boxpressed

Just received a Sean Kelly multicart for Vectrex from the-topdog. Quick shipping and great communication. Excellent service!

I've got a couple of uncommon user manuals for auction on eBay. I figured that the people who bought them would be on AA anyway. Thanks for looking. Basic XL user's manual eBay Auction -- Item Number: 270805955988 ATR8000 owner's manual eBay Auction -- Item Number: 270805959203

Actually, I think I'd be better off if I eschewed collecting for playing. But I guess I regard consoles and CIB games more like stamps or coins than books or movies. That is, the value that they have to me is less what you can "do" with them than what they look like and the historical significance that they hold. To be honest, and I know I'm in the minority here, the fun I get from playing the game is almost like a bonus. Don't get me wrong -- I love playing games, and I'm not going to collect broken consoles, but I'm realizing that I'm much more of a collector than gamer, for better or worse. So my plan is to buy only CIB stuff unless it's too expensive and to prioritize hardware over games. I'd also like to reach a point where I've put all of the money into collecting that I will put and can only buy from the proceeds of gaming stuff I sell. However, I don't think that I'll have the discipline to pass up a good deal just because I'm not yet in the black.

Ah, I see. Such a weird mark, but at least you don't notice it with normal use.

I recently received a nice, working 7800 off eBay. The only unusual thing was what seemed to be damage to the underside of the shell. After poking around on AA, I read that some shells had an expansion port removed at the factory, leaving a "blemish." Is this what the blemish looks like, and if so, where would it place my 7800 in the production run? Thanks in advance!

Isn't the 2600 a lot more durable than the NES?

Make sure your computer's sound is on. eBay Auction -- Item Number: 250879765853

I see what you mean. In the past few months I've been picking up the consoles that, as a kid, I'd played but never owned: Channel F, Odyssey 2, 5200, Vectrex. Plus an original Odyssey (before my early gaming days) and a 7800 (after them). I'm realizing that I like collecting the consoles and peripherals more than the games. It was the O2 that got me to rethink collecting games. It seems as though every O2 auction comes with 20 games. Right now, I've got a shelf full of CIB O2 games that I'll probably never play because, frankly, many aren't very fun. I'll probably get rid of all but UFO, Quest for the Rings, the two KC games, and Pick Axe Pete. (And the horrible pack in game just because I have the console box.) I'm okay with losing most of the games but not the console and Voice module. Same goes for the other consoles except for Vectrex (and probably just because of the overlays). Having attainable goals is the way to go for me. What gets in the way is a good deal. I've got to stop considering bidding on stuff just because it's going to sell for half of what it should.

I was wondering whether AA users have specific collecting plans, such as all Intellivision games, or all 2600 games R4 and up, or all lightgun games, etc. I'm asking because I'm about eighteen months into collecting videogames (mostly PSX and PS2), but only a few months into collecting vintage stuff (pre-NES). With the Playstation stuff, I started off wanting to get RPGs only, but that quickly gave way to include all sorts of other genres until I had amassed a bunch of games I would never play. I didn't want that to happen with the vintage stuff, so this time around, I'm approaching my collecting very deliberately. What I don't want is a ton of loose carts taking up the little space I have for my collection. So I've only got a few dozen loose carts (thrown in with consoles that I'd bought), most of which I'll sell or give away. But then after getting about a dozen 2600 games CIB and thinking that I would collect CIB only for the 2600, I decided that I would just get lost trying to add to the collection -- I'd never have an end point, and there would be no cohesion to my collection other than pure quantity. So, I think I will eventually get a Harmony cart and multicarts for the other consoles that have them. I've decided to collect all games for only one system, Vectrex, because it actually seems doable. Maybe 7800 because I've got a good start on a small library, and it's relatively cheap. We'll see how well I can stick to this plan. Do you have a specific collecting plan? And how well have you stuck to it?

Thank you! I was confused that Mousetrap had overlays but the other Coleco games did not. The website is just the resource I was looking for as well. Much appreciated.

Hi all, I did a search for this but didn't come up with any related thread. Is there a list or database somewhere of games that did not include overlays? Thanks for any help!

A timeline of key events would be really helpful and interesting.

I didn't know this, either. I'm off to look for some coax cables with the RCA/phono ends for my Odyssey 2 mod.

Well, my big box of 8-bit stuff arrived today. I was a little annoyed when the seller invoiced me for $30 shipping instead of the $19 that the eBay shipping calculator said, but this stuff did cost the seller about $32 to ship. Everything was $78 shipped, about $11 more than I wanted to spend. No packing material, of course, just everything tossed into a Huggies shipping box. After I sorted through it, here's what it all looks like: I need a power supply that wouldn't fry my 800XL once it arrives (yep, no 8-bit to test all this on yet). I figured it would cost at least $20 to get a good PS shipped to me, so why not go overboard (my collecting mantra)? Got the white "brick," the "box", 3 PS for the 800/810, and 2 2600 PS (can always use those). Hope at least the XL PS work. 10 joysticks, including a Wico bat (works) and a Starfighter (doesn't ). Didn't test the rest. A set of jittery 2600 paddles. A couple of 5200 controller extensions, which should be useful. Bunch of manuals and magazines. It will be fun going through the Antics and Analogs from 1985. Happy about the How to Beat Video Games book too. I wouldn't have bid on the lot if I weren't interested in the "Diagnostic Cartridge." Is this what the SALT carts look like? It's heavy. The PCB has "Joust" handwritten on it. I'm guessing that this is just a PCB missing its case and not a proto or anything. Turns out not everything was 8-bit. I'll probably put a lot of this on eBay when I get around to it, but if anyone is interested in anything, let me know.

Thanks! I saw that a Dig Dug in a much better box went for $100 tonight. I know what you mean, but sometimes I can't let it go even then. Non-buyer's remorse.

Thanks so much -- I was thinking it had something to do with the carbon points. I think my money is better invested in something from Best...

For the knowledgeable: Would a brand new 5200 controller go bad over time? Every so often, you see new-ish looking 5200 controllers on eBay with the protective film still covering the metal plate. Let's say that it was kept in a dry, climate-controlled environment so that corrosion isn't a problem.

Good story! I think everyone with the original DK had the same disappointment. I'm trying to figure out when DK for the Intellivison was released. Do you or anyone else know the date within a few months or so?

Pm on the Sk multicart.

I was waiting on a 5200 and 2600 consoles + carts for almost two weeks. I got a tracking # a few days after the auction end, but the status never updated until the day before everything arrived. Turned out that the shipper used Media Mail (with no packing inside, to boot!) and the package was held up for inspection. I was stuck with a $7 postage due. He refunded the money, but come on. From now on, I may risk looking like jerk and ask before I pay that the seller not use Media Mail.

Oh, good. I'm glad it went to someone who could appreciate it. Was it a homemade label, or did it come that way from Mattel?

Reviving an old thread for a little more clarity on a simple question: Can you play any XEGS labeled cart on an XEGS that is missing the keyboard? Thanks!

Thanks, guys! I think the BIN was live for about a half hour before I pulled the trigger. Now I just have to hope that everything is in the box and in the same shape as in the photos. I've been concentrating my collecting on Atari lately, but Intellivision really defined my gaming as an early adolescent. I remember selling my 2600 to buy the Intellivision (which reigned until the Colecovision Christmas). @cmart: I mentioned this in another thread, but whatever happened with that Odyssey 2 auction with the Intellivision cartridges? I was planning on bidding, but I couldn't risk coming up empty on the test cart.

I should receive all of this some time next week: eBay Auction -- Item Number: 230660033110 The boxes look pretty rough but the last photo was the cincher. Plus, this is a Sylvania model, which doesn't show up very often.

That worked great, thanks! I felt a little bit like Matthew Broderick getting a free pay phone call in War Games . Plus, the sound does work and so does the joystick on the controller.