Zeus

Is this a sign of the imminent disintegration of the Atari collecting community? Is it time to crack open each others heads and feast on the goey insides? Yes, yes it is... Fare well, Pitfall Aim...I mean Harry. You helped answer many of this computer illiterate's questions.

There only seem to be Vaders here in Ottawa, never seen a Woody in the wild lately around here. Personally I like the Vaders better.

That is the style of box I always saw in Canada. I do believe it is the standard box used outside the USA.

I've had that game for about 11 years now and will never let it go. A friend of mine was visiting from out of Province and left it at my place. It's not so hard to beat if you have a lot of time, eat lots of sushi, get dragonkick, stonehands and buy a pair of cowboy or army boots. Plus you'll need about 2 hours of free time. Its a blast on 2 player cause, everyone can kick anybody's ass!

and this... http://cgi.ebay.ca/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewIt...egory=3540&rd=1

I got a little bid crazy on ebay lately (again). Won some auctions, however I'd be only too glad to have you bid on these Colecovision jems. http://cgi.ebay.ca/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewIt...egory=3540&rd=1

Man, I can't even get much higher than 500 on that game. Could be the jitters in the paddles, could be the jitters in my hands.

Things that actually were said in local VG shop: Me: "I see you have some new 2600 games." Him: "You want a Swordquest(earthworld)." "I already have it. If you had a Waterworld we'd be talking." "If it was a Waterworld it wouldn't be here." Damn cherrypickers!

I personally have never found a single atari thing in a goodwill, exept for a strange-looking RF switch. There is, however a pawn shop next door that usually has a few games.

D'oh!!!

...and probably my only. Stumbled across this one with what looked like a decent BIN. http://cgi.ebay.ca/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewIt...egory=3528&rd=1

There's a place downtown that has pretty good classic stuff 2600-prestent. Prices are a bit steep ($5 CAD) for every atari and coleco cartridge, but once I bought a 5 rarity for 5 dollars so I can't complain, and really, it ends up being cheaper than ebay. Their selection is dwindling, though, as they don't get much in the way of trade-ins.

This weekend I found two Atari joysticks as well as Kaboom! and Air Raid(ers)! A good find considering the state of thrifts these days.

Classic: Breakout. I'm so hooked on that. Any other: Civilization 3, the crack cocaine of the video game world!

I'd say at this stage of the game the Atari universe is expanding. Although I don't really "belong" in the Atari generation, being merely 23 years of age, I am old enough to have played them, post-crash, circa 1984-89. I am surprise, however to see new members join who are in the 13-18 year old range, people who grew up well after Atari faded and Nintendo took over. I predict this sort of growth to continue for a number of years. It will take a lot of time before we start "dying off" because at this point, most us are between the late 20's or early 30's.

Thanks for all these great answers. Being a person who is not educated in electronic engineering, but can understand the princibles if explained properly, I am getting a better understanding of how these mysterious cartidges work. The bit about the Activision contacts wearing out really hit home as these are the buggers I have the most trouble with. On thing, PCB's? Maybe I'm mistaken but isn't that part of the "dirty dozen" of banned chemicals?

I was recently reading the keynote speech from ADAMcon 7 in which a somewhat frightening point was made. Although he was speaking of ADAM computers and Colecovision consoles, the point is equally valid for Atari. The issue was bitrot. He said that the mean lifespan of ROMs is approximately ten years before digital degradation begins, thus meaning that by now a good number of our cartridges now have bugs, or have ceased working altogether. I think we all have experiences with dead cartridges or ones that behave stragely. This leads me to wonder, how long do we have before our beloved cartridges start dying en masse? How much longer do we have before we can expect the majority of them to be dead, and most importantly, is it really worth shelling out the big bucks for games that will be non-functioning within a few years or a decade? I'd like some answers from the more tech savvy folks out there, or anyone else who has an opinion on the matter.

I feel that ebay is the online equivalent of going to the market. Sellers are going to try to get the most money they possibly can. Some will try to rip you off. You can't depend on the seller to be honest. It's up to you to weed out the scammers. If you pay $20 for an ultra rare Pacman cart, you didn't do your homework. On a personal note, I hate thrift store pirates. You can tell who they are on ebay by checking their other auctions. If their other auctions are for clothing, toys and dinnerware, you know they are a pirate! Arghhhh!!! They seem particularly rampant in Ottawa![/b]

Same here...wife would have given me shit...kind of glad I didn't win...

I bid on that. I had the $45 bid that held since Sunday. Thought I might get a bargain. Should have known there would be snipers!

Yeah, and its in the antiques section. What does that make us?

I bet you were hoping it would be priced in the same range as the Music Machine, weren't you now.

I'm sorry to the people I pissed off. I was angry that I always get outbid on these Salvation Army lots. In frustration I posted it here to see if a bidding war would errupt. They are pretty business savvy, altough I resent that they auction all their Atari stuff now.

I'd say the game is pretty fun. Not too difficult but highly addictive.

Step right up, the Salvation Army wants you to own this! Not mine. http://cgi.ebay.ca/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewIt...egory=3528&rd=1