Publisher Collection Completion Show and Tell + Tips

[redsteakraw]

Publisher Collection Completion Show and Tell + Tips.

 

Like many new collectors who come to the Atari 2600 getting a new fully complete collection in 2018 is a nearly impossible task. However getting a subset collection is a doable feat. Do any of you have a complete collection of any given publisher, Activision, Atari, Coleco, Sega, Imagic, Konami, Mattel, CBS, Fox, M-Network, ect? Does anyone have any advice or any publishers that may be an easy goal? Also if you want to show off a complete collection feel free to show it below. If you have a collection goal other than a complete Publisher collection what subset are you perusing? Feel free to give any advice or tips / tricks you found along the way.

[high voltage]

If you include copies of hard to get originals (like my Waterworld, Air Raid, Glib, and a few more) I consider my VCS collection complete.

[+KaeruYojimbo]

I've been working on completing sets for a couple of years now (since I finished my CBS set without realizing it at the time). In addition to CBS, I have complete sets of Telesys, U.S Games, Froggo and M-Network. I'm only missing one Parker Bros game (Mr. Do's Castle), one Sega game (Tapper) and one Apollo game (Final Approach) and I think I only need 2 more each to complete Coleco, Fox and Spectravision.

 

I'd say CBS is a good one to start with. Only seven games and none of them are super rare. Plus, most of them are decent games. After that probably M-Network. More games, but nothing crazy rare and mostly pretty good quality games.

 

One thing I noticed early on is that a lot of publishers have at least one really rare (7 or higher on the AtariAge scale) game you're either going to have to get lucky and find cheap or bite the bullet and dole out some cash to get.

Edited April 5, 2018 by KaeruYojimbo

[Schitti]

How do you all define a complete set?

I think there are different views.

 

Are you talking only from NTSC?

 

[high voltage]

True, I don't think NES collectors would include Japan NTSC exclusives (NES - Famicom, same thing), they just collect NTSC US..

I noticed USA Atari VCS collectors don't care about overseas (PAL) exclusives, eg Pick n Pile, Ghostbusters 2, ITT games, My Golf and so forth.

 

For me in Deutsche Land, I include NTSC for completion, but I don't count NTSC protos like Donald Duck Speedboat, for example.

My complete M Network collection is a mixture of M Network, Telegames US and Telegames UK, but in my cataloguing it's mentioned as such.

My Glib is a copy, but should opportunity arise to get an original, it'll be done. Copies will be replaced with originals whenever possible.

Edited April 6, 2018 by high voltage

[redsteakraw]

I've been working on completing sets for a couple of years now (since I finished my CBS set without realizing it at the time). In addition to CBS, I have complete sets of Telesys, U.S Games, Froggo and M-Network. I'm only missing one Parker Bros game (Mr. Do's Castle), one Sega game (Tapper)

 

I only have one SEGA game and it is Tapper. It is literally one of the best 2600 games, it plays as smooth as the arcade game Just with reduced graphics but it is all there even the minigame in-between levels. It also has what I believe the first mountain dew product placement in a game.

[redsteakraw]

How do you all define a complete set?

I think there are different views.

 

Are you talking only from NTSC?

 

 

I would define a complete set as the full set of retail games in a given region.

[+swlovinist]

Something like this? Activision is a fun set to collect for. In this video I show a complete US set for Activision minus the variations(I do talk about some).

 

[redsteakraw]

Something like this? Activision is a fun set to collect for. In this video I show a complete US set for Activision minus the variations(I do talk about some).

 

That is what I would consider a complete set. I Just started to create my list of games to check off, I don't think I will ever have a complete in box collection. I only have two boxed Activision games, Ice Hokey and Tennis and 25 Activision titles in general. If you have any tips on how to acquire and collect the games in box or not that would be greatly appreciated.

[ubersaurus]

I've got a few NTSC ones so far (counting unique retail releases and not republished games or promo titles): Activision, Imagic, Atari, CBS, 20th Century Fox, US Games, Data Age, M-Network, Sega, Telesys, Parker Brothers, Epyx... and technically speaking I've got them for the one-off publishers for Rescue Terra I, Glib, BMX Airmaster, and Mogul Maniac. Only a couple carts away from getting all of the Coleco releases, and the Avalon Hill library - they're my main targets at the moment. Technically I'm only missing a couple Spectravision games too, but man, Mangia is a pricey one...

 

CBS was probably the easiest to finish, followed by US Games, Data Age and M-Network. Nothing is terribly expensive or rare in those libraries other than like, Frankenstein's Monster, He-Man and Star Strike... and even those aren't too bad. Activision's games aren't really rare, but a few of them can get a little more expensive - same with Imagic - there's just a lot of them. The good news is almost all of Activision and Imagic's games are excellent, so it's a pretty fun one to complete. Same for Parker Brothers, though Q*Bert's Qubes, Star Wars Arcade and Mr. Do's Castle can be a pain to track down. Honestly I found the first party Atari library to be the toughest. Even if you're going to discount rereleases like BMX Airmaster and Asterix, games like Quadrun, Swordquest Waterworld, Ikari Warriors, and Obelix don't pop up terribly often. There's a lot of good stuff in their lineup, but it can take a while.

 

As far as finding games, ebay can help if you're patient enough to get a good deal, you might be able to get some off of other collectors online, and there's something to be said for just going out to game shops and the occasional yard sale that stocks Atari games. I've walked away with some serious rarities for a few bucks at a time at game shops that just wanted to burn off their 2600 stock.

Edited April 6, 2018 by ubersaurus

[BassGuitari]

I have complete (loose NTSC, and not including cart/label variations) sets for Activision, CBS, Epyx, Data Age, Telesys, and Sega (I think?). Probably a few others with pretty low title counts.

 

For many other companies/groups, I'm only missing one or two titles.

 

As far as what constitutes a "complete" collection, you've really got to define it for yourself. There's just waaay too much stuff out there to try to get every piece of 2600-related hardware, software, peripherals, and ephemera that ever existed. That's actually the cool thing about 2600 collecting, though, IMO--no two collections (past the first couple dozen cartridges, at least) will look alike, and each will reflect the focuses and interests and personalities of the owners.

[redsteakraw]

I have complete (loose NTSC, and not including cart/label variations) sets for Activision, CBS, Epyx, Data Age, Telesys, and Sega (I think?). Probably a few others with pretty low title counts.

 

For many other companies/groups, I'm only missing one or two titles.

 

As far as what constitutes a "complete" collection, you've really got to define it for yourself. There's just waaay too much stuff out there to try to get every piece of 2600-related hardware, software, peripherals, and ephemera that ever existed. That's actually the cool thing about 2600 collecting, though, IMO--no two collections (past the first couple dozen cartridges, at least) will look alike, and each will reflect the focuses and interests and personalities of the owners.

 

I am going to try to get a full Activision, CBS, Epyx, Imagic, Mystique and M-Network. I recently made a list by publishers to make it a bit easier(thanks to markdown, pandoc and LaTeX). I know I won't ever have a complete collection, in total but I can have smaller goals. I only have a handful of boxed copies so I have no delusions of having even a complete boxed subset. I do like the variations and the sheer size and scope of the 2600.

[+bfstats]

Shameless plugs:

 

 

http://atariage.com/forums/topic/277580-activision-complete-us-collection-with-4-switch-2600/

 

http://atariage.com/forums/topic/277621-parker-brothers-complete-us-atari-2600-collection/