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fiddlepaddle

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Posts posted by fiddlepaddle

  2. Posted

    $1200 seems excessive, but I already got a new vectrex when they came out.

    I paid about $200, I think, worth about $550 today; a lot more if you include a bunch of $30 games.

    It has been worth it to me, but there are lots more options today.

    Plus, a NOS vectrex might still need caps or adjustments.

    • Like 1

  3. Posted · Edited by fiddlepaddle

    Unused old stuff is often preferable. It's usually factory-clean and you know you have the right manuals and stuff, might even get some cool stickers.

    And you get to remove those plastic films and "pull" tabs yourself, ensuring virgin enjoyment.

    But used consoles can be REALLY cheap; especially if you learn how to repair a few things.

    So it's mostly a financial question, unless you are focused on the rare stuff that isn't offered anywhere, then its more like hunter/gatherer.

    I've been known to blow more money than I should on things like go-karts, camping, home projects, and other toys, so I wouldn't stress about that unless I really couldn't afford it.

  7. Posted

    Well, if you read my sentence a little more carefully, you'll realize the noun in that clause is dial tone, not telephone, which is in the conditional clause. Despite my point being trivial and irrelevant, the word choice is as intended.

    Also, touch-tone and rotary are not the only options. There are pre-rotary phones as well that work. The last time I tried, you could still get an operator by pressing the hook up and down a couple of times and be connected to someone.

  8. Posted

    On 7/29/2020 at 5:40 PM, Rom Collector said:

    Do you mean touch tone?

    No, dial tone is the sound you hear on a land line phone that indicates the switchboard is ready to accept a phone number; it exists on every land line phone that I'm aware of, including dial phones that existed many years before touch tone existed (although, yes, the phones in those pictures all appear to be touch tone phones).


    When the handset is lifted off the "hook", it takes some time (usually a portion of a second, but sometimes much longer, depending on network activity) before the dial tone begins and continues for maybe 60 seconds to allow you to enter a phone number, before eventually timing out.  At that point, the connection must be closed (ie, hang up the phone) for a few seconds and then one can try again.

     

    Dial phones will work fine on (most) touch-tone capable land lines, but touch tone phones will not work on land lines that have not been upgraded, but there are probably very few of these left.

     

    • Like 1

  10. Posted

    Just a bit of anecdotal observation: I have, many times, seen AC plugs that are "worn out", not because the metal has worn away, but because each insertion puts stress on where the 2 or 3 metal pins get wobbly, or one even comes off.

    And any electrician will tell you that electric sockets wear out; they usually become loose and don't hold the plug, or get dusty/dirty enough to cause problems.

    No matter how many insertions/removals a particular male/female plug combination is rated for, that's only true for ideal conditions, which do not match conditions where human beings, or even gamers, are involved... a small tremor in the fingers every time while inserting or removing those barrel plugs, for example, can reduce their life to a mere dozens of times before failure.

    And you also might consider that 30 year old plastic and solder joints also become more fragile.

  14. Posted

    My M.A.S.H. T shirts (about $10 each, I think, but that was after the crash... I may have gotten them at Gemco or Sears) looked exactly like High Voltage shows above. There was a whole PILE of them, and they were all medium.

    Too small for me, so I gave one to my girlfriend, and put one on the wall.

  15. Posted

    I specifically remember the Tron Special Pack with the blue joysticks. I got two (at maybe Best Products or Gemco) at blowout prices surprisingly early in the crash, but I don't remember the original price. Those joysticks were impressive looking, but crap, though.

    M.A.S.H. came with a T shirt...was it more?

  22. Posted

    Actually, once upon several times, I belonged to both the Columbia and RCA (LP) Record clubs, which I bet these game clubs were modeled after. You received a new one every month unless you sent in a "no thanks" checkbox, through the mail of course, and you paid full list price plus inflated S&H. BUT, at each sign up time, I got something like 20 LPs I could choose. It was great. Even after the obligatory purchases, it was still worth the money, plus it was a really easy way to try out a bunch of music. They primarily pushed overstock and (probably paid) placement ads for the acts they marketed, I think.

    The dates I see in this game club ad are 1982, so probably mostly overstock?

    • Like 2
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