Buying games on Ebay, vs finding them in "the wild&quot

[KAZ]

I love these Atari message boards, almost as fun to read as playing Atari itself.

 

I've read that some people like to find games in "the wild" more than they like to buy them on ebay. The only thrift store in my area is Goodwill, and I've only seen a really shitty Nintendo and Super Nintendo console there.

I've bought everything I've needed from Ebay. An entire Atari 5200 console, with a new trak ball, Wico Joystick, Refurbished Controller to go with that, and 20 or so games.

I also have a black 4 switch 2600 on the way, with 15 games, and I already have another 30 2600 games that I got from Ebay.

 

I love Ebay, it has all the stuff you'll never find in most mainstream stores.

 

Here's the ultimate question....should I somehow feel guilty that I did not acquire my Atari's at a thrift store "in the wild," or could I make the argument that Ebay is "becoming the wild".

 

Does this make any sense?

 

Maybe I should go and DONATE my games to Goodwill, and then buy them back from Goodwill-thus acquiring them "in the wild".

 

Rofl, just kidding.

 

Serious tho, I love Atari.

[NE146]

quote

Here's the ultimate question....should I somehow feel guilty that I did not acquire my Atari's at a thrift store "in the wild,"

In my opinion who cares where you get your games as long as you get them and are happy with it. It's all good.

 

Like I always say (and I'm sure others are tired of hearing it ), I've acquired less than 10% of my 2600/5200 collection in the wild. Matter of fact I bought them far from it! i.e. New in box on the mainstream store shelves at full price. Of course that was 20+ years ago but I still love and play them all

 

Anyway, bottom line is I think when it comes to acquiring 2600 goods these days, is it's no holds barred. So get them where you can.

 

Good luck on your collecting

[Atarian7]

I have never found atari games in the wild. Ebay and yahoo are good places to get your games. Just don't get caught up in a bidding war. There will always be another one up for auction eventually unless it's rated a 10 in the rarity guide.

[MattyXB]

Is hard to find good or Rare games in the wild, so I like Ebay too. The prices are high, but you get most of the Atari games.

[liveinabin]

yeah, I'm sure it's a lot more fun finding them in the wild, but here in Brighton, anything with 'retro' or 'kitsch' value just gets sold at a premium by 'antique and collectible' stores. 2600jr's for £50 etc. Its a rip off. So i have to resort to ebay, which is superb as long as you keep your wits about you. I've met some really decent people through trading on there.

[Ze_ro]

quote:

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Originally posted by kaz321123:

Maybe I should go and DONATE my games to Goodwill, and then buy them back from Goodwill-thus acquiring them "in the wild".

---

 

That would be cheating.

 

Seriously though, it really doesn't matter. As long as you have the games that you want, that's what's important, right?

 

I personally prefer to get games in the wild for a number of reasons:

 

1. Generally, you get more pleasing sense of success by doing this. Taking the time to find a game yourself is someone more enjoyable than it is to type it's name into eBay's search engine, and then the person's name into PayPal's site... although winning a bid is fairly exciting in it's own rite...

 

2. You will usually get games cheaper in the wild than you will on eBay... plus, you don't have to worry about jerks jacking up the prices by bidding against you. Most people who run thrift stores and flea markets generally don't know the rarities of games, so you'll see rare games priced the same as Combat (assuming you find them)

 

3. Randomness... you never know what you're going to find! Sadly, the most common thing I seem to find is "absolutely nothing", which is a little disheartening... but when you suddenly find crazy things like Leisure-Vision games, or funky joysticks that you never knew existed (or even non-video game related stuff that you might come across in your travels), it adds a bit of zest to things.

 

It's hard to find games in the wild (especially in comparison to eBay), so if you can find some place nearby that actually sells Atari stuff, give it a shot, and you may see what you're missing. The game isn't less valuable when you get it off eBay, but the story is less interesting

 

--Zero

[Pitfall Harry]

quote:

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Originally posted by kaz321123:

Maybe I should go and DONATE my games to Goodwill, and then buy them back from Goodwill-thus acquiring them "in the wild".

---

 

I've heard tale of an Atari collector who routinely donated his dress shirts to Goodwill every Friday. His donated shirts would reappear on the racks a few days later, freshly cleaned and pressed. Then he'd buy them all back for LESS than what he would have to pay to send them to the cleaners himself.

 

Ben

[NE146]

quote

His donated shirts would reappear on the racks a few days later, freshly cleaned and pressed  

 

I don't know what Goodwill he'd go to but the one I check out has an extremely MUSTY and "old-closet" smell about it.

 

[ 04-21-2002: Message edited by: NE146 ]

[Pitfall Harry]

I didn't say that I believed the story, only that I had heard it.

 

Ben

[NE146]

Haw I just edited that.. I meant 'he'. Anyway I'm j/k around

[DuckandCover]

Out in my neck of the woods there simply aren't too many thrift stores that have video game items, although the garage sales here do sometimes yield some excellent finds. Still, for most of the holes in my collection, I've had to resort to Ebay. To echo what has already been said, it pays to be patient when hunting most carts, save for the very rare. Bidding wars abound on Ebay, and it is best to wait for the right deal to come along, rather than sacrificing cash needlessly. Still, I have dealt with some very nice sellers there, and with a very few exceptions, been very pleased with what I've purchased. Yeah, there's a thrill to making a good find in the wild that can't be felt by acquiring items on Ebay, but still...furthering a collection always feels good, and if you've been wise with your buying, there's nothing wrong with the auctions.

[KAZ]

Now that I think about it more, I would say the preferred way to find "loose" Atari cartridges might be in the wild.

 

As for boxed up brand new games in mint condition, I doubt you'd ever find those at the Goodwill, or at Garage Sales (well there's maybe a tiny chance with Garage Sales).

 

I bought brand new Atari 2600 Ms. Pacman and Dig Dug from Ebay, copyrighted 1988 and 1987 repectively.

 

It is funny, these games were manufactured more than a decade ago, and have never seen playing time on a console, and they NEVER will, because I intend to keep them locked away and mint in the shrinkwrapped sealed box!

 

I have like 4 brand new Atari 5200 games, two shrinkwrapped, and two merely sealed.

 

I think you will in general get better quality stuff that likely will last longer if you buy from Ebay.

 

I'm glad I started such a nice thread, and glad people wanted to share their ideas with me about the subject.

[Ze_ro]

quote:

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Originally posted by KAZ:

As for boxed up brand new games in mint condition, I doubt you'd ever find those at the Goodwill, or at Garage Sales

---

 

I'm actually surprised at the amount of stuff I've found with boxes and manuals over the years... I've gotten so used to stupid kids losing the overlays and manuals, and scratching up the labels... but I've still managed to find a decent amount of games still complete.

 

Of course, going out on a thrift-store-run looking for a specific game doesn't generally work. In fact, there's such a bulk amount of video games in general, it helps if you collect for at least a few different systems (The only reason I have an INTV collection is because I kept finding stuff while I was looking for Atari stuff)

 

--Zero

[Atarian7]

How much did you pay for those two KAZ?

Oshea's offered about 15 or 16 different carts new and sealed for $2 each including those 2. I think someone said that now oshea's is charging $5 though. I got about 15 sealed games from OShea's for $2 each.

[moycon]

When I bought the O Shea games about 5 years ago they were .80 apiece!!! I bought 12 of each. They came in two huge boxes like what a 32" TV would come in!!!

[atarimastermarty]

Just about my whole collection is built off ebay. on't feel ashamed. With the amount of collectors now a days, youll be lucky to just find an E.T. in the wild. So just bid bid bid bid, but dont out bid me

[atarimastermarty]

This same thread popped up about 2 months ago maybe 3. Just like the last one (and always) Stan will vouch for WILD. He hates EbAy, always has and always will.

[Stella'sGhost]

Ebay is alot of fun, for those rare finds it is practically a must. However I think you should always look in the wild, you never know what will come up. Garage sales, flea markets, thrift stores, friends even - its all good! Ebay might be the only place where you can find certain games, some games are just more hard to find in certain parts of the country (U.S. and Canada) I assume it's the same everywhere else in the world....but Atari was most popular here so I would guess that most of the games in the world are here in North America somewhere!......We just have to find em......

 

Ebay is always going to cost more because of the amount of bidders and nut cases on there, and also shipping, but sometimes the cost is fair enough....

 

[ 04-23-2002: Message edited by: StellasGhost ]

[KAZ]

I paid like $6 for brand new Ms. Pacman and Dig Dug from Ebay. They sometimes were selling two of them for like $11.

 

If you saw them, they are in awesome shape. I looked at my brand new Ms. Pacman, and the box is in flawless shape, the box has its form perfectly, and the shrinkwrap doesn't have any gaps. Definitely worth it.

 

Of course with brand new games you never want to open them, to save their value, or simply keep them new I guess. I like having brand new games in my collection, but then you have to buy a loose cart, hopefully with instructions, so you can play the game too.

 

The process ends up costing more money in the long run, but I think it is still fun.

 

[ 04-23-2002: Message edited by: KAZ ]