Starting Atari 2600 collection from scratch, follow my progress :)

[Saldo]

On 12/21/2021 at 2:21 PM, Crazy Climber said:

Here is a pic of my basement back when I was pretty into them...

 

 

That was a LONG time ago though...

Ha!  I remember back in (what, 2006) when you posted about finishing this game room!  I also remember those metal Space Invaders you have on the ceiling (which must have been after 2006 because those original posts didn’t have those).  Unfortunately I never snagged any when you where producing them.  What is in that game room now that you got rid of the arcade cabs?

 

Also, as others have stated, this is an entertaining thread.  Prices have caused me to stop collecting Atari since I was only trying to get sealed boxes.  Maybe the loose method is the way to go!

[Crazy Climber]

11 hours ago, Saldo said:

Ha!  I remember back in (what, 2006) when you posted about finishing this game room!  I also remember those metal Space Invaders you have on the ceiling (which must have been after 2006 because those original posts didn’t have those).  Unfortunately I never snagged any when you where producing them.  What is in that game room now that you got rid of the arcade cabs?

 

Also, as others have stated, this is an entertaining thread.  Prices have caused me to stop collecting Atari since I was only trying to get sealed boxes.  Maybe the loose method is the way to go!

Thanks man!

 

Yeah, this was the original room...2006 sounds about right!

 

Always hated that golden tee conversion, would smash my hand into the glass constantly

 

 

Mario Pinball, not very deep or anything but a damn fun game...bought that one for $800, wonder what it's worth now?

 

 

 

Not sure why those cords didn't bother me, man that is messing with my feng shui haha

 

 

Most of my memories in it are a blur (I drank a lot back then haha)

 

 

I made the mistake of constantly needing to change it, switching stuff in and out, was addicted to that "new game" feeling/etc.. At it's peak I had some heavy hitters (TZ and Indiana Jones to name a few) but then I needed money and the room was worth too much to justify at that point...and when a main pipe burst and flooded everything I just sold it all and moved on. Had I just left it alone with it's moderate line up it would likely still stand today, now it's just a messy kids play room that they rarely use...they have no idea what it once was! lol. If I get really bored I might build it up again someday, tried it with arcade 1up's but just wasn't the same...I do NOT miss the constant maintenance of keeping the games running though haha

 

Oh, I might have a Space Invaders set or two laying around the garage still. Not sure what color but if you do end up finding the space for them and need a set just send a PM and I'll see what I have

 

 

[Keatah]

12 hours ago, Crazy Climber said:

I made the mistake of constantly needing to change it, switching stuff in and out, was addicted to that "new game" feeling/etc.. At it's peak I had some heavy hitters (TZ and Indiana Jones to name a few) but then I needed money and the room was worth too much to justify at that point...and when a main pipe burst and flooded everything I just sold it all and moved on.

I had similar conflicts, too, when trying to decide what and what not to put in the game room. Got to be too much of a hassle going back'n'forth between storage and the basement. Always wanting something different every few months.

 

When MAME started snowballing, all bets were off, and I sold or disposed of every cab I had. A quality digital display and a fast computer with a small variety of controllers like X-Arcade replaced the hulking monsters. Convenience was suddenly a thing to behold! Over the years it has proven to be the correct choice.

 

12 hours ago, Crazy Climber said:

I do NOT miss the constant maintenance of keeping the games running though haha

Yes, maintenance was the other huge factor in choosing not to curate arcade cabinets. Full size cabs, despite what others say, do need maintenance.

 

Not sure of the intended design life, but I would guess from the looks of construction and popularity of any given game, 3 years would sound about right. So you have to fight against aging parts. Not necessarily failed parts, but parts gone out of tolerance.

[Saldo]

On 12/29/2021 at 12:46 PM, Crazy Climber said:

Had I just left it alone with it's moderate line up it would likely still stand today, now it's just a messy kids play room that they rarely use...they have no idea what it once was! lol.

Well at least you have the pictures to show them, and from the ones you posted back then of you and your friends it looks like you guys (and girls) had a lot of fun times down there.  Life sometime gets in the way and priorities change.  

[CaptainBreakout]

Thanks for sharing the pics of your game room from bitd.  I had something similar at about the same time. I wish I'd have taken pictures.

 

I've still got most of my arcade machines, but they are in pieces (ever since moving to the country).  I'm simultaneously looking forward to and dreading setting them all up again... I remember the maintenance.

 

I really really want to play Black Hole again tho.

 

(Mario Pinball was a game I was after! That and Farfalla. Both appeared on my radar locally... I actually touched the Farfalla. That might have been the high water mark of my arcade machine collecting looking back.)

 

Like I said... Thanks for the pictures. Inspiration!

 

Heh... In the meantime I've been doing something a little like what you are doing... Building a console cartridge collection. I've been caught in a perpetual "almost done" state for a few years now.

 

Fun watching what you are doing.

[Keatah]

6 hours ago, CaptainBreakout said:

Heh... In the meantime I've been doing something a little like what you are doing... Building a console cartridge collection. I've been caught in a perpetual "almost done" state for a few years now.

 

Fun watching what you are doing.

For cart collecting, you never want to be done. Always want to have a few things to chase after. At the same time you don't want to collect fluff-n-stuff either - makes it all look garbagey & low-class.

 

I mean certain segments of a collection can be done. But then you open up other ones, just be picky about it.

Edited December 31, 2021 by Keatah

[AtariAger]

Yeah…I was after every cart at one point…boxed, loose…whatever..!!!

 

I had all of the, “9’s” except for Puzzy Space Tunnel and was pretty deep into the, “10’s” when I kind of dropped off in the 2000’s.  I did pick up a few games here and there over the years.

 

Wish I had kept the complete mint Eli’s Ladder…that was a cool one.

[CaptainBreakout]

16 hours ago, Keatah said:

For cart collecting, you never want to be done. Always want to have a few things to chase after. At the same time you don't want to collect fluff-n-stuff either - makes it all look garbagey & low-class.

 

I mean certain segments of a collection can be done. But then you open up other ones, just be picky about it.

 

Yeah, I know what you mean.   I always rationalized this hobby as an exercise in collecting carts based on personal taste.  I understand the "gotta catch em all" mentality too (I was an MTG player/collector).  That's fun, and as an experiment, today I decided to try something similar to what Crazy Climber is doing with my recently acquired Sega 32x.

 

I'll see if this works out... I've never tried for a complete set for a system before.

 

And yeah, you're right that cart collecting goes on forever, seemingly either way.  Either you finish that set, and move onto another system, or there's always another "hidden gem" that is worth tracking down after a few curious clicks on YouTube reviews.

 

And then there's the homebrew scene, which if you are like me and love homebrews, will make collecting last forever -let's face it.

 

[Keatah]

Through herculean?effort I managed to complete a TRS-80 Pocket Computer 1 set.

[Crazy Climber]

On 12/30/2021 at 12:56 AM, Keatah said:

I had similar conflicts, too, when trying to decide what and what not to put in the game room. Got to be too much of a hassle going back'n'forth between storage and the basement. Always wanting something different every few months.

 

When MAME started snowballing, all bets were off, and I sold or disposed of every cab I had. A quality digital display and a fast computer with a small variety of controllers like X-Arcade replaced the hulking monsters. Convenience was suddenly a thing to behold! Over the years it has proven to be the correct choice.

 

Yes, maintenance was the other huge factor in choosing not to curate arcade cabinets. Full size cabs, despite what others say, do need maintenance.

 

Not sure of the intended design life, but I would guess from the looks of construction and popularity of any given game, 3 years would sound about right. So you have to fight against aging parts. Not necessarily failed parts, but parts gone out of tolerance.

For some reason I never really went too far down the MAME road... I love my flashcarts for NES/2600 though so I totally get it's appeal. Yeah, monitors was my biggest beef with Arcade machines. Most board work/etc I could handle but monitor calibration/repairs got tricky with parts that had already had 10,000 hours on them  haha

On 12/30/2021 at 9:30 PM, Saldo said:

Well at least you have the pictures to show them, and from the ones you posted back then of you and your friends it looks like you guys (and girls) had a lot of fun times down there.  Life sometime gets in the way and priorities change.  

Yeah, lots of fun times. Unfortunately most was before everyone walked around with a smartphone camera but I do have some awesome super 8 video footage somewhere...one of these days, whenever I find it, I'll be glad I dusted that thing off for the party that one time lol

On 12/30/2021 at 10:12 PM, CaptainBreakout said:

Thanks for sharing the pics of your game room from bitd.  I had something similar at about the same time. I wish I'd have taken pictures.

 

I've still got most of my arcade machines, but they are in pieces (ever since moving to the country).  I'm simultaneously looking forward to and dreading setting them all up again... I remember the maintenance.

 

I really really want to play Black Hole again tho.

 

(Mario Pinball was a game I was after! That and Farfalla. Both appeared on my radar locally... I actually touched the Farfalla. That might have been the high water mark of my arcade machine collecting looking back.)

 

Like I said... Thanks for the pictures. Inspiration!

 

Heh... In the meantime I've been doing something a little like what you are doing... Building a console cartridge collection. I've been caught in a perpetual "almost done" state for a few years now.

 

Fun watching what you are doing.

No problem! Black Hole was a top game of mine too although mine was broke down more than running, for whatever reason that one needed a LOT of maintenance!!

On 12/31/2021 at 4:22 AM, Keatah said:

For cart collecting, you never want to be done. Always want to have a few things to chase after. At the same time you don't want to collect fluff-n-stuff either - makes it all look garbagey & low-class.

 

I mean certain segments of a collection can be done. But then you open up other ones, just be picky about it.

This was Arnold Schwarzenegger's philosophy on weight training too, you always need some type of goal, simply maintaining something is boring!

On 12/31/2021 at 2:39 PM, AtariAger said:

Yeah…I was after every cart at one point…boxed, loose…whatever..!!!

 

I had all of the, “9’s” except for Puzzy Space Tunnel and was pretty deep into the, “10’s” when I kind of dropped off in the 2000’s.  I did pick up a few games here and there over the years.

 

Wish I had kept the complete mint Eli’s Ladder…that was a cool one.

@Wonder007 got that one IIRC right?

On 12/31/2021 at 9:20 PM, CaptainBreakout said:

 

Yeah, I know what you mean.   I always rationalized this hobby as an exercise in collecting carts based on personal taste.  I understand the "gotta catch em all" mentality too (I was an MTG player/collector).  That's fun, and as an experiment, today I decided to try something similar to what Crazy Climber is doing with my recently acquired Sega 32x.

 

I'll see if this works out... I've never tried for a complete set for a system before.

 

And yeah, you're right that cart collecting goes on forever, seemingly either way.  Either you finish that set, and move onto another system, or there's always another "hidden gem" that is worth tracking down after a few curious clicks on YouTube reviews.

 

And then there's the homebrew scene, which if you are like me and love homebrews, will make collecting last forever -let's face it.

 

ha nice! Is the 32x Spiderman still super rare? I remember I had a complete set minus that one waaaaaaay back. I didn't want to spend the $100 or so it was worth, guessing it's a little higher now lol

[Crazy Climber]

Collection update!

 

This will be the last big one for awhile...

 

1 - I'm running out of affordable stuff

2 - I've already spent a LOT haha

 

First up Is a lot of 4 games I snagged for $60 shipped off ebay...little more than I wanted to pay but my options are getting slim haha. Just need Task Force and Spiderdroid to complete my Froggo collection...but I'm in no hurry, I hate froggo (although they look okay on the shelf I guess) Herby was the gem of the lot of course!

 

 

 

 

Next up was a FANTASTIC deal from our very own AA member @TAV

I got the following for $448 shipped!

 

"wait a minute...$448 is a LOT of money Climber??!!"

 

Yes, it is but take a good look at the pics, there is a LOT of rare games in there. Well worth the asking price!

 

Some personal highlights for me...

 

Chuckwagon!! Remember back when this was considered one of the rarest Atari games? I do...

 

Look how clean this BMX is!! You just don't find them like this...

 

Can finally scratch Cannon man off the list!

 

Gopher beveled cartridge, this one is a sleeper rarity. Sure, it's only worth $5 or so but take a look on ebay, you won't find one! Just need a Raft Rider Standard case and I have them all now

 

Not to mention he threw in some FREE bonus manuals, what a guy! THANK YOU!!

 

 

 

That puts my totals at...

 

Current Collection - 475 games

Total invested - $2209!!!

 

 I'll be "letting em bake" for a little while as Keetah put it. Here are some closer pics of whats in there for now

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

and of course...ALL of them!

 

 

 

 

[CaptainBreakout]

Wow!  Those are all gems!  Considering the high quality and rarity, you got a heck of a deal!

 

(I paid $100 just for Obelix a decade ago.)

[roadrunner]

Raft Rider Standard case is one of the more difficult games to find, very rare.

 

[Crazy Climber]

1 hour ago, roadrunner said:

Raft Rider Standard case is one of the more difficult games to find, very rare.

 

Yeah, I never looked very hard but I've never personally seen one that I can remember. None on ebay currently (not even completed auctions) either. Might take a while to find one, if I do at all haha. Activision Skiing seems to be rarer than I thought it was also, it's the last activision cart I need (unless I count the white space shuttle variant but I don't think I'll bother with that one) at least that one seems to pop up now and then though

[CaptainBreakout]

On 1/3/2022 at 8:50 AM, Crazy Climber said:

Is the Spiderman still super rare? I remember I had a complete set minus that one waaaaaaay back. I didn't want to spend the $100 or so it was worth, guessing it's a little higher now lol

I just checked eBay. $997 for the lone listed loose cart.

 

I'm backing down a bit from the idea of a complete set of 32x. I guess Spiderman is the equivalent of Air Raid for that system, but still. Games for that platform seem to be $100 average now. I suppose I can blame the pandemic partially. I'll keep trying tho. Maybe someone with a bunch of extra 32x wants some vintage PC cards? ?

 

Anyways it's fun to see you make such headway on the 2600 in 2022.  I'd love to see how you deal with Glib, Eli and the Xonox or Bomb! titles. Or maybe the adult offerings. Your progress is definitely entertaining as you continue to level up into expensive waters. I'll save some junior mints for viewing this thread.

 

I'll cheer you on too.

[Atari_Bill]

16 hours ago, Crazy Climber said:

Yeah, I never looked very hard but I've never personally seen one that I can remember. None on ebay currently (not even completed auctions) either. Might take a while to find one, if I do at all haha. Activision Skiing seems to be rarer than I thought it was also, it's the last activision cart I need (unless I count the white space shuttle variant but I don't think I'll bother with that one) at least that one seems to pop up now and then though

The blue Activision Skiing is a bear.   Been looking for that myself for a long time.  Passed on it at a recent convention for $80.  Maybe I should have bought it.  

[Crazy Climber]

8 hours ago, CaptainBreakout said:

I just checked eBay. $997 for the lone listed loose cart.

 

I'm backing down a bit from the idea of a complete set of 32x. I guess Spiderman is the equivalent of Air Raid for that system, but still. Games for that platform seem to be $100 average now. I suppose I can blame the pandemic partially. I'll keep trying tho. Maybe someone with a bunch of extra 32x wants some vintage PC cards? ?

 

Anyways it's fun to see you make such headway on the 2600 in 2022.  I'd love to see how you deal with Glib, Eli and the Xonox or Bomb! titles. Or maybe the adult offerings. Your progress is definitely entertaining as you continue to level up into expensive waters. I'll save some junior mints for viewing this thread.

 

I'll cheer you on too.

Remember when everyone was worried their precious cartridge values would drop with the introduction of flash carts and reproductions haha, yeah right!!

 

Yeah, it would seem, with a little help from my friends, loose 2600 games is still an obtainable quest! ... well, 95% of them/etc but thats no different than the old days. Knowing a lot more fellow collectors this time around helped a lot. The big advantage you have with 32x is there is not that many of them, so even if they are a bit pricey, the list is much shorter. If I were to do it I would go for a "slow burn" maybe buy them in alphabetical order, one game a month... I'd have to get the plastic boxes for them though, I'm not crazy about the look of loose 32x games...

 

Glib and the xonox stuff I think is obtainable at a decent price. The Bomb games (and rare spectravideo) I think I'll just do PAL versions, they look identical and lets face it, these are shelf ornaments for the most part haha. The adult games I'll only buy broken for dirt cheap...now that I think about it BOMB games (the NTSC ones at least) are eproms and they die too. My Assault cartridge died back in the day, was worth $200+ working, $27 dead lol

 

 

3 hours ago, Atari_Bill said:

The blue Activision Skiing is a bear.   Been looking for that myself for a long time.  Passed on it at a recent convention for $80.  Maybe I should have bought it.  

Yeah, $80 is too much man, I don't care how rare it is...it's a blue skiing cartridge!! I think the highest I'd spend on one is $25ish, if it means I never get it then so be it haha. Seems like this would be one though that might just pop up in a lot. I mean, I'm pretty in to atari games and I had no idea it's that uncommon until now. I likely would have sold it as a common in a lot...and maybe I have???

[+Psionic]

On 1/4/2022 at 1:51 PM, Crazy Climber said:

Yeah, I never looked very hard but I've never personally seen one that I can remember. None on ebay currently (not even completed auctions) either. Might take a while to find one, if I do at all haha.

I've only ever seen two copies of the standard case version of Raft Rider.  The last time was several years ago, probably over a decade at this point because I know I didn't have a smartphone yet.  I remember I had it on my eBay watch list but forgot about the auction.  When I got home later on, I saw that it had sold for like $15 or something, maybe even less.  It was so long ago I can't even remember, but I'm still pretty sore about that one.

[Atari_Bill]

8 hours ago, Psionic said:

I've only ever seen two copies of the standard case version of Raft Rider.  The last time was several years ago, probably over a decade at this point because I know I didn't have a smartphone yet.  I remember I had it on my eBay watch list but forgot about the auction.  When I got home later on, I saw that it had sold for like $15 or something, maybe even less.  It was so long ago I can't even remember, but I'm still pretty sore about that one.

There’s really a standard case version?   I thought that was just speculation!   Great, now another one to chase and never find.  

[Crazy Climber]

9 hours ago, Psionic said:

I've only ever seen two copies of the standard case version of Raft Rider.  The last time was several years ago, probably over a decade at this point because I know I didn't have a smartphone yet.  I remember I had it on my eBay watch list but forgot about the auction.  When I got home later on, I saw that it had sold for like $15 or something, maybe even less.  It was so long ago I can't even remember, but I'm still pretty sore about that one.

Oh wow...have you been actively searching for one this whole time!! Yeah, if thats the case I'm not going to try too hard, I mean if one falls in my lap sure but if it only pops up once a decade...that is RARE!! 

34 minutes ago, Atari_Bill said:

There’s really a standard case version?   I thought that was just speculation!   Great, now another one to chase and never find.  

Yeah, atariage has a scan, thats the only reason I know about it

[+Psionic]

13 minutes ago, Crazy Climber said:

Oh wow...have you been actively searching for one this whole time!! Yeah, if thats the case I'm not going to try too hard, I mean if one falls in my lap sure but if it only pops up once a decade...that is RARE!!

Actually, now that I'm really thinking about it, I must correct myself.  It was actually the standard case version of Piece o' Cake that I missed out on that time, and I haven't seen another one since.  The standard Raft Rider is almost as rare, and I can probably count on one hand how many times I've seen one.  But admittedly, no...I haven't been actively looking this whole time.

[Atari_Bill]

I haven’t ever seen either that I recall.  Of course I haven’t been actively searching either.  Since I’m pretty well done with what I can realistically do with my collection, I’ve been hunting down variations lately.   They can be really tough to find.  

[Crazy Climber]

50 minutes ago, Psionic said:

It was actually the standard case version of Piece o' Cake that I missed out on that time

Okay, that one I didn't know exsisted.... damn, another weird one to look for...

[TeddyBear89]

As one of many followers of this thread (over 6500 views!) just wanted to say how cool it has been to see the progress.  Those carts look awesome just being displayed.

 

Beats stamp and baseball card collecting in my book!

[Keatah]

1 hour ago, TeddyBear89 said:

Beats stamp and baseball card collecting in my book!

Why is that?