Lynx Collecting

[KaineMaxwell]

Is Lynx collecting hard or easy for you guys?

[oesii]

I find it very easy, there's only a handful of games that are more than 10 or 20 bucks. Most of my games (probably around 50) have been around $5 and often include the box and instructions. The system itself is also easy to get used for around $20 or even less if you're patient.

[KaineMaxwell]

Collecting on ebay or off,or both?

[oesii]

It's a lot easier to collect Lynx on eBay because I don't think it was carried by many stores across the country who were dropping Atari at the time and picking up the Gameboy. On eBay you'll see around 90% of all the released games show up regularly.

 

I've only seen one or two flea market vendors that had Lynx games, it seems to me that there are several online and eBay vendors sitting on thousands of new Lynx games that they bought cheap during Atari's liquidation. And I think it would be very rare to see Lynx games show up at thrifts like Goodwill, so I'd recommend scouting out eBay if you want to get started on the Lynx soon

[+davidcalgary29]

I agree that eBay is the only way to go if you want to amass a sizeable collection of Atari-era releases. I find that the Lynx is the most "challenging" system for collectors, as it's often difficult to find even some common games (it took me three years to find a copy of Ninja Gaiden 3 -- thanks, Raymond!), and you really have to be patient to find titles at a good price.

 

Some of the more obscure titles aren't widely known in North America and are nearly impossible to find anywhere. I had no idea that Lynx Reloaded had even been burned on a cart until Nick Harlow announced that he had a few copies for sale, and the PITS driving school cart has an (almost) entirely European geographic distribution. And then, of course, there are those proto carts...[/b]

[holygrailvideogames.com]

You can pretty much find every game available online, but some games are in the $40-$50 range. Telegames, Best Electronics, and www.myatari.com all have a good selection of titles available. You can get a lot of the Atari Lynx games on eBay for a very cheap price.

[D-lag]

It's not that hard to collect but there are titles like Lemmings that are quite hard to find. And yes, it's possible to collect off EBay, if your flea markets don't have anything you can still order to the stores Mcgrail007 told you about.

You also have http://www.songbird-productions.com who sells many classics and homebrew games. Last week there was a sale with very low prices!

[ThatGuy]

Well, it took me the good part of a year and quite a bit of cash to get my collection to where it is now... I was able to score some of the rarer titles like Lemmings, but they usually came in lots with systems and common games.

 

Then I turned around and got a GBA with an Afterburner kit, and haven't really touched the Lynx since. >_<

 

http://www.atariage.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=27782

[Mendon]

Glad to hear others are having luck with eBay for Lynx games; gives me hope for the future.

 

My eBay experience is that other than the usual very common games (Steel Talons, Super Skweek, Crystal Mines II, Cyberball, Kung Food, etc) that appear in auction after auction, the rest of the Lynx titles are getting harder to find. I've been lucky and picked up a couple, Rampage & PacLand, recently but it seems that the Lynx section of eBay is dominated by the same 8 or so games.

 

Mendon

[+davidcalgary29]

I still do suggest contacting eBay seller hanleyman (John Hanley) for all Lynx enquiries. He routinely offers rarer games up for auction, and his prices are very reasonable. He also charges only about $1 or $2 for shipping.

[toughacton]

I agree, there are quite a few decent ebay sellers. I've gotten most of my collection that way. Although sometimes you have to bite the bullet and buy a lot of a system and such to get one really rare game, but generally for 30 or 40 bucks more than the game is worth you get another lynx and usually a bunch of games. Oh yeah and watch out, its addictive Your money will just seem to disappear.

[ThatGuy]

I agree, there are quite a few decent ebay sellers.  I've gotten most of my collection that way.  Although sometimes you have to bite the bullet and buy a lot of a system and such to get one really rare game, but generally for 30 or 40 bucks more than the game is worth you get another lynx and usually a bunch of games.  Oh yeah and watch out, its addictive     Your money will just seem to disappear.

 

And how... That's how I got most of my collection... And I experienced the same things you've said here.

 

Which is why I'm selling it now... Give someone else a shortcut, hehe.

[ozyr]

for those starting now, it is harder than it used to be. I got most of my collection when the 'old' Atari was going under. Ended up buying over half my collection for around $5-10 per cartridge. At this point in time, I'm only missing one game!!!

[Atari Smeghead]

I would have to agree that it appears to be not as easy to "eBay" a good collection as it was. But, in my experience, a good balance between eBay, online dealers and the occasional local shop is the best way to go. I bought my Lynx at a used shop here in Lansing, MI around 4 years ago.

 

My very first eBay purchase was for the Lynx (Klax, $7.50 from GoAtari, the dealer I probably got the majority of my Atari stuff from over the years). I picked up around a third of my collection off eBay, but it's taken 3 1/2 years. Now, I have 70 games, and the only one left on my list of "Maybe" is Raiden.

 

If you have the time and are patient enough, you can watch trends on eBay and snag really good deals. The most annoying part is wading thru the same few games.

 

It's certainly easier collecting for (and completing) a collection for systems like Lynx and Jaguar since once you get the core of games, the new ones trickle in. I can't even imagine trying to collect for, say, Genesis or SNES. I'd run out of money!

[bergbros2]

It depends on how hardcore a collector you are. The Lynx is great because it really isn't too hard to collect except for the prototypes. There is a lot of outlets you can use and if you are a gamer the prices of the really good ones for the most part are really inexpensive. I started with Ebay with a Lynx 10 game package and then I kept using Ebay. I had incredible good luck in finding a vendor through losing an Ebay auction who hooked me up to a lot of rare games for an incredible price of $5 a shot (I got Missile Command/Asteroids, Battlezone, Ninja Gaiden 3, Battlewheels, Zarlor Mercenary, Gordo 106 that way). A really good way of collecting is through trade with your fellow Lynxers. It is a good way to to get excitement in your collecting. I got PacLand from a poster from Sweden that way. Of course there is the GOAT store and GOATARI and Songbird. I got Lemmings through GOATARI. Another place though it I was disappointed with the lack of many Lynx games is through the gaming conventions. I live very close to the Valley Forge Convention Center where the Philly Classic is and I bought some Songbird titles there.

There are alot of avenues you can go through depending on the level of interest in the system. It is very easy to collect especially compared to other systems like the 2600, Intellivsion, even the 5200.

[Atari Smeghead]

I had incredible good luck in finding a vendor through losing an Ebay auction who hooked me up to a lot of rare games for an incredible price of $5 a shot (I got Missile Command/Asteroids, Battlezone, Ninja Gaiden 3, Battlewheels, Zarlor Mercenary, Gordo 106 that way).  

 

WOW!! That's an excellent stroke of good fortune! It also goes to show ya that you never know where and when a good deal will come your way.

 

My best advice is always to keep your eyes open. Well, not THAT far open. That looks kinda painful to me...

[+davidcalgary29]

I would have to agree that it appears to be not as easy to "eBay" a good collection as it was.  But, in my experience, a good balance between eBay, online dealers and the occasional local shop is the best way to go.  I bought my Lynx at a used shop here in Lansing, MI around 4 years ago.  

 

My very first eBay purchase was for the Lynx (Klax, $7.50 from GoAtari, the dealer I probably got the majority of my Atari stuff from over the years). I picked up around a third of my collection off eBay, but it's taken 3 1/2 years.  Now, I have 70 games, and the only one left on my list of "Maybe" is Raiden.

 

If you have the time and are patient enough, you can watch trends on eBay and snag really good deals.  The most annoying part is wading thru the same few games.

 

It's certainly easier collecting for (and completing) a collection for systems like Lynx and Jaguar since once you get the core of games, the new ones trickle in.  I can't even imagine trying to collect for, say, Genesis or SNES. I'd run out of money!

 

I highly recommend "Raiden" for the Lynx, as it's almost identical to the excellent Jag title. The only thing that appears to be missing from this port is the soundtrack, which is indeed unfortunate, but not crippling. I purchased mine during Telegames' recent sale, and can truly state that it's well worth the money Telegames charges for it.

[SteveW]

I've never bought anything off eBay before. All my games were bought at the time the console was out. I even mail ordered directly from Atari themselves back then. I've hardly ever found Lynx stuff in the wild. The only games I can find nowadays is an electronic junk shop that has about a dozed boxed and sealed copies of Telegames's Qix. They used to have a lot of Double Dragons, but those sold out faster than Qix. I bought a couple of them myself, since they were only $3 each.

[Asylum Seeker]

I seem to have reached an impasse with my Lynx collection - I have 27 titles and can't seem to find any others to add to the collection. It always seems to be the same old titles that come up on Ebay - I desperately want to build on my collection but this is getting nowehere fast.

 

Have tried posting in the marketplace and various other places but with nil response......any ideas????

[Clock]

If you have doubles then offer them up for trade - also I have over 30 games and there are plenty on eBay.co.uk that I don't own.

[bergbros2]

I believe that it is getting increasingly harder to collect Lynx stuff. I have to count myself as lucky because I started collecting when it started to get hot and I had the good fortune of having a great dealer. I pretty much hit my limit. I got all the games I really want to get and I don't have any doubles anymore (Except Bill and Ted, Anybody want to trade?) I still think there are a lot of outlets you you can try but it will get harder after you got the initial collection with your commons.

[Atari Smeghead]

I highly recommend "Raiden" for the Lynx, as it's almost identical to the excellent Jag title. The only thing that appears to be missing from this port is the soundtrack, which is indeed unfortunate, but not crippling. I purchased mine during Telegames' recent sale, and can truly state that it's well worth the money Telegames charges for it.

 

Thanks for the input, David. I appreciate it!

The main reason I hadn't picked it up is because I already own the Jag version, and was told that it's, as you say, almost identical. Seems like I read somewhere that due to the size of the Lynx screen, it's a tougher game to play. Ya don't have to hold the Lynx sideways, do ya?

 

That's the same reason I never picked up Dinolympics, since I was told it's basically Dino Dudes. Is that accurate, does anyone know?

 

I seem to have reached an impasse with my Lynx collection - I have 27 titles and can't seem to find any others to add to the collection. It always seems to be the same old titles that come up on Ebay - I desperately want to build on my collection but this is getting nowehere fast.  

 

Have tried posting in the marketplace and various other places but with nil response......any ideas????

 

If eBay's not cutting it for you newer collectors, you should do what I did. Create an Excel spreadsheet, and fill it with all the games AND all the places you can purchase from online. Go to the websites for B&C, Songbird, Best Electronics, Video 61, GoAtari, Goatstore.... and plug their prices into your spreadsheet. That way, you can keep track of where the best deals are. Or if nothing else, if you DO see it on eBay, you'll know what your max bid should be. It's helped me OH so many times to get the best deal!