Zwackery

Thank you, Sublime!

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It is a nice label on the cart compared with the NTSC release...

I was going to clarify it as "a year that's likely to be within the lifespan of the system" but it didn't seem as pithy. 889221[/snapback] Hmmm, hopefully I'll be around to verify if Robotron: 2084 is playable in 2084, but I'll be really, really, really old by then.

Yes, I'd like to acquire a CIB 5200 Zaxxon also.

I see MARIO BROS. - let the bid war begin!

I'm saving up some money for the next Songbird sale - my Jag is begging for some new games to play.

My digital camera is on loan, so I put the cap on my scanner (actual size of cap 3 1/8 x 7/8"). Here ya go:

General question for the group: Did all Xonox "double-enders" have those removable Xonox-branded end caps, or were they found only on certain titles?

Might they be seen as "reproducing" a production mode and design from the past? Like the Bugs Bunny and Elevator Action releases are attempting to reproduce the look of previous Atari releases. Maybe like how the Telegames reproduction of Quest for Quintana Roo isn't as rare as the original Sunrise release? Just speculatin' here... 887279[/snapback] Telegames carts aren't considered reproductions in the collector's world. 887293[/snapback] Listen, I realize that they are in fact separate releases, but they reproduce the game of another company. This is what I was indicating in my previous post about the nuances of, or possible interpretations for, the word "reproduction" being applied to a release like Elevator Action. I'm just trying to offer a possible explanation for your original question.

What an unusual item. I am fascinated by the whole concept of the etched glass. Maybe you could keep your extra fancy Atari goods in there, much like a fancy humidor for special cigars.

Might they be seen as "reproducing" a production mode and design from the past? Like the Bugs Bunny and Elevator Action releases are attempting to reproduce the look of previous Atari releases. Maybe like how the Telegames reproduction of Quest for Quintana Roo isn't as rare as the original Sunrise release? Just speculatin' here...

Yeah, I'd buy a couple or more depending on price...

I'd like a better pic, too, please if possible...maybe hold some plain paper (what color?) behind the etch to make the design more visible.

Let's talk again when you're running out of games to collect. 886624[/snapback] Even with the presence of the emoticons, your tone is still not very clear. I collect what I like and I'm satisfied with that. I would hope that you could respect the interests of another person and his/her habits. On a purely mercenary level, since I don't collect certain things, this leaves them available for others.

I respect the fact that people are making carts from prototype and/or beta ROMs as well as unreleased games - and think that making a spiffy box and docs to match is really cool - but personally I am just not into collecting this sort of stuff. I purposefully limit myself to keep my sanity!

Buy one of these for $3.00: AtariAge Store

...but with a new shirt, you can wear it and not worry about destroying its classic collectibility. I was more bummed that he only had it in large...has he looked at many gamers lately?

As the poet James Dickey once said, "This is the utmost horseshit." I mean, I think my time is worth $60 an hour, so should I tack on an extra $3 for the 3 minutes it took to wrap the package? What about the time I spent lighting the item for a pic, uploading the pic, writing the ad? Where do people here draw the line at all this stuff, and how does this break down versus casual collectors and those who deal in video games (or whatever) as a livelihood? Now, maybe because you are at a milbase and getting charged $400 for a hammer and $800 for a toilet seat you think that a box, bubble wrap, and tape "costs quite a bit" - and I'm not up on current prices at the PX since the base I worked at was BRACed back in '94 - but I really think that before buying boxes and bubble wrap (or other packing materials) it is possible to locate these materials for free, either by recycling them from stuff you personally buy or asking for them from other businesses that were planning on recycling them anyhow. Like I said earlier, my local Ben Franklin sells 50 gallon trash bags of packing peanuts for THREE dollars, and you can pack a lot of packages with that many peanuts. I don't suggest that you steal from Uncle Sam, but I find it difficult to believe that boxes and bubble wrap can cost "quite a bit" to the point of significantly affecting postage. What exactly is your break even for passing along this to the buyer, or are you making a little extra sumpin' sumpin' on the side? As for tape, buy in bulk and you'll be flippin' shocked at how cheap it is per inch, unless you're using that Mike Tyson gold-plated stuff. I suppose I could add about 25 cents per sale to each buyer to cover my "costs" but I'd rather just ask the buyers to pay what the postage meter says because that's what I'd want (that whole "do unto others thing"). I guess people can do whatever they want, however, and that this topic is never really going to reach any sort of consensus.

In the past 3 years, I've found: 3 2600 systems (2 boxed) in the wild, all with a mixture of controllers; a handful of 2600 games, mostly common; 1 Intellivision system (actually a friend got this while we were out at yard sales) with some boxed games; a couple of handhelds; and 1 Pac-Man puzzle. It's been fairly dry, but I know this is a highly competitive area - lots of collectors around - plus more and more people are turning to selling stuff on the internet. The occasional find, while still thrilling, is becoming harder to get.

There was a fellow - someone posted his eBay "About Me" page about a month or so ago - and he used a notation at the end of his feedback line that went something like: $X / $Y and this was used to indicate how much he paid for shipping (X) versus what it actually cost (Y) at least according to the postage sticker.

I'd leave a positive, too, but you are always free to say something like "item as described, but shipping costs prohibitive." I've found this generally confounds sellers and gives them pause, because you are giving positive feedback but in essence registering a minor complaint with the auction. As a seller, I try to charge people pretty much what USPS is going to charge (which eliminates whatever taxes on shipping that was referenced). I think adding in the cost of things like boxes and packing materials is complete bullshit. I save the boxes and packing materials from stuff I buy, so I can recycle the stuff and not have to pass along unwarranted overhead to people who are buying from me, plus I can typically get packing stuff for free from the various recycling drop spots throughout town, and with some businesses they will hold packing materials for me for free (it doesn't hurt to ask - try your local Ben Franklin or the liquor store) or at a reduced price (one place sells 50 gallon trash bags of packing peanuts for $3 per bag). Granted, I am just one guy collecting and not running my business through eBay. I mean, if you are going to charge for something like a box, why not add on a surcharge that reflects the increase in gas per gallon and the general wear and tear on my car. I draw the line somewhere, and for me it is drawn very early. What really chaps my ass is when you are overcharged for Priority Mail - c'mon, USPS provides the boxes for free and frequently the "packing" is just wadded up newspapers. I quit using UPS and FedEx mainly because the local middlemen were jacking up their "service charges" too much and I don't want to drive 30 minutes one way to the local UPS office.

I'm curious. How much did Atari pay for the license?

I found 3 grey boxed games and a set of boxed keyboard controllers at a KayBee back in 1994 or so. They were doing a major cleaning/reorganization job at this particular store and had found some old Atari stock and dumped it in with more contemporary (for the time) discounted games. It would have been nice to have found more Atari stuff, but I was happy with what I found. I believe the games were marked down to 97 cents each and the controllers cost a couple bucks (the manager could no longer find a listing for the controllers in the store's computer, so he suggested a price that was good to me).

I got one of the FBE packages that was a new 7800, in the smaller redesigned box, and 40 new games, about 25 7800 titles and 15 2600 titles, all for $70. This would have been late October/early November 1994. It was like an early Xmas when the package arrived. It seems hard to believe that I've been reading rec.games.video.classic for over 11 years now, although the newsgroup is now a shadow of its former self.