Fresh meat (new collector)!

[Major_Tom_coming_home]

Howdy. Long time lurker, first time poster. Please go easy on me :-)

 

Anyway, as a person who enjoys older computers and electronics I decided to take the plunge and start collecting carts for the 2600. I already have a about a dozen 2600 carts, a wood grain 4 switch VCS, and a 7800 so I'm off to a good start. I'm also pleasantly surprised that there seems to be lots of great old VCS games that are very inexpensive, including most or all of the ones I remember from my childhood.

 

My plan is to slowly acquire the games I most want - maybe a few carts per week - and eventually acquire the fun and reasonably priced games made by Atari, Activision, and Imagic plus a few select others (Turmoil and Empire Strikes Back come to mind as good games not made by the big three). Rare games like Quadrun and shovelware are off of my menu (and for what it's worth Pac-Man and ET will be part of my collection).

 

Two questions for the experts here:

 

1) Is Ebay and Amazon Marketplace plus Thrift Stores and Yard Sales the usual way to acquire cartridges? I don't see Atari games at Goodwill very often, and even then the common ones are priced comparable to Ebay. I go to yard sales weekly but can't remember the last time I saw anything Atari unless it was for the Playstation 2.

 

2) Are there any other companies besides Atari, Activision, and Imagic that produced consistently good games and have libraries worth collecting? I remember Parker Brothers and M Network put at least a few good games out. I know Turmoil was made by 20th Century fox but I've never played any of their other games.

 

Thanks much for the intel!!!

[Papa]

Ebay is good if you want to try and get a lot. If you want to pay a lot then whittle through games one by one! I've picked up several lots from eBay and found that the local pawn shops didn't mind taking the dupes off of my hands. Sega had some pretty good ones, in my opinion. One of my favorite games is Tapper and another is Spy Hunter. Rampage really rocks on the 2600 (I find it much easier than other versions and it's still two player!)! Kung Fu Master and Commando are both AWESOME!

 

Welcome and best of luck and good fortune with your collection! Another thing you'll wanna get is a Harmony Cart to cut back on the wear and tear on your cartridge port and to open the way for homebrews and hacks! There is a version of Mario Bro. with better graphics than the original, several Pac-Man upgrades, and a myriad of homebrew games that run great on the real hardware!

[Rhomaios]

If I were you, I'd skip ebay and check the forums here. So many cheap games can be sold minimally by other members.

[mikey.shake]

Welcome! I'm kinda new here too and was recently in the same boat. I've found a number of games on eBay, and the Marketplace forum has been invaluable for some of the rarer/more expensive games on my wishlist. The members I've dealt with have been helpful, offered good prices, and know what they're dealing.

 

I've also had more luck than I expected going to local (non-GameStop) video game stores. The hole-in-the-wall places seem to all have at least one little box of 2600 carts somewhere, and even if you don't strike gold, you might score a half-a-dozen enjoyable games for a few bucks.

 

And while I haven't picked one up yet, I'm already going to second the suggestion of a Harmony Cart. Why not have everything? Plus there are so many great home-brews to discover... and I can't wait to play them on a real VCS rather than via emulator.

 

Have fun!

[bigfriendly]

Hi?

 

Pawn shop owners still occasionally get older stuff in but many simply don't accept video games that are vintage. Years ago when I lived at another location I had a good deal going with a pawn shop owner. I created a list of systems and games I was interested and had it laminated. I gave the list to the owner of the pawn shop and we set some parameters on pricing and he would pick up anything that came into his business. I checked with him every couple of weeks and picked up some great stuff using this method. It was usually various Nintendo games/systems and some Genesis stuff that came in. I did get some Atari stuff though. He could get the stuff for absolutely nothing so the pricing was very fair. The downside is you do get a lot of the same sports related games Madden football etc.

 

Best Wishes

Scott

[BassGuitari]

Howdy. Long time lurker, first time poster. Please go easy on me :-)

 

Anyway, as a person who enjoys older computers and electronics I decided to take the plunge and start collecting carts for the 2600. I already have a about a dozen 2600 carts, a wood grain 4 switch VCS, and a 7800 so I'm off to a good start. I'm also pleasantly surprised that there seems to be lots of great old VCS games that are very inexpensive, including most or all of the ones I remember from my childhood.

 

My plan is to slowly acquire the games I most want - maybe a few carts per week - and eventually acquire the fun and reasonably priced games made by Atari, Activision, and Imagic plus a few select others (Turmoil and Empire Strikes Back come to mind as good games not made by the big three). Rare games like Quadrun and shovelware are off of my menu (and for what it's worth Pac-Man and ET will be part of my collection).

 

Two questions for the experts here:

 

1) Is Ebay and Amazon Marketplace plus Thrift Stores and Yard Sales the usual way to acquire cartridges? I don't see Atari games at Goodwill very often, and even then the common ones are priced comparable to Ebay. I go to yard sales weekly but can't remember the last time I saw anything Atari unless it was for the Playstation 2.

 

2) Are there any other companies besides Atari, Activision, and Imagic that produced consistently good games and have libraries worth collecting? I remember Parker Brothers and M Network put at least a few good games out. I know Turmoil was made by 20th Century fox but I've never played any of their other games.

 

Thanks much for the intel!!!

 

1) It doesn't have to be eBay necessarily (AA marketplace is great, as others have said), but online is the way to go these days, unless there's an independent shop in your area that carries Atari and other retro systems. Even if there is, chances are they only have common stuff, although that's great for you as a new collector. Once you get to the point where you've got most of the common stuff that you want, you pretty much have to go online. An advantage you have as a n00b is that if you spot something unusual, rare, or otherwise interesting hidden in a lot, chances are you can get the lot relatively cheap and not have to be stuck with a ton of duplicate cartridges that are a pain in the ass to get rid of, which is a problem for us long-timers.

 

Another thing I'd suggest is that if there are any good gaming shows in your area, or at least ones you could reasonably make a trip to, those can be great places to buy. Prices have crept up overall, but you can still find some great deals, and many vendors will haggle a little bit (within reason...if they're asking $20, don't offer, like, $10 )

 

2) Fox games are generally very good. Turmoil, Alien, Fantastic Voyage, Fast Eddie, Spacemaster X-7 (highly underrated!), Crash Dive, M*A*S*H...the only one I can think of that you could probably skip is Deadly Duck, and even that's not that bad.

 

CBS is above-average overall as well. Check out Solar Fox, Wizard of Wor (use joystick #2!), Gorf, Tunnel Runner, Omega Race (requires Booster Grip joystick add-on, or a ColecoVision controller), and Mountain King. (Some people like Blue Print as well, but it never did anything for me.)

[Major_Tom_coming_home]

Ebay is good if you want to try and get a lot. If you want to pay a lot then whittle through games one by one! I've picked up several lots from eBay and found that the local pawn shops didn't mind taking the dupes off of my hands. Sega had some pretty good ones, in my opinion. One of my favorite games is Tapper and another is Spy Hunter. Rampage really rocks on the 2600 (I find it much easier than other versions and it's still two player!)! Kung Fu Master and Commando are both AWESOME!

 

Welcome and best of luck and good fortune with your collection! Another thing you'll wanna get is a Harmony Cart to cut back on the wear and tear on your cartridge port and to open the way for homebrews and hacks! There is a version of Mario Bro. with better graphics than the original, several Pac-Man upgrades, and a myriad of homebrew games that run great on the real hardware!

 

Thanks, I'll check out the games you recommend! As a long time lurker I actually already have a harmony cart LOL. For my few online purchases I have made so far I've tried to find lots that allow me to keep the price per non-duplicate cartridge as low as possible. Since I already have the requisite Asteroids, Missle Command, Space Invaders, and Defender carts It's getting a bit more difficult to find worthwhile price-per-cartridge bundles but I'm on the lookout for them.

Edited April 20, 2015 by Major_Tom_coming_home

[Major_Tom_coming_home]

If I were you, I'd skip ebay and check the forums here. So many cheap games can be sold minimally by other members.

 

I will do so (check out the forums), thanks!

Edited April 20, 2015 by Major_Tom_coming_home

[Major_Tom_coming_home]

Welcome! I'm kinda new here too and was recently in the same boat. I've found a number of games on eBay, and the Marketplace forum has been invaluable for some of the rarer/more expensive games on my wishlist. The members I've dealt with have been helpful, offered good prices, and know what they're dealing.

 

I've also had more luck than I expected going to local (non-GameStop) video game stores. The hole-in-the-wall places seem to all have at least one little box of 2600 carts somewhere, and even if you don't strike gold, you might score a half-a-dozen enjoyable games for a few bucks.

 

And while I haven't picked one up yet, I'm already going to second the suggestion of a Harmony Cart. Why not have everything? Plus there are so many great home-brews to discover... and I can't wait to play them on a real VCS rather than via emulator.

 

Have fun!

 

I do have a Harmony cart already so that I'll at least be able to play stuff like Air Raid, but thanks for the suggestion. I know of a few local indie game stores and I'll check them out. Thanks!

[Major_Tom_coming_home]

1) It doesn't have to be eBay necessarily (AA marketplace is great, as others have said), but online is the way to go these days, unless there's an independent shop in your area that carries Atari and other retro systems. Even if there is, chances are they only have common stuff, although that's great for you as a new collector. Once you get to the point where you've got most of the common stuff that you want, you pretty much have to go online. An advantage you have as a n00b is that if you spot something unusual, rare, or otherwise interesting hidden in a lot, chances are you can get the lot relatively cheap and not have to be stuck with a ton of duplicate cartridges that are a pain in the ass to get rid of, which is a problem for us long-timers.

 

Another thing I'd suggest is that if there are any good gaming shows in your area, or at least ones you could reasonably make a trip to, those can be great places to buy. Prices have crept up overall, but you can still find some great deals, and many vendors will haggle a little bit (within reason...if they're asking $20, don't offer, like, $10 )

 

2) Fox games are generally very good. Turmoil, Alien, Fantastic Voyage, Fast Eddie, Spacemaster X-7 (highly underrated!), Crash Dive, M*A*S*H...the only one I can think of that you could probably skip is Deadly Duck, and even that's not that bad.

 

CBS is above-average overall as well. Check out Solar Fox, Wizard of Wor (use joystick #2!), Gorf, Tunnel Runner, Omega Race (requires Booster Grip joystick add-on, or a ColecoVision controller), and Mountain King. (Some people like Blue Print as well, but it never did anything for me.)

 

Thanks for the game recommendations and shopping tips, I'll check them out. It looks like there is an upcoming convention in Orlando that is within what I consider reasonable driving range. Deadly duck seems like a fairly inexpensive cartridge and I may have to pick it up on the cheap at some point just because of it's name LOL.

Edited April 20, 2015 by Major_Tom_coming_home