joeymcdonald

I remember it. The kay-bee blow-out sales were FANTASTIC. 2600 tron joystick packages for $4... I got one (and later traded it to a friend.. arrgghh). Imagine a big table full of some of the rarest games going today.... all for $.77-$5. If you find an old episode of the tonight show with the actor George Hamilton, I recall they were talking about technology and all of a sudden he said "Video games, is there anything more DEAD right now?". I remember that interview because that's exactly what I was feeling at the time too. To be honest, I was totally SICK of playing video games and the initial "buzz" had worn off. I think that was the case for just about everyone in my generation. We all moved on to use computers or just walked away for a few years. I've never been a big "collector" of the NES, but I can honestly say that it was partially responsible for getting me back into collecting games in the late 80's. Because of the NES I decided to go back and try to collect all of the games for the classic systems of a few years earlier.... and that's what I've been doing ever since! You may want to note my signature.... which I have used since my early days of being online in rec.games.video.classic..... (and even before). So, yes.... I do indeed remember the crash! Joey McDonald "Survivor of the Crash"

SteveW said: I'm kind of an idiot that way too. I passed on a LOT of stuff during my 20+ years of collecting and I feel really stupid for it now Also, some of the supposedly "common" cartridges are a bit more "rare" in the wild than I think a lot "guides" make them out to be. I love the intellivison. All of the Tron games are great, snafu and most of the imagic stuff is excellent. Tower of Doom is great along with many of the other INTV titles (which I also ordered from INTV back in the 80's). I also love my boxed copy of congo bongo Sorry, I couldn't resist Joey McDonald "Survivor of the Crash"

I have been collecting for a VERY long time and I can tell you that finding GOOD items in the wild is quite difficult anymore. As far as finding a "holy grail" in the wild (which most likely isn't going to happen), I'd like to find the original "brown" Intellivision computer adapter. For me, when I began collecting this stuff "as collectibles" most of the fun was the SEARCH. Today, there just isn't that much stuff floating around in the wild to make "the search" all that fun anymore. A note regarding rarity and the WILD; just because an item is rated as "common" in a guide doesn't mean that it isn't going to be a difficult item to add to your collection if you're mainly hunting in the wild. In the "old days" I had added many extremely rare titles to my collection before some of the more common ones. For those who are new to collecting and are new "hunters" in the wild, you have no idea how much better (and more fun) the scene was, say.... 15 years ago! I can recall "passing" on an RDI Halcyon with a couple games for about $60 about 14 years ago. Bummer! You don't want to hear about some of the holy grails I held in my hands and "passed" on hehehe. Joey McDonald "Survivor of the Crash"

I prefer the original version and the various adaptions for pre-nintendo home systems. I don't like what became of many "classic" games when they made it to the NES and this is a good example. I would play Gyruss on the 5200 any day before playing the NES version. Joey McDonald "Survivor of the Crash"

I have 11 Atari 5200 systems. Years and YEARS ago I had to purchase some of them to get the cartridges or controllers that came with them Speaking of a "lot" of 5200 systems... I'll never forget the time I came upon a "junk" store (I wouldn't use the term "thrift" in this instance) that if you went "around back" you would find about 200 Atari 5200 systems stacked up against the wall of the building. They had been rained on and were mostly full of dried mud You could get a good look at the consoles if you didn't mind getting close to a VERY angry and very large dog chained to a pole that would try to KILL you (and come within INCHES of you) as you looked over the systems and other "junk" in the "backyard" hehehe The good old days Joey McDonald "Survivor of the Crash"

I have to agree with those who chose the RCA studio II. I still think it's a cool collectible and I'm glad I have one in my collection, but the designer of this system was a MORON. From the keypad controllers to the bizarre switch-box... it's THE system from HELL. Joey McDonald "Survivor of the Crash"