sending back a few I started to keep them. Mostly so that they could be played by my kids or myself. I also used them again many times to compare certain games to. The second most likely place they landed up was in the garbage. Either by the magazine that was using them or by the reviewer who himself thew it in his garbage. Many, like mine, landed up in the attic, basement or garage for many years. Unfortunately I had quite a few land up in the garbage after a water heater broke in the basement flooding out most of it. It just so happened that a box with lots of them was on the bottom of a stack of things. I am sure that my story is repeated in one way or another many times. There probably were many saved for many years in an attic that landed up in the garbage 10-15 years later when someone cleaned out the attic to move, or their wife cleaned out the attic. That's the story from my perspective anyway. Hope it gave you some perspective on the life of a "Proto". Just by the way I am selling 2 proto's right now on the Marketplace forum, here on Atari Age. I'm selling Krull and Battlezone. They end tonite and then I will put up 2 more TAZ and FRANKENSTEIN. Since ebay will not allow them to be sold there anymore AA may have become the official home to prototype sales and auctions. Anthony Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mock Posted March 2, 2003 Author Share Posted March 2, 2003 I saw an Super Pac Man proto for 800xl on ebay earlier today...must have slipped by for now. http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...item=3011027367 Mock Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joystick Jolter Posted March 2, 2003 Share Posted March 2, 2003 I saw an Super Pac Man proto for 800xl on ebay earlier today...must have slipped by for now. http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...item=3011027367 Mock Mock, It was only listed last night(Saturday) at 8PM. Give them some time. I don't know if the check on the weekend. I doubt it will stay on there long. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mock Posted March 2, 2003 Author Share Posted March 2, 2003 Figured someone might be into 800 proto's and want to email the guy in case it gets snagged. Anyway...thanks for the proto story! Very interesting! Mock Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sku_u Posted March 2, 2003 Share Posted March 2, 2003 I've come across two prototypes in the past few years, none of which I held onto for very long. These items are out there. I found both of them in the NY area which is about as far away as you can get from Sunnyvale while still staying in the continental US. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KaineMaxwell Posted March 5, 2003 Share Posted March 5, 2003 I own a couple 2600 prototypes- Crack'Ed and Pick Up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tempest Posted March 5, 2003 Share Posted March 5, 2003 I own a couple 2600 prototypes- Crack'Ed and Pick Up. Those are reproductions, not real prototypes (I actually know who owns the real versions of those). Can you believe the Master of Prototypes has NEVER found a prototype in the wild? Hard to believe but true (then again Michigan is hardly a hot bed for prototype activity). I've gotten most of my protos through deals with other collectors or ex-Atari employees. Ebay was also a great place to get protos (but a bit pricey) although they seemed to have cracked down on that lately. Tempest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mock Posted March 5, 2003 Author Share Posted March 5, 2003 What is the reasoning behind ebay not letting proto's be auctioned anymore? I see the one I linked to above is still going and is over $100 now... 3+ days left? Mock Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CPUWIZ Posted March 5, 2003 Share Posted March 5, 2003 eBay considers prototypes to be beta-versions of commercially available software and because they can't be bothered to actually differentiate between systems they try to remove them all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mock Posted March 5, 2003 Author Share Posted March 5, 2003 Ah- I see...makes sense I guess...thank you for the explination! Mock Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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