What's the best way to keep collecting?

[King Atari]

As of right now, this is my first posting. I've been collecting for a while and my collection is over 80 carts. Of course, most of those are common, the highest I've got is a 6. My question is, what's the best way to keep collecting? Should I pick up all the common carts, then get the rare ones, or save up and get the rare ones first, then clean up with commons? The thrift stores here in Akron, Ohio, usually have a good selection of scare carts (except for one, which has a sickening collection of 1's) but the rarest thing I've gotten from any of them is "Crash Dive" (which was such a bad game I traded it for something less rare but much better of a game). Currently, I only want to get a few really rare carts, like "Chase the Cuck Wagon" or "Swordquest: Waterworld", but as I get more common carts, I'm gonna want rarer. Please help me.

[Lemmi]

No clue what to tell ya but my highest cart is a 7 and i found that at a garage sale

 

Ive been collecting games since 1995 and i have about 180 atari games ($5 is the most ive ever payed for a game)

 

me personally i was collecting as many games as i could for as little money as possible ( flea markets, garage sales , salvation army stores) i have 8 systems that can play 2600 tapes

 

I have no game boxes for any of thoes 180 games but i do have 100 instruction booklets (thank god for that guy at the gibralter trade center or i wouldnt have over 30 )

 

It all depends on i guess what kind of games you like to play

 

Sorry im not sure if this helps at all

[RangerG]

It is 100% up to you. Let's face it -- if you have the money, you could use Ebay and I have a massive collection within weeks. For me, the excitement is finding carts in the wild. The anticipation of maybe I'll find one here is a thrill. I want really clean labels and nice carts, but I don't care at all about boxes or manuals. Other people love boxes. Atari collecting is personal. Enjoy the hunt.

[StanJr]

quote:

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Originally posted by King Atari:

The thrift stores here in Akron, Ohio, usually have a good selection of scare carts

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THAT'S IT! I'm moving to Akron!

 

Seriously, its really up to you. You'll have better luck and faster build up if you start with the commons and work your way up. But you'll have more hunting to do if you start with the rares. Then again, you could do what I do and say "I want these () carts" and start hunting for specific titles regardless of rarity.

I say collect in whatever way is the most fun for you. Just like the hokey-pokey, that's what its all about!

 

Akron-bound Stan

[Lemmi]

I started out by just collecting the first 100 carts like combat cx2601 to Taz! 2699 im still missing a few in that range like to 26100 but i came across alot of fun games that i wanted as a kid and i just started to buy them all

[atari70s]

26100 doesnt exist. its strange how they skipped that number

[King Atari]

Currently, I've only been getting carts that look fun and/or are in good condition. I've found arcade ports to be incredibly interesting if occasionally disappointing (That means "Zaxxon" and "Pac-Man"). If it's a game that doesn't look interesting and I know it's not rare, I won't buy it. I'm going on a buying trip tommorrow, games are usually $2.50 but I can get them to go down to a $1.00 usually. I'll post how that goes. They had "Fast Eddie" last time, so maybe I'll get that.

[King Atari]

P.S.- Who here is sick of people on ebay listing carts as "RARE!" and they turn out to be "Pac-Man" or "Combat"? Just because they're 20 years old doesn't make them automatically rare!

[Osbo]

I ain't buying nothing this weekend, I'm broke as a joke! dang

 

Osbo

[Lemmi]

Well then i guess my search of 26100 os over now wooo hoooo

[ATARIPITBULL]

Well I hope you have some money to spend because just buying the common games, which can run from $3.00 up to $19.00 each, can ad up. If you try to buy only the rare one's first, they can go anywhere form $70.00 to over $1000.00. I my self started with the common ones, and bought a rare one now and then, but now I have just about all the common ones and its time to start saving for the ultra rare ones. Anyway good luck on your collection.

[Scooterb23]

OK, I'm only two and a half hours from Akron...where are these thrift stores???

 

Drool.

[King Atari]

They're called "Abbey Ann's Secondhand". They're really all over the place, but the one I usually go to is in Cuyahoga Falls. I didn't make it there yesterday, I'm going in about an hour.

[King Atari]

My latest buying trip was a waste. About 8 "Combat" carts, 3 "Asteroids" carts, and an overpriced controller. I went to another thrift store today, had everything there.

[atari70s]

if its a title or varation u need go for it . thats how i see it . the amount of carts may start dring up

[J-DEE]

Which Abbey Ann's Secondhand store is the best for Atari stuff?

[King Atari]

Well, it all depends. For example, the one I usually go to was recently cleaned out (sadly not by me ). Before that they had quite a good selection, nothing rare, but more than just the standard "Combat". It really depends on who sells their stuff to them. Sometimes it can take a couple weeks or months, but when they do it's usually worth it. Currently nobody has anything to get excited about.