My 100% cib 1980 factory reconditioned sunnyvale light sixer Atari 2600

[PUNKxROCK]

Console was reconditioned and serial number sticker relabeled in Sunnyvale. It has a dual serial number label and chrome switches. Everything that came in the box when reconditioned is still in the box. Including a different power supply. Console is near mint/unplayed. Console was made in 1980 and reconditioned in 1981. Got it from the person who bought it and kept it in a attic for way over 30+ years. Everything is in very good condition. No dents or major wear on the box. Would like to hear peoples thoughts.

[Shawn]

Very nice.

[+cmart604]

Sexy AF. ?

[Keatah]

Nice brag!

[PUNKxROCK]

Would consider trades for a gibson guitar.

[+Nathan Strum]

Very nice!

 

Someone chewed on the joysticks though.

[PUNKxROCK]

thats how it came straight from opening the box.

[Osgeld]

It cant be mint, unplayed and refurbed at the same time

 

It was played ... Probably a lot as the chrome switches were typically reserved for store demo units. Then it was broken, refurbed and sent back out.

 

Is it nice? Ya a cib nut would love to keep this on a shelf so they can point to it... But your a little excited in the description of its condition

Edited August 23, 2018 by Osgeld

[PUNKxROCK]

I dont mean its unplayed completly. Obviously they probably played it reconditioning it. also whoever turned it in. I mean the condition is mint/unplayed looking. Also its unplayed since the box was opened.

[PUNKxROCK]

Well if anybody wants it I would trade or sell it.

[Keatah]

Weird how something was used extensively for X amount of time. Then all of a sudden it traveled to a certain locale (the factory) and is now un-used. Whatever.

 

Ebay does this to HDD all the time. A disk is used in the field for some years, then it gets sent to a guy in a garage who wipes it and sells it. The ebay seller that buys it from the guy-in-the-garage sells the hard disk as new. It *IS* new to the ebay seller, but in actuality quite used. At least you're not trying to hide that..

 

The drive is considered new because it comes "new" from a factory that does magical things. New as in brand new. Not new (other) like it should be.

[Keatah]

How much are you asking for this? Since I have zero experience with pricing such an item I would need a starting point.

[OldSchoolRetroGamer]

[PUNKxROCK]

Id do a straight up trade for a new or used guitar.

[jhd]

I have literally never seen one of these before.

 

What, exactly, does "reconditioned" mean in this context? Was it just given a thorough cleaning, were chips (or even the entire motherboard) replaced?

 

Were these reconditioned units then sold through normal retail channels, or discount, clearance places like Big Lots, Odd Lots or Ocean City Surplus?

 

Back in the mid-1980s, my family purchased some non-video gaming electronics hardware from a local retailer, and we were rather upset to discover that it was "factory reconditioned" rather than new. It was never made clear by the vendor exactly what had been done to "recondition" it.

[Swami]

I have literally never seen one of these before.

 

What, exactly, does "reconditioned" mean in this context? Was it just given a thorough cleaning, were chips (or even the entire motherboard) replaced?

 

Were these reconditioned units then sold through normal retail channels, or discount, clearance places like Big Lots, Odd Lots or Ocean City Surplus?

 

Back in the mid-1980s, my family purchased some non-video gaming electronics hardware from a local retailer, and we were rather upset to discover that it was "factory reconditioned" rather than new. It was never made clear by the vendor exactly what had been done to "recondition" it.

You name it. It didn't work and it was sent back to Atari and Atari fixed what was broken and sent it back out into the world in this box. It was certainly fed by the 30-90 day return-for-a-new-one practice followed by Sears, who sold a ton of them. How else Atari obtained used systems to fix is unknown to me. I wonder if the "chew marks" on the joysticks are from a tool they used to remove and reuse the boot after joystick repair or just someone's pet.

 

Edit: I think Sears offered lifetime replacement for a lot of stuff prior to the 1990s, and still did, much more relunctantly for pricey items, later on. Point being, Sears probably returned a lot of malfunctioning 2600s to Atari.

[lingyi]

We got a 2600/Video Arcade shortly after launch in 1977 and returned it a few months later because of poor picture quality (probably due to the switchbox) and there was a large stack of returned systems behind the counter. I don't remember if it was because of the large number of returns we saw or because they were out of stock, but we decided to wait a few years before we got one again.

[lingyi]

You name it. It didn't work and it was sent back to Atari and Atari fixed what was broken and sent it back out into the world in this box. It was certainly fed by the 30-90 day return-for-a-new-one practice followed by Sears, who sold a ton of them. How else Atari obtained used systems to fix is unknown to me. I wonder if the "chew marks" on the joysticks are from a tool they used to remove and reuse the boot after joystick repair or just someone's pet.

 

Edit: I think Sears offered lifetime replacement for a lot of stuff prior to the 1990s, and still did, much more relunctantly for pricey items, later on. Point being, Sears probably returned a lot of malfunctioning 2600s to Atari.

 

I bought a computer from Sears in the mid-'90's and had to take it in for numerous repairs under warranty over several years. The last time I took it in, the repair person (who knew me because I'd been there so many times) told me to just "Call Sears and say you're unhappy with the computer and they'll take it back despite it being well past the return period." I called the Electronics Department manager and sure enough he authorized a full refund.

[Keatah]

So. We have second-rate hardware here?

[Swami]

So. We have second-rate hardware here?

Hopefully, after factory reconditioning, it would be "like new" except for the cosmetic scuffing.

[Keatah]

I would hopefully imagine so. Thing is what were Atari's "reconditioning" procedures back then? Where they simple functional tests? Did units get put on a real technician's bench with a 'scope and all? Did they all go through the same procedure regardless of the problem reported by the customer?

 

It sort of goes like this. Take paddles. All of them get disassembled and have their pots cleaned and lubed. This is blindly done, and will fix 90% of the returned controllers. They're tested and put back out there as reconditioned.

 

Another way would be to test them, check for jitteryness above a certain threshold and clean OR replace the pots. Cables are flexed, connector tension is checked, and buttons get pressed with varying degrees of force. This would catch +98% of the problems now and in the future. But it costs 3x compared to the previously described operation.

 

So exactly what do they do aside from cosmetic work?

 

My experience over the years tells me it's a lottery. Sometimes you get units returned for really simple things like a cracked housing or a wonky switch. Visible verifiable problems. Easy fixes. At the same time you could have a console go back to the factory multiple times for a subtle intermittent problem like a split gate inside an IC. At a certain temperature and current level, it dies. And before that, it experiences intermittent operation in subtle ways. To make matters worse, only certain select games may cause the problem to become visible.

 

Technicians with quotas don't often catch problems like that. They're not allotted the necessary time to verify latent defects. Its boom boom boom out the door. Next!

Edited August 24, 2018 by Keatah

[Skippy B. Coyote]

Ya know, there is a Marketplace forum for people who want to sell stuff.

[Phantom_of_Krankor]

It's a used 2600 in a box..

[BassGuitari]

Would consider trades for a gibson guitar.

*spits drink on screen*

 

*laughs very, very hard*

[PUNKxROCK]

I guess some dont understand rarity or supply and demand. Look into buying one.