Zafinn Books

Hi Lynx lovers! Stock is getting low on my limited reprint of GameGuide Lynx - don't be shy, get your copy before they are gone forever! 😊 Shipping worldwide included in the price on the website. https://zafinnbooks.com Thanks for reading and be safe, Karl www.atariexplorer.com

Hi @x=usr(1536) - No, but I used to go there as a kid to get my Atari stuff too 😁 We supplied Peats among others and had stores across the city including Switzers, Clearys, Eason and Grafton Arcade - and a business center on Chatham Lane.

I use to sell Atari/Commodore system up until 1992 (official Atari/CBM distributor in Ireland), still used my Mega 1 up until 1994 when a 486 entered the home 😬 (still have my original Mega 1). In 1993 I switched sides and spent almost 7 years at Gateway2000/Gateway pushing PCs in marketing. You can read more about that and an interesting Atari/CBM story at my site here > Atari Explorer

These were sold into some Eastern european dealers as special orders circa 1987. The 4160STF was displayed at the World of Atari show the previous year (1986) but never sold. 2080/4160STE's were shipped to developers in 1989. Atari also provided these name-plates to select dealers who upgraded stock models in some countries.

There was an external ROM plugged into the January 1985 CES ST's (2 x working IIRC) - these were strictly policed and were demo'ed by authorised staff. I have some notes somewhere about these, but if any staffers are still around (Landon?), perhaps you can confirm if these ROM Carts (see picture) were loaded with the pre-internal TOS/GEM for the show? I'll check some old HD's for those CES notes to confirm as I can't remember off the top of my head. Picture courtesy of https://www.stcarchiv.de/hc1985/04/ces-1985-kampf-der-kolosse and another image here https://www.gamopat.com/2015/02/quand-atari-a-voulu-bouffer-la-pomme.html

Ahem... 😉

Thanks @Zeptari for the kind words re: GameGuide ST 😊

@Zeptari - all packed up and ready to go! FYI, all the games you mentioned are reviewed, so you obviously have good taste! Ira Velinsky was Atari Corps head of industrial design (previously worked at CBM) and even designed the Jaguar case, unfortunately he sadly passed away in 2000 far too young. He had his own design studio (SoZo) and even did some work for Sega (on the Nomad). 🙂

Thanks @Zeptari much appreciated 😊

FYI, yes I have copies left in stock to answer all the messages in one go 🙂 When they are gone, they are gone though!

FYI - Thank you for all the messages over the holidays. The store is now re-open, and there is a small quantity of We Love Atari books left for sale as well as GameGuide ST and Lynx 🙂

Thank you @MrZarniwoop that means a lot. Have a great Christmas and a super 2024.

I'll be open again on the 8th January 😁 Merry Christmas everyone!

Hello! If you want to get a GameGuide book for the Atari ST for Christmas, please order before the 28th November. Irish Post can guarantee items to the USA and Europe will get there for the big day if I post orders by then. Free vinyl stickers with every book 🙂 Store closes for the holidays on the 1st December and re-opens on the 8th January (with a limited supply of We Love Atari re-prints available too!). Happy Holidays everyone.

Hello! If you want to get a GameGuide book for the Lynx for Christmas, please order before the 28th November. Irish Post can guarantee items to the USA and Europe will get there for the big day if I post orders by then. Free vinyl stickers with every book 🙂 Store closes for the holidays on the 1st December and re-opens on the 8th January (with a limited supply of We Love Atari re-prints available too!). Happy Holidays everyone.

Hi @Zonie - Yep, looked into that. It is possible, as Irish Post offer a book service upto 5kg (with €16 per kg after that) but the savings are less that €25 over a tracked shipment (no tracking on the book service!). A new cart from AA to Ireland costs €31.20 and thats the cheap option! Shipping is expensive and it's a shame because it puts people off buying anything from another country. Anyway, I appreciate the thought 🙂

We are over half-way there, hopefully a few more orders will come through over the weekend. All pre-orders get a free goodie pack (see above) and will be included in draw for a brand-new copy of the hard-back book "The Bitmap Brothers Universe" and three runners-up will get a copy of the forth-coming new book "GameGuide Jaguar" due next year.

@bent_pin Thanks for the message! The Pre-order runs until November the 2nd. The reason for this is I have a window to print the books at this time (a slot with the printer) and I have other things I have to do in my daily life 😊 If the pre-order goes ahead and I have stock left over, I will offer these sometime in January, first come, first served. I've already paid for packaging (book wraps, bubble wrap, stickers etc), so I hope it goes to plan 😬 I'm still saving to get the Lego 2600 VCS set before it is retired 😅

Just in case you missed the news in the Atari area, after 3+ years I have decided to try for a re-print of We Love Atari volumes 1&2. This is a limited re-print and pre-orders will close on Saturday 2nd November so please spread the word. This will possibly be the last-ever re-print of We Love Atari so don't miss out! If the pre-order doesn't hit a minimum of 100 books, I really won't be able to justify the costs - so if you missed these the first time, this is your chance. Should I not make the minimum of 100 orders, I will refund everyone and cancel the re-print. More information at https://zafinnbooks.com (including sample pages and pre-order information). Costs: Yes, they have risen since I printed this the last time, everything from paper, packaging and printing has risen since 2019. The worst part is the shipping, but I've tried to keep this as low as possible (even with tracking). Sadly, these factors are out of my control, but the updated books do weigh in at over a 1kg each (312 full colour pages per book). The double pack (volume 1 and 2 together) has a cost saving of €10 (~$12). Ask any questions via the website (or here at AA), and thanks again for all the kind words and support. GameGuide Jaguar is still coming for sure, just pushed that out until the new year for now 😉 Best regards, Karl

@atariman72 - I know the feeling, postage costs have really gotten crazy. I have even stopped collecting now as well, I just can't justify even buying something as cheap as paperwork from the USA to Ireland because the charges are so high these days. Books are expensive unless you are doing 500+ units, and that's way out of my league. Paper, printing and packaging costs have gone through the roof over the last 3 years since I first printed We Love Atari, and I knew doing it again and the books weighing so much it would be a struggle for some people. But there is no point buying anything you can't afford, and there is more important things in life, so never overstretch yourself financially even if you really want something (or think you need something so bad!). As for a PDF or E-Book version, I'm pretty old fashioned when it comes to books, and I've never used E-Books in my life (old fart that I am!). I have a number of book projects coming soon that I want to complete, then I may look into that in 2025 or so. I've got a lot on my plate right now, and this is just a pastime, although I may look at fishing or astronomy for my next hobby 😅 Thanks for the message, and sorry about the cost increases, they are really out of my control ☹️

@atariman72 - Thank you, we are good to go right now 🙂 Update: We Love Atari important announcement: The Pre-order window will open from now October the 1st until Saturday the 4th November only. I would ask you to let other Atari nuts know about this book, as I need to print a minimum of 100 to make this viable. If there is insufficient pre-orders as to make this print run unviable for me (I have to fund at least half of the upfront costs this time), I'll have to take the difficult decision and cancel We Love Atari for now. Hopefully, that won't happen Self-publishing is not easy and I think I need another pastime 🤣 In the event of any cancellation, eveyone will be refunded of course! Hope I can get this book out to all those who missed it the first time around. Please spread the word to our fellow Atari nuts out there. best regards and thanks, Karl

Big thanks to @scrummy for letting me know I posted a broken link above. 🤪 It is of course https://zafinnbooks.com Have a great weekend everyone, Karl

Thanks for the messages. @sramirez2008 - I will put some images of the pages online this weekend, but in essence this was a chance to look over the previous book and update some of the general layouts, edit and revise some copy, add a few new pages (just for example, in book one I wanted to make note of Nolan's Pizza Time Theatre project, re-work the "Arcade Arrivals" layouts, add a couple of new advertisements etc). Have a look on Sunday when the pre-order goes live and see if its something you think you might like, but essentially these are the same books, so don't go spending money unnecessarily my friend. 👍 @donjn - I will finalise the costings at the weekend, and the prices will be listed at the pre-order page at https://zafinnbooks.com and will include shipping/packaging costs. (There will also be some cool goodies for all pre-orders). Best from Ireland, Karl