gulag picture radio

Wow. Perhaps a bit of bragging here will help me feel better about the number of times I've had to move all this crap! Ultra-Pong IV (still love this game today) Atari Pinball Hanimex Pong Odyssey 3000 & various other Pong variants Odyssey (the one with the overlays for the TV) + rifle + carrying case Odyssey 2 Atari 2600 (several of heavy six, four switch, vader, both Junior variants) Atari 7800 Atari Lynx Colecovision + Atari adaptor, steering wheel Intellivision I + II + III (intellivoice, computer add-on, synthesizer add-on) NES (frontloader & toploader, ROB, floor pad thingy, glove) Famicom Super Nintendo (Super GameBoy, Mouse) N64 GameCube Original Game Boy (different color shells, some aftermarket shells & screens, 16MB FlashROM cart, 4x cameras, Printer), GB Pocket GB Advance Virtual Boy Sega Master System (gun, 3D glasses, trackball, arcade stick) Sega Genesis 1,2,3 (32x, Sega CD ver. 1 &2, X'eye JVC clone, gun, arcade joystick) Sega Nomad Sega Game Gear Sega Saturn (pair of giant guns) Sega Dreamcast (in clear fluorescent green shell, arcade stick, dance pad, maracas controllers, standup mini-arcade cabinet store display) Amiga 500, 1000, 1200, 2000, 3000, 3000 tower, 4000, 4000 tower (TONS of add-ons & monitors, Video Toaster, LIVE board, 3D glasses) Commodore 64 (old & newer styles with voice synthesis, and official FM synth keyboard) Mac Classic computers Turbo Grafx 16 Game.com Palm m105 w/MIDI add-on TI 99a with voice box and MBX expander WOW ActionMax Aquarius computer & expander 386 & 486 laptops Commodore Pet Timex Sinclair and some add-on modules Atari Video Music (easily the pride of my collection) There are a bunch of dupe systems and games that I'll eventually get rid of as soon as I get around to making a trade list. This all comes from some 15 years of thrifting except for the Dreamcast (xmas gift last year which I really love) and the Atari 2600 that I won in a local contest in 1983 that started this crazy video game thing for me...

No, that's just the clear plastic cover for the LCD screen that I'm talking about. Weird how there are always a lot of those clear plastic screens on Ebay for the Nomad, and almost never any for the classic Game Boy. The thing I'm looking for is the actual backlit display. I don't think that I'm going to find one on its own, I think that I'll have to pull it out of another Nomad that has something wrong with it. By the time that happens, I'll bet that I dig up another Nomad at a thrift store! Thanks for your zippy reply.

Hiya. Anyone know what kind of screen is in a Sega Nomad? I found the Nomad at a thrift, but the screen is shattered. I don't want to buy a whole other Nomad on Ebay for big bucks- everything works on this one except the screen. Sega-parts.com doesn't stock the screen anymore, and didn't even know what the replacement's specs are. I appreciate any help out there! Thanks!

Hi there. I need to find several AC adaptors for the original NES system. They don't need to be the factory originals. Just good enough for me to power up the system. I'm having a hard time finding the exact specs on the adaptor, and I'm sure that other models/voltages will work just as well. Any advice? Thanks!

A freind of mine is a journalist and is writing a review of a half dozen LCD screens. They are hybrid units- while they're intended for you to use as a computer display, they have RF inputs in the back for connecting an antenna. I couldn't resist the temptation so I grabbed Atari Ultra Pong IV and ran over there before he had to ship them all back. I was only able to hook it up to one LCD screen, but when I did it looked as if the screen lacked sync. It wasn't TOO bad, but definitely not a joy to play on- it looked as if the screen was vibrating up and down. I didn't try a conventional 2600 ( didn't have one handy on short notice), but I think that there's a chance that could have worked better. Ultra Pong has the color gradation in the background, and that's done using some video trickery that an LCD screen might not really be equipped to handle. Wish I'd had a chance to try an Atari, but perhaps one of you out there can give it a try and let us all know. Good argument to keep a CRT TV around for a while longer!

That's right! When a bunch of my carts were caught in a flood, I cleaned them all with a bit of rubbing alcohol- just to get any icky flood-type germs off. Surprisingly, very few carts stopped working. The alcohol didi a great job cleaning the carts, but any silver label carts were vulnerable to any scrubbing action. Both Imagic and Atari Silver label carts would smear. The silver part remained intact, it was the ink on top. It must because the silver is the actual paper stock that the rest was printed on. Since it's smooth, the ink doesn't have much "tooth" to bite into. I actually took a super common Imagic cart and took all the ink off leaving only the silver decal. It looks way cool! On your Crazy Climber game, just be careful not to be too abrasive on the red areas- but hitting the silver ares should be safe. Start with those first and a swab, but as someone else here suggested- try out your technique on a dog-common silver label cart. Looking forward to hearing your results!

Goo Gone could be great, but you should test it first on another cart to make suire that it doesn't also loosen the original ink or anything. Definitely put it on a paper towel rather than applying it right to the label of the cart. It does a real number on adhesives. There is also a product for removing marker called "Oops", but it is much harsher and I haven't tried it on paper yet.

Thanks. For some reason when I tried that a few days back it wasn't working. The problem could've been on my end or theirs- but it's working just fine now. Thanks for your help! I'll let you guys know when my review goes up... hard to think that I could be more complete than the terrific Backntime review...

Does anyone have contact information for the manufacturer or distributor of the 10-in-1 joystick? I write for an online magazine, and would like to run a review of it. I just haven't been successful in finding the people responsible for talking to the press. Thanks for any help!

To go from the 7800 to your TV, just grab an RCA cord and run it to a Radio Shack rca-rf adaptor plug. If you don't know the type of plug that I'm talking about, just check the "how-to" section of this site, or get yours from the Atari Age store. The more difficult part is finding the power supply. The 7800's power connector is a bit unorthodox so you won't be able to replace it on the same Radio Shack visit that I recommended earlier. Here your best bet might be to hit Ebay, where those Power Supplies go for $5-10. Sounds to me like your 7800 might be humming for well under $20. Hope that's cheap enough.

I don't know exactly what technology would be necessary, but I think that a mini Atari console would be interesting. There's a company called "Basic Fun" that has manufactured mini versions of classic toys; viewmaster, etch-a-sketch, etc. Imagine a tiny Atari console that still hooks up to a TV set and can take little carts to play games, perhaps even accept a full sized joystick? Of course this would be a technical marvel to achieve I think. Those guys making the 10-in-1 joystick have the right idea. I think that the joystick captures the sense of nostalgia that my mini-2600 idea does, but is eminently more practical.

Do you mind if I ask how much that whole giant score set you back? The pricing at thrifts is so inconsistent- sometimes a 2600 game is $2.50, sometimes it's 40 cents. Just curious...

I've got a couple of friends and ex-students who work at Midway Games. Years ago I was there having lunch and I was introduced to the gentleman who was supposed to have made the "Puck Man" change. That's what he said anyway... Oh, and for those of you who might be wondering... there are no classic games in the breakroom at Midway. If you asked me, they should _at least_ have a Ms. PacMan somewhere on the premises.

how did you get the switches to have such a nice shine?

I won mine in a local contest. I grew up in Berwyn: a suburb of Chicago. In 5th grade, I entered a contest put on by a local realtor to design a house. I actually did research and created a house that ran on solar power, was buried in the ground to conserve heat, etc. I was one of 25 runners up and got a T-shirt. The next year was the last year I could enter, and first prize was a 4-switch woodgrain 2600. I really wanted to win, so I remembered what seemed to charm the judges the year before, and combined them all into a house that looked like a giant clown's head. I won the Atari and got my picture in the paper, but missed my chance to ride their float in our local annual parade celebrating (I kid you not) mushrooms. So the Atari is closely associated with the time that I learned to pander... This would have been in 1982-ish. The system (which I still have) included Combat though it was right around the time that Atari was including Pac-Man as well. I called Atari, and they were nice enough to just send me the cartridge without needing to see proof of purchase or anything. Nice of them to trust a little kid, and even nicer for them to mail me a free cart! Right around that time, local retailers were selling games around the ten dollar mark. I seem to recall picking up Riddle of the Sphinx, Video Pinball, Warlords, Video Olympics, and more for around 4.99. Not long after I picked up Star Raiders for .99 There was also a local coin shop that sold used 2600 games. I picked up a lot of titles there well into high school, as well as picking up stuff at garage sales for the last 20 years. Yike. I still have that original console and the box it came in. I used to keep all the boxes and everything else in a shoebox in the closet. My folks weren't too happy about the Atari for fear of brain-rot, and also felt that the system and its cords clashed with their furniture. Therefore, I only took the system out about once a week to play. I guess that I was a good kid back then. I never got another videogame until I was entering college and I picked up an Amiga 500 to write papers on and to study animation etc. Still, the Atari was never far. As for pack-in games, I had no idea that the practice had stopped. I did some work for Nintendo, and they sent me a Game Boy Advance and I was very suprised that they didn't include a game. Same with my Dreamcast. C'mon... they should include at least a little something- doesn't have to be the best game in the world or anything... we can't always expect it to be as cool as Combat.

Once I get settled in my new place, I'll be sorting through my collection to weed out dupes. Once I do, I'll try to post something around here to let folks know what I'd like to get rid of. Wish me luck!

Obviously the gods know that I'm moving in a few weeks, and so have tempted me (and incurred the wrath of my girlfriend) with some recent juicy finds: Atari Jr. full rainbow - $5 Atari 6 switch - $2 NES toploader - $10 Atari 7800 - $10 boxed Odyssey 2 games: armored encounter/sub chase! freedom fighters! alien invaders-plus! football! pick axe pete! invaders from hyperspace! take the money and run! k.c. munchkin! out of this world!/helicopter rescue! ufo! volleyball! cosmic conflict! baseball! alpine skiing! blockout!/breakdown! hockey!/soccer! non-boxed: computer golf! monkeyshines! pocket billiards! showdown in 2100 A.D. (the only game with no exclaimation point) each game was .90 I'm amazed since I picked up a system a few months back, and then about twenty other games not long after. I had no idea that Chicago was such an Odyssey 2 town! Wouldn't you know that this would come at a time when I'm supposed to be getting rid of stuff!

I did some work for a plastic company several years ago. naturalistic finishes like woodgrain were special chemical dips- not appliques or printed patterns. That's not to say that's how everybody does it now or in the 70's, I just wanted to mention that they all might be slightly different. I just loked at a couple of six switches that I have here, and they're all pretty different.

The first I remember kids getting them was '82 or so. Kids just generically called them "atari"... I had no idea that the "2600" designation wasn't introduced 'til later. In my neighborhood, cost was definitely the big factor- but as a few folks have said already it was hard to know what the system was really capable of. Lots of my friends already had a pong-type machine. Of course, my family didn't get color TV until 1983 or so... funny thing being broiught up by foreigners... Oh, and people who say that "Plan 9 from Outer Space" is the worst movie ever made haven't seen enough movies...

So you're saying that it's not Ms. Pac-Man? I'd be hard pressed to say that it's Princess Daphne, on account of her being quite fat of ass... though it depends on what angle she's drawn from I guess. When I got the Dragon's Lair DVD, I must admit to being really surprised at just how erotically charged her character is. It's only a step away from those 19th century dirty nickelodeon's of "what the butler saw"... if you know what I mean. This isn't out of a video game per se, but there was that brunette/redhead from the Atari Force comic book pack ins. The cover of one of those issues shows a very bosomy woman in danger of hitting all of her spaceship's buttons at once... I guess that it all goes back to "arcade" often being a word for a rather unsavory and idle place, eh? Where sin, vice and bowling all run rampant?

Hey there SS-man... good eye! Actually I noticed yer own avatar some time ago... who doesn't love Robby the robot... let alone a black and white one. There's a model kit of Robby that's more than two feet tall... if it weren't something like $200 I'd consider it... BTW I'm sure that you figured that was me in the pic right? I do actually play accordion and should be releasing some music online soon. I'll let you guys know since much of it will include the Atari Synthcart!

I don't have my carts in a database yet. I used this for some magazine collections that I've got. I entered them in MS Access, then saved them out as CSV. The Palm program that I use (a freebie... I can look up the name if you need it) came with a convertor program on the PC to change MS' CSV format to whatever variant the Palm needs. Then it just gets uploaded to the Palm with a HotSYnc With this freebie version, you can only view a database. You still have to edit it on the PC. There is also a limit to how many databases you can have (I think that it's ten). There's a popular database program for th4e Palm that runs some $30. It's supposed to have anything anyone would ever want as far as PC & Palm sharing data. For right now, it's outside of what I need but ultimately I could see picking up a copy.

If you could add a featyre to save out the database in one of the formats recognized by a Palm computer database, that would be great. I always have my Palm with me when thrifting so I can double check stuff. I have to do an awkward multistep process to get my info into a Palm database, so if you already wrote out to one of those formats that would awesome. Even more awesome would be if you just had something that could synch with a Palm in one quick step, and then I think that you'd be some kind of millionaire.

Thought that might have been the case. Really nice image, and good idea. Maybe there needs to be a forum just for Atari-related art too.

How did you do it? I often costomize stuff using the individual vinyl letter that you can get at almost any office supply store. I have seen kits that let you print water-release decals using a PC printer. That would be the ultimate for custom graphics.