the-topdog

I called home and had Wife v1.0 take some pictures of the parcel box I built. It used just two 4x8 sheets of exterior strandboard, one 10 foot pressure treated 2x4, one 12 foot pressure treated 4x4, three eight foot 1x2, a 36 inch piano hinge and about two feet of chain. We buried the posts 24 inches deep (so the beast can withstand the damn snowplows on the highway) then set them with a dry pack of concrete sprayed with water and just let natural ground moisture cure the concrete over time. It has a sloped roof so that rain and snow roll off easily. The height is the same as the bottom of our mailbox, making it accessible from a car without having to get out. This bad boy is big enough for every delivery I have had except for the inconceivably huge Coleco Adam box.

I'll snap a couple shots for you tonight when I get home.

I actually had the exact same thing happen to me... what I did was build a parcel box, clearly marked PARCELS, at the road (large enough for a 36x24x24 box to fit in) and had the Postmaster of my local Post Office come out to approve it. Now they deliver all my packages in it with the added bonus that all other carriers like UPS deliver to it too. Just make sure you don't mark it US Mail or the other carriers can't use it, that's why I marked mine PARCELS with 3" reflective white lettering. The entire project cost me just over $30 with the most expensive part being the piano hinge and a stop chain which stops the lid from opening too far and flopping back behind the box.

Last November I was reminiscing about some of the computer and console gaming moments that defined my childhood with my brother and one of the neighborhood kids names popped up, Peter Ungaro. Mostly because one of those memories was going to a yard sale at his house which was directly behind ours and I looked at an old console they had there and they hooked it up to show me it was working. Then just days later, as if by fate, I saw his name on an article about Cray Supercomputers. I read the article and to my shock and amazement, I found that my childhood friend was now the CEO of Cray!!!! I was stunned, for those of us that grew up in the 70's and 80's, Cray was a force of nature and geeks worshiped at the temple of the most powerful supercomputers in existence. Cray was so iconic at the time, that it was featured in Tron and the Last Starfighter. Simply put, Cray defined computing power for generations, and here was a kid I used to play with, running the company! What a rush! I asked him to share his earliest memories of video gaming and computing so that I could post on some of the forums I frequent about it. He agreed. I had this grand plan of contacting all of the CEOs of the most influential tech companies to see if they would share their early memories of video gaming and computing to be shared with the retro gaming and computing communities. It was a pipe dream I quickly found as I sent emails to Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Steve Balmer, and a host of other influential people in the field. I got ignored by most, a brush off by assistants by others and was rudely admonished for even thinking that Mr. Gates would stoop so low as to have correspondence with me. So, I have recently given up on the project, but still want to share Pete's experience with everyone. He told me that his first home video gaming experience was a Pong console that they played so much that one of the dials (the left one) got loose. But his defining moment was when they got a Commodore VIC-20 computer, his first experience with cartridge games. He thought at the time that his family must be rich to have a computer in their home, but then quickly remembered that we lived in one of the poorest neighborhoods in town. These experiences laid a foundation for him in computer sciences, and inspired him to eventually become the CEO of one of the most iconic companies of our youth. It was fun reconnecting with him after all these years and dredging up some fond memories of computing past.

Very nice setup. There isn't anything wrong with the number of systems you have if you truly enjoy playing them!

You WILL NOT be dissapointed with the Vectrex! It is an awesome machine and an even better gaming experience... if it doesn't slap you back into the 80's, then nothing will!

I'll snag some batteries in the next day or two and fire mine up to make a gameplay video for you.

The one that screams out to me is not only a handheld, but is the first LCD handheld electronic game with interchangeable cartridges... The Milton Bradley Microvision from back in 1979 **cue royal trumpets here** Of course just about any of the dedicated Entex handhelds like Defender are great, especially the Entex Select-A-Game and the AdventureVision since they have interchangeable cartridges. When confronted with LCD vs VFD handhelds/tabletops, the VFD's are the brightest and usually support multiple colors instead of the black and white supported by early LCDs. A good example of these are the VFD Coleco Tabletop games such as Donkey Kong, look a heck of a lot better than the LCD Mattel Burgertime or the LCD Namco Splatterhouse. But the gameplay is more important than looks for me, so if you can get both in one package, that's the best! But if you want one of the best handheld gaming experiences, the TurboGrafx TurboExpress came out the same year as the GameBoy and was full color AND played the full game library of the TurboGrafx 16 HU Cards... not some scaled down versions of the games like the GameBoy did. Well that's about my two cents worth.

I second that sentiment... Yurkie's work rocks!

Woohoo! Love shopping at Cmart... Shop smart, shop Cmart! Pmeroo sent!

Who put the bump in the bumpity wump da bump?

Bumpity do dah bumipty day!

If it doesn't have Mr. Boston it doesn't count! J/K! That's crazy! I'd love to expand on my Vectrex collection but I'm too broke and everything goes for too much these days it seems! Congrats on having all the cool stuff! Mr. Boston was just a promotional release... but one day I will own it and the Minestorm II bugfix

Microvision - Two 100% complete boxed sets. One complete set all sealed NIB and one complete set in opened boxes to play with. Vectrex - 100% complete boxed set of all commercial US released hardware and games (no promotional releases, bug fix releases or prototypes). TurboGrafx 16 - 100% complete boxed US released hardware and HU card games.

I'm looking to buy an original Satan's Hollow for the C64... loose or CIB (I prefer CIB or loose with instructions).

It is a thing of beauty... have you registered the serial number in the database yet? http://www.geekvintage.com/mattel-aquarius-serial-number-db.php

Is it possible for any new person to post here without people accusing them of stuff? I'm surprised that AtariAge is even growing with the open hostility new people get from members when they post. Shouldn't we be fostering a friendly atmosphere here instead of chasing people off? My god people, you were new here once yourself. Until someone has been proven to be dishonest, keep your yaps shut. I say welcome to AtariAge quadrider1, just ignore the snark and enjoy the community, for the most part it is a great place with some great people.

I recently got an Intellivision synthesizer keyboard and want to play with it, but it didn't come with a Melody Blaster cartridge. So I'm wanting to buy (or trade) an Intellivision Melody Blaster cartridge from anyone who has a spare.

Some of us appreciate your carts (like me!)... why do some people sell them off after they had you make one? I can understand if they were hurting for cash and asked your permission to resell it... but even then... they should only ask what they paid you to make it for them. $170 is insane! For what it is worth, I love the double-ender you made for me.

$10.31 for Bank Heist

This is getting waaaaay too cool!

I bought one of these from djpubba a little while ago, and I have to tell you guys, these things are awesome. Well worth the price!

Just completed a deal with him. Great communication and fast payment!

Hey, I got the same one from a dude on this website.

Just completed a deal with him. Fast shipping and great communication.