I am updating the Atlantis II registry

[I am updating the Atlantis II registry]

So what? Isn't this true with virtually every single video game out there?

 

Edit: I looked for your listing, and found this. Please tell me that this is not you. This is the same exact state, and this is the same exact time that you were going to list this.

 

eBay Auction -- Item Number: 250634317368

 

That is not me... I'm only getting around to listing mine now. I don't know the seller & found his auctions when I poked around the other day. I find it most suspicious that they suddenly have several of the rarest games for auction. Noone here knows this seller or a collector in this region with such rare games?

 

EDIT: Here's my listing. 3 days. I think I'll do a wallet give-away based on who guesses the closest closing price.

eBay Auction -- Item Number: 260605095673

[I am updating the Atlantis II registry]

OK, I will put these two Atlantis II complete set owners as XX. Until the actual owners step forward, I will not include them. I run this list, I have scoured the Internet looking for any Atlantis II owners, and now you are telling me that you not only know 1 Atlantis II owner, but you know 2 of them, and they both have the complete set, something that has never before been seen? I have my doubts since these "anonymous" people came to you during the time of your $50,000 auction. People yank with peoples chains all the time when they ask for a super high amount for something. I am pretty sure that when Meanguns had his 1.75 million dollar auction that he had 10 "anonymous" people come forward to him to tell him that they not only had this game, but that it was a complete set as well.

 

Edit: I hope you do well on your Atlantis II auction. I don't blame you for selling it. Now is definitely a good time to sell super rare games.

 

I wouldn't bother adding them until they surface. I only saw pictures from one claimant. The second was very credible from our conversation and I had no reason to doubt him. Either way, your golden goose will continue to lay eggs. These games will continue to surface & grow in number.

[I am updating the Atlantis II registry]

Two quick points re: Atlantis II while I have any relevance left on the subject:

 

First, my A2 is going up for auction later today. I forgot I still had this cart - my last rarity - and it doesn't mean much to me anymore, so off it goes. If y'all remember, it has the marker "II" on the label and holes sliced for screw removal.

 

Second, from having put this on eBay for a ridiculous price early on, I had met two other AII owners who are not listed in the registry and will not announce themselves due to the aggressive and belligerent nature of members in the forums. Since I didn't see "new" names on the list with their complete Atlantis II sets, I bet they'll never step forward if they haven't yet. It's a shame that these collectors cannot feel welcome here, but from my years interacting here, I fully understand their decision.

 

Thank you again to those of you whom I've had the pleasure of doing business with. Thanks also to the negative folks who have disparaged me as a reseller or my wallets- your negativity fueled me to work harder. Thank you, all.

[Atari 2600 promotional items, odds & ends]

My last bits of unique Atari memorabilia are now up for auction eBay Auction -- Item Number: 260596129440. I'll post a ton of games for the community to pick from later this week on a "make an offer" basis. After that, y'all should be free from me haunting these halls.

 

What's in the auction?

Two white Atari corp promotional t-shirts, sizes L & XL.

 

Two motion-active circle-things promoting the Atari 5200 & the game Defender.

 

Promotional and prototype materials for the never-released Atari Cosmos - the original advertising, photo reprints of the unit and two hologram inserts for Asteroids & Defender.

 

One brand-new Pac Man coffee mug.

 

One Asteroids theme song on cassette tape, in original plastic.

I believe the previous owner removed the tape to play it. I never have myself...

 

One Atari plastic lunchbox (in great shape) with beat-up matching Thermos (half of print missing).

One Pac Man Thermos (in great shape) included as well.

 

Thanks and stuff.

[Closing today: my Atari check-out games]

I bought a bunch of the check-out games a while back and they are the last remaining unique collector bits of Atari I have left. They'll go for a fraction of what I paid, so get yourself a piece of Atari 2600 history!

 

They close today.

 

I'll be offering a bunch of "wallet-quality" games directly to the community as I finish cleaning out all things Atari. The wallets will be getting a reboot this summer with custom hinges, but even after everything I clean out I'll have a thousand or two remaining.

[Now on eBay: Sears picture Superman & boxed promo 2600]

Wow, it seems the market is all over the place. I really don't know what to make of it. One minute 2 Music Machines boxed go for over $5,000, and Air Raid goes for $2,800, and the next minute you have this go for a low price, and Malagai Boxed go for a low amount, and the Imagic previewer going for a low amount as well. I really wish the Atari 2600 market was more consistent. Most hobbies are pretty consistent, this one seems to be all over the place.

The boxed Malagai was a surprise, I did think that would go for more but the Sears Superman and Imagic Kiosk are not everyones cup of tea. I think many collectors would pass on those two items unless they got a really good deal.

 

From this and other sales, it appears that a Sears Superman is as valuable as a Xante game, both of which are worth double the value of a prototype. If I could make sense of it all, perhaps it wouldn't be so frustrating. Thankfully I'm almost done with all things Atari - after five-plus years of hyper-Atari saturation, all love of Atari I once had has been burnt.

[More US Games prototypes? loaners?]

Open them. Just remove the screws, there is nothing tricky about these. I opened a couple of these and found a production ROM in one like your eggomania end-label-only. In one like the bottom two, I found a dated eprom. Any eprom is likely pre-production or WIP. Any production ROM is probably just a "for-internal-use-only" version of the final release.

Interesting to see the WIP title of Name This Game.

 

Guardians (of the Deep).

 

 

Dangnabit.... accidentally posted the chip pics on my "business" account and not my peersonal account... will be back up later today if people miss 'em...

[More US Games prototypes? loaners?]

Last image is a production ROM.

 

Wow. That was the original Eggomania prototype I acquired labeled 2003.

The other three are (in order, from the top) MAD, Squeeze Box & Entombed.

 

Thank you.

[More US Games prototypes? loaners?]

Can anyone weigh in on either matter?

Please look past the poor pun & help unravel this mystery.

 

Open them. Just remove the screws, there is nothing tricky about these. I opened a couple of these and found a production ROM in one like your eggomania end-label-only. In one like the bottom two, I found a dated eprom. Any eprom is likely pre-production or WIP. Any production ROM is probably just a "for-internal-use-only" version of the final release.

 

So I opened them to take the pictures and a label ripped. I couldn't have been more careful and still it happened. Fantastic.

 

Below are the four chip shots from the four internal labeled games. From here out, I'm not touching any of these except with a ROM dumper.

 

 

 

[More US Games prototypes? loaners?]

Around a 4g difference, I'd bet they're at least some form of non-production boards.

 

I weighed a few black label US Games/Vidtec games and had four different Space Jockeys weigh in at two distinct weights - roughly 55.5g & 59.5g. The other black label games I weighed also came in at the same mid- to high-50g range.

 

Every game powered up, but without any normal versions of the blue & white label games to test against, all I could do was look for game names when the game is powered on. From what I could tell from my games and the screen caps here on AtariAge, only Sneak'n Peek, Space Jockey & Word Zapper have their names shown in the game somewhere. Gopher, Towering Inferno, Commando Raid, Eggomania, Entombed, Squeeze Box & MAD all failed to show the names at any point, at least in the carts I own.

 

Can anyone weigh in on either matter?

Please look past the poor pun & help unravel this mystery.

[More US Games prototypes? loaners?]

Weigh each cart and post the weight, if you don't want to open them.

 

Yeah, I learned my lesson on opening games, so weights it is.

 

Eggomania "2003" prototype - 54.4g

Eggomania label and sticker - 55.7g

Squeeze Box (loaner?) - 59.1g

MAD (loaner?) - 61.1g

Entombed "2007" prototype - 62.3g

Name This Game label and sticker - 63g

 

 

I also weighed the normal-looking Gopher that came with the lot - 57.5g - as well as the five black-labeled Vidtec/US Games carts that were included, ranging between 55.9g and 57.2g. Since receiving these, I haven't been able to get to the shop to plug 'em in and look for obvious differences like the original prototypes have.

[More US Games prototypes? loaners?]

For the first time in weeks, I decide to search eBay last week & found someone claiming prototypes in a small lot with two systems but no detail pictures listed only a few hours before. The story was the father of his girlfriend used to work for US Games and brought these home one day. Figuring $50 isn't too big a wager, I place a marker bid. The next morning I receive notification the auction was canceled, so I figure someone made a side deal and got a bargain. An hour later, I get an email from the seller stating one of the systems fell when being boxed, breaking a switch and the case, causing him to cancel the auction. I explain that if his prototypes were real, they would be worth a hundred or two each and the systems were not a big concern when viewing the bigger picture of his collection - I even offered to send him spare games of mine to round out his system lot (and clear space for me) to maximize his return. He sent a quick photo of the prototypes with the simple question: do I want the whole lot for $50? I wanted to help him and if this was the help he wanted, so be it.

 

For reference, I included the original two prototypes I retained - Eggomania & Entombed - above the latest acquisitions. The middle two have production labels over stickers the same size as the prototypes above but I doubt I can remove the normal label without damaging the underlying internal company sticker. The last two - Squeeze Box & MAD - were the prototypes mentioned in the lot, but appear to be more of lab loaners than prototypes. I present them for review - thoughts?

 

[Now on eBay: Sears picture Superman & boxed promo 2600]

First up, last week's find: the Sears picture label Superman with manual.

 

Also for auction: boxed promotional four-switch Atari 2600.

 

Questions? Just ask!

 

Thanks for looking!

[Found in the wallet pile: Sears picture Superman]

It is now up for auction on eBay:

 

eBay Auction -- Item Number: 260543646295

Can we count on this going the distance?

 

Are you inquiring if I'll pull this for a side deal?

 

Ha!

[Found in the wallet pile: Sears picture Superman]

It is now up for auction on eBay:

 

eBay Auction -- Item Number: 260543646295

[Found in the wallet pile: Sears picture Superman]

Wow, amazing that you found one.

Did you know this cart has a magic power? It lets you see how much money is in people's bank accounts.

 

Edit: zeitshabba, I hope you have your guy setting out some of the other rarer label variations, like pic Flag Capture (especially the green-text one), Fun With Numbers, and Black Jack. I'd hate to see them accidentally walletized!

 

I make no guarantees. Initially I had planned to do a few incredibly rare game wallets, but my gamer buddy talked me out of it. This was about three or four years ago, and I eventually sold the Asterix, Obelix, Waterworld, Crazy Climber and one of the Cube games (Atari Video or Rubiks) I had in the project boxes. From reviewing the chips of all the games that were processed, I know there is a Road Runner waiting to be milled and I already have completed Pigs in Space and Taz wallets. I can't check what is at the shop (in Pennsylvania) but there is a possibility one of the ones you mentioned may be in the mix.

 

I do have an empty loaner cart that I might make into my own personal wallet at some point.

[Found in the wallet pile: Sears picture Superman]

Just my 2-cents but this would make a great featured GameGavel or Auction listing with front page post on AtariAge. Give everyone a shot at this super rare game, I'm sure you will get more than you can on private offers.

 

AX

 

I actually just pondered the same thing aloud in an offer message...

[Found in the wallet pile: Sears picture Superman]

Before going through all the leftovers from eBay resales, I had all the wallet-quality games that were set aside but not processed sorted to offer to collectors in these forums. ("Wallet-quality" simply means nearly-perfect labels, sitting in a box for between 4-32 months.) From where he said this game was found, I would place it around 22-24 months ago, around when I brought him on board. It took a few months of doing the resales all by himself before he naturally started to identify rare & unique games, but he wouldn't have known to look for this one in the beginning. Every time I worked with him I repeated which hidden gems required a little extra attention just in case of a miracle: Atlantis II, monogrammed Spacechase & Sears picture Superman. Several thousand games later, or this past Sunday night, all those repeated warnings paid off.

 

Last night I visited to inspect the find and continue the search, as I knew there was far more to be found than just the games he photographed. Unfortunately, the best treasures I found last night were Frogger II & a Supercharger, but at least boxes of controllers, games & systems now await testing in an organized & orderly fashion.

 

Without further adieu, I am delighted to present you the Sears picture label Superman:

 

 

Last summer I found a blue Sears Superman manual that I tossed into one of the manual piles, thinking nothing of it... I should have known better. My next trip back to the shop will include attacking the manual pile in search of the companion manual.

 

Everything I am arranging & testing will be available to AA members soon, and if I am able to sell this cart I will give away most everything else to those who need it most.

 

Yes, this game is for sale and serious parties should PM me.

Everyone else, it's your turn.

[Suspect Auction of Atari 2600 Rares]

Has anyone asked to buy the bathwater from the infamous bathtub incident? It may hold the answers to this cosmological mystery...

 

I'd be shocked if he had any other games that either A) were rare and didn't go tubjumping or B) were not rare and did take a dive with the rares.

[WTB: cheap Atari games, my wife donated my most of my collection.]

It's a pretty long story and I don't really want to go into it, but my wife donated virtually all of my video game collection. I'm sill have most of my Intellivision, NES, TG-16, and SMS games, but I had hundreds of games for virtually every system made. For now, the main things I need badly are 2600 and 7800 games, I don't have a single game for either of these systems. I do have the consoles themselves, just no games. My Colecovision is gone along with all of it's games as well.

 

EDIT: I realized as I was going through stuff last night all my Sega Saturn, Sega CD, Dreamcast, 3DO, and CDi games are also gone.

 

I would also eventually like to replace my Vectrex games (still have the system), my Fairchild Channel F, RCA Studio II and Arcadia 2001, but I don't have the money to replace them now.

 

In fact, I don't have much money at all, so please let me know if you have something you can part with cheap. I do have a list of things I can trade, I'm going to go through some stuff tonight and I'll make up a list.

 

My best recommendation is to replace the wife.

Since its usually cheaper to keep her and its your private business, I'll help with the games. I can help you replace a bunch of 2600 games on the cheap. Any particular preferences, or anything you can get? I'll give you 20-30 common games for free to start... PM me.

[Is that an Atari cartridge in your pocket or . . .]

These wallets are pretty and well made but way too expensive! $55 for a wallet with damaged labels is a bad joke!

A DAMN BAD JOKE!

...

But I guess that I want one sooner or later.........

Iwan, sorry for not responding to your PM months ago. About an hour after you suggested I sell you the Superman text label for $20, someone else bought it. I might just have done it, if you asked nicely.

 

I know I'm late to the party, but I'll try to keep this short and only address a few, um, "misunderstandings" regarding my wallet project. Before I do, big thanks to CebusCapucinis for the legal quickie doc - well done indeed!

 

I'm a one-man wallet-making machine. I have a "shop" setup at my friends house where we do the resales and, once upon a time, the wallet work as well. His schedule grew busier and our ability to coordinate wallet construction in a timely manner led me to doing all the work in our apartment. I have thousands of games - THOUSANDS - that are wallet-quality, but "wallet-quality" simply means "set aside to not be included in resales." I have approx. 700 shells yet to be milled out at the shop and have completed approximately 250 wallets to date. Roughly as many have been given away as have been sold, including a few wallet winners/gifts coming back to buy as gifts. The shop that mills out the games is managed by a good friend of mine and does my wallet shells between customer orders as I need them. Each wallet takes over 2 hours of work and $12 in parts & shop fees. Every piece is used except the screw and includes the game chip for the wallet title you purchase. The only additions to the original game case are polypropylene hinges, magnets and the plastic glue they require. I call them Atari cartridge wallets (cartridge added after initial release due to legal concern) because I cannot use any other manufacturer - not Activision, not Coleco, not Imagic -none of the 3rd party carts work. Only Atari game cartridges (and, obviously, Sears cartridges too) can become wallets.

 

Marty, I have to take a moment to address you directly, publicly, at this point, given your clear disgust with me/my wallets. I don't have "PR reps" - I was a project for a group of Emerson marketing students. You damn well knew they were students yet continued to misrepresent them here as "PR reps," grossly overstating the import of my operation. Your response to the students was, how should I say it... entertaining. We'll touch on that again in a bit.

 

While I will eventually sell other products on whatever site I setup market - for now, etsy - they won't be Atari-related whatsoever. The "additional products" you reference are the series of wristlets (8"x6" clutch handbags w/ bangle attached for easy wear) inspired by the game included as wallet created by my wife. Some folks see it as a cute collaboration between husband and wife or as a great gift for a geeky couple (as seen on Boston.com), but I bet reasonable folks - and even those pesky lawyers - would agree those are artistic one-offs.

 

Honestly Al, you're being naive enough to think that's the only place they're being sold?

Al's not naive. Al's right and you are wrong, Marty. The only place to buy one of my Atari cartridge wallets is via my etsy store. I donated a handful to a charity in Texas who auctioned them via eBay over the summer. Besides that one auction batch, you cannot buy one of my wallets anywhere EXCEPT via my etsy store. While I have had several inquiries from boutiques & game stores, I have kept them wholly in my control as of this writing.

 

If I take a cartridge and resell it, that's allowed.

And with my wallets, you get the entire cartridge. Go head, plug in the chip & play it! Then, if you don't mind, tell me how my selling of cartridges... err, wallets - is different than buying a game from Atari2600.com? They're selling Atari games! So am I - my just work slightly differently. If you claim my product doesn't qualify as a cartridge the same as the one you resold, please explain what the difference? No, seriously - define why the product I'm selling is so vastly different than the games resold at Atari2600.com simply because the screw was removed.

 

And from your email, I must ask...

The Atari legal department has been notified directly.

Did you reach out and touch someone inside Atari legal? Just for little old me? Seriously, thank you! The results of any lawsuit over my Atari cartridge wallets - and Sears cartridge wallets, too -

would only help me. I'd be able to get legal representation easily enough, between lawyers I know and artists advocacy groups that offer free legal services in instances like this, so I don't concern myself with this much. It would be a ridiculous PR boon for me - seriously, can't you see the story already? One man being attacked by a corporation for repurposing their 25-year-old games instead of letting them be dumped in landfills.... it's pure gold!

 

There's a reason their site is registered via a private proxy.

Yes, there is a reason my site is privately registered: people like you, Marty. You clearly see me as something much larger and more nefarious than I am, and do so with a passion that I find unsettling. To clarify, there is no "their" here - unless you count my multiple personalities as separate corporal entities

 

So much for keeping it short...

[Win an Atari cartridge wallet contest]

I've opened two contests to win a wallet for the Facebook fans of the Atari cartridge wallets running through the remainder of 2009, so the winners start the new year with a new wallet!

 

CONTEST - EASY: write a haiku based upon an Atari game or, better yet, an Atari cartridge wallet! Post your haiku to the fanpage to enter.

 

CONTEST - HARD: mis-speak, mis-spell, or mistake the title of an Atari game and take a picture of the error represented in real life. Add a letter, subtract a letter, use homonyms... be creative & NO PHOTOSHOP ENTRIES. Post your picture to the fanpage to enter.

 

Each contest will produce one winner, resulting in two wallets given away. Only entries posted to the Atari cartridge wallet fanpage on Facebook will be allowed.

 

....Since July, I have been able to donate over $600 to charity courtesy of my Atari resales on eBay. Thank you everyone!

 

AtariAge members - if you purchase one of my wallets, please mention your AA membername. I'll donate $10 to Child's Play and $5 back to you!

[Megamania prototype]

By 'mid-programming', do you mean they are WIPs? Are any of your carts noticeably different than the released versions? If you would like me to send you some equipment, feel free to drop me a PM, we'll work something out

 

Here is "Head On," aka Dodge Em. Maze Craze is roughly the same, and I sold a Championship Soccer just like this to a certain proto collector. Given that they are dated, it makes me think they are WIPs instead of finished programs found in lab loaners. Of course, this is all guesswork/speculation by me...

[Asteroids wallet or cigarette case made from a cartridge]

You have nothing to worry about, you can have your Atari Wallet empire all to yourself...

 

ALL HAIL THE KING OF ATARI WALLETS! Maybe your Empires can battle and we can make a homebrew about it!

 

He can have it all to himself

 

I didn't expect so many minions so quickly.

 

I also forgot that imitation is the sincerest of flattery, so I should be more appreciative when viewing your version.

[Megamania prototype]

P.S. This auction did not have a BIN on it, originally.

 

Really? How can you tell?

If someone talked this seller into doing a BiN and failed to complete the purchase, I'm stoked to not only have won it but also for the cathartic "screw you, side dealer!" bonus!