PeBo Posted January 15, 2015 Share Posted January 15, 2015 MECHATRONIC 80 COLUMN CARD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeBo Posted January 19, 2015 Share Posted January 19, 2015 THEY'RE BAAAACK!!!!! Looks like the price precedent has been set, and the MBX system has returned at a premium for those who are clinically obsessed with their TI collection. For me (just like 30 years ago) there are too few supporing software titles to justify the high price (said with the understanding that this will likely be purchased by someone who has no intention of ever actually using it). I will say I used to love having friends over to "talk to" the only game I had...back then, voice recognition was so sci-fi. AND the included joystick is probably the best designed of the era for any machine. But $350 seems mighty steep for a novelty product considering the size of our community and the amount software available for it. BUT, I'd probably feel differently if I could afford an extra $400 in my monthly discretionary funds. It was a cool gadget once upon a time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+OLD CS1 Posted January 19, 2015 Share Posted January 19, 2015 I paid $105 for my MBX, though not in unwrapped-looking condition and without a power supply. And it stunk, badly, of cigarette smoke (I de-smoked it.) But it works damn well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omega-TI Posted January 19, 2015 Author Share Posted January 19, 2015 For me (just like 30 years ago) there are too few supporing software titles to justify the high price 100% agreement on that! It would also take up too much space on the desk and get in the way. And with so few titles, it would get very little use. Also, with so few of them out there, it's doubtful that any new titles will ever be developed for it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kl99 Posted January 21, 2015 Share Posted January 21, 2015 I like this broschure, must be one of the first for 990/9900 series: http://www.ebay.com/itm/151560434629 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omega-TI Posted January 24, 2015 Author Share Posted January 24, 2015 I don't know who the seller of this << Lantronix UDS-10 >> is, but he states, "The item may have some signs of cosmetic wear ", this is probably a given as he's using a stock photo of my UDS-10 ripped off from page two of the manual I made. Just a heads up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Ksarul Posted January 24, 2015 Share Posted January 24, 2015 You should have put your name or something on the picture to watermark it--then no Internet goofus types that can't take their own pictures (or can't take the time to do so) won't try to use it anymore. . . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omega-TI Posted January 24, 2015 Author Share Posted January 24, 2015 Yeah, I've been putting "Omega" on all my photos lately, but this particular image was taken a while back before I started doing that. I always suspect that the seller is hiding something if they cannot show their own photos. I was tricked with a stock photo of a joystick once, and was not pleased. Anyway I'd hate for someone here to get burnt, so I figured I better mention it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atrax27407 Posted January 24, 2015 Share Posted January 24, 2015 You have to wonder what some of these guys are smoking - a TI consoles for $249 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeBo Posted January 26, 2015 Share Posted January 26, 2015 (edited) That auction was in my home town - Windsor, Ontario Wanna see how far the Canadian Dollar goes these day?? Check out the seller attached to this (he's selling a whole slew of them) So here's some good old Canadian math... if you bid on it, opening bid is $49.99 US (that would be $62 CAD), but if you want to save the hassle of an auction, you can buy it for $64.99 US ($80.60 CAD). Now the seller is using ebay's prepaid import fees, so after $20 CAD shipping from Albany, you'll also be paying $20 to ensure hassle free customs (I order stuff from the states several times a month and have NEVER been charged $20 for vintage software duty or had ANY customs hassles so as to justify this premium fee!) So you can have Dig Dug shipped to your home in Windsor. for the bargain basement price of $120.60!! But wait, there's more!! As I said he has 5 or 6 Atarisoft games posted, so could have 6 games (with a street value of about $120 total) for as little as $600 CAD or chose "Buy Now" and get em all for about $700. How does he do it???? Volume! Centipede is the only "rarety" among them (if you believe in such things) although the picture of the case he's pulling these out of might make claiming rarety status a bit of a hard sell. (NOTHING that comes by the caseload is rare. Period!) Now even at $64.99 US I'd say he's got these priced at about 3 times the actual "collectibles" worth, but he's already got a bid of $49.99, so a new price precedent has been set. If you own these games (sealed), you are now a bit richer...if you don't own these games, but would like to....may as well give up now (or wait 20 years, when they'll be worth about $5 a piece). $120 for dig dug. gimme a friggin' break! That's NEARLY as bad as the Leafs/Hurricanes tickets I got last week with a face value of $210 a pop! (At least Dig Dug is entertaining - can't say that about the Leafs) Edited January 26, 2015 by PeBo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeBo Posted January 26, 2015 Share Posted January 26, 2015 (edited) Continuing my never-ending rant on outrrageous Ti related ebay pricing... So, you just spent a nearly 4 figures on a collection of Atarisoft cartridges, and you're not sure what to do next?? Well, why not rip those sealed packages open (as God intended) and plug them into a Brand-Spankin'-New Home Computer 99/4A... And it's only only $325 US plus shipping!!! (that's $403.05 for my Canadian compatriots) Of course, if this QI unit is V.2.2, then all those Atarisoft games are incompatible, meaning that they can remain unopened, with their 'factory sealed' value intact at 1/3 to 1/2 of what you paid for them. Bargains like this aren't born every minute folks, but as P.T. Barnum suggested, the potential buyers are! So act now! (and in fairness to the dude selling the Atarisoft games fo a king's ransom, I said in my last post that Centipede was the only "rarety" among them....well I didn't notice that he also has Ms PacMan listed...now I bought a copy of MsP (factory sealed) last week for a whopping $20 US, so his auction's opening bid of $49.99 is only 2 1/2 times the value, not the 3 times that I had stated...Sincere apologies for my outlandish exaggeration) Edited January 26, 2015 by PeBo 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omega-TI Posted January 26, 2015 Author Share Posted January 26, 2015 Ahh yes... a fool and his money both go separate ways. I wonder though if this is some sort of devious drug money laundering scheme? I mean who in their right mind would pay these crazy prices otherwise? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeBo Posted January 28, 2015 Share Posted January 28, 2015 I rant and drone on about ebay pricing, but my most recent complaints about a series of atarisoft titles now cause me to cut the dude a little slack... Emailed him privately and we came up with a mutually amicable deal for a couple of the titles. He also offered a far more sane international shipping option, which will easily save me more than half the shipping and import costs (not including the already reduced shipping costs of combining a couple packages). With a reduced cost for both the actual software price AND shipping, these are now closer to an acceptable price (not cheap, but no longer outrageous) for vintage software. Thought it only fair that I follow up my berating of his ads, with a more flattering comment on this seller. God knows I've been told « thanks, but no thanks » (and not so politely) more times than I care to count when trying to negotiate a better deal from an ebay seller, but this guy was receptive and agreeable from the get-go. Get them away from ebay, and some ebay auction holders are actually reasonable human beings!! Who'da thunk it!?!?! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Ksarul Posted January 28, 2015 Share Posted January 28, 2015 Good deal--much better than the one I ran into last week. The seller had something priced a bit high but with a make offer option. I made an offer, he refused as he said he had too much in it. I noted the prices for the prior three auctions for the same item (my original offer was in that range)--he was not impressed and ignored the data. End of story--sort of. I then tried to buy a different item that was reasonably priced a couple of days later. No go--I'd been banned for having the effrontery to make a reasonable offer that he refused. . .talk about poor customer service skills. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atrax27407 Posted January 28, 2015 Share Posted January 28, 2015 You ought to let eBay know. They are very sensitive about sellers who are a bit petulant. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeBo Posted January 28, 2015 Share Posted January 28, 2015 (edited) ...I made an offer, he refused as he said he had too much in it. I noted the prices for the prior three auctions for the same item (my original offer was in that range)--he was not impressed and ignored the data. End of story--sort of. I then tried to buy a different item that was reasonably priced a couple of days later. No go--I'd been banned for having the effrontery to make a reasonable offer that he refused. . .talk about poor customer service skills. Yup that's the reaction I've come to expect. A couple weeks ago I found a manual for my only original-era-purchase game (box and manuals long lost decades ago), "Video Games 1" (includes the absolute best awful pinball game ever written - I play it for hours and hours every few days, repeating over and over "this is such crap") Anyway, the manual was up for 5.99 (if memory serves - been having overrun errors lately) but it was the shipping and import fees that were outrageous at nearly $20 (for a $6 item!). I contacted the seller saying that although I found the price high for what it was, I'd happily pay the price, but could not justify shipping at nearly 3 times the item value. $2.50 of which was their own handling fee - on a $6 item. (tabarnak!) I suggested that they could simply place the item in cardboard, place this in an envelope, and ship it to me standard post. I went on to say I would assume full responsibility should things go amiss. To make a long story short, their eventual response was to re-list the manual at double the original price (effectively placing their thumb on their nose and wiggling their fingers at me). My own satisfaction was that it never sold. (all they had to do is agree to my more effective item price to shipping ratio method, and I would have paid their original price). That's why I thought I should write a follow up to my original post about these Atarisoft games...this guys prices are still high (subjectively) for what he's selling, but at least he was willing to be reasonable within the context of a collector/traders' (as opposed to an enthusiasts') market, He provided huge savings to my end cost, without affecting his ultimate bottom line. (I'm good with that) Edited January 28, 2015 by PeBo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omega-TI Posted January 29, 2015 Author Share Posted January 29, 2015 << "Buddy-FREE" TI Search >> This dude is like one step beyond.. currently 253 active TI things posted? Feel free to use & save the link above... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+InsaneMultitasker Posted January 30, 2015 Share Posted January 30, 2015 I chuckled at the 49.99 MunchMobile cartridge for sale. There are some truly wacky listings here! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wyerd Posted January 30, 2015 Share Posted January 30, 2015 Interesting item. Never knew they existed for the TI. http://www.ebay.com/itm/TI-99-4A-OSCAR-BAR-CODE-READER-NEW-IN-OPEN-BOX-/181653063475?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2a4b5dc733 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Ksarul Posted January 30, 2015 Share Posted January 30, 2015 There wasn't a lot of software for them though--Databar didn't get the uptake they were expecting and crashed pretty fast. . .sort of like the later .com boom/bust cycle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wyerd Posted January 30, 2015 Share Posted January 30, 2015 10 years before their time. Panasonic used a similar idea on their VCRs. Many UK TV listings had a barcode next to the program that could be scanned with a wireless pen and the data sent to the VCR. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omega-TI Posted January 30, 2015 Author Share Posted January 30, 2015 If you want a NO-HASSLE Buy it now at a fair price with decent shipping on a Lantronix UDS-10.... << HERE YOU GO >> It even comes with the power adapter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wyerd Posted January 30, 2015 Share Posted January 30, 2015 (edited) If you want a NO-HASSLE Buy it now at a fair price with decent shipping on a Lantronix UDS-10.... << HERE YOU GO >> It even comes with the power adapter. I was too late. He took the BIN off . Somebody bid for it. Edited January 30, 2015 by wyerd Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omega-TI Posted January 31, 2015 Author Share Posted January 31, 2015 Lot of 2 BRAND NEW Lantronix UDS-10's I have no idea how far the price will go on these, but you could always make a small bid << ON THESE >> and see what happens. Take note: NO POWER SUPPLIES are visible or mentioned in the auction. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wyerd Posted January 31, 2015 Share Posted January 31, 2015 Lot of 2 BRAND NEW Lantronix UDS-10's I have no idea how far the price will go on these, but you could always make a small bid << ON THESE >> and see what happens. Take note: NO POWER SUPPLIES are visible or mentioned in the auction. I've posted the question to the seller. Sometimes you can get a bargain in eBay. As I now have a RS232 card for my resurrected PEB, I needed a printer to go with it, a classic dot matrix one. I looked at the Epsons and Oki's etc and settled on a Panasonic. A KX-P1180i, starting bid $1 plus shipping of $26.07. It looked in good condition so I put a bid of $1 and forgot about it until later this morning when my phone alerted me to the fact I'd won! So here's hoping that it all works correctly. http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&alt=web&id=271750979208 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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