GeneralHellfire

Started my 2600 collection with the first money I ever made (from my paper route) 30+ years ago. My "holy grails" are the carts I still own from that time when my brother and I used to play them together as kids. I keep my grails in the original fake wood container we had... holds eight carts. Started more formal collecting boxed complete games about 2002 or 2003 after the Antiques Roadshow bit on Atari2600 gave me the bug and brought to my attention the added value of completeness. Got most common games and some rares off eBay. Got many rares from networking with guys out here on Atariage. Have almost certainly overspent all along the way, but I've had a blast, and I still get a lot of enjoyment out of it... though hard to quantify exactly why - particularly to those not infected with the collecting bug. Here are my grails...

Wow... just wow. That is really cool. A thing of beauty.

Started my 2600 collection with the first money I ever made (from my paper route) 30+ years ago. My "holy grails" are the carts I still own from that time when my brother and I used to play them together as kids. I keep my grails in the original fake wood container we had... holds eight carts. Started more formal collecting boxed complete games about 2002 or 2003 after the Antiques Roadshow bit on Atari2600 gave me the bug and brought to my attention the added value of completeness. Got most common games and some rares off eBay. Got many rares from networking with guys out here on Atariage. Have almost certainly overspent all along the way, but I've had a blast, and I still get a lot of enjoyment out of it... though hard to quantify exactly why - particularly to those not infected with the collecting bug.

I'm not that brave. I just spread them out on the floor to take pictures of them for the site. I'm actually a tad a-type about storing them... by manufacturer in alphabetical order high above my closet on shelves out of harm's way inside these rectangular plastic containers I found somewhere on the net. Each container fits about 4 normal size Atari boxed games. Example shots below.

$3,550 three days before closing bell flurry? Did people forget we're in the great recession here.

Thanks a lot. It all started when my brother triple dog dared me to start a collection. As I'm sure you know, I was left with no choice.

I'm sure there's a thread out here somewhere on this, but can someone please point me to the history of the "Name that Game" by US Games. I think there was a contest to name the game, and I'd just like to read up on how it went down and what the game name ended up... if it did?

Here's my collection: http://www.indianahoosier.com/Atari2600.html It may take a minute or two to download as it is just one long page of pictures by manufacturer. I just recently completed taking all the pics.

SpongeBob dolls are like money in some places. You're probably right... I bet spongebob dolls are like currency in daycare prisons akin to cigarettes in adult prisons

I'm afraid the only bread or dough you would find in a search of our mattresses is actual bread or actual dough... and maybe a spongebob doll or two.

Long time no see. I thought your kids had you under control these days? They do for the most part, but I still scan eBay for "Atari 2600" once in a while, sort by highest bid, and tempt my demons. Air Raid made me stop and look, and I just had to come out here to Atariage again and see the banter. I scanned the threads quickly and saw Lochjaw... another weakness/long time want. Always an honor and privilege speaking with you CPUWIZ. Hope all is well.

Would it be okay for somebody to throw money at you for it who would give it a good home and not resell? ...hypothetically speaking of course.

I was addicted for awhile... step 1 is admitting it. Two kids have basically cured me now. I don't even have time to spend money these days. This auction has me unlocking the liquor cabinet though... Oh, smells very nice. Would be fun to replace the replica in my inventory with a real one. I play the games I buy, too, and that goes for the rare titles. I dislike competing in auctions for sealed/shrinkwrapped titles because I will open them to play them, and these sealed titles typically command higher prices than open box versions. I like to think of my collection as a living one, not a reference or museum quality set, but I think it is useful that those exist. I'm okay with boxes that are a little dinged or a cart that may have a less than pristine label. That said, I'm getting at the level of trying to acquire only really rare carts, and if I could afford to bid on this I would. I could swing a few hundred bucks, but thousands are out of my reach for now because, like you, I have other priorities (mortgage, student loans). I don't begrudge people spending money on collecting games (or whatever they like to collect, no matter how cheap or expensive the prices are), but I hope that it brings them some enjoyment and hasn't become something like an addiction.

"Love and war are all one. It is lawfull to use sleights and stratagems to attaine the wished end.", [1620 Don Quixote]... or the more common: "all is fair in love and war". In my humble (space invader) opinion, Atari auctions (particularly rare ones) are both love and war, and therefore hard to govern much less judge.

I agree. The picture is really bad for $5,000, but I zoomed in on the label area to find the image below... ... just kidding

A thought just crossed my mind as well (which is noteworthy in and of itself), but can this auction really be considered "complete" without the LP's ?

Congrats Wonder007. I didn't enter the octagon on this one, but I watched from the sidelines on the edge of my seat. I'm pretty sure my snipe would have been below the final bid, so you still would have taken home this trophy... but it's hard to tell though what you'll do when you're in the ring competing for these illusives.

That Atlantis in there looks like an A2 box

Just to add another data point... I don't have an A2, and I'd probably pay $1K for a loose one and near double that for a boxed one... somewhere between for a loose one with the label. I have a question to the forum as well... what do you guys see happening to the Atari market when we're all dead. Is this stuff something I should will to my kids or just try to sell off before I die? Is the next generation or the one after going to pay these prices for this stuff? Your thoughts?

I got the Vulture Attack box without a fight. All I need now to build hotels on Ktel Vision is a Vulture Attack manual. Anybody out here have an extra one or at least one to donate to a diehard colletor who will use it to create a CIB for posterity? Anyone... anyone? Buhler?

Great word choice... I like "diehard" much better than "crazy", and now I can stop wasting all that money on Prozac.