Philflound

When it comes to graded items, you have to take into effect the cost of shipping the item to the grading company, the grading cost, and the shipping back to you. For a comic book, you are looking at a minimum of probably $30-35. High end can cost you a mint. People put prices on items to see if anyone bites, or like someone said, maybe to generate traffic to their store. I own something that is hot right now. My particular item is rarer than most of the others of the same item because it contains something that 99% of the others do not. My item is the highest graded one with that added bonus. I gave it to a friend to sell for me and literally I'm asking double what the going rate is in that same condition. So far, no bites, but it gets lots of looks. If I'm desperate, I can take a little bit lower and sell it instantly. But for now, I'm content with letting it sit out there being oogled at shows. As for sports cards from the 1980s and 1990s, you're starting to see an increase in activity. Even non-sport Topps from the late 80s to early 90s that were dumped on the market with that black slash on top of the boxes are starting to see interest. These items are now 30+ years old. What you always have to consider is even though there is a ton out there, mishaps happen and supply eventually dwindles. When I first moved to Florida 6 years ago, the truck I had moved stuff in caught fire. I lost 17 long boxes of comic books. A couple of years later, the Extra Space storage I was renting had the roof leak. I lost another 6 long boxes. This may not seem like much, but it adds up and when hurricanes, floods and fires happen, those items are lost forever. So there will always be jackasses out there pricing stuff way high and never selling it. For whatever reason they do it, it's their right. There will always be people with money that have nothing better to spend it on and throw it at a hobby. Most of us will never in our lifetime see a holy grail of any sort in any hobby. But like I've said before, buy what you like and enjoy it. I love small independent comics. I'm not talking about Image, Dark Horse, Valiant, etc. Small press and smaller companies. Just from the 1980s-1990s I have about 23 long boxes of these types of comics. Every time I see something that peaks my interest that I don't own, I grab it. I can go online and fill in gaps pretty cheap but usually choose not to. The thrill of the hunt. I think part of collecting IS finding stuff in the wild, even if it's not the holy grail. Phil

My wife and I used to have the philosophy of trying to save items. When we saw cheap ceramic figurines at the thrift store, we'd buy them to keep them from little hands picking them up and breaking them. But as Bill Murray said in Scrooged, "You can't save everyone, Claire". If anything I collect was cheap enough and in decent shape, I'd save it. When I moved from NJ, I left behind like 20-25 copies of games like Asteroids and Missile Command (loose carts) because they weren't in the condition (still worked but labels were worn) and I didn't really have room for them. My mother packed everything I left behind and shipped it down here. I don't know if she saved that stuff because I haven't opened any of the boxes she packed. And there were at least a hundred. Eventually I'll go through all my stuff. My guess is I have at least 700-1000 boxes just sitting in my house. All my rooms are pretty much filled with unopened boxes. My wife is lazy and though we've been here almost 2 years in this house, not much has been done. Maybe I'll wait until I retire in another 15-20 years and then it'd be like Christmas. \

You pretty much can get anything graded now. There are dozens of grading companies for practically anything. How good their reputation is, that's a guess. The scam with Wata is out there. Yes, they were bought by the company of PSA, which also owns an auction company. Wata was partnered with Heritage and yes, Heritage owners and Wata people were buying Wata NES games. I believe things were reported to the FTC, but there is always a way around most of the time. True collectors don't care much about the most pristine items. As for the "ridiculous" price of sealed games, that's a judgment call. Some sealed product, such as this Adventure, is extremely rare to find in higher grade. People with money drop hundreds of thousands if not millions on frivolous stuff... boats, art, houses, antiques, memorabilia, etc. It's nothing for them and us little guys are usually the ones asking "WHY???". People with money just buy, then sell, then move on to other things. Whether they ruin a hobby is irrelevant to them. If you happen to own some stuff you can make money on because of these people, I say go for it. If you enjoy your hobby for what it is, then enjoy it. Don't fret. I'm a collector. I always have been since before teenage years. I happen to own a lot of stuff. I mean, A LOT OF STUFF. I can make a mint off of what I have. Most items I can't sell because of my job, but hopefully when I do retire, all this stuff will be worth more. I've been buying and selling for almost 40 years now. I don't own a holy grail that would net me over $100k, but I probably do have some items that could break $10k, and definitely hundreds that will break a thousand. But most of this stuff I'd need to get graded. Grading costs money, Grading also costs time. I think one of my true gems is the 1986 Snoopy and the Red Baron. My copy is sealed and in very nice condition. This is truly rare. You barely see a boxed copy and you never see a sealed one (watch one pop on Ebay within the next few days). I just looked There is one 1986 boxed copy open with no manual. Anyway, it's all about condition. You can find SMB for the NES boxed all day, it's not rare. But try finding sealed copies, especially of specific variations. All you need is one or two buyers to create a market. "I have to own one" and if that person has money, they don't care if it's $100 or $10,000. When I owned my store in the 1990s, I always told people to buy what you like and if it went up in value, consider it a bonus. If you enjoyed your item for what it was, then hopefully you already got your money's worth. You can remember going to a movie, concert or sporting even, but you don't get the price of admission back. You eat a good meal for your anniversary, but you get nothing in return short of some nutrition and a trip to the bathroom. If you own a comic, you can read it over and over if you wish, or even share it afterwards. If you like your video game, you can play it over and over. If you collect cards or coins or stamps, or any type of art, you can look at them as much as you want. In the end you can resell items you possess, hopefully for a profit, when you're done enjoying them or if you get bored or if you need money. But at least you can get a return if you are still in possession of them, even if it's at a loss. So enjoy your collection and don't worry about the big boys. Most of those guys pass around the same high value stuff every few years just so they can make the news that they either sold or spent the most money ever on said item. Phil

There's always a possibility that someone glued a "p" end label on an NTSC version. It's part of the reason I don't put variations of text Atari labels that may have a 1st text main label and 2nd text end label. Too easy to create.

The gatefold box in my opinion was probably included until about 8/78 possibly a few months later depending on how many they made. The "Game Program" box version was produced in 6/78 as I mentioned when the box was actually printed. How long between printing the box and releasing it on the market is speculative, but I think it's usually within 2 months. Sorry I haven't updated anything. My computer went and I used MS Frontpage 2000 to design the site. I can't find my 2000 Office disks, so I'm considering buying them again for my new computer.

Just wanted to give an update. My computer that I work on the website is no longer working properly. It has issues loading. The hard drive should be fine as I have 2 hard drives just for this problem. I keep saying that I'm going to have someone look at it, but there have been personal issues of other "happenings" in my life that the website was not a priority. If I'm correct and looking at the site, I did finish everything for the games. I know I wanted to add Owner's manuals, and possibly some other paperwork, but unless I received a new variation or two on anything, the 7800 should be rather complete. When I get the computer back up and running, I'll let you know and we'll take it from there. Phil

Just wanted to give an update. I still don't have my computer with all my work. Lots of things have been happening from hitting an animal or something with my car (not fixed yet) and a pipe leaking in my house (no water now, also not fixed yet). I haven't had a good end of year. We'll see how 2022 begins. Anyway, just wanted to let everyone I have not abandoned anything. Phil

I hit a snag. My computer is having problems (the old one with the web pages), so there won't be any updates for the website at all until I can get this fixed. Probably will be a few weeks. I was hoping on getting lots more done during September and October, but no go.

I fixed everything you pointed out. Correcting some text is much easier than putting in manuals and creating new pages. I double checked everything you said. Yes, using copy/paste has a tendency of me forgetting to change things. The most difficult thing with adding a new variation is if it's an earlier one and there are lots of variations. Because I'm keeping everything in order, if the new variation goes first or before others already done, then I have to relabel all the pictures along with relabeling the text in my document and all the variation names on the pages. I just got an early Robotron from someone that I'm going to have to rename all the scan pages of the two manuals I've already done. I'm anticipating having to do it more with other titles I'm receiving scans for. Again, this is part of the reason why I never did the Atari 2600 games. Though I did several 3rd party for the 2600, the Atari itself is going to be a pain. And I have HUNDREDS (probably no less than 700) of manuals just for the Atari itself. Just a lot of work scanning everything.

By the end of the weekend, I'll update everything I've gotten. As for your F-14, that is the Atari 2600 manual part, so you may want to look at the title page and see if it says Atari 2600. http://www.videogamevariations.com/AtariCompanies/AbsoluteGames/Tomcat/tomcat_f14_manuals.htm

If you want to see what missing end labels and manuals I have the list here on the last page. I can edit this list as I can't on AA, so I wasn't going to post it here until I was done modifying what has been sent to me. If it's not on the list here, then I've received scans but haven't gotten to put it on the site yet. https://www.videogamesage.com/forums/topic/254-atari-7800-full-us-list-with-variants7800-lovefest/page/3/?tab=comments&_fromLogin=1

Email is fine. Yes, I did a lot of copy/paste so I was bound to make mistakes. I'll review everything this weekend. I've been getting some new and missing scans from someone already, so I have a lot of work and updating to do. What I didn't put up and will probably also do this weekend are the owner's manuals. I have some and am missing some, so keep your eyes open for when I upload that page. This took a lot more work than I thought as I had to investigate pretty much everything. AA only shows one listing. Atariboxed sometimes has a different one or a PAL scan, and Atarimania doesn't have anything for the 7800 whatsoever. If you see scans that need replacing, please help. Some are a bit warped because I took them off Ebay on angles and Daniel fixed them as best as he could. Thanks for the help. Phil

I didn't realize I was in the 2600 topic and not the 7800. When I said I'm finished with everything, I meant the 7800. So feel free to check out the 7800 also and if you can help fill in holes or find variations I don't have, please send me scans and info. I'll be back working on the 2600 real soon and hopefully will get through the rest of the 3rd party released games. Phil

Ok, here are the end labels and manuals I'm missing. End labels I'm being detailed, manuals, go to each game and see what the description of the missing manual. End Labels needed: Asteroids 1986 Taiwan Centipede 1987 Taiwan Choplifter 1987 Taiwan, 1987 Hong Kong small Crack'ed 1988 Hong Kong Dig Dug 1987 Hong Kong only italics, 1987 Taiwan Food Fight 1987 China, 1988 Hong Kong Galaga 1986 Taiwan, 1987 Hong Kong only italics, 1987 Hong Kong small normal Jinks 1989 Hong Kong Joust 1987 China, 1988 Hong Kong Karateka 1987 Taiwan Mario Bros. 1988 China Ms. Pac-Man 1988 Hong Kong One on One 1987 Taiwan, 1988 Hong Kong Pole Position II 1984 text, 1986 text, 1988 China Robotron 1986 Taiwan Xevious 1987 Hong Kong only italics Manuals: Ace of Aces Man A Asteroids Man C & D Ballblazer Man D Choplifter Man A, C, D & E Commando Man C Crack'ed Man B & C Crossbow Man B & C Dig Dug Man A & E Donkey Kong Man B Donkey Kong Jr Man B Food Fight Man A & C Hat Trick Man B Ikari Warriors Man B Impossible Mission Man B Jinks Man B & C Karateka Man A, B, C & D Mario Bros. Man B Mean 18 Golf Man A & C Motor Psycho Man B Ms. Pac-Man Man C, D & F One on One Man A, B & D Planet Smashers Man C Pole Position II Man A, B, C, E, F & J Robotron Man A & D Super Huey Man B, C & D Touchdown FB B & C Tower Toppler B & D Xevious B, D & E

ARRGGGHHH!!!! I just typed all the manuals and end labels I was missing and accidentally deleted everything before posting. Maybe I'll do it later, maybe tomorrow. Anyway, the list is done. The PDF file is up. Feel free to look everything over. I'm missing the Xenophobe manual because AA only have 17 pages and I don't know which of the other pages are blank.

I'm complete now with everything I have in my possession and in my database. The pdf file for everyone to view that contains everything including explanations of how each item is described, which is now at the top of the Atari 7800 home page. I'll also try and put up the list of missing items, should mostly be manuals. If I can, I'll list end labels missing. I missed my target by a week, which I'm happy I got it done that fast. As I've mentioned before, if you have something I don't have documented, or you own something I'm missing scans of, please get them to me. If I own scans of items that look crappy due to getting whatever I can, and you can replace them with better scans, also please get them to me. I'm here for proof, but it's great to have nice visuals to see. Thanks to everyone who has helped. I'm sure there are variations out there not on the list. I'll try and keep up with it the best I can, but I'm sure it's pretty comprehensive. Phil

Almost done. Just waiting on scans. Have only 9 pages to go.

I'm trying to work on the Super Huey and Xenophobe manuals. My problem is that AA only has 17 pages. Of course that's not correct. I own only sealed copies of this game. Does anyone have a manual and can tell me how many pages are there (18? 20?) and which pages are missing. I'm assuming blank ones are. I'd like to get this title finished. Also, is Touchdown Football manual 14 pages or does it have 2 blank pages to make it 16? I'm putting it up as 14.

Thanks. Sometimes I have to use rough scans from the internet because I don't have any other choice besides not having one. I'd rather have a bad scan than no scan at all.

Mitch, all those 1984 games are legit? Just making sure. Not sure if I can snag any of those scans and make them look better. Do you have these games and can you scan them for me? The weekend saw some great progress. I have 2 games with box variations missing, I'm waiting on a few scans and should have those complete by Tuesday or Wednesday. Everything else is done through Motor Psycho (waiting on the end label of cartridge b for this, but it's done otherwise). Tomorrow I plan on doing Ms. Pac-Man. This game has 5 cartridge variations, 6 manuals and 6 boxes. Talk about fun. I'm waiting on more titles after that, but I have a few scattered later on that I have all the scans of, so you may see some games completed out of order. I'm hoping by the end of next weekend to have this completed. We'll see. Didn't miss my target date by too much. Thanks. Phil

I have a question about the Telegames carts. With Astroblast, it looks like there are 2 types of labels. One is a wraparound single label. The one here on AA looks like the main and end labels are separate. Can anyone confirm this? Also, if this is true, are the separate labels white, not grey? Third, does anyone have manual scans of these games. I'm coming up empty on the majority. I'd like to get the Telegames section finished, but it may have to wait. Please help. Thanks. Phil

I'll check it out and add anything I missed. Thanks.

The only scan I have is 1984 Pole Position II. I do have proof of the 1984 manual, but don't have scans of the inside.

I'm over 20 titles and hopefully will have 30+ by the end of this weekend. It's going well. Feel free to compare what you own with what is up there. Thanks. Phil

2 1/2 hours later and the Sega carts and boxes are finished. Whew! Add Spectravision to the list of 3rd party incomplete. 1 down, 4 to go.