SnapCraft

Success! I took a slightly different route. First I tried stick glue, nope, fell right off. I'm now trying an experiment that has lasted longer than 45 mins of playing time. I bought some double sided tape and placed it on the foil, then attached that to the dots. I also "fixed" the start/pause/reset strip. I have noticed that it is not necessary to tape the start/pause/reset strip down (as I have read elsewhere). I also noticed that it is not that many "really"s on getting the controller back together. I think it's more luck than anything. If you hit it, great. If not re-calibrate. So, thanks a lot for the help! I hope you are right on this. I deferred from the 5200 for a about a year because of what I have read about the controllers. Yes, they suck, but I do like them for analog games (Missile Command, Centipede) and I kind of like them for Joust. Yup, I said it, so shoot me.

Oh yeah, that device is a multi-cart changer. Plug carts into each open slot, then plug the "brown" corded cart into the Atari (?) and just switch to the game you want to play. (It's for the ULTRA lazy out there). And before you complain about the Beavis & Butthead book being overpriced, it was sealed. (I opened it though)

That's for Colecovision. The slightly curved edges on the face of the cart towards the bottom give it away. 2600 carts are more rectangular shaped. Fleas! Nothing much lately... Bought: Beavis & Butthead "This Sucks, Change It!" book with "remote" that does sound effects (need new batteries) $5 NES L.o.Z. Gold $1 Tiger Game.com hand-held (beat up a bit) w/ Midway Classics cart $10 (yeah, the system really does suck, pay no more than $2 for these) TeleGames Pong Sports IV (beat up) $1 GameCube Mario Party 4 $1 L.o.Z. Twilight GameCube strategy guide $3 Atari 2600 Spider Fighter $1 Passed: Atari Vader boxed with Pac-man (boxed) like new $50 (probably could have gotten down to $40, but....)

Yeah, a model number, store, picture -- all would be nice. A glimmer of hope?

True. I also have a theory I've been working on. Why are PS1's and Dreamcasts so cheap these days? I think there is a consistent wave effect when it comes to classic gaming that will be forever going. 25 years ago - Atari 2600, Intellivision, Colecovision - Layin Low. Somewhat uncommon, but cheap. Most sellers don't remember what these carts are for. 15 years ago - Nintendo, Genesis, SNES - The Current "Classic". [sECOND wave] Very common, and expensive (compared to 2600 carts). The spread of the "word" and the fashionably of collecting classics is catching on. 10 years ago - PS1, Dreamcast - "That's old." This is the prime time for collecting these types. No one wants them. They haven't hit classic status yet, they are considered old news. 5 years ago - Wii, PS2, PS3 - Today's games. [FIRST wave] Obviously very high priced, and not too desirable (mostly) by classic gamers. This trend will continue forever: once today's games are considered "old", they'll be 5 for $1 (slight exaggeration). PS1, Dreamcast will be considered classic and once again desirable by this new generation. Nintendo, Genesis, SNES, will move to "what are these?" status. And the current 2600 status will evolve to a THIRD wave where they will be highly desirable antiques and shown on those evaluation shows. "Ahhhh...what you have here is an Atari twenty-six hundred, I believe. They used to call this a Heavy-Sixer. Of course we can't see it in action because we don't have the proper inputs, but people had to use their imagination with moving blocks. That's worth about--you can still read what the switches are for, looks nice--$5,000." Of course, every theory has some holes. Simple supply-and-demand factors in. Insane sellers thinking "it's ancient, so it's got to be worth $200". ----- Slow at the Fleaz lately. However, I did see a 7800 for the first time. I don't have one. Passed on a combo deal NES with 7800 for $25. Why? No games for both & no AC for the 7800. So it looks like my lone 7800 Asteroids cart is going to have to wait even longer.

I'm addicted to Fleas lately... Dreamcast -- all hookups, boxed, 1 controller, & inst House of Dead 2 Crazy Taxi World Series 2K1 NBA 2K1 Jet Grind Radio (loose) $20, I didn't hesitate one second and he goes, "I think we can do $15." I think so too. This, of course, is right after I won one on Ebay recently for about $40 with similar stats. (Well, there goes my hunt for a backup) I think I'm through with Ebay except for rares. Passed on: Atari 2600 Vader with Game Center case (no top), 2 joy, AC, and 5 loose carts ($25). Typical. Come on, give me $6! What I hate: The damn sellers who sulk up and scowl about a "low sale" that they agreed on. Come on big baby! It's all part of the fun! One guy was all pissed for a $9 sale of 3 loose ordinary SNES carts (I should have been the one crying!). The damn sellers who try to bully you into a sale. What?!?? The "how much you want to pay?" sellers who are really asking "how much you got?" I kept low-balling this seller just to piss him off because he was a jerk. Loved it. What I love: The nice sellers who right off the bat say $1 each for NES games. I don't even try to haggle with them, I just scoop up all the ones I don't have.

I have to back up the baking soda idea, I've done that with the Steering Wheel and a Star Wars 70's handheld. Worked great. It's not going to be "as new", you just want enough contact there. The 'da worked so well that I used it to clean black/green Atari 2600 contacts for the switches, got that coppery gleam back!

"Flea markets" are the same for "Thrift stores" for this topic, right? As usual, "worst" to "best"... $25 - 5 Boxed 32x games - After Burner, Doom, Motocross, Virtua Racing & Primal Rage (!) $26 - 25 NES games - mostly RPGs - Ultima, Faria (!) $25 - Atari 5200 - Instructions (for 5200 & 3 games), 4 controllers (I'm working to make 1 functioning one [email protected]$#@$), 5 games (2 Pac's, Ms. Pac, Cente, Super BrkOut), all hook-ups, 5200 controller warranty card (might mail it in!) -- Atari 800 Joust (throw-in) ...and... $10 - Model 1 & Model 2 Sega Genesis, Model 2 Sega CD, all hook-ups, 5 beat-up games (worth mentioning: Gunstar Heroes) -- N64 Game Shark (throw-in) [This was great the lady said $15. I pondered it (thinking: heck, yeah, I'll take it), and 5 seconds later she said $10. I wanted to offer $5 just to see, but didn't want to lowball.] All works (minus 5200 controllers)! Random notes: Ohh, and some fantastic news! I bought my first unintentional repeat (32x Virtua Racing)! You can imagine my enjoyment upon seeing that in my collection. I really hate Goodwill lately. Have they done this for some time and I just realized it? They charge a percentage based on the book's list price!!! Where is the "Goodwill" in that? Salvation Army still has the flat -- $2.50 Hardbound, $1 Softbound -- rate. Don't misread this, I'm still mad with SA for their "per-CD shaped $2.50" rule. I figuring out the Flea Market system. $3-5 seems to be stock for NES games (forget the $8+ sellers). Ponder, then offer a multiple purchase deal. "What if I buy more?" "2 for $5" (this guy is open for negotiations). Pick your 15+ choices and offer a "slightly lower than $2 per game" deal. Settle for $2 per game. The "how about $x for all?" is good too. I love throw-ins! Sellers who don't know what goes with what. I just kind of scoop it all in and see if they object.

What's 5200 Controller Assessment 101? I got my first 5200 (couldn't pass on it). 4 controllers and I hope to make one good one. None of the side buttons work. What's the standard procedure to cleaning these #%@[email protected]# things? Thanks,

My "games" luck is dry. No steals what-so-ever. However my "consoles" luck has been hitting well lately. Of course hardware is fairly easy to get cheap, it's the games that roll in the bux. Still you cannot deny... Listed from "worst" to "best" steals: Game Cube - $8 (CATCH: solo) Works. NES - 2 cont, 4 games, RF, AC - $18 Works. Game Boy Color - Xmen Mutant Wars in slot and 2 AA batteries! - $6 (CATCH: broken speaker) Works. (aside from the speaker) Timex Sinclair 1000 - 16K pack, 3 tapes, manual - $7 (CATCH: having troubles loading "games") (I think you need to be 37+ to know what this is. POS back then, POS now, but come on, 7 bucks!) Works? Sega Saturn (circle buttons) - Tomb Raider in player - $1 (CATCH: beat up bad; solo) (NOTE: Being my first Saturn I "had to" order a S-Video cable and buy a model 2 controller) Works? Seems to; I've plugged the controller in and pressed a lot of buttons (bypass the supposed dead battery). I got it to keep reading T-Raider. Super Famicon (with Japanese lettering) - 2 cont (one Japan!), AC - $2 Works. Is there a revival thread?

Yeah, glue sticks are the best. No excess run-off of glue. I also use cardboard pressed against the glued area, bind it with rubber bands, and let it dry overnight. Good as new. I've reseated several Parker Bros carts (IMO the #1 leader in pealing/completely removed labels) that turn out great.

First of all, man! You've got a lot of room. Room is vital to space everything out and enjoy some classic gaming. I am jealous! Second, what do you do about dust? I like to display all of my systems, but I keep them covered with old tee-shirts. Yup, that's what I do. Don't hate. Third, (clears throat) where's the Intellivision? Can't be complete without some Lock 'n Chase topped with the best version of Burgertime.

I hate to nit-pick, but out of this beautiful collection why-o-why are the Vectrex carts loose? I can see the Atari's being loose (well, ok, barely if that's your true love), but Vectrex almost demands an in-box collection. Mainly for protection for the overlays. Wait a minute...where are the overlays? Please God, please tell me you have the overlays for the pictured games. However, as Vectrex is my true love, I do appreciate the Pole Postition cart.

Absolutely correct. I give myself a budget of $250 per month. If I go over, I have to take it out of next month's budget (at least try). If I'm under (which I really do shoot for), there is no carry over. I started collecting last year and I'm addicted. $40-50 here and there at every flea market run adds up. You can't go everyday, but you want to--to get those deals that are passing you up. I almost have every system I feel I need and a back-up for it. (Still want a Bally Astrocade, and a few other common systems for back-ups). So maybe I'm hitting a stand still, which would be a good thing. I could direct my budget to those more expensive carts now (see it working?). It is sad to pass up a good deal. If it's a great deal, I'll probably do it. But really, do you need another Atari 4-switch with 20 generic carts for $14? It's tough to answer. My wife told me about a friend's husband who's getting into old games. I told her to tell her friend to tell her husband, "Quit now!"

What gets me is, why does Ebay have such a bad rep? Most deals at a flea market can be covered through Ebay (maybe even cheaper through bulk purchases). The only drawback is shipping. The flea market's no tax, no shipping system is nice. However, you have to be extremely lucky do get a steal. Mostly I'm going in to buy titles I know I'd probably like, otherwise it's too stressful -- "Damn, is that a valuable title or not?" If you buy all these gambles on a whim, they add up pretty quickly. To benefit at a flea market you either need to be an expert in video games through PSOne/PS2 (plentiful) & Dreamcast or have a iPhone so you can check Ebay. I'm a "expert" through 3DO. Forget Genesis & SNES and beyond. Are you kidding? Have you seen all the titles? I just go for the RPGs and anything with the word "Mario" or "Contra" in it (if they are under $3).

Ah-ha! Nothing like to revive a dead thread. Here it is (yeah little paranoid/ashamed with releasing the name). Look beyond that. Notice the typewritten letter (with white-out on yellow paper on the "t" and "v"). Didn't use AtariWriter, eh? Notice the company's title is off-set. I was so happy they responded, then sad I didn't get detailed descriptions on how to beat the levels. Refresher: This is regarding hidden Stage 0 in Miner 2049er obtained by flashing the cart. Oh yeah, I had the all blue cartridge.

What's getting me recently (recently, I've been getting into the NES) are the graphic glitches. Why on earth do the games seem to deteriorate? You can tell immediately when you plug a game in and see the title screen. Take Castlevania for instance, right when the bat on the right side starts flapping it's wings on the title screen there is a vertical line that follows him. Others look like puke because nothing is matching up. They are damaged carts. Yeah I cleaned them, no effect. I'd say Colecovision is a close second when it comes to the "percentage of it not working on the first time?" question. What's sad is that the SNES is probably the most reliable cartridge system. It took Nintendo a video game generation to get it right. Plug it in, turn it on. It works. 99.9% of the time. Do the NES top loaders have these graphic problems? I bought an Intellivision cart with the bottom warped from sitting out in the sun for so many hours. Yeah, yeah, 72 pin vs. 22 pin (whatever), odds are in "Classic's" favor, I know. Cleaned it (everyone gets a cleaning), and good 'ole Utopia worked perfectly --first time. Before you say it, these carts were tested on two different original NES's. Tell me the top loader fixes these problems...or that Yobo thing...

Ebay: Hit and mostly miss. Rare to get something by when the whole planet is watching. Pawn shops: Suck. Feel awkward walking in--like I need a gun. Overpriced. No help. Goodwill/Salvation Army: Starting to get pissed at these guys. 4 switch Atari $150, 2600 Pitfall $29.99 (!!!!!!!!), Xbox (first) $79.99, PS1's $39.99. With the Pitfall, I told the lady helping me (because they were in the locked glass!), "You know these are overpriced." Really? I don't price them. How much should they be? Fifty cents. Salvation Army wants to charge a standard $2.50 fee for CDs. Or should I say, anything "CD shaped." I found a 5 CD-Rom PC game (can't remember title, still mad). I took me forever, but I pieced the set from their pile of crap. It all fit in the 5-CD holder nice and neat. $2.50 would be a good deal. $12.50. What, why? 5 x $2.50. But it's a complete set. Sorry. Ebay had it for $3. Discovered the Flea Market today. I went much earlier after a disappointing noon walk through the same one last month. Made off with $50 of cool stuff. No "steals", but I like what I got. NES with 4 standard games and the plug-n-play Ms. Pac-Man was $20 (OK, that was cool). And several NES games for about $1 each. F-Zero for SNES $1. So my main question: I bought about 3 blank carts (Intellivision Utopia, 2600 Stampede, 2600 Combat). Why? $1 each. I was hoping for a steal (really wanted the Intellivision to be Diner or Mud Buggies (yeah, right). So how many of you buy blank carts hoping for the rare game or demo game? $1 each is good, but how many Combats do you buy before you say, enough is enough?

OK, so I have 2 Heavy Sixers, 1 for storage, and 1 for playing. The only problem is that the crappier one that I use for playing has busted springs on the Select and Reset switches. I don't want to solder in new ones (which I know are available). I want to replace the spring. I'd rather not try to replace the V-shaped spring underneath. (I can't figure it out). So I've bent back the metal prongs and I want to either use a standard spring in the center track (and put some kind of blockage on the top and bottom of the switch) or use a compression spring in the center track and just loop it around the top and bottom. I thought a spring in a standard pen would work, but it's to thick. And now a week later, I'm reaching out to you guys. Anyone able to restore the spring effect in a Heavy Sixer without soldering in a new switch? Thanks

Why? The PS2 works the exact same way. A stupid design(IMO) is a stupid design regardless of what system utilizes it. :)Just seems so cheap ass.I find it not so efficiant,depress it for even I second too soon,have to press again and again.I'm talking about the INTV 2,man glad I never bought a PS2,bad enough 1 system I own has that crap design.Do you have to wait like the INTV2 with the PS2,when pressing button?.I would gather the PS2 one works better than the INTV2. You need an original Intelli. It's my favorite system and I hate the Intelli 2. Get the original, it's worth it and it looks so much better. This is the website you need: http://www.intvfunhouse.com/mattel/ Intelli games usually come with boxes (which come with instructions & overlays) because of their design. Follow the overlay for help with Atlantis-- http://www.intvfunhouse.com/imagic/overlay/atln-000.jpg Don't forget to use the saucer, that is was separates it from Atari.

Skiing, Dracula... Sniff... Why not just make Tunnels & Trolls too? What could have been. Cruel, man, cruel.

Agreed. Legend of Zelda is the only thing that saved it, IMO. I borrowed my friends for a summer once to complete Zelda. I've been hooked on Zelda ever since. I own the entire Zelda library and several of the spin-offs. However that being said, Nintendo overall sucked because something always felt wrong about the games (sound, gameplay, graphics). AVGN points out several wrongs in NES games. I sometimes think that the programmers didn't make these mistakes intentionally, but out of carelessness. There seem to be far too many mistakes in NES games. NES is/was completely over-hyped. Maybe because I saw it from the beginning. Something about that stupid Rob the Robot. Sticking with the Big Three: 2600, Intelli, & Coleco.

1 year of classic gaming and I'm still waiting for my upper-cut "best deal". Damn... However, I am proud of this one: the entire Intellivision Imagic collection (minus Fathom) for $45, eBay. Yes, with the overlays, inst, and boxes. Got passed the sharks on that one. Yeah, that's w/o shipping. But it sounds so much better without it!

Is it me or does it seem like this guy modded his Vectrex to get rapid fire? The video alone is convincing, but the dead give away is that you don't hear a constant tapping. Think you could get to Level 13 with this nice mod? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bcWQa_1dQfQ

I've seen only one on ebay in the last year. I'm a huge Vectrex fan and I'd pay about $40 for it. You'd have to reel in some die-die-hard fan to get $100 (I think). I think $50 is a good starting price. It looks slightly discolored, am I wrong? If you are talking about the whole set--$135. It looks like it could use a cleaning. I'd also break it up for selling and wait for a shortage of extra controllers. I've seen one go for $45 once! The games are without the boxes and overlays? $5-8 each. Vectrex, $60.