robcatron

My Opinion on the Rarity on these games, in an Atariage format would be BC's Quest for Tires -- 5 Popeye - 4 ET Phone Home! - 3 Star Trek Strategic Operations Simulator - 4 The thing about 8-bit carts right off the bat, for me, anyway is that I think the rarity various tremendously by region. Most all of the local department stores here in kentucky in "the day" (Rose's, Hill's, K-mart, Sears, Heck's, etc) basically only carried the safe Atari titles. You had to go to dedicated computer stores (which there weren't even that many) in cities such as Lexington and Louisville to find any interesting items (about the rarest item that ever remember buying new was Broderbund's Choplifter! on Cartridge form in about 1982). The only other third party cartridge games that I remember seeing (let alone buying) were the Sirius carts when the market crashed and they were sold cheaply and were a dime a dozen (I bought Fast Eddie and Turmoil new in the mid-80s). It's funny, now that I think about it, but aside from the above mentioned carts, I think the only other third party cart I bought was Thorn/Emi's Kickback. Another statement that I don't feel fits on 8-bit carts (at least in KY) is the statement , "found in the wild". I have hit yard sale after yard sale, and the great US127 yard sale days for the last two years (the massive yard sale that stretches from northern KY to Alabama on Route US 127) and I have never found 8-bit carts in the wild. I don't know about most of you guys, but I know that back then, times were a lot tighter, and, of course, being 12 - 16, my dear old mum had to buy me most everything, so I basically bought disk games, and only ones that I knew were good at that (like the Synapse titles), and me, being in KY, had to mail order most from those old online stores like Computability, etc Oh well, enough of my long winded reminiscing (but it sure is fun ;o) Rob Catron

I agree with you there, Andre. I believe the Matterhorn that I HAD ;o( was the real thing. Like I said in my previous post, I cannot imagine anyone in their right mind wanting to make a home brew or repro of that game, as it's one of the worst I have ever played. At least Espial (which I had as well), and I think you won that one off of me last year -- was a decent game. I wish I had that baby back, too ;o) Rob Catron Frankfort, KY

I 100% believe that the Matterhorn that I (wrongfully) sold for $258 last year was an original. It looked just like the Espial and Springer carts that I had at the same time. Besides, why would anyone in their right mind create a Matterhorn cartridge back then? That game is abysmal! I laughed when I played it. Horrible. Now, let me tell you, I wish I had that baby back (it is located in Mississippi now ;o) - I belive the buyer's last name was Bowling, but I'm not 100% - probably still an avid eBayer, but I know he changed his user id from time to time Anyway, my carts came from a co-worker who got all items from the former head of a Phoenix, AZ user's group. The items had been boxed up for years. I basically got about two blazer truck loads full of Atari 8-bit items (you guys would have went NUTS! -- I did!). I still have most of the loose disks. Just an amazing amount of software. Literally 100s of disks (maybe 1000s?), including the user group's catalogs, and tons, tons, tons of games. Some I have in my house, but most are boxed and on my shelves in my garage. I would post the name on the diskettes, but I do not want to bring undue attention to anyone. When I first got this collection, the only cartridges that were in there were the three Tigervision games, so I figure that someone knew what they had and were keeping hold of them. I know that even though I was an extremely avid Atari fan from about 1981 - 1990, I had NEVER seen any Tigervision games in Kentucky. I would be embarrased to say what I got all of these items for, but oh well, what the heck -- $40! Most of it was hardware. Computers galore, modified 800s, XEGS, 130XE, happy drives, etc, printers, and of course the disks. All catagorized with nice, custom labels. Any game imaginable. I'd be happy to strike up any 8-bit questions with anyone - and of course am ready and willing to trade at any time for any cool stuff ;o) Rob Catron Frankfort, KY

WaterWorld (loose) Bumper Bash (loose) Q-bert's Cubes (loose) Rob Catron Frankfort KY

I have shipped literally hundreds of computer media items (disks, carts, tapes, etc) over the last 2 years, and have had no problems at all. From my experience, packaging is the key. Believe me, I used to work at UPS loading the trailers, and I know the abuse packages take. So PACKAGE carefully -- no worn boxes, make sure boxes are stiff Rob Catron Frankort, KY

Crystal Castles has been quite ellusive for my collection for some reason. It is one cart that I have just not been able to get a hold of. I think loose cart, it should be worth $30-40, while boxed $75-$100. You sure are correct on market volativity. The first six months of last year where stellar for the 8-bit, I know, as I sold quite of bit of items. I remember selling a boxed Ultima III for $192, boxed Alternate Reality the City for $172, and many others that I cannot even remember. Now those same two games may bring $50 each -- I myself picked up two copies of ARC, and one copy of ARD for less than $50 in the same auction. Over the last year, there has been a flood of cartridges. Even those rarer Romox carts are finding their way out of the woodwork. It's a great time for collectors (which I am), and a horrible time for sellers (which I am, also). The Flip Flop that just ended would have brought double what it did if this were the second quarter '02 Rob Catron Frankfort, KY

Thanks for the info. have you played this game? any count? I have my 5200 collection almost complete now, and would be intersted in intersting items thanks, Rob

Just curious, what is spitfire? I've never heard of that one thanks, Rob Catron Frankfort, KY

Partly Because of the following, previous forum topics: http://www.atariage.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=33977 http://www.atariage.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=33963 Now, I can understand when a novice figures out that what he has is worth more (heck, I was one of the ones that emailed interested in one of the items). This was a clear case of breaking eBay rules (both Arnaud and I - and another person - had bids on this item) -- I can understand this as well - this really didn't upset me, as it happens all of the time What I cannot deal with is being told something, then someone going back on their word. A person is only as good as their word (especially in the online world), and if you don't have that, then you have nothing... Rob Catron Frankfort, KY

Yes, it does indeed look like Arnaud has a similar collection to mine (with probably way more complete packages). It is getting harder and harder to find nice additions to the library; however, with eBay prices as low as they are now, it makes it nice when they do pop up. I bet even that Matterhorn and Espial carts that I sold last year wouldn't bring as much now (I know, I know, I should have NEVER sold them!) There has been a huge influx of Crystal Castles XE carts lately, so that will drive their worth down a bit ;o) I did just aquire a marvelously mint Ulitima II and III that are super additions to the collection. I remember when I beat U2 the first time many, many years ago -- what a rush! there is a Flip Flop up now, but I REFUSE to bid on that item...I will wait for another I am quite happy with that Bristles cart -- that game, though incredibly frustrating, was one of my favorites in my prime 8-bit years (81 - 88). Rob Catron Frankfort, KY

Personally, I like Topper by Romox. Most Romox games are crap (aside from maybe Starion), but this one's not bad - it's also one of the few Romox 16K carts. It and Rainbow Walker are very nice Q*Bert derivites Rob Catron Frankfort, KY

I agree -- I just upgraded my BIOS on my two - port to the 4-port BIOS, and it was really easy. I can handle those kinds of upgrades. Thanks to CPUWIZ for that. Now, those controllers on the other hand -- I think I would pull my hair out on those. I do have something I would like the folks on the board to help me on. I recently bought a Wico 5200-style Joystick. It looks identical (two firebuttons, etc) except it is white. Also, more importantly, it has a very unique plug on the end. The end of the actual cord that comes out of the joystick really looks like a chip -- it has 16 pins on it - arange in a traditional two rows. It has to plug into some kind of socket. In my case, it is plugged into a WICO socketed adapter (Part Number WICO 50-2072) -- this adapter is brown, and has a female 9 pin connector on one end. I always get mixed up on female vs. male -- it is the kind where you actually see the pins in the plug -- like the plugs on the back of a 2600 Does anyone know the applicaction for this stick? I have the same Command control stick for the TRS-80 COCO, and it has a normal, CoCo din style plug on it, but this one has me stumped. I was thinking maybe Apple II? I cannot find anything on the 50-2072 adapter. thanks, Rob Catron Frankfort, KY

I agree -- I just upgraded my BIOS on my two - port to the 4-port BIOS, and it was really easy. I can handle those kinds of upgrades. Thanks to CPUWIZ for that. Now, those controllers on the other hand -- I think I would pull my hair out on those. I do have something I would like the folks on the board to help me on. I recently bought a Wico 5200-style Joystick. It looks identical (two firebuttons, etc) except it is white. Also, more importantly, it has a very unique plug on the end. The end of the actual cord that comes out of the joystick really looks like a chip -- it has 16 pins on it - arange in a traditional two rows. It has to plug into some kind of socket. In my case, it is plugged into a WICO socketed adapter (Part Number WICO 50-2072) -- this adapter is brown, and has a female 9 pin connector on one end. I always get mixed up on female vs. male -- it is the kind where you actually see the pins in the plug -- like the plugs on the back of a 2600 Does anyone know the applicaction for this stick? I have the same Command control stick for the TRS-80 COCO, and it has a normal, CoCo din style plug on it, but this one has me stumped. I was thinking maybe Apple II? I cannot find anything on the 50-2072 adapter. thanks, Rob Catron Frankfort, KY

Thanks for the help, folks. I have both a cheap, tested 4-port on order, and 4-port BIOS chips for one of my 2-ports, so I should be set. Nice chatting with everyone, and see you in collection (and eBay) land... Rob Catron Frankfort, KY

How Can I upgrade the BIOS? thanks! Rob

I just recently aquired my second non-working Shoot-out game. Does anyone know if this game is, along with pitfall and mountain king, a 4-port only? I have two 2-port models, and sold my 4 port a few months ago (I know, not too smart ;o) thank you , Rob Catron Frankfort, KY