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apf m1000 ownership and appreciation thread


APF 1000 ownership survey  

68 members have voted

  1. 1. Do you own an APF m1000?

    • Yes
      32
    • no
      24
    • what's an apf m1000?
      12

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I can say that these actually work pretty well. Both my joysticks now work!

 

https://console5.com/store/self-adhesive-dome-switches-10mm-quad-4-leg.html?fbclid=IwAR0hCfO_VuYJzS0gz0GNx6E350BADcO5xG8QRUN87NAMi-E2QOHSMCkkfxM

 

Other than trying to clean up the RF signal a bit more (and possibly doing a recap) I think my machine is about as good as it's going to get. Now I just have to figure out why it won't load Space Destroyers... I just keep getting gibberish-filled screens. I'm not sure if there's oxidization on a trace or if a chip has gone bad in the cart (the back label is intact so I haven't attempted to open the cart yet). Attaching images in case anyone has any ideas.

 

 

image2.jpeg

image1.jpeg

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1 hour ago, masschamber said:

I had one that had garbage image, but it was a problem no matter what, that was a ram issue.  nice things about the  mp1000 is that everything is socketed and off the shelf

Was that the console itself having display problems, or a specific cart? For this, every other game has loaded up just fine on the MP1000, but Space Destroyers is messed up. Best I've gotten is it trying to load both SD and Rocket Patrol at the same time. I know Space Destroyers has a couple ram chips on the cart, and I wouldn't be surprised if they were in some way the culprit. But as you say, at least everything is off the shelf!

 

If anyone is around the Washington DC area and has an MP1000 that they'd let me test this cart out on just in case it's a console issue, I'd really appreciate it

Edited by ubersaurus
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I got one of these about 6 months ago and I owned Star destroyers for several years which is when put me on the search for this system. Star destroyers is the only game in this console that can not be emulated so in perspective I had to get the console. It is a fun game though it is sad this system has so few ganes even though the imagieneation machiene was setup to be able to make your own games for this system its almost suprising there are none to be found. I know it is a rare console but it has so much potential that falls short just because it is so unknows and there are so few in exystance.

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  • 1 month later...
  • 6 months later...
On 3/4/2018 at 12:31 AM, masschamber said:

I just found the m1000 on bought off of here a few years ago and after messing around with it, I just started wondering who else has one of these obscure odd ball and how did you find out about it/acquire one? anyone owners from back when they were new?

Anyway I got into because some guy that had a bunch of consoles pre atari consoles at a garage sale told me about a console he only ever saw once in a store and gave me a name close to the apf m1000. A little research later and bam once more oddity to look out for.

post-5598-0-11970900-1520141431_thumb.jpg

 

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  • 4 months later...
On 10/30/2019 at 1:58 PM, Rick Reynolds said:

Hey there fellow MP1000-ers.  I somehow ended up with two of these, one indicates "MP1000" on it and the other says "M1000".  Is either one more desirable and/or more rare than the other?
 

Hello. They are probably interchangeable. I noticed that the console box has the APF MP1000 logo, but the pic of the console itself shows APF M1000. Mine is an M1000,  but sadly not boxed. I tried to repair some of the keypad buttons after successfully retaping the contact domes for the joystick, but I cracked the circuit board over the keypad, and wires connected to it, detached as well. I still have the other controller working (mostly), so I'm half bummed.

Edited by Judge Mental
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10 hours ago, Judge Mental said:

Hello. They are probably interchangeable. I noticed that the console box has the APF MP1000 logo, but the pic of the console itself shows APF M1000. Mine is an M1000,  but sadly not boxed. I tried to repair some of the keypad buttons after successfully retaping the contact domes for the joystick, but I cracked the circuit board over the keypad, and wires connected to it, detached as well. I still have the other controller working (mostly), so I'm half bummed.

 

Hey there Judge, thanks for the reply!  I haven't come across anything to indicate that one is preferred to the other.

 

Need to get mine plugged in and get some games going again!

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I've got one an M1000. No Imagination Machine or additional carts, but it did come with the original box & styrofoam, so there's that. I got it on eBay back in, I'm pretty sure, the summer of 2012. I forget how much it was, around $60, I think? I had only learned of the the console shortly beforehand, and IIRC this one was untested (no RF switch box, probably), but due to the obscurity I decided to take a chance. It was dirty, but it powered up fine.

Funny thing was, I had been thinking about bidding on the auction for several days before pulling the trigger, and then almost immediately having buyer's remorse once I won it. I mean, was this really something I needed? It was more neat and obscure than it was something I'd seriously play. Looking back though, I'm glad I took the chance - especially if the prices have gone up as much as it sounds like they have? Plus, I'm a sucker for 70s consoles in general.

I would like to get some actual carts for it at some point (the built-in Rocket Patrol is pretty bad, even by late-70s standards), particularly Boxing, Bowling, Baseball and Sea Monster, but I'm in no rush. (Especially since those have always seemed to be a bit too pricey for my liking - when they show up at all.)

A bit over 7 years ago now, I actually wrote about it for my blog. It's an earlier effort so I feel from a writing-standpoint the article is only serviceable at best, and I really should have bothered cleaning the console up before take pictures of (and included a look at the original box, as well), but, well, here's the link anyway:

APF M1000 Review

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I have become quite a fan of this console, and not just a collector. The games are primitive, but the colors really pop, and I find them more fun than most owners do. Sure there are games and systems that are technically better and more fun, but it deserves more love. It's beautifully primitive. I wish someone out there would 3D print a reissue and have an emulator inside it, with a complete library and homebrews. Since APF doesn't exist anymore, is the console and its games, public domain?

Edited by Judge Mental
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13 hours ago, Judge Mental said:

I have become quite a fan of this console, and not just a collector. The games are primitive, but the colors really pop, and I find them more fun than most owners do. Sure there are games and systems that are technically better and more fun, but it deserves more love. It's beautifully primitive. I wish someone out there would 3D print a reissue and have an emulator inside it, with a complete library and homebrews. Since APF doesn't exist anymore, is the console and its games, public domain?

This is great to hear, the APF M1000 is one of those obscure systems I'd like to play.

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It wouldn't be public domain. God only knows where the ownership of APF's video game and computer stuff ended up, but after the company closed down I believe everything was auctioned or sold off by the company's creditors. It's likely whoever does own the rights is unaware of it but it's likely none of it will be public domain until like the mid-2070s in the US.

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3 hours ago, ubersaurus said:

It wouldn't be public domain. God only knows where the ownership of APF's video game and computer stuff ended up, but after the company closed down I believe everything was auctioned or sold off by the company's creditors. It's likely whoever does own the rights is unaware of it but it's likely none of it will be public domain until like the mid-2070s in the US.

Maybe one way to find out who owns the rights, is someone make a reissue bootleg console and games, announce it publicly, and wait if any cease and desist letters from their lawyers, start coming in.

 

 

 

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On 9/18/2019 at 6:59 AM, Rick Reynolds said:

I got one of these something like a year ago, then went on a spree to get all the carts.  I thought Space Destroyers would be the hardest/last one to get, but I'm having real trouble finding a backgammon cart.  Is that one known to be crazy rare or something?  Or have I just been a bit unlucky?

 

Backgammon is definitely the rarest. Took me forever to get its manual to complete my set. Followed by space destroyers and boxing being similar for 2nd. This is if the basic cart is not counted.

 

On 9/30/2020 at 3:27 PM, ubersaurus said:

It wouldn't be public domain. God only knows where the ownership of APF's video game and computer stuff ended up, but after the company closed down I believe everything was auctioned or sold off by the company's creditors. It's likely whoever does own the rights is unaware of it but it's likely none of it will be public domain until like the mid-2070s in the US.

A company near me bought all the apf back stock when Al and Phil Fried discontinued the im and apf. This company was called protecto, in barrington il.

They countinued service, sales and support for the remainder of the systems life. I dont know if they would then have owned the rights or not?

 

The arcadia people Universal appliances limited bought the tooling dies for the console and carts and retooled them to make the arcadia emerson and its style of clones and the long and short carts. But i doubt any of the console or game rights went to them.

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While I respect copyright, it reaches a point where you just have to say there's no reasonable chance of tracking down who owns the rights and you can do just about any hobbyist-level/semi-commercial project you wish with it following the Internet Archive approach of "do it now and ask for forgiveness later." 

 

With that in mind, the demand for something APF-centric that's not the original console and computer or part of the original software library probably numbers in the single digits, and I'd have a hard time thinking very many people outside those of us who are into obscure and interesting hardware would care one iota about playing the generic, blocky APF games in a different way. And while Space Destroyers is the one stand-out (thanks in part to its extra RAM), it's still just another bare bones clone of Space Invaders at the end of the day (and the spoken intro on the cassette version is quite cool too, of course). For me, the best thing about the APF M/MP1000 was and always will be the historical significance of the Imagination Machine computer add-on. The actual console itself and the cartridge games are pretty awful in my opinion.

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6 minutes ago, masschamber said:

one bright side is everything on the apf is off the shelf and most chips are socketed

How about the parts inside the controller? Are they off the shelf? I broke one of the controllers trying to fix the keypad. Well broken as far as the pcb for the keypad, and all the wires broke off from the solder points, including the ribbon. 

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1 minute ago, Judge Mental said:

How about the parts inside the controller? Are they off the shelf? I broke one of the controllers trying to fix the keypad. Well broken as far as the pcb for the keypad, and all the wires broke off from the solder points, including the ribbon. 

the controller  is just a matrix, everything can be repaired

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