When did you get your first Atari 2600?

[rgr1973]

I'm sorry if this is posted elsewhere. I didn't see it, but I thought it might make for a good topic.

 

I believe mine was in 1981. We were in Walmart and my parents were talking about getting it for me. It only came with Combat at the time, so they also purchased Pac-Man for me. I still have both original cartridges!

 

I've actually managed to keep 99% of the games I had when I was a kid, even after moves, marriage, divorce, etc. Some of them I can even remember when my parents bought them, but I continued to collect even into my 20's. I'm 41 now and I couldn't tell you the last time I bought a game, but I'm hoping that changes soon.

 

I sadly no longer have my original console. Apparently a bad capacitor is a common occurrence from what I read now. I ordered a new capacitor, soldered it in, but had a b&w picture no matter what. I wound up throwing it in the trash thinking it unfixable.

 

As luck would have it, a friend was wanting to get rid of her 2600 (4 switch, woodgrain). For $20 I got the console, power adaptor, 2 joysticks, paddles, 15-20 games and a holder for the games. Her dad had found it in the trash (he was the local trash collector), but had recently found 2 NES systems, so she and her husband wanted them instead. I wound up flipping Tapper on eBay (it was one of the games) for $15 a few years later, so I essentially gave $5 for the whole system. 20 years later, I'm still using that $20 Atari!

[RickR]

Christmas 1980. Came with Combat, and also got Space Invaders. I still have that 2600, still in the original box.

[Iwantgames:)]

I can't really remember, I wasn't around when the 2600 came out but my grandma had a rental store and had kept her old store display which I found in her attic one day while she was watching us kids. I'd guess I was maybe 5-6, so 89-90

[rgr1973]

I wish I could turn my kids on to the notion of the Atari. All three of them like the SNES, and they liked the NES when I had one. For some reason, the Atari hasn't caught their attention at any point in their lives.

[Army Of 2600]

1979. Mom bought the heavy sixer and Canyon Bomber. My life was never the same...

 

Long live the 2600!

[mitchd61]

I bought mine at Sears. I also picked up Yars Revenge and Asteroids at the same time.

[+Atari_Warlord]

Bought it at Sears in 1977 with money I was saving to buy a motorcycle. Still have the console and all original games. Unfortunately threw most of the boxes away.

[Mister-VCS]

Christmas 1979 (Ok, my brother...)

It was a PAL light sixer (Made in Sunnyvale)

first games: Combat and Street Racer

[Zap!]

Not until my birthday in 1983. It was the Vader 2600, and came with Pac-Man and Combat. What a special day that was. I had to hook it up myself and my mom was telling me to be careful not to break the TV lol.

Edited September 29, 2014 by Zap!

[Gabriel]

Somewhere between Halloween and Thanksgiving 1981. It was intended as a Christmas present, but my mom gave it to me early. It came with Combat (duh). She also got me Missile Command and Laser Blast.

 

The console itself was an Atari branded four switch woody. She said she got it from Woolco.

[Torr]

Christmas 1986. I was 5. It was a Jr. obviously, not sure if any game came with it, but I also got Asteroids, Defender, Frogger, Missile Command, Pac-Man and Yar's Revenge.

Looking back that was a GREAT selection of games to play.

[20ohm20]

I received a Sears Heavy Sixer for Christmas in 1979 with Target Fun, Gunslinger, Tank-Plus and Pong Sports - all of which I still have today. The only reason I still have the original system box was because it was used to store seldom used Christmas tree ornaments until the early 90's.

[VectorGamer]

It was shortly after Space Invaders was released. We bought it from Service Merchandise. Came with Combat. 1980?

 

I didn't keep it. Most likely the VCS along with the games I had were sold at a garage sale.

[rgr1973]

I can remember when the Nintendo craze started, all of my friends would ask me when was I getting a Nintendo. I think my parents even asked if I wanted one. I always told everyone I was keeping my Atari, and that one day they would regret getting rid of theirs! 30 years later, I don't know if anyone regrets it or not, but I'm glad I kept all of my Atari stuff.

[Video]

I'm thinking 83, christmas. It must have just hit the $50 mark cause that's the tipping point my parents would get stuff back then. It was a vader which I still have, though the boxes were long gone.

 

We had systems from farther back, but that was the first one that was actually mine

 

Think it was the same year my parents got their 64, which was hella expensive, I think part of the reason I got the 2600 was to keep me off that LOL.

 

Of course, now I have the 64 too. I remember when the NES came out and I was just like "it's like 64, only doesn't sound as good"

Edited September 29, 2014 by Video

[zylon]

We got ours late in the system's lifetime. In 1987, my mom brought home a 2600 Jr and 3 games: Battlezone, Galaxian, and Warlords for the family. That same year, I bought a used Sears L6'er with about 15 games at a flea market for $10 as my personal system. I still have and use it today.

[MAC-42]

My parents picked my first 2600 up for my 5th birthday in 1983. It was a 4-switch woody. Weren't they shipping Vaders by then? I know for sure it was a woody because a friend of mine had a Vader, which looked evil and...Vaderish...with its all-black shell.

 

Anyway, got the 2600, Combat and Pac-Man. And I played Pac-Man and liked it. Later came Q-bert, Super Breakout, Frogger and many others. It was a good old machine.

 

It was, sadly, ultimately taken out in a flood in '86, I believe. My folks got me a 7800 that Christmas.

[+Random Terrain]

March 27, 1982

[Nesbroslash]

I've been interested in Atari games since I had one of those Jakk's Pacific TV games when I was in 2nd grade (or some other elementary school grade, I don't remember), but I only got my 4-switch Woody about 2 or so years ago at a local yard sale. It was 20 bucks for the system, a bunch of common carts, and a whole mess of weird assorted crap inside the box it was stored in. I never actually got the AC adapter and coaxial adapter until like a year later, and I've been on some kind of retro-fueled downfall into insanity ever since.

Edited September 30, 2014 by Nesbroslash

[Dauber]

Christmas 1982. I had actually asked for the Coleco tabletop Pac-Man for Christmas. Aaaand...I never actually PLAYED it. I've only seen pictures of it and thought it was a mini version of the actual arcade game -- think MAME inside a tiny cabinet. But instead there was a 4-switch woodgrain under the tree for my brother and me plus Pac-Man. The folowing weekend K's Merchandise Mart in Bradley, IL had a sale on Atari carts, so my brother and I got a few more. For whatever reason Street Racer was targeted, and there was a choice between Superman and Outlaw; I had played Outlaw before and liked it so we went with that. We had enough money for one more game. I wanted Defender, but my brother wanted Missile Command; he won out because Missile Command was cheaper. So....for the rest of Christmas break I had five games to play. I was a happy boy! Shortly after we got the Atari the left controller port went bad from swapping paddles and joystick and we got a replacement.

 

I've never left the Atari world, but in the past eight years I've had a couple of heavy sixers and a couple of Jrs. via various eBay transactions (mostly because I wanted the games more than I wanted the consoles!), and when I got my 7800 in 2006 I sold Inky (who's still around in Atariland - he's just been a bit busy lately and mainly just posting to Facebook!) my 4-switcher.

Edited September 30, 2014 by Dauber

[BalloonFighter]

I bought my first 2600 (a Heavy Sixer) off of Craigslist in October 2011. I had been collecting for less than a year, and I was still learning video game pricing, so as expected I ended up overpaying for it. It was in very nice condition and came with the gray power supply, the original paddles, and near-mint joysticks which still make a "click" sound when you press the fire button. I still have it today and I love it, but it's now more of a showpiece in my room at the moment.

 

Back when I joined AtariAge and made a failed attempt to maintain a blog, I wrote about my Heavy Sixer here. (I still haven't gotten around to fixing that color issue though.) Since then, the 2600 has become one of my favorite consoles, and with over 100 unique games in my collection, as well as 4 2600's (all different variants) to play them on, there's no signs of me stopping my Atari collection anytime soon.

[Unbeliever]

A long time ago, probably the late 70's my Mom and Dad got me a 6-switch woody (can't remember if it was a light or heavy) Atari-brand 2600 with Combat. I'm not sure, but shortly thereafter I got Asteroids, Missile Command, and Space Invaders. Flash forward about 30 years, Dad had saved it and I took it off his hands, but (stupid me) sold it when my interest waned. Now go forward after joining this site, I managed to obtain another light 2600 6-switch woody and some loose games.I've been building on the system slowly, but now have 9 boxed games and about 38 loose carts (duplicates included, of course). Now my interest is solid and hasn't waned at all in the last 5 years or so. I manage to get a game or two in usually first thing in the morning before work.

[Lynxpro]

Christmas 1980 and it was awesome. Recovered from storage right before the Sunnyvale Atari Party earlier this year. I had mistakenly remembered it as a Heavy Sixer but it's a Light Sixer although now signed by Al Alcorn.

[telengard]

Christmas '81. I only know that based on when Asteroids came out, which I also got.

[Keatah]

Winter of 1977. Bought it from TurnStyle.

 

It was fantastic experiencing a cartridge-based system when I was'd growed up and raised on fixed-function pong consoles.