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


Crazy Climber

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I never understood the angle of stamp collecting but it just seems rather boring and without any set guidelines (aka a checklist for completion of a set, series....whatever).  But I admit my ignorance and hence retract stamp collecting from this tirade and apologize to whom I may have offended.

 

Baseball cards however.......to all those fat sexless dudes who ruined the hobby in the 1980's can bite it!  I hope that you are still choking on your worthless 1985 Topps Dwight Goodens!  And for the recent era of the hobby (the advent of $3.00 pack of cards) can choke on it to.  I know things got confusing in 1981 (with Fleer and Donruss releasing cards) but I am sad that this hobby was ruined years ago by greed.  What is missing now (unlike Crazy Climber's quest) is the challenge of collecting a whole series of anything.  The thrill of obtaining that final piece (example....unless I am blind Crazy needs several Sega 2600 title like Tapper, Congo Bongo, etc....but when that day comes baby!) is a great feeling once it occurs.  Kids today have little comprehension of collecting and it makes me sad.

 

Mr. Climber's display looks quite cool and his quest for collecting I think was the original point.

 

Get off my lawn,

 

Still love my 1989 Fleer Billy Ripken card,

 

Ted

 

 

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Kids today have little comprehension of collecting and it makes me sad.

@TeddyBear89, I cannot say I agree. It is true that most kids growing up these days have no desire to collect anything, because anything they want can be streamed digitally.

 

I myself never had a desire to collect anything other than video games. I never had a vinyl, CD, or cassette collection of music In fact most of the music I listened to was ripped from the radio.

 

Movies are a slightly different story. I still collect the movies I want to watch, and I am disappointed when a movie have have previously watched I can no longer find a place to legally stream it.

 

Even with my movies, I have ripped most of them and placed them on a local file server so I can stream it to various TVs around the house. I usually don’t pop the DVD in unless it is a movie I wouldn’t want to watch very often, and just keep around to loan out.

 

I kind of agree with the kids partly. With flashcarts, hard drives, and streaming, I can see little point to keep physical copies of most stuff. Sure it is nice sometimes to flip through a physical manual, old magazine, or DVD/game cover, but the space savings is usually more important than the tactile difference.

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6 hours ago, TeddyBear89 said:

I never understood the angle of stamp collecting but it just seems rather boring and without any set guidelines (aka a checklist for completion of a set, series....whatever).  But I admit my ignorance and hence retract stamp collecting from this tirade and apologize to whom I may have offended.

 

Baseball cards however.......to all those fat sexless dudes who ruined the hobby in the 1980's can bite it!  I hope that you are still choking on your worthless 1985 Topps Dwight Goodens!  And for the recent era of the hobby (the advent of $3.00 pack of cards) can choke on it to.  I know things got confusing in 1981 (with Fleer and Donruss releasing cards) but I am sad that this hobby was ruined years ago by greed.  What is missing now (unlike Crazy Climber's quest) is the challenge of collecting a whole series of anything.  The thrill of obtaining that final piece (example....unless I am blind Crazy needs several Sega 2600 title like Tapper, Congo Bongo, etc....but when that day comes baby!) is a great feeling once it occurs.  Kids today have little comprehension of collecting and it makes me sad.

 

Mr. Climber's display looks quite cool and his quest for collecting I think was the original point.

 

Get off my lawn,

 

Still love my 1989 Fleer Billy Ripken card,

 

Ted

 

 

 

52 minutes ago, CapitanClassic said:

@TeddyBear89, I cannot say I agree. It is true that most kids growing up these days have no desire to collect anything, because anything they want can be streamed digitally.

 

I myself never had a desire to collect anything other than video games. I never had a vinyl, CD, or cassette collection of music In fact most of the music I listened to was ripped from the radio.

 

Movies are a slightly different story. I still collect the movies I want to watch, and I am disappointed when a movie have have previously watched I can no longer find a place to legally stream it.

 

Even with my movies, I have ripped most of them and placed them on a local file server so I can stream it to various TVs around the house. I usually don’t pop the DVD in unless it is a movie I wouldn’t want to watch very often, and just keep around to loan out.

 

I kind of agree with the kids partly. With flashcarts, hard drives, and streaming, I can see little point to keep physical copies of most stuff. Sure it is nice sometimes to flip through a physical manual, old magazine, or DVD/game cover, but the space savings is usually more important than the tactile difference.

 

I don't think he (TeddyBear89) means the idea of collecting, nor the utility of collecting...He means the JOY of collecting.  The feeling of getting that rare cart you've been after for a long time,  or that game you really want but maybe couldn't afford until you got the right deal, the joy of getting something rare in a lot of otherwise commons, or the WooHooo! you yell while drinking a beer in celebration at completing a certain set or subset.

Edited by GoldLeader
Edited because, well when I type the word "a" tends to disappear. "A" is a word. Look it up. Not sure why it disappears. I don't think there is a supernatural reason, but if I ever DO find a ghost at my keyboard, I'm gonna tell him to stop F-ing wi
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5 minutes ago, GoldLeader said:

Edited just now by GoldLeader
Edited because, well when I type the word "a" tends to disappear. "A" is a word. Look it up. Not sure why it disappears. I don't think there is a supernatural reason, but if I ever DO find a ghost at my keyboard, I'm gonna tell him to stop F-ing wi

 

 

F-ing with my As!    OK Looks like I found the limit on words in the Edited portion.    (Heh)

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34 minutes ago, GoldLeader said:

I don't think he (TeddyBear89) means the idea of collecting, nor the utility of collecting...He means the JOY of collecting.  The feeling of getting that rare cart you've been after for a long time,  or that game you really want but maybe couldn't afford until you got the right deal, the joy of getting something rare in a lot of otherwise commons, or the WooHooo! you yell while drinking a beer in celebration at completing a certain set or subset.

Don't they get that from gambling, I mean loot boxes?

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3 hours ago, high voltage said:

Are loot boxes still the rage?

Nah, most of the evil corp's know that their time is coming to an end with those when gambling legislation finally gets with the times.

 

NFTs are the new lootbox. Given already Ubisoft, Konami and Square Enix are trying to make them happen now. I'd expect all the usua suspects (EA, Activision/Blizzard, etc) to join in before long.

Edited by juansolo
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24 minutes ago, high voltage said:

Reminds me way back in Germany, you could buy 'Wundertüten' from sweet shops, they usually had a small plastic toy inside, some popped rice and a collectors card:

 

800px-Wundert%C3%BCte_1972.jpg

 

They weren't much fun, most of the time. But we bought them anyway.

 

 

Reminds me of when I was a kid and I'd go grocery shopping with my Mom.  Cereal boxes often came with a cheap plastic toy of some kind inside, and I always, well often, picked the cereal with the coolest toy inside.  My Mom would say, "You're sure you'll eat it?"  "Oh Sure!   I like that!"...I suffered through some less than great cereals to get the toys haha...Did they do that in Europe?

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On 1/8/2022 at 2:38 PM, TeddyBear89 said:

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!

Thanks man! More on baseball cards/stamps below...

 

On 1/8/2022 at 4:31 PM, Keatah said:

Why is that?

 

 

On 1/8/2022 at 6:01 PM, TeddyBear89 said:

I never understood the angle of stamp collecting 

 

Baseball cards however...

 

 

Stamp collecting is kind of the grand daddy of collecting if you ask me, its what the collector collected before collecting was really a mainstream thing if that makes sense ?

 

I did briefly in the early 80s but it was mainly driven by older people finding it fascinating a younger kid was into it, and actually knew a thing or two about it...so I got piles of free shit from them ?

 

Like you mentioned, the enormity of the hobby ended it for me. It was just too broad...even at a young age I was horribly overwhelmed trying to make my collection look neat and presentable...where does it start, where does it end, too many things I didn't really want but couldn't get rid of because I'd never find another.

 

I'm not active with it at all but these days the hobby seems to embrace cross collecting more (star wars stamps, Disney stamps, etc) in my opinion thats the only way to do it and keep your sanity ? Pick a genre and roll with it. 

 

Baseball cards... 

 

About 5 years ago I got the nostalgia for vintage cards again (60s, 70s, select 80s) I know a lot of people say the hobby is ruined and in many ways it is but there are still a lot of good guys out there doing it. I know the new "ultra limited" stuff and dads camping out to buy all the new cards before anyone else is pretty gross haha, but its not everyone, the old days are still there if you look hard enough.

 

I got the most "good nostalgia" from going to local shows, talking to people, buying rare cards with a pen mark or trashed corners (the good side of grading is it has really dropped the price of damaged cards)

 

Long story short I learned its not all cut throat assholes like it appears to be lol. Theres plenty of old schoolers helping each other out and avoiding what the hobby has seemingly become. I met some great people and would still do it but ultimately displaying them killed it for me as petty as that sounds

 

Top loaders in a box? Screw down or magnet cases? Put them in a book, get a full blown display case? I would start doing it one way and already be tired of how it looked before I was finished transferring them. Lasted about a year before I just sold them all and haven't looked back. I still go to the shows though, talk to the right guys and you get a wave of nostalgia second to none ? I buy a new pack now and then, just think of them like "pull tabs" lol. 

 

 

22 hours ago, CapitanClassic said:

@TeddyBear89, I cannot say I agree. It is true that most kids growing up these days have no desire to collect anything, because anything they want can be streamed digitally.

Well, for media that's definitely true, I don't think my kids own one physical copy of any music, movies, etc. Nintendo switch seems to have a little "collecting effect" on the youth...but I can say that Pokémon is pretty damn close to the old days of collecting stuff and still alive and well with the kids these days. Me and my younger daughter have had a blast hitting shows, trading, selling, buying, collecting cards and sometimes it really does make me feel like I'm in the 80s again. The super serious adults kind of ruin it, kind of reminds me of teddybear89s description of modern baseball cards...if they would just remember what it was like to be younger and roll with it they would see its a fountain of youth in a way.

 

I have zero nostalgia for Pokémon, I was too old when it came out and always thought it looked stupid. I even fought it at first when my kid expressed interest but I remembered thays how my parents were like that about stuff I collected so I did the opposite and completely embraced it. Glad I did, I even have a little collection of my own, not to mention its a pretty fun/deep strategy game if you take the time to learn it. 

 

 

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Collection update! 

 

Just a lone Track and field this week. Got it for $30 shipped, not really a steal or anything but a fair price so I nabbed it. 

 

20220109_151903.thumb.jpg.3877b20742168bdaccd86c5b25e0110c.jpg

 

I almost regretted buying it when it arrived, I forgot how different it is from every other cart. Not really rare enough to display solo like an R9, not similar enough to any others to just add it to their stack. I ended up making a solo shelf just for singles. Even if you guys hate it just pretend you like it, racked my brain for awhile trying to find a solution on for this oddball haha

 

That being said my Wifes parents abruptly moved to assisted living leaving us to deal with their stuff asap. Nothing was ready at all on their end so we had to sell their house immediately to pay for their insanely expensive apartment. We didn't have much time to go through their belongings so long story short a lot of it will be coming here soon (its already starting to pile up)

 

Since my atari sanctuary is located in the basement I became worried it would soon be surrounded by random old people clutter. The thought of all those porcelain holiday themed knick knacks and ceramic candy dishes infesting my fortress of solitude was really starting to eat me up inside. Picturing boxes of Barry Manilow records blocking the door or bags of old lady hats and scarves on my couch was the last straw. I spent the better part of a Saturday moving my collection into our bedroom. My wife hates it but we've been married awhile now and she knows I'm gonna do what I want when it comes to my collecting habits ? 

 

Here's the new layout....

 

20220109_151847.thumb.jpg.15cb0a971226237a398616e43f45d32e.jpg

 

Im usually not keen on mixing my random room collectibles with whatever other thing I'm hyper focused on collecting but I'm happy with the results. It will do for now ? 

 

 

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Know how all that goes. Purging and paring down Apple II stuff myself. I piled it all ceiling-high in one room one day and opened the proverbial valve to a trickle. Every day pulling a random item out. And it either goes into the keep or no-keep pile. When done one pile goes out, the other stays.

 

Focus is on stuff had and wanted as a kid. That's the keeper material. This means a good 40-50 percent is leftover nonsensical ebay purchases from the last 20 years. Maybe longer. That's the pile that's going.

 

Been wanting to do this for a long long time. Years even. But first have the free time now.

Edited by Keatah
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59 minutes ago, Crazy Climber said:

Collection update! 

 

Just a lone Track and field this week. Got it for $30 shipped, not really a steal or anything but a fair price so I nabbed it. 

 

20220109_151903.thumb.jpg.3877b20742168bdaccd86c5b25e0110c.jpg

 

I almost regretted buying it when it arrived, I forgot how different it is from every other cart. Not really rare enough to display solo like an R9, not similar enough to any others to just add it to their stack. I ended up making a solo shelf just for singles. Even if you guys hate it just pretend you like it, racked my brain for awhile trying to find a solution on for this oddball haha

 

That being said my Wifes parents abruptly moved to assisted living leaving us to deal with their stuff asap. Nothing was ready at all on their end so we had to sell their house immediately to pay for their insanely expensive apartment. We didn't have much time to go through their belongings so long story short a lot of it will be coming here soon (its already starting to pile up)

 

Since my atari sanctuary is located in the basement I became worried it would soon be surrounded by random old people clutter. The thought of all those porcelain holiday themed knick knacks and ceramic candy dishes infesting my fortress of solitude was really starting to eat me up inside. Picturing boxes of Barry Manilow records blocking the door or bags of old lady hats and scarves on my couch was the last straw. I spent the better part of a Saturday moving my collection into our bedroom. My wife hates it but we've been married awhile now and she knows I'm gonna do what I want when it comes to my collecting habits ? 

 

Here's the new layout....

 

20220109_151847.thumb.jpg.15cb0a971226237a398616e43f45d32e.jpg

 

Im usually not keen on mixing my random room collectibles with whatever other thing I'm hyper focused on collecting but I'm happy with the results. It will do for now ? 

 

 

That brings back memories!  One of my best friends, and drummer in my first band, lived across the street and over a house... and he had that same exact Metallica poster!

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The problem with card collecting nowadays is the card companies go out of their way to make so many rare cards. :(
chrome, prizm, gold, refractor, holo, relic, auto, parallel etc...

Even making cards of players that haven't played in Decades.
Dan Marino last played in 1999! 


2021 Spectra Dan Marino RetroSpect On Card Auto Neon Marble /3 Miami Dolphins



https://www.ebay.com/itm/133969388893

 

s-l1600dan.jpg

Edited by roadrunner
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1 hour ago, roadrunner said:

The problem with card collecting nowadays is the card companies go out of their way to make so many rare cards. :(
chrome, prizm, gold, refractor, holo, relic, auto, parallel etc...

Even making cards of players that haven't played in Decades.
Dan Marino last played in 1999! 

 

Bringing back the old players, heritage, etc is what got me to pick it up again (briefly) I honestly haven't watched a full sports game in over 20 years, couldn't even name any current star players, etc... 

 

The rare stuff is getting a little crazy, if you're a completionist its just impossible. Saw a kid at the local card shop get a 1 of 1 reggie Jackson that had the circle knob baseball bat end as a sawed off chunk attached to the card lol. 

 

In that respect its like pull tabs, most packs are worthless until you get one thats $500 

1 hour ago, Keatah said:

As an unsophisticated collector of old computer junk I believe I'm totally incapable of seeing the value in cards, stamps, and most coins.

For me it was 99% thrill of the hunt. They don't display well and don't really do anything neat haha, they're fun to flip through though :)

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2 hours ago, Keatah said:

As an unsophisticated collector of old computer junk I believe I'm totally incapable of seeing the value in cards, stamps, and most coins.

As someone born before the introduction of payment for virtual objects in a game, I don’t see the value of virtual skins/objects. I refuse to allow my kids to spend money on those things, instead they can only get gift cards for that stuff during Christmas/B-days (Robucks, Fortnite V-bucks, etc)

 

I am sure I wouldn’t have spent money for “land” in Ultimate Online back in the day. I used to work at a GameStop that had a regular customer who had bought land in the game and built a castle. Where is is castle now? :)

 

I can barely force myself to pay for subscription services like Netflix/Amazon, that only five you limited access to Movies/Books/Games. It seems like everything is getting cheaper and more abundant, and moving forward the largest cost for the consumer for anything that can be digitized is your attention. (Time is the only finite resource, at least until they can perfect elongating your life)

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7 hours ago, CapitanClassic said:

As someone born before the introduction of payment for virtual objects in a game, I don’t see the value of virtual skins/objects. I refuse to allow my kids to spend money on those things, instead they can only get gift cards for that stuff during Christmas/B-days (Robucks, Fortnite V-bucks, etc)

 

I am sure I wouldn’t have spent money for “land” in Ultimate Online back in the day. I used to work at a GameStop that had a regular customer who had bought land in the game and built a castle. Where is is castle now? :)

 

I can barely force myself to pay for subscription services like Netflix/Amazon, that only five you limited access to Movies/Books/Games. It seems like everything is getting cheaper and more abundant, and moving forward the largest cost for the consumer for anything that can be digitized is your attention. (Time is the only finite resource, at least until they can perfect elongating your life)

Yeah, I set a hard "dad rule" with my kids and digital purchases. Its one thing if its a full, actual game. I'm not crazy about it but I get that some cool games just aren't worth it or very practical for a retail release anymore. If they want some 2D scroller for $10 or less now and then thats fine... 

 

Where I set the rule is in game purchases... nope, none. I'm not paying real dollars to buy a virtual cat some better quality virtual food so it poops gold coins faster so you can buy more virtual cats that need more virtual food... 

 

Digital Music is the one that really kills me. Nobody buys local "digital" albums. Its hard enough for real bands to sell them. Its not like any of my bands ever made any real money over the years but it was at least still fun to sell our stuff at shows, see it in local stores, etc.. we'd always make a few bucks profit in the end. 

 

Those days are long gone. Records have had a slight resurgence and they sell okay I guess but they are expensive to have made/minimum runs so we still lose money in the end. CDs are just done, nobody wants them. I think we've sold maybe 3 total at our last 5 shows. Half the time I cant even give them away, people will hand them back and say "Dude, I haven't used/had a CD player in years, do you have a digital album code?" lol. No big deal, its just a hobby and they're super cheap to make, still annoying though!

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So... got a little bored at work. Looks like I need 67 games now to be in the 404 club...

 

Of them I would say the following 20 are very obtainable and I plan on getting them somewhat soon...

 

006. Atari Video Cube / Rubik's Cube

051. Ikari Warriors

065. Moto Rodeo

075. Radar Lock

085. Road Runner

170. Laser Gates

175. Shooting Gallery

178. Subterranea

197. Star Wars - The Arcade Game

219. Marauder

220. Springer

222. Miner 2049er II

275. Tapper

277. Up n Down

333. Mines of Minos

348. Dishaster / Dancing Plate by Bit Corp

363. Strategy-X

364. Marine Wars

377. Dice Puzzle by Panda

378. Stunt Man by Panda (also NTSC Nightmare by Sancho)

 

These 6 here are also obtainable...if I really "go for it" I suppose I'll buy them...

 

368. Custer's Revenge

369. Bachelor Party

370. Beat 'em& Eat 'em

371. Gigolo

372. Burning Desire

373. Knight on the Town

 

Most of these games are "obtainable" but it's going to cost me (some more than others)

 

076. Quadrun

187. Mr. Do’s Castle

190. Q*Bert’s Qubes

213. Berenstain Bears

222. Miner 2049er II

223. River Patrol

230. Bumper Bash

231. Master Builder

232. Gas Hog

314. Robin Hood

315. Sir Lancelot

317. Tomarc the Barbarian

334. Stronghold

335. Cakewalk

342. Out of Control

351. Assault

352. Great Escape

353. Wall Defender

354. Z-Tack

380. Malagai by Answer Software

381. Video Jogger by Exus

391. Boing! by First Star Software

392. Quest for Quintana Roo by Sunrise Software (also from Tele Games)

395. Rescue Terra I by Venture Vision

396. Glib by Selchow& Richter

397. X-Man by Universal Gamex

398. Tooth Protectors by DSD Camelot

399. Music Machine by Sparrow

 

Honestly for these 2 I have no idea...

 

387. Glacier Patrol by Telegames

388. Universal Chaos by Telegames

 

 

These I'm chalking up as unobtainable since their price either floats around/exceeds $1000 or you just can't find them for sale at all!!

 

336. Magicard

337. Video Life

379. Gauntlet by Answer Software

385. Halloween by Wizard

386. Texas Chainsaw by Wizard

400. Eli's Ladder by Simage

401. Air Raid by Men A Vision

402. Gamma Attack

403. Red Sea Crossing

404. Birthday Mania

 

So looks like my "end game" will be roughly 394 unique cartridges if I go all in on this... I guess I'll knock the 20 "easier obtained" games down first and take it from there...


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited by Crazy Climber
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Based on your last tally (Current Collection - 475 games Total invested - $2209!!!) your PPG (Price Per Game) is approximately $4.65 each......

 

When you start acquiring some of the above-mentioned titles, those averaging math lessons taught in junior high will really come in handy as your PPG is going to skyrocket lol

 

Opinions will vary but I'd suggest paying the premium that Mines of Minos and Boing! command - they are two outstanding 2600 games.

 

Keep on truckin'

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On 1/10/2022 at 11:50 AM, Keatah said:

As an unsophisticated collector of old computer junk I believe I'm totally incapable of seeing the value in cards, stamps, and most coins.

In thinking a little more about this, cards, stamps, coins, it seems these are non-interactive. But game cartridges can be totally interactive. There's a game to play!

 

With cards, stamps, coins, someone absolutely has to say they are worth something.  CSC rely on an outside source to lend worth. A game, however, is worth nostalgia and a remembrance of the cozy good times, at a minimum. At least that's how it is for me.

 

Playing Air-Sea Battle or Fishing Derby or Slot Racers and Flag Capture really takes me back. In 1977-1982 we'd play those games in lengthy all-afternoon sessions, while they were hot. Today I don't sit in front the screen as continuously as I did then. Playing them today happens in shorter spurts. But these shorter 1/2 hour spurts are spread out over many many more years. And games like those?? They reliably bring back memories of so much else that was going on at the time.

 

There's likely more to be said. But I'm content with this reasoning for now.

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