why atari 2600 collecting is the best

[homerwannabee]

I have put some major thought into this topic and have concluded that collecting for this system is the best thing to collect for. Reason 1. The prices are extremly reasonable compared to other hobbies. Like baseball card collecting you could pay over 2000 dollars for a card that over twenty thousand people have like a mickey mantle card from the fifties. In our hobby we can get for a thousand dollars a game maybe only fifty people have. and two or three thousand you can probably have the most expensive game ever for the system one that only ten people have. In this hobby people complain when someone is trying to sell a E.T. for $5, People would say you probably got steal of a deal if you paid $5 for a common barbie in the sixties. Reason two in about ten years people will be saying "you only paid $5 for that E.T." I truly believe that most games will be about twenty five times as much as they are in the year 2015. instead of paying about $7 on ebay for a pittfall, it will be more like $175 dollars for that game, Instead of paying about $100 for waterworld it should be more like $2500. Our hobby is extremly undervalued, think of how much time the average kid spent playing the atari 2600, people will one day realize the value of that time. I know most of you will laugh at me for writing this, but I will be laughing at the people who laughed at me in 2015.

[Room 34]

You're right that as collectibles 2600 cartridges are undervalued. But I am really quite wary of the whole idea of collecting stuff because you expect it to increase exponentially in value over time.

 

Most stuff that has become valuable as a collectible has done so because no one bothered to save it, especially in pristine condition, back when it was made. But then once the old stuff becomes collectible, a million people start going out and buying the stuff brand new and keeping it in a hermetically sealed container for 20 years. Well you know what... if a million other people are keeping sealed Jar Jar Binks action figures, they're not going to be worth SQUAT in 20 years.

 

I am rambling. That doesn't really have anything to do with Atari cartridges. But my point is just that I am a bit cynical about the idea of collecting "toys" and expecting them to go up in value. ALL collectibles are only worth what you can get someone to pay you for them, regardless of what some price guide might say. Collect things because you enjoy them and find them interesting... that way it doesn't matter WHAT you can sell them for at some arbitrary point in the future. They have a value that can't be measured in dollars.

[NE146]

They have a value that can't be measured in dollars.

 

Yep. I always dug it because I like playing my Atari games (most of them anyhow ).. doesn't matter a hoot to me whether they're worth 20 bucks now or a nickel in 2040

[sku_u]

I think the main reason I'm collecting videogames is because I enjoy playing them. I tend to collect things that can be enjoyed rather than things that will stay in a safety deposit box until I die only to be sold off by one of my grandchildren who only sees the value, not the sentiment attached to the item.

 

Case in point: I could have bought a complete Eli's Ladder for about $1800, but instead spent $1500 on an antique sleigh and $500 on carpentry tools so I can restore the sleigh and display it on my front lawn around Christmas time. For me, the fun will be restoring the sleigh and seeing the neighborhood children's faces light up when they see Santa in a real sleigh at Christmas time. I also have plans to use the sleigh in a local parade whenever I manage to get it restored.

 

This is an item that I want to build a tradition around, that will hopefully stay in my family for years to come. Buying that Eli's Ladder would have given me a more complete collection of Atari games, but in the end, I'd rather stick to the games that are fun to play.

[dwh]

I think the real value in collecting cartridge based vidio games is the fact that you can play and enjoy the games right now..not 20 years from now.Although I am finding myself buying some extra's of a few rare items to sell 20 years from now,because,yeah, the value is going to keep going up.(sure wish I had the $12k I "invested" in the stockmarket to buy more vidio game stuff)

[homerwannabee]

youre right room 34 value is more than just a montetary value. but there are some other reasons that it is good to collect atari. one obvious reason is that it is easy to get and hard to get at the same time. there were over 500 games were commercially made for the ntsc version alone. The only other game system that can beat that is the nintendo. The problem with nintendo collecting is that about 99 percent of the games are fairly easy to get. it seems that almost every game for that system was fairly popular, plus there was no video game market crash for that system. for the atari 2600 its a different story, twenty five percent of their games are extremly hard to get, which means that you can spend a lifetime collecting for this system and still not have every game. Which means that except for the very few like cpu wiz and tempest your collection could still be improved that makes collecting fun. even with cheap prices its still extremley hard to get. also collecting this hobby is interactive it just doesnt sit there, its in the system being played you actually can do something else besides look and brag about it. for these non monetary reasons it is also the best thing to collect for.

[sku_u]

 for the atari 2600 its a different story, twenty five percent of their games are extremly hard to get, which means that you can spend a lifetime collecting for this system and still not have every game.  

 

I think that pretty much sums up why most people are so into collecting for the Atari specifically, while other great systems, like the Astrocade and Odyssey2 are often overlooked.

[Room 34]

I consider myself both a player and a collector. I think a lack of funds for $600 Waterworlds (or whatever they're going for now) is probably the biggest thing that stops me from blowing a huge wad on a single game. (Though we might want to ask NE146 about that. )

 

Anyway... I have yet, in my modern collecting days, to even come close to spending what the games sold for new on any individual game now. I may have spent about $10 on something somewhere along the way, but that's about it.

 

On rare occasions where I DO have a few hundred dollars to splurge with on my collection, it goes to things like my Asteroids cocktail table. If I can choose to spend the same amount of money on a real-life arcade machine or on a single crappy game for the 2600 (i.e. Waterworld), the choice is easy!

[Cassidy Nolen]

And WHERE was this Eli's ladder you passed(I even offered a boat for one last year!!!)?

 

Cassidy

 

I could have bought a complete Eli's Ladder for about $1800

[Room 34]

Now see, that's something I just don't get. What is the motivation, other than simply its rarity, for someone to collect a crappy game like Eli's Ladder? What makes it worth THAT much money to you? For me, the rarity is irrelevant when it gets that high. I mean, after all, how legit is Simage even as a game manufacturer if they made ONE game with extremely limited distribution? Seems to me that modern homebrews that are given quality packaging (but limited distribution) deserve just as much "desirability"... moreso in fact, since most of them are actually GOOD GAMES!

 

I may look like a collector on the surface, but I guess I am still a player at heart...

[Chadivision]

Waterworld is the best game ever made, for one simple reason. It is the only Swordquest game that I can actually beat.

 

I used to have a copy of Waterworld and my brother let a friend borrow all of our Atari stuff and we never got any of it back. That was back around '90 or '91. Back then we thought of the Atari as just that box of stuff that we haven't had hooked up since we got our NES.

 

Later, we regretted not having it. I spent years saying I would love to play Adventure again. If only we still had it. Then finally it occured to me that there just might be more than one Atari 2600 left in the world and I bought another one. I think that the fact that I lost my original collection made it more fun to get into collecting again. I loved the NES just as much at the time, but I'm not into it now because I still have all of those games.

 

The moral of the story is... if anyone finds a guy from Ohio named Kenny who has a copy of Waterworld. Forward it to me immediately because it's MINE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Room 34]

Waterworld is the best game ever made, for one simple reason.  It is the only Swordquest game that I can actually beat.

 

So by being the easiest game in the crappiest series of games, it is therefore the best game?

[Chadivision]

It's also the CRAPPIEST game in the crappiest series. I don't really think it was a great game I just like the fact that after spending hours on Earthworld to get 3 clues they owed me an easier Swordquest, and I finally got it with Waterworld.

 

I always thought that Swordquest was a great concept, but the games just weren't fun. The main thing that I remember about Swordquest is that my dad bought Earthworld when it first came out. I was only about 6 years old then and two of my brothers were younger than I was. Dad didn't let us play it because for some reason he thought that we would destroy the comic book before he got a chance to figure out the puzzle. Finally we talked him into letting us play (and we did destroy the comic book).

 

I think that the fact the it was "forbidden fruit" along with the contests made it seem kind of magical, but every time I started to play, I relized how boring those games are.

[CPUWIZ]

Dad didn't let us play it because for some reason he thought that we would destroy the comic book before he got a chance to figure out the puzzle.  Finally we talked him into letting us play (and we did destroy the comic book).

 

[ATARIPITBULL]

Atari 2600 was a big thing in my area when I was a little boy and every one had one, so when someone would buy a new game, then all my other friends would go to that persons house to try it out. Atari was a big part of our little life's back then and collecting systems and games just makes me feel like that little boy I was in Detroit, hell even my wife understands and lets me buy almost any Atari item I want, (ALMOST!!!!!!!!!).

 

[DeV0]

I collect for all consoles and play them, The atari sticks to mind and i hunt for it the most on the basis that is is an excellent machine in simplicity, My rarity 8's are with my rarity 1's coz i couldnt give a toss what the value for them is. My collection may be worth some big $ one day but i cant see the value outdoing my love for playing the games i have. I think i'd need to be close to poverty before i sold any of it.

[pmitch_3m]

I figure I'll chime in on this subject. I never got rid of my original atari...In fact I never have gotten rid of any of my original systems/computers. For me, I had to work my arse off as a kid just to get a new game or a new piece of hardware. My parents taught me that you don't get it all at once, you work and buy it as you go along. You'll appreciate it more and if you value it...you'll take care of it. I remember playing the Atari so much that we snapped those joysticks like they were twigs...hours and hours of gaming action...I even recall, sending them to Atari to be fixed...crazy.

 

Anywho, it's not so much that I spend hours now playing Atari games. It's more so that I spend time looking back at my past and the things that made me smile. I like finding a game that I never had the opportunity to own or play when I was a kid and I like bringing that game home and putting it amongst other games that I have saved from the evil thrift stores of the world and letting that game know that it's just as special/important/relevant in this day and age as it was in 1978. I feel like the people on this site respect and cherish their past...and that's an admirable quality to possess. Cheers to all who keep a suppossed dead system Alive and Kickin' Like a MoFo!

 

late,

p

[Godzilla]

well according to 'johntitor' .com in 2015, 3 billion people will be dead so no one may be left to care about 2600 games

 

but seriously. Im with ne1, the only reason I collect 2600 games is to play them. The reason 2600 collecting is the best, imho, is because overall the 2600 has the best, fastest games available. I love fast games. I also enjoy collecting but that is secondary to the playa in me

[Marco]

:lust: :lust: :lust: :lust: :lust: :lust: :lust: :lust: :lust: :lust: :lust: :lust: :lust: :lust: :lust: :lust: :lust: :lust: :lust:

 

The Atari 2600 library of games, consoles and accessories that are available all over this planet, is simply mesmerizing

and unrivalled. After 25 years we still have no idea what treasures are still hidden out there, waiting to be unearthed

(no, I'm not talking ET landfill here!). New discoveries will continue to amaze this hobby for a long, long time to come!!

 

:lust: :lust: :lust: :lust: :lust: :lust: :lust: :lust: :lust: :lust: :lust: :lust: :lust: :lust: :lust: :lust: :lust: :lust: :lust:

 

 

Cheers,

Marco