Was collecting for the 2600 ever expensive?

[mehguy]

Nowadays, you can find most 2600 games for dirt cheap. But were the games and console ever expensive in past years?

Edited July 26, 2015 by mehguy

[Cobra Commander]

Its kind of subjective. It start's getting price when one starts wanting CIB or NIB. Even then when compared to golf or camera gear or automotive hobbies its not close by miles. I think any peak was long ago. Maybe in the early to mid 2000's when there was just enough info out there to wet everyone's appetite, but not enough inventory. When "The Wild" meant something.

[atari181]

I agree, "cheap" is a relative term and I haven't once felt collecting 2600 was cheap since I started collecting them NIB or CIB.

Edited July 26, 2015 by atari181

[BassGuitari]

I think the price of hardware has come up a little bit in the last 15 years, as have prices of most games, but only marginally. It probably hit its peak about 10 years ago when the retro craze really hit its stride, and a great side effect of increased interest (even if temporary) in the system was that a lot of games that were once thought to be very rare were revealed to not really be that big a deal after all. Crazy Climber, Chase The Chuckwagon, Atari Video Cube, etc. can now be had for a fraction of the prices they commanded in 2000. As a general rule, CIB or NIB will still be costly once you get out of common territory.

All things considered, though, there has probably never been a better time to collect for the Atari 2600. Most items are still reasonably cheap (eBay scalpers notwithstanding), and there's so much more available now, even as thrifts and fleas dry up.

[+frankodragon]

I used to remember going to a small retail store that sold Atari games somewhere in Milwaukee, possibly in the suburbs. I was actually shocked to see prices like $50 per game - and this was back in the 1980's. That was a lot of money back then so I picked some game that wasn't so much- though it wasn't one of my favorites: Othello.

[Philflound]

If you bought games as they were released, they were always expensive compared to afterwards. This goes for any system, where eventually retail prices come down. After the "clearance" of those items, the market will then determine if prices remain low, come up some, or skyrocket. Finding earlier, obscure systems now may cost more, or be impossible to find altogether. That of course is because you probably never heard of such systems, and thanks to price guides and news groups in the early to mid 1990s, brought knowledge to collectors that they didn't have. I own many systems like Fairchild, Astrocade, RCA Studio II, and others that I never had or knew about when I was a child. Atari and Intellivision were the two systems I knew, and Atari was the only one I played. I didn't even know about the Odyssey 2.

 

So if you purchased Atari games in the 1990s, you had a field day acquiring games galore for relatively nothing short of those "rarer" games. The world wasn't too available through the internet as there was no real world wide web common to your average Joe. I had been active on news groups since the late 1980s thanks to having access through college. I remember buying many games from Neil Gordon in the 1990s on news groups who used to auction in the threads, prior to Ebay. If it wasn't for owning a comic book, card, and toy store, I may not have acquired as much as I have. When I began collecting Atari and put a few extra carts out for sale, I had tons more stuff coming in than going out. It helped build my collection and my inventory. Once Ebay came along, you started to see much more product, and as pointed out, many rare items were "not so rare" anymore. The thing is, even if something is/was considered rare, prices will still be relatively high if the demand is there. Warehouse finds on the other hand plummet prices as the collectors have their copies and there is still much inventory left over.

 

Phil

[RodLightning]

Yes, definitely when the 2600 was still a current system. I remember Pacman going for $50 and more in a few local stores during the initial release period. I have distant memories of new cartridges priced from $20 to $30 each for various games. After the crash, many of these same games could be purchased from $1-$5 us dollars.

[Atarian7]

I think they were very expensive, adjusted for inflation, when they first came out.

 

$30 in 1983 would be $72.17 in today's money.

Edited July 26, 2015 by Atarian7

[Mef]

It's horribly expensive where I live (Poland, Europe).

 

First off, there was absolutely no market for Atari 2600 in here ever, only scarce chinese clones with built-in games, before Famiclones took over entirely (both have showed up in just about the same timeframe). No chance for a "garage sale finds", since there is no tradition for those really, and as above - no VCS/2600 market ever. Not to mention shitty wages way below EU standards...

 

So the best deals one can find over here would be ~$15 bare Juniors with ~$5-10 for the cheapest most common game - usually untested and in varying condition (mostly coming imported from german flochmarkts, or attic/basement finds). Something like Vader or 4-Switch woody would be between $35 and $60 and some $60 for a bare 6-Switcher (no Heavies either) up to $120 for a small bundle (console, 3-8 games, a controller or 2). Uncommon games fetch prices arround $30 and peripherals (original joysticks, paddles and driving controllers) are all but nonexistent, save for like 1 appearance per quater, fetching easily $20-40 a piece.

 

So yeah, tough luck. For better games you're looking at german/UK ebay, with shipping pretty much doubling the cost, and NTSC is usually too cost-prohibitive to import.

 

Still, I'm a happy owner of a PAL light-Sixer which I bought for next-to-nothing for my neighbourhood's standards (~$20), because it was officially broken and I took the risk of bringing it back to life. Glad I'm not a collector type, so after getting that and less than two dozens "cheap" carts and some paddles/driving controllers, Harmony has fullfilled all my remaining VCS needs -really thankfull for that!

Edited July 26, 2015 by Mef