rockman_x_2002 Posted July 4, 2003 Share Posted July 4, 2003 You doubt there'd be a museum that cared because you're not thinking it through. Obviously the Swordquest prizes wouldn't turn up in the Smithsonian or any museum dedicated to cultural or anthropological artifacts. But the prizes would make a prime exhibit in an Atari Museum. Ben My sentiments, exactly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JB Posted July 4, 2003 Share Posted July 4, 2003 Is Videotopia still around? They'd make quite a centerpiece. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Velvis Posted July 5, 2003 Share Posted July 5, 2003 I dont think the sword would be worth much more than the value of the gold. Seems to me the only people interested in its historical value wouldnt/couldnt spend that kind of dough. The only people who would care about its history are Atari geeks. Outside of that its value would be strictly the gold. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moycon Posted July 5, 2003 Author Share Posted July 5, 2003 I dont think the sword would be worth much more than the value of the gold. Seems to me the only people interested in its historical value wouldnt/couldnt spend that kind of dough. The only people who would care about its history are Atari geeks. Outside of that its value would be strictly the gold. I somewhat agree with this statement. True there are some big-spending and dedicated classic gamers out there. But would anyone honestly pay the kind of jack it would take to own one of these prizes?? I may be wrong on this one. We've all seen Atari carts go for $1,000 + and these would be a one of a kind collectable with a rich history. But even if the price was $20,000 do you think a collector would lay down that kind of dough??? That said, I think I might email a few of the current gaming magazines. I would definately buy any magazine that had an article on this, and was able to account for the location of all the prizes and get a few photo's. Who wouldn't??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rockman_x_2002 Posted July 5, 2003 Share Posted July 5, 2003 I would definately buy any magazine that had an article on this, and was able to account for the location of all the prizes and get a few photo's. Who wouldn't??? Well... they've got my dime already. As for getting the sword, it wouldn't be just one collector who'd have to cough up the green, but probably several together. Or perhaps collectors could pool a few Quadrun carts or something and bribe Tramiel into lowering the price? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gamemaster_ca_2003 Posted July 5, 2003 Share Posted July 5, 2003 why are people uttering death threats to Jack Trammel. I know he ruined atari but that is no reason to kill him. alright i do wish for him to have bad luck for the rest of his life but i don't want him dead untill he has to die. No, no. You've got me all wrong. I wasn't uttering a death threat at all. I was merely speculating on how the value of the sword might be enhanced if it were responsible for the death of Jack Tramiel. It would be so satisfying an irony if the man who symbolically decapitated the empire he once led should suffer the same fate -- especially if his demise came from the ghost of Atari itself, the holy grail Grand Prize of Swordquest! He who lives by the purloined sword dies by the sword. It is the stuff of which legends are made. Ben Alright i see your point. ok you were not making death threats. I also aggree about the irony in all of this. Thanks for clearing up for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dolt Posted July 17, 2003 Share Posted July 17, 2003 You have to figure that whoever won those things held on to them until they were adults and then figured that the money from them might be more valuable. For a small subset of the population, they have historical significance, but by and large, if you were going to sell it to someone and they asked where you got it, you'd probably go the simple route and say 'oh I won it in a videogame contest.' The sword did exist--I have a photo of it. In 1999, I went to a local junk shop and came across a box of Atari games that had an envelope jammed in there. I opened it expecting to find manuals or something and instead found photos of what looked to be the swordquest fireworld championship. The pix included shots of people playing the games, the chalice, and the sword. Realizing what they were, I tucked the photos in with the manuals of the games I picked up that day, and took 'em home. A few months later, I sent in copies to 2600 Connection and they printed them a few years ago. Clive Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slapdash Posted July 17, 2003 Share Posted July 17, 2003 Yeah, I'm still boggling over that find. Quite cool! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Albert Posted July 17, 2003 Share Posted July 17, 2003 Yeah, I'm still boggling over that find. Quite cool! Do you know what issue of 2600 Connection those pictures are in? Would be pretty cool to look at them. ..Al Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamesb69 Posted July 18, 2003 Share Posted July 18, 2003 "Steven Bell won the Earthworld contest and was awarded the Medallion. I was told that he took it to a coin dealer and had it melted down. He got about $15,000 for it, which was about $10,000 less than its stated value of $25,000. But the price of gold had dropped, and the Earthworld Medallion was almost all gold (except for the gemstones for the twelve signs of the zodiac, which couldn't have been worth very much). Also, Steven kept the miniature sword, which was on the face of the Medallion, so the money he got for it didn't include the value of the sword." "I won the Fireworld contest and was awarded the Chalice. When they took my picture, I felt like I'd run an endurance race, and I could barely stand up, which is why I look like I'm about to keel over in the picture they took. I still have the "cheesy Fireworld t-shirt" in my closet, and the Chalice is in a safety deposit box in a bank vault. I was told that its value when I won it was over $21,000 or $22,000 (I forget the exact figure). I was more fortunate than Steven, because half of the value of the Chalice is in the platinum cup and the gemstones, which decorate the gold base, so even though the price of gold had dropped, the Chalice didn't depreciate as much as the Medallion had." "I don't know what became of the Crown, Philosopher's Stone, or Sword, but I'd guess that they were either sold or melted down by Atari to help recoup financial losses, with part of the money being paid to Steven, myself, and the Waterworld qualifiers. However, that's also speculation on my part. John Hardie may have found out whatever became of those prizes." "It is rumored that the Sword ended up in the hands of Jack Tramiel, and hanging over the mantle of his fireplace." All taken from http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Lair/...9260/sword.html Also some pictures of the prizes there. My question is who is John Hardie. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dolt Posted July 18, 2003 Share Posted July 18, 2003 The photos that I found were reprinted in 2600 Connection in issue 58 on page 5. The photo of the sword on that Swordquest page that was linked to may be the one I sent in (I don't have it in front of me to check); if not, it's nearly identical. Clive Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mayhem Posted July 18, 2003 Share Posted July 18, 2003 My question is who is John Hardie. Big Atari collector. Hangs out on the DP boards and is co-organiser of CGE... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slapdash Posted July 21, 2003 Share Posted July 21, 2003 The photos that I found were reprinted in 2600 Connection in issue 58 on page 5. The photo of the sword on that Swordquest page that was linked to may be the one I sent in (I don't have it in front of me to check); if not, it's nearly identical. Pretty sure that's the one. Hmm, I thought maybe the other pix had gone up on the 26C site, but am not sure... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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