Need Advice - paring down Atari equipment

[Xebec]

Hey folks - Just looking for some thoughts on paring down Atari 8-bit hardware/software. I've got a small "retro" area set up in my house with an Amiga 1200, Mega STE, and an 800XL set up for gaming. I also have an Atari Jaguar+CD that will probably stay hooked up in the area too..

 

Beyond that I have a lot of 'redundant' Atari stuff that i'm trying to figure out what's best to keep, give away, sell (and not to a scalper), or recycle.. Items like:

 

- Commercial floppy disks -- most labels are in average or bad shape, a few are in good shape. Nostalgia says keep a box of these around for fun, but realistically I'm never going to use these. Does anyone here collect these for any reason?

 

- 5 x Atari 1050 drives. Realistically once i'm done restoring as much data as I can off of floppies of my own/friends -- I don't really want to keep 5 drives around. All of them appear to work OK after cleaning. I'd *like* to find at least one Atari 810 floppy with the flip down center 1/3rd lid as that's what I had as a kid with my 800. (Then get down to 1 x 1050 drive for nostalgia only..)

 

- The computers:

 

I have ~ 5 x 800XLs, 2 of which work, 1 received a TON of care from Kyle22 (thank you so much!) but doesn't work and no root cause was established. I have 2 more that are in the "don't work" category. 3 are stock, 1 non working one has a 256KB upgrade, the other non working one has U1MB and Stereo Pokey (that I'd like to transfer to a working 8-bit). I think 2x 800XLs is appropriate; or should I keep a parts board around?

 

2 x 1200XLs - I really like these, so plan is to make one of these work flawlessly and keep 1 for backup/parts as needed (but never 'break' if I can help it). I think the 1200XL would be a good place for the U1MB + Stereo Pokey upgrade.. (I also have the SIDE cart).

 

3 x 800's - all 3 are 'non working' right now - 1 stopped working when a cartridge was put in the wrong slot. 1 has a physically broken off part of PCB+Atari SIO port ( = rendering this 800 a parts machine). I also love the 800, so i'm thinking reduce to 2 for now, maybe part out the one with the missing SIO.

 

ST - Have and plan to keep a Mega STE, and a 520STm with 2.5MB. I wish the Mega STE had the enhanced joystick ports but i'm not realistically going to use those. The 520STm case is partially damaged, so I'd like to replace that someday. I also have a 1040STfm that I'm thinking may go to sale once I get a good 520ST case. An Ultrasatan is external to the Mega STE.

 

ST monitors - 2 x color, 2 x mono Atari monitors. The ST never really looked good attached to an LCD unlike the Amiga (thanks to a hardware upgrade on the Amiga).

 

Amigas - a 500 and a 1200; 500 sits in a box.. 1200 is the workhorse. 1200 was recapped and lightly accelerated; it seems like this is the right long term Amiga setup for me.

 

Roland MT-100 (big brother of MT-32)

 

2 x 2600 + 1 x 7800 + tons of carts (= keep I think).

 

Anyway, suggestions/thoughts on what you would keep or pare down? Why?

 

Bonus -- Are there modern replacement Atari PSUs for the 8bits I should look into?

 

Thanks / Sorry for long email..

Edited May 11, 2017 by Xebec

[TangentAudio]

If you're going to be getting rid of stuff I'm looking for a 1200XL for my collection (I have none currently, and I'm trying to collect at least one of every US model - and I'm down to finding a 65XE, 1200XL and a 400), and also may be interested in 'parts' 800XLs since that was my first computer and I've decided I'll hoard several of them for the coming Atari-pocalypse. [EDIT: I see you're planning to keep your 1200XL's, I don't blame you.]

 

 

I foolishly sold all of my Atari stuff to a friend (and fellow Atarian) in college in the mid-90s when I was young and foolish and didn't yet understand nostalgia. Fortunately he was a true friend and when he got sick of moving it around, he decided to just give most of my own stuff back, plus some of his own collection. So I've kept about 3 20 gallon totes worth of Atari stuff around for the last 20+ years, through several moves, but it wasn't really until this past winter that I got back into Atari stuff seriously.

 

In February, I randomly lucked into getting a good condition beige 800 for cheap, and that kicked off a series of things like restoring my first 800XL, starting an Atari-related hardware development project, and starting to collect Atari items I had but lost for one reason or another, as well starting the quest to try to collect one of every model.

 

All in all, everyone is different in terms of sentimentality and collecting. I have enough of the actual items I used when I was a kid that it scratches the sentimentality itch pretty well, and have filled in the collection with other items to scratch the collecting/curiosity itch. I would definitely be kicking myself if my own Atari items hadn't come back to me through a stroke of good luck, after being foolish enough to part with them when I didn't know better.

 

Focus on what's important to you about the gear, but also try to think about what you might care about in the future when this stuff is even more scarce.

Edited May 11, 2017 by TangentAudio

[mattsoft]

Everyone is different.

 

My plan is:

 

Only keep stuff that (1) I actually use or (2) that has a significant sentimental value. For these items, I try to get them in as BEST of shape as possible. They must be working, and be excellent cosmetically.

 

For stuff that I use, I also try to have 1 working spare. Doesn't need to be cosmetically perfect, because its intent is to be used as parts in case my primary fails.

 

Anything else I stumble across I turn around and get rid of it so I do not appear on an episode of Hoarders.

[+davidcalgary29]

Everyone is different.

 

My plan is:

 

Only keep stuff that (1) I actually use or (2) that has a significant sentimental value. For these items, I try to get them in as BEST of shape as possible. They must be working, and be excellent cosmetically.

 

For stuff that I use, I also try to have 1 working spare. Doesn't need to be cosmetically perfect, because its intent is to be used as parts in case my primary fails.

 

Anything else I stumble across I turn around and get rid of it so I do not appear on an episode of Hoarders.

 

Agreed, but keep all three 800s. They're the embodiment of perfection (even when broken).

[Keatah]

Keep what you use, and keep what satisfies sentimentality. Throw in a box of spare parts for good measure. Get rid of the rest.