vectrex?

[mcv]

Hi, sorry if this is the wrong place for this.My son traded his old race cart for this earlier in the summer. He is now trying to get some info on what he has. Can anyone give me some idea of what this is,value if any? Thanks for any info, we have not really been able to find out a whole lot about it.

 

[Manoau2002]

He has a vectrex system made in 1982. He has two vectrex controllers. He has 17 of the available 28 games. He has the vectrex 3d imager. It looks like you have an original lightpen. You have several screen overlays. Its a very nice lot of stuff. The 3d imager is the most valuble part. I would guess the lot is worth around 800. Its hard to say what it would sell for in an auction.

[Manoau2002]

On second thought it may be worth a little more. Polar Rescue, Pole Position, and crazy coaster are all relatively valuble games. So it may be worth closer to a 1000. It depends if you were to sell it in a lot or individually.

[mcv]

wow!!!!!! I had no idea this stuff was worth that kind of money and that old. Thanks for the info. I played some of the games with him and it is a fun set up. He got into shooting sports now(big money) so this thing has been sitting.

[ledzep]

Well, if he's not hurting for storage space, he should keep it. It's the only vector graphics system anywhere for the home. Of course you could put vector arcade games like Asteroids and Tempest in the home but that's not the same thing. There is an active homebrew market out there for the Vectrex, some truly great games made for it recently. The collection would be worth more with boxes and instructions but the 3D Imager and Lightpen are two desirable accessories, as is having a second controller (it only came with one).

 

There are a few resources out there for more info like the Vectrex Wiki and vectrex.co.uk, to name just two.

Edited December 22, 2013 by ledzep

[fiddlepaddle]

...My son traded his old race cart for this earlier in the summer.

Does the guy have another Vectrex?

[Reaperman]

Not only is pole position rare, I'm pretty sure I spot it's overlay in the pile. That piece of transparent plastic alone is worth a fair bit. (more than the cart)

That's the thing about vectrex, the overlays are commonly worth much more than the carts.

 

That's a real nice instant collection there. One of the largest I've seen. Vectrex is a fantastic system, and generally a pretty expensive one to collect for. The system and controller alone (even in beat up condition) tend to go about ~$150 if they're tested/working.

Edited December 23, 2013 by Reaperman

[Jess Ragan]

I don't have anything important to add... I just want to take this opportunity to say that I prefer the original Vectrex logo- the weird one made of circles and sharp angles- to Milton Bradley's bland redesign. Here's what I'm talking about (and hopefully this will show up!):

 

[+LS650]

Geez, nice find!

[mcv]

Thanks again for all the info. I noticed he doesnt have the web wars cartridge just the screen, and on the second remote the stick doesnt return to center but everything else works great. My son went through a video game phase, now he is back into outdoors stuff.He actually traded or sold off all of his other game systems except the xbox 360.The guy he got it from had the vectrex listed on craigslist .My son had a old race cart listed he had outgrown, the guy responded wanting the cart for his daughter so they traded, I was scared to death my son lost out on the deal......I guess he did pretty good. Right now we dont have a storage place to keep it safe, so I told him decide what he wants to do with it since he doesnt use it anymore. Once again guys thanks for all the info...........

[Seob]

The joystick can be repaired. You will need patience to do so. First you need to heat up the sticker on the front ofvthe controller with a hairdryer, so that you can peel away the sticker carefully to review the hidden screws. Then you need an old 2600 cart that has a springloaded door. Get the spring out of that cart and cut it to the right side. Replace the broken one inside the vectrex controller. Reheat the sticker to put it back in place. And you have a working controller that can sell loose for about 50 euro.

[chas10e]

The joystick can be repaired. You will need patience to do so. First you need to heat up the sticker on the front ofvthe controller with a hairdryer, so that you can peel away the sticker carefully to review the hidden screws. Then you need an old 2600 cart that has a springloaded door. Get the spring out of that cart and cut it to the right side. Replace the broken one inside the vectrex controller. Reheat the sticker to put it back in place. And you have a working controller that can sell loose for about 50 euro.

that "sticker" is VERY difficult to remove so do it with patience & love to beable to replace it properly

 

the atari cart spring needs a little modification to reduce the diameter of the spring a tiny bit

 

if your planning just to sell I'd say leave controller for the collector to repair with label intact but do mention joystick on one doesn't return to center only a few games require 2'nd joystick like Armor Attack