hookem

I'm going. Was surprised not to see a thread posted about this earlier, frankly. Too bad it's been a couple of years since AtariAge has had a presence there, and it's gotten expensive.. plus less and less of the earlier systems/games, but that's happening with all of these conventions. I'm also going to the Let's Play Expo in Irving on Sunday... not pleased that they scheduled them on the same weekend!

Not counting the non-working ones in disrepair, I currently have: 1 - Atari Heavy Sixer 1 - Sears Heavy Sixer 1 - Atari 4 switch (chrome capped) Promo 2600 1 - Coleco 2600 Adapter (w/Colecovision) 1 - Sears Video Arcade II 2 - Atari 7800s So 7 total. Funny that 6-10 seems to be my sweet spot with collecting things (well, not carts). But guitars, turntables, vintage receivers, vintage computers -- I've got about the same amount of each of those. Slightly too many. Also have the Flashback 2 with all the parts to add cartridge slot, but I never did it...

You might hear from the lawyers for Storage Wars, treading very close to their intellectual property there!

It's an awesome book, I would imagine anyone on this forum who hasn't already read it would enjoy it. Same with his second novel, Armada. I got both signed at the classic game fest in Austin also! It will be interesting to see what happens when the big-budget movie version comes out next year (trailer is already available online). Could spur some interest in retro gaming (and perhaps other 80s stuff).

Wow, less than 2 weeks away and not a single reply to this thread? Is anyone else going? While I'm not thrilled with the ticket prices this year, it's a once-a-year thing for me so the increase doesn't matter that much. Judging by the website and social media, I'm sure it will be well attended, but thin on the older consoles/computers. Still, the vendors always have something of interest from every era, it seems. I'm still kicking myself over passing on some of one of those cheap Atari 800s and XLs there last year. Holding out hope that whomever that vendor was will be back with another stack of old Commodore and Atari 8 bit "untested" machines for cheap.

At some point MK will realize there is more money in the shitstorm story behind the RetroVGS/Chameleon than there will ever be in his Retro mag. I mean, look at this thread. It's just a matter of time, folks. The documentary/book is coming.

Seems like Nintendo entering this market may make it much bigger -- the RetroBit Generations and even the AtGames stuff could actually benefit from it. At least initially. The $40-60 mini retro console market is an established, but small, market that Nintendo could explode, making retailers more receptive to the other options in the category (and if they are smart, competitors will lure them with bigger margins).

The Short Bus Subs food trailers went out of business at the end of last year, unfortunately. I don't know about the other trucks on that spot, but they opened up a new food trailer lot a few blocks away on the same road (Barton Springs), so that might be why they are gone. I don't think the organizers would have been able to get them to close, as it's a very busy road with lots of traffic (foot and cars) not related to the event center across the street. Ah, I should have thought about that. Terry Black's BBQ is right across the street and it's probably my favorite BBQ place in Austin right now. Which is saying something.

Passed by that booth, saw all the "defective" 800XLs and Commodores for $4.99, and figured I'd come back and pick one or two up but didn't... now I'm kicking myself. Some of those looked so clean, I'm not surprised one fired up right away for you. That's fantastic that you got one that worked right away. They scaled up the show pretty seamlessly; it was well run and looked to be great attendance. Definitely looking a little more like a modern "gaming" convention vs. the more clubby "retro gaming" conventions -- lower lighting, flashier, slicker. A little steep on the entrance fees and concessions, but there were deals to be had and you could definitely get your money's worth with all the free stuff to play. 70K sq ft next year is going to be AMAZING... especially with the AtariAge booth there!

Bummer that Atariage won't have a booth... who will show all those attendees that classic gaming pre-NES is still alive and well? I did see that they sold out all exhibitor booths by the first week in June, so that's pretty amazing considering they bumped the size to 45K sq feet. I'll check out Reboot's booth when I'm there, and hopefully Atariage will have a huge booth next year!

Probably the smartest thing I've read from you. Follow MK's lead.

There are discounts to retail USPS pricing if you buy it online through PayPal, eBay, etc... Even if he had gone with the cheaper option (such as a flat rate priority mail), there is a discount. But the discount would be less net money on a lower cost option like the $6 priority mail flat rate. So I'm guessing he wanted to capture the biggest "spread" using the discount, hence picking the higher retail option, in order to pocket $2-3 per transaction on the actual shipping vs. retail amount. That said, I generally don't consider doing something like that a horrible thing. eBay sellers do it all the time. After all, there ARE real "handling" costs that consumers are very averse to seeing itemized, and you can recover a little of that by pocketing the discount. Of course in this context, and considering the product, I totally understand the complaints...

I'm convinced it's this. It was a British thing, cool name, quirky and underpowered, but an awesome looking piece of kit for the time. Like a British sports car of the era plus or minus a decade or two. It's a miracle it could put anything on the screen, but that was just a bonus, really.