rpmxxipt

Hi all, I was just cleaning up a 1980 TRW-manufactured 6 switch system before I put it up for auction sometime soon. Anyhow, I noticed that the underside of the cover has "Property of Atari Inc. Sunnyvale Ca. 94086" stamped into it above and to the right of the cartridge port.. seems like kind of a waste of labor plus pretty cruddy quality, too. Do all of these Taiwanese six switchers have this? Was product loss this big an issue for Atari's overseas manufacturing operations? Would a conscientious Taiwanese citizen put a stray cover in a packing envelope and mail it off to Atari HQ, USA? -RPM-

Hi all, I've gotten to the point where I'm literally running out of room in my "office" for a lot of my video game stuff, and as much as I'd love to keep it all, I've been meaning to find more space for my old MIDI gear. So, I'm going to be runing a series of 3-day auctions in the next few days with no reserve and $9.99 starting bids. (I have absolutely no patience.) So far, I've gotten one for an NES package with 78 games up here: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...item=1365954358. Hopefully I'll get auctions going for a 2600 6-switch package with oh, about 130 carts (depending on what I choose to keep), a Colecovision package with maybe 15 games, and maybe a Sega Master System with 24 boxed games in the next couple of days. I'll just keep adding to this thread as I go. Thanks for looking, -RPM-

Seriously, you guys ought to look into hosting your own specialty online auction service.. I'm sure the software isn't that big of a financial hit now that there's only two big players in town, and little niche auctionhouses seem to be doing not all that poorly. Do you think there's room for a specialized classic video game auction service? Given all the out-and-out spam-like CRAP that seems to be fouling Atari and other game system listings on ebay lately, and given that probably anyone who's anyone in the field visits your site regularly, what would keep you from doing well hosting regular video game auctions? I'd sure rather buy or sell some nice Atari (or heck, any system's) cart or disc under this site's umbrella with the classy users here (and be happy paying your listing commission) than cast my lot with the slimes on eBay. I'm sure the proceeds would more than help to pay for the upkeep of the board, and keep AtariAge (thankfully!) pop-up or ad free. Good idea? - RPM

For the record, I believe I recall Sylentwulf saying on DP (before he killed his thread) that he ended up paying $67 for the Obelix lot that he scotched. Also for the record, I have NO problem with Sylentwulf's auctions or products (although I wish they'd be a little less frequent).. I bought a few commons from him recently, and I wish ALL of my eBay transactions were as professionally shipped and forthcoming. I guess I just have a problem with the amoral fashion that some people go about procuring what they want on eBay. If that's what dips people's bobbers, I guess that's fine.. but in my eyes, it's not much of a collection that was accumulated through deception or illegal practices. It would be an interesting exercise to set up a few stings on eBay, auctioning off a grail (if I had any) amongst a bunch of commons with a $1.00 starting bid, then turning over transcripts of ALL unsolicited e-mail side deals to eBay as they come in. It might level the playing field a little over time. I guess that's enough. Peace. - RPM -

Osbo, Out of curiosity, if you knew you had two interested bidders for an item like the one you mentioned, why wouldn't you have kept it listed to make them (or someone else) bid it up higher than either of those two offers? - R

Nice looking bunch of carts! Looks like the bidding was up to $45 before the seller pulled it. Anyone's guess as to what transpired to "change the seller's mind", but given the number of bottom feeders on eBay - PROUD bottom feeders at that, as some posts here indicate - some sort of deal was probably made. If not, we'll see if that seller becomes an "Atari dealer" overnight, complete with colorful templated listings and $199 BIN's. (Or perhaps someone told the seller about the 2600's great gameplay, and he's sitting on a vinyl beanbag chair in front of his 30" Curtis Mathis console right now, trying to wrap the score on Q*bert) Actually, the Atari sleaziness I see on eBay more and more reminds me of another sleazy dealer-driven business, baseball cards circa 1986, before the greed of the dealers made dealers out of everyone, and popped the balloon on that hobby. KAZ, you're exactly right. What is it going to come to, is every casual reseller like this one going to wake up to a hundred e-mails after he lists, with every Atari collector who "spotted the Waterworld" mewling and begging for confidential buying rights like a crowd of third-world urchins begging for change? At least with eBay BINs, or thrifting, or flea markets, there's still some CLASS involved in a transaction. The seller has delared what he expects, and caveat emptor. Ah well, at least my son may enjoy the games his crazy ol' dad is getting for him at Goodwill when he gets older. - RPM -

I hate to complain about something so stupid as who gets what Atari carts, but is this kind of lassez-faire stuff admired or disgusting? Sylent here brags about scrapping a legit auction: http://pub27.ezboard.com/fretrogamingfrm4....picID=693.topic Congrats to him, I suppose, for convincing the seller to cancel, but I'm beginning to wish I hadn't heard of this whole thing. Totally disgusting. - RPM [ 05-30-2002: Message edited by: rpmxxipt ]

You're way off base, Phil.. if anything, I started the thread to showcase someone else's good luck.. I think cases of these diamonds in the wild are great. Even with the overexposure of this hobby and the gross commercialization of ebay, and I think it's neat that gems can still be found like this. I don't want to pay collector prices for rare carts, and only having found nothing rarer than a "6" for, as you mention, fifty cents or so, I think it's cool that people *can* with a little bit of work. The only jealousy involved is getting to be the first to view a new crop of BIN auctions. I've just never been able to do it. Since you bring it up, I believe I was probably 7th or 8th on the counter when I saw this auction, and this lot was gone already. I probably missed it by a matter of minutes. I'm sorry if you were offended. - RP [ 05-22-2002: Message edited by: rpmxxipt ]

Especially if the manual's somewhere in that pile, as described, eh? I should just sit and refresh every two minutes for the whole dang day until I luck onto something like this.

I'll assume the $1300 s/h charge is a typo Some people have all the luck! http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...item=1354624771 - RP [ 05-21-2002: Message edited by: rpmxxipt ] [ 05-21-2002: Message edited by: rpmxxipt ]

That sounds fantastic! Let me get everything all together for a pic and we can discuss the details of the trade. My e-mail address is [email protected], drop me a quick note and we can get the ball rolling! Thanks, Steve

Hi all - This might seem like an eBay question, but it's actually pretty general.. I was going to bid on this sleeper auction this morning http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...item=1352512897 - but I was a little thrown by the seller's location. Were Atari carts sold in the Quebec area good old NTSC? Or were they something a little different, like O-pee-chee baseball cards? - RPM - Darned snipers with money.. I never even got my bid in

I'm sick of losing Colecovision auctions on Ebay.. I'm convinced I'm cursed.. the ones I WANT to buy for $20, I forget about and go for just that.. the ones I'm interested in go for $80 and I'm too broke to pay for those!! SO: I'm willing to trade a NES toploader (all say OOOH for this worthless system.. frontloader NES'es ROCK) with ONE dogbone and the power supply and RF connector for a WORKING coleco system with power supply, etc. etc., let me know what you have to trade. I'm in Milwaukee, WI.. if you live close, let's make a deal! - RPM

So is PAL kind of the yucky mucky egg-fu-yungy kind of thing that noone wants to touch, or do we make exceptions for strange euro titles when we see fit? And SO.. hardly ever question a Quebec seller? (almost rhymes.. starts a Kenny Rogers riff... da da da da-dum) Thanks for all your good advice! - RPM

You know, given all the fuss lately about phantom cart auctions and all, it sure would be nice to see a real live picture of this guy's cart & instructions on some dirty bedspread or something, rather than this cut & paste montage. (Tilting the cart was nice touch, though.) Frankly, I think the rarity of Quadrun oughta be downgraded.. the way things are going, we're going to start seeing one of these on eBay every week pretty soon. - RP