Collecting Atari Games in 1994

[NowThereAreNoLimits]

Hey guys,

 

Wanted to share with you the latest episode of MY RETRO LIFE - A series that is made from home movie moments of my childhood playing video games.

 

This one is all about collecting Atari 2600 games with my Dad in the early 90's.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m8f_TD_nfqs

 

I know that I don't post often enough as a contributing member, and that it's mostly retro gaming videos that I make, but I hope that you can take a moment to maybe enjoy this video thats very special to me.

 

All the best!

 

- Tyler

 

Edited September 14, 2016 by NowThereAreNoLimits

[Zwackery]

I bought one of everything that Radio Shack had listed in their catalog in 1994. Lots of fun collecting in the mid-90s.

[BassGuitari]

I bought one of everything that Radio Shack had listed in their catalog in 1994. Lots of fun collecting in the mid-90s.

I wish I could find scans of those Radio Shack catalogs. Those were awesome, and were among my first glances into the systems of olden times.

[high voltage]

Very good video, reminds me of my Atari buying.

 

I had 1/2 hour lunch break, needed 10 minutes to drive from work to town, 10 minutes for parking (usually in a non-parking area) and running to the store, getting the game (I knew beforehand what I was after), and back to the car (often with a parking ticket behind the wipers), 10 minutes driving back to work....If the rail crossing wasn't busy).

Rest of the day at work dreaming and looking at the game, reading the back of the box, opening, reading the manual, smelling the cart....Gorgeous....

Edited September 14, 2016 by high voltage

[Keatah]

I wish I could find scans of those Radio Shack catalogs. Those were awesome, and were among my first glances into the systems of olden times.

 

You mean you don't know about:

http://radioshackcatalogs.com/

https://archive.org/details/radioshackcatalogs

http://www.colorcomputerarchive.com/coco/Documents/Radio%20Shack%20Catalogs/

 

..a tragedy!!!!!!!!!

[BassGuitari]

 

You mean you don't know about:

...

..a tragedy!!!!!!!!!

That's not at all what I mean. What I mean is the big in-store master catalogs Radio Shack had in the '90s and early '00s. It was this big bank of a half-dozen or so binders that flipped up, each containing a different major product category. Somewhere in there were listings of all the Atari, Coleco, and other classic console stuff they still sold by special order at the time.

Edited September 15, 2016 by BassGuitari

[Keatah]

Ohh..

[funknflow5200]

Hey guys,

 

Wanted to share with you the latest episode of MY RETRO LIFE - A series that is made from home movie moments of my childhood playing video games.

 

This one is all about collecting Atari 2600 games with my Dad in the early 90's.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m8f_TD_nfqs

 

I know that I don't post often enough as a contributing member, and that it's mostly retro gaming videos that I make, but I hope that you can take a moment to maybe enjoy this video thats very special to me.

 

All the best!

 

- Tyler

 

thanks so much for sharing these. I'm a subscriber to your channel and I really think your dad was unbelievably ahead of his time with these sorts of videos and apparent mastery of the subject manner at hand! reminds me of how my dad was but with home electronics at the time. he still made sure I had an Atari; then a master system. Keep putting these out; I just love them!

[Hyperboy]

Subscribed, great videos! Thanks for sharing these.

 

Sent from my non beer holding hand.

[Jason_Atari]

Great video, reminds me of when i was a kid back in the day, new subscriber

[Asaki]

Man, I remember around that time, they had a ton of NOS 2600 games at the DOLLAR STORE.

 

We snagged Venture, Dig Dug, Galaxian, Gravitar, and Pole Position.

[jhd]

That's not at all what I mean. What I mean is the big in-store master catalogs Radio Shack had in the '90s and early '00s. It was this big bank of a half-dozen or so binders that flipped up, each containing a different major product category. Somewhere in there were listings of all the Atari, Coleco, and other classic console stuff they still sold by special order at the time.

 

I remember those, too, though I don't think that RS sold classic games here in Canada -- else the selection was significantly limited.

 

IIRC, the cover was black and white, but I do not recall the formal title.

 

I don't think that those catalogues were ever "published", as such -- they were just for in-store special orders.

[BassGuitari]

 

I remember those, too, though I don't think that RS sold classic games here in Canada -- else the selection was significantly limited.

 

IIRC, the cover was black and white, but I do not recall the formal title.

 

I don't think that those catalogues were ever "published", as such -- they were just for in-store special orders.

Yeah, I'm pretty sure they were in-store only. IIRC (and it's been a quite a while) they were mainly just lists of products, part numbers, and prices, so you had to know what you were looking for. They seem to have been intended for customers who were looking for very specific items--they weren't catalogs you would have just browsed.

 

Still, just knowing those old games were available was amazing, and the catalog's plain, utilitarian sparseness let your imagination fill in the blanks as to what the games actually were (that is, if you were someone like me and the OP, and these games were before your time).

 

Yet, I swear I remember seeing a catalog page in a Radio Shack once (had to have been from one of these) that had grainy, xeroxed, b/w images of Atari game boxes in the margin or somewhere. I'm sure I'm probably confusing my memories, though.

[+save2600]

I remember the Radio Shack special order catalogs. Had its own stand on an end cap, where you flipped through the pages and the salesperson would then write down the sku's so they could check availability. Bought many a thing from them at the time and that stuff was available up until the late 90's IIRC. Believe Radio Shack either worked with Telegames or bought out their inventory shortly after a hurricane devastated one of their warehouses as all that stuff came from Texas. Besides the 2600, they had Intellivision, Colecovision/Adam, C64, A8 and even a lot of TG-16 stuff. Those were the days!

[BassGuitari]

I remember the Radio Shack special order catalogs. Had its own stand on an end cap, where you flipped through the pages and the salesperson would then write down the sku's so they could check availability. Bought many a thing from them at the time and that stuff was available up until the late 90's IIRC. Believe Radio Shack either worked with Telegames or bought out their inventory shortly after a hurricane devastated one of their warehouses as all that stuff came from Texas. Besides the 2600, they had Intellivision, Colecovision/Adam, C64, A8 and even a lot of TG-16 stuff. Those were the days!

That's it!

 

I had suspected a Telegames connection as well. They had a lot of the same stuff.

Edited September 15, 2016 by BassGuitari

[gilsaluki]

Sweet. I remember finding out that R.S. sold Atari, I was surprised. For some dumb reason, I never bought a game from R.S. Sad, stupid me.

[Jinks]

I probably never noticed.. Too busy with trs-80 and tandy 1000 games when I walked into radio shack in the late 80's early 90's..

[jhd]

Did anyone actually buy Atari games through a Canadian Radio Shack store? I am not convinced that they were ever available here -- and I was actively collecting Atari 2600 games in the early-1990s when they would have been available.

 

I have vague memories of picking up a software(?) catalogue during a cross-border shopping excursion, and then being told by my local store manager that these productions were not available (even by special order) in Canada. (The US store manager had told me that I could order them from Canada, else I never would have bothered to take the catalogue.) This would have been in the late-1980s.

 

Other than RS-branded stuff, I only remember a brief flirtation with stores selling the TurboGrafx-16 system. Accessories remained on the clearance rack long-after the console was discontinued.

Edited September 16, 2016 by jhd

[+sramirez2008]

I remember the Radio Shack special order catalogs. Had its own stand on an end cap, where you flipped through the pages and the salesperson would then write down the sku's so they could check availability. ...Those were the days!

 

Yup...today's kids have no idea what their missing. The build up and suspense of whether or not an item was in stock was part of the fun back then. Much better than simply ordering something on-line.

 

 

@NowThereAreNoLimits - Great video. Thanks for sharing.

[Keatah]

I never knew RS had those extended catalogs. I was too interested in the stuff they had on display, the Science Fair kits, the colorful discrete components.

 

By the time I was old enough or smart enough to notice such things they were on the downswing turning into a "Small Box" cellphone retailer.

Edited September 16, 2016 by Keatah

[MrMaddog]

Man, I wish I could get 2600 games from local Rat Shacks but the dumb ass clerks insist that you can only buy those at pawn shops, even though they were still selling them through in-store catalogs. Oh well, between thrift stores and newsgroup trades I got still got a real good collection going...

 

TBH, I have way more happy memories of playing Atari games collecting them in my college years (mid 90's) than I did in the early 80's as a kid when I owned a new 2600. Thanks r.g.v.c.!

[NowThereAreNoLimits]

Thanks for all the feedback and discussion guys. Should be doing a "Jaguar" themed episode in the not-too-distant future!

[totallyterrificpants]

I saw your vids a few months back. Loved the old footage

[+GoldLeader]

Amazing Video!

 

I had no idea Radio Shack ever had Atari games! Our Radio Shack either went out of business or announced they are going out of business...I haven't stopped by to see if they're still there or not...