ColecoEric

Just today I experienced this very problem myself. I also have the CV from when I was a kid which works very well still, I only use that one. I have several Coleco's that work 'almost' good (a German, UK and French one) often getting distorted images, sprites that are not always right. Incidently I use the powersupply of one of these systems instead of the one I have in the box. Anyway, recently I got a modded Coleco from Yurkie and it contains a pause-switch which I use fairly often (its a great addition for when nature calls lol!). Today I experienced the same corruption when I started the CV. When I received the unit a few days ago it worked perfectly. At first I thought it was caused by the Atarimax flashcart which I got but sadly the same thing happened when I inserted the original cartridges. And its selftest rom gave a clue 'VRAM Fail'. I must remember next time to do a search on this forum because thats how I got in this thread . After reading possible causes like a powersupply going bad, I got the old one from my box... and... the problem is gone. How silly of me to depend on a probably much used and worn out powerblock, instead of using the one I had in mint condition in my ColecoVision boxed set. Thanks NIAD (and others) for pointing me in the right direction.

I am now too a very happy owner of a Coleco console completely cleaned and modded by Yurkie. The console works very well and it looks great, all shiny and with the US Coleco frontsticker (I'm used to having a CBS version until now). For future interested persons who live in The Netherlands, I can confirm that most modern television sets can display the NTSC standard without problem (see the pictures). And our powersupply works also very well with the American console. Yurkie has been a very friendly seller to me, helpful and he deserves the compliments for the work he does in restoring our beloved ColecoVision. His handling of the entire process (answering questions, sending updates about progress etcetera) have been top notch. I'd do new business with him any day. Kudos Yurkie ! By the way, the game I used for my testing is of course Pepper II. Next to Lady Bug and Jumpman Jr, this is one of my favorite games..

Nice one 5-11under . At the rate Yurkie is able to churn out these consoles (modded and cleaned up) I too suspect that he has either his whole family working for him, or his gf knows how to use the whip!

Well its not just the shipping from Italy to you overseas that is very expensive. Before I found these AA-forums I saw Ozma offer all five carts on eBay, the boxed games look sweet to have (being MIB) but for 2-5 the shipping is 30 euros (24 US$ I think) to The Netherlands (same continent). That is alot more than the price for 2 games. I have bought other games from Italy before and then the shipping cost was a mere 12 euro. So that prohibits me kinda to order them at this time. Anyways, now I've read about the stock he has to move still, I'll wait for cheaper shipping .

I collect 'all' games but in all fairness, since my budget often is smaller than my wishlist, I have maybe half of the original games so far. Maybe this is also because I like them CIB. Loose carts I usually give away unless its one of those games I don't expect every find complete. Having those also on a multicart is very handy, especially when my kids want to play on the CV. Now they dont have switch games by physically removing carts and placing them again. ColecoDan is right, I think 1 auction for Mr Chin is up on ebay, the askingprice is unbelievable (over 400 euros!) so I'm glad it was included on the multicart .

Thanks all for your concise answers . Are these games CIB rare these days or are they as common as say a DK boxed (DK was a pack-in game for my first CBS CV, later they gave Mousetrap instead, so I think the DK are most common without a box)? I know that at least the 'Campaign 84' title is seldom seen in Europe since the game is about elections in the US, something we in Holland didn't understand anyway.

I seem to 'stumble' on certain things by chance lately . And in the same manner I found this Multi-card from Atarimax. Let me tell you san-d-2000, it is a very great product! Even though I almost have all the games I put on it on several carts, its so much more handy to just have to insert the one cartridge. And navigating its menu is very easy. I'd say, get one soon (of course if you have the cash). And the price was nice too (got to love the cheap dollar!).

I own a tv that also doubles as a computer monitor and next to that I have 2 Sony's that are fairly recent models (the 'deep' ones mind you, not a flatscreen). What is, if I may ask, your old television and what is the modern one? And san-d-2000, since you bought a system from Yurkie too, did you have to pay a fee in Customs (de douane dus)? Or didn't you have any problem getting it delivered by mail? If you had to pay that fee, do you remember how much it was approximately?

Thanks for your answer. And also sorry for not finding the thread you linked to on my own by searching more...

@Ten-four: Did you try the RGB method on your own French CBS version, the SECAM version? That mod was not succesful you meant? But you have just confirmed (if I read correctly) that the A/V mod that Yurkie does do in fact work on PAL televisions. That is what you wrote? And also thanks for letting me know that the info I found before (with regards to the power supply) is correct. The conversion of 220V vs 110V is in the block that sits between the power outlet and the Coleco then. Now I only have to find out how much our Customs charges for 'importing' an ancient collectible console... Maybe the person from my country who ordered a modded CV from Yurkie (which he mentions in his reply) can tell me how thats usually handled.

You guys sure are hardcore gamers.. geez. I am really in awe for such high scores! How do you play, with the stock joysticks? Or the modded ones that Yurkie made? In any case I'm guessing that you need perfectly functioning controllers.. I tried a game on setting 3 today and eh.. well.. my joystick didn't do as I wanted.. so thats why I didn't score very high . So what is your secret?

Even though I do not own any of these games, I'm trying to find some info about them. Does anyone know whether there were different versions of the games Sunrise released for the ColecoVision? Last weekend I saw a lone cart of Gust Buster and it had golden shiny label with black lettering. The seller told me that the boxes of this game also had a 'gold' look. And I have also seen a copy for 'Campaign 84' somewhere in a silver box with a silver label. Are the silver ones remakes? Or are they also legit versions of the Sunrise games?

Hello, I'm very much interested in buying a cleaned and modded ColecoVision from Yurkie but I have a few questions that you all might be able to answer. Yurkie mods an American system, and since you guys use NTSC instead of PAL which is used in The Netherlands, I would like to know if someone here knows whether the A/V mod works on PAL also? I have a television that can't display NTSC so It would be a shame to buy one only to find that I can't use it. Yurkie wrote that if I can connect composite, it will not matter. Can someone confirm that? Maybe even the Dutch or German buyers of one of his modded systems? Also, I read online that the power supply we use in Europe (220V instead of 110V) should work okay on the US ColecoVision. The reasoning being that the output from the 'block' gives the same voltage and current, so that the only difference is the convertor itself. Is this true? Or would I still have to purchase a convertor somewhere, or is an adapter for the different plug enough? Thanks in advance for your help! Cheers, Eric

Hello Yurkie, I have spent a better part of my working day with reading about your awesome modifications to both the ColecoVision and its controllers. It all sounds like very welcome (and in some cases much needed!) mods for this aging system. As it goes while reading forums, you click through several threads and while doing so I finally came here. Now do I understand it correctly that you sell refurbished/modded complete systems that include all of the wonderful mods you can do? Do you know if its possible to mod a European ColecoVision (distributed here by CBS)? I know that for the games it doesn't really matter because both NTSC and PAL games can be used on my system. But of course our power outlets are different (we use 220V instead of your 110V). Maybe the other way around is easier, if you'd mod a Coleco CV and use it on the European powergrid, I think this should be possible using a convertor plug between the power cable and the socket. Does anyone have experience with this? Would you ship one of your modded systems abroad to The Netherlands? If so, could you give an estimate on shipping cost? Lots of questions I'm aware, but I'd be grateful for your answers (if you can give them). Cheers.