do you ever get annoyed at cartridge collecting?

[Shroo-man]

collecting 2600 cartridges is really starting to annoy me. this is why:

 

1. It is insanely hard to find them in average condition, the labels are nearly always in a terrible state usually ripped or plaqued. Sometimes the cartridge cases are cracked or broken, one cartridge I have has a hole bored into it for some reason. Of my collection of 50 or so carts i only have about 5 or so that are in good condition.

 

2. A few games rattle because something is broken/loose inside and to remove it you have to damage the label to get to the screws. Sometimes the actual PCBs are loose.

 

3. The games stuff up too easily. I only have a small collection and there are two cartridges which don't work, one of them is an R6 and the other is a fair bit rarer because it is not even listed in the PAL DB (which has many games listed).

 

4. It's very difficult to find them with the box and manual in the wild, when I do they are hardly intact. Although the same can be said for other cartridge based consoles, but the other consoles games work and the cartridges are often in decent condition.

 

5. Other miscellanious problems such as the dust cover on my Obelix cartridge which prevents me from playing it because it stays locked in the closed position. It is very difficult to use an object to push it up then put it in the cartridge slot before it gets locked closed again.

 

On the plus side though there are a lot of good games, and a lot of rare ones so its easier to find a good deal on a rare game than on the other consoles. Does anyone else have as many problems as me with the 2600 or am I just really unlucky?

Edited February 21, 2007 by Shroo-man

[PressureCooker2600]

just to answer the topic title.......no

 

and most of my 300 or so carts are pretty decent and all of them work

i only have a few that are kinda broken or missing top label

[jboypacman]

Thats what happens when you collect for something thats over 20yrs.old.I have a mix of nice,o.k.,and bad carts and lables and i dont have a huge collection by any means.Who knew that we would still be collecting and playing Atari/classic game carts today so we never took care of are old carts.Thats why so many are in such bad shape.As a kid i never keep my box or manual for any of my games and most people i know didnt either.Its just part of collecting and to answer the question...No i dont get annoyed at cartridge collecting at all.

Edited February 21, 2007 by jboypacman

[PressureCooker2600]

my only problem with collecting carts is the whole "running out of space" scenario

cause when you add my 200 or so NES carts

plus all my genny, SMS, INTV, CV, SNES, SegaCD, Dreamcast, PS2, etc. games, it kinda gets clogged up into a wall of games everywhere

[nester]

Yeah, I know what you mean. I always have to wash my hands after looking through 2600 games. At my local video game store I always pick up that same cart I don't have and then put it back because it doesn't have an end label. It's still a lot of fun of course, but it does get frustrating sometimes.

[Philflound]

You can easily build a collection for very little money and get carts that are in decent shape. Just spend a couple of hundred $$ and you should be able to get at least 125-150 different titles. Many items I see on Ebay are actually decent looking, clean, with end labels. Sometimes you can get a nice package with boxes. Starting out a collection though, I wouldn't necessarily seek boxes unless you have space and money. Most of us who collect boxes have been doing so for awhile.

 

Finding stuff in the wild is a hit and miss. You can't complain because most times you are paying much less than you would online. So you can take what you get. You can always clean up the games. A damp rag will go a long way for cleaning up dust and cobwebs. If you don't have too many games, it's a lot easier to clean than if you have a couple of thousand.

 

My suggestion on the locked circuit protector is to open it and clean the inside of the cartridge. Many times there is something keeping it from opening like someone spilled soda or something else that was sticky.

 

Collecting games is fun. If you are getting frustrated, then my suggestion is not to collect the games at all and stick with Stella. You can play without spending money and taking up space.

 

Phil

[godzillajoe]

I collect them to play them so I don't care what condition they're in as long as when I plug them in they work.

 

And out of my hundreds of games only ONE didn't ever work.

 

A Montezuma's Revenge that I got on eBay.

 

The guy gave me a refund, no questions asked and re-listed it so it must have worked for someone else.

[Shroo-man]

Yeah, I know what you mean. I always have to wash my hands after looking through 2600 games. At my local video game store I always pick up that same cart I don't have and then put it back because it doesn't have an end label. It's still a lot of fun of course, but it does get frustrating sometimes.

 

finally someone who agrees!

 

You can easily build a collection for very little money and get carts that are in decent shape. Just spend a couple of hundred $$ and you should be able to get at least 125-150 different titles. Many items I see on Ebay are actually decent looking, clean, with end labels

 

Most of my collection I had actually obtained cheaply from eBay in lots, its only recently I've been going searching the "thrifts". And both lots I bought from eBay looked decent in the zoomed out photographs. I would say from my experience these are in worse condition than what I see in stores. Even though they are cheap the condition of the majority is absolutely horrendous.

 

Finding stuff in the wild is a hit and miss. You can't complain because most times you are paying much less than you would online.

 

If buying single cartridges then yes they are cheaper because you don't pay for shipping but there is the cost of petrol to drive around the different stores finding them. I think my complaining is justified - around 15 years ago I used to have a 2600 and all the game cartridges were all working in excellent condition (compared to what I see today). I know it was a long time ago but I was only about 6 and I still managed to take care of them. I guess Im not really annoyed at collecting cartridges but at the lack of respect people have for them which is reflected by their condition.

 

So you can take what you get. You can always clean up the games. A damp rag will go a long way for cleaning up dust and cobwebs. If you don't have too many games, it's a lot easier to clean than if you have a couple of thousand.

 

Beleive me I do clean all my dirty cartridges, dust and cobwebs is easily taken care of. Ripped labels and broken cases are not.

 

My suggestion on the locked circuit protector is to open it and clean the inside of the cartridge. Many times there is something keeping it from opening like someone spilled soda or something else that was sticky.

 

Im a beginner at Atari collecting, can you explain how to do this? The protector locks itself shut if it's not held open by an object, so I don't know how to open it. Unless you mean open the cartridge, I'd rather not damage the label though. I don't think anything sticky is inside, its in good condition and the first 10 times or so I played it I had no problem with it.

 

Collecting games is fun. If you are getting frustrated, then my suggestion is not to collect the games at all and stick with Stella. You can play without spending money and taking up space.

 

Yes collecting is definately fun, I wouldn't do it otherwise. Maybe I exaggerated a bit, I don't get mad or anything but I just simply don't like the state most games are found in. I know you guys love Atari but it's like none of you want to hear or even aknowledge the negative side of it which there clearly is. As for the emulator suggested yes like everyone else I know about ROMs and emulators (which you need the actual game for it to be legal anyway) but I don't like emulators, playing the games on a monitor with a keyboard (yes I am aware of PC joysticks still not the same though) just feels fake and isn't nearly as fun as the real thing. And also I never mentioned money or space as being problems with 2600 cartridge collecting.

 

Sorry if my "complaining" offended you but it's just that I personally think it is easy to care for games, even if they are 25 years old there is still a surprising abundance of disrepcted cartridges out there. I didn't make this post to attempt to bitch about this (although it probably seems like it) just simply to state the negative side of collecting for this system and to see if anyone agrees or has had similair problems.

Edited February 21, 2007 by Shroo-man

[jboypacman]

No one is offened here.Myself personally knew that when i got back into classic gaming that i was going to have a hard time finding games in the "wild"at least in my area and that alot of the games i would come across at a gaming store,thrift shop,EBay,ect.wouldnt be in the best shape all of the time.It justs goes with the territory.I really dont see a negative side to it.Its just part of collecting, good,bad,or otherwise.

[Foxsolo2000]

The worst part of collecting is being sniped on Ebay for those games you need for 9 times out of 10 someone will bid higher than you in the dying seconds of the auction

[Starhopper]

I collect them to play them so I don't care what condition they're in as long as when I plug them in they work.

Amen, brother. I've run across carts in WAY better shape than my originals. Sometimes I think about swapping, but not often. There is quite a bit of sentimental attachment to my original 72 carts. As for the box/manual thing, I've always kept every manual, but I've never kept boxes. The few exceptions were for odds and sods that I had nowhere else to put. My mother kept my boxes for Frogger and Star Raiders just to keep her crocheted Christmas ornaments.

 

I collect to play. Anyone got a quarter?

[ewing92]

all my games work except for my rarest one, Beamrider(i kno, "beamrider is your rarest one?"). I only have a collection of about 40 games, about 10 w/ boxes, maybe 15. My two rarest games are Pitfall! II and Beamrider

Edited February 21, 2007 by ewing92

[Video]

Jeez, I have a bunch of games, maybe about 300 or so, and I'd say only 1 in 10 or so will have any serious cosmetic damage to it (counting case damage, missing or damaged lables, and actiplaque) And I only have 3 non working games, ones Megamania, and the other two are KungFu Master (I kept them cause I got the boxes though)

 

It'll piss you off if you buy the same game three or fout times and they all don't work, but othe than that, nah, I never had a problem with collecting carts, except lack of space.

[+remowilliams]

I tend to not let the less vital things like say video games in general annoy me in life. And on top of that there isn't any 'thrifting' or flea marketing around here, so getting shitty looking ultra cheap games isn't really an option.

 

Most of my ~350 2600 carts are in excellent condition, even my childhood originals. That damn Actiplaque does irk me a bit though, it seems rather inescapable.

[graywest]

You may think I'm kinda weird, but I actually enjoy cleaning up carts. I feel like I'm restoring a bit of history, like someone who repairs antiques or something. Same goes with taking apart and fixing broken consoles, controllers, etc. It's fun for me. I can see why it wouldn't appeal to everyone, though. I've bought carts that are caked in mud/dirt or unidentified sticky substances that I really wanted to play, but I had to spend an hour getting all the gunk off first.

[A.J. Franzman]

collecting 2600 cartridges is really starting to annoy me. this is why:

 

1. It is insanely hard to find them in average condition, the labels are nearly always in a terrible state usually ripped or plaqued. Sometimes the cartridge cases are cracked or broken, one cartridge I have has a hole bored into it for some reason. Of my collection of 50 or so carts i only have about 5 or so that are in good condition.

Plaque, missing end labels, partly loose, and minor tears are all very common label flaws, so I think this really is becoming the "average" condition. I only get about one percent or fewer with case damage here in the U.S. Maybe the situation is different in Australia or maybe you're just unlucky or buying from the wrong people/places.

 

 

2. A few games rattle because something is broken/loose inside and to remove it you have to damage the label to get to the screws. Sometimes the actual PCBs are loose.

Most labels can be removed without significant damage by using a heat gun on low setting, or even a hair dryer. After you've fixed the problem and stuck the label back on, heating it again and pressing will re-stick it too.

 

 

3. The games stuff up too easily. I only have a small collection and there are two cartridges which don't work, one of them is an R6 and the other is a fair bit rarer because it is not even listed in the PAL DB (which has many games listed).

I think this again is just your bad luck or you're buying games that have been abused/neglected. I've had something like 400 games and only two have turned out to be dead after thorough contact cleaning, followed if unsuccessful by disassembly and reflowing all solder joints. One was a common Super Breakout, but sadly the other was a somewhat rare Tapper.

 

 

4. It's very difficult to find them with the box and manual in the wild, when I do they are hardly intact. Although the same can be said for other cartridge based consoles, but the other consoles games work and the cartridges are often in decent condition.

 

5. Other miscellanious problems such as the dust cover on my Obelix cartridge which prevents me from playing it because it stays locked in the closed position. It is very difficult to use an object to push it up then put it in the cartridge slot before it gets locked closed again.

Is this the only game you have with a locking dust cover? If so, you might have a broken key in the console's cart port. If not, you could disassemble the cartridge and remove the locking piece (you will need to leave the sliding dust cover in, because it has the keys which open the dust cover in the console's cart port).

 

 

On the plus side though there are a lot of good games, and a lot of rare ones so its easier to find a good deal on a rare game than on the other consoles. Does anyone else have as many problems as me with the 2600 or am I just really unlucky?

I hope I've already covered that.

[Philflound]

By opening up the locking mechanism, I would use a small thin screwdriver or tiny toe nail scissors. Put it in the one of the holes next to the tab on either side of the cartridge. Then push in the protector, since you've freed the locking mechanism. You can hold it open with teh circuit board exposed and then clean around the inside while holding it open.

 

I don't get offended easily and your opinion is yours and mine is mine. I never outright tell people to not collect. I have a few hundred games for sale if you ever want to trade or buy. Just click my link. Though I'm updating the list so it may not be totally accurate with which variation I have. I'm trying to get it up to date though.

 

I think I've had maybe no more than 5 dead carts out of the 4000 or so carts I've owned. They are few and far between. I may not even have had that many. The majority of labels I get are actually in pretty nice condition. My problem would be end labels missing, or main labels like PB that fall off easily. M Network is frustrating since they only have one label. You lose that, then you're guessing.

 

Phil

[Rik]

collecting 2600 cartridges is really starting to annoy me. this is why:

 

1. It is insanely hard to find them in average condition, the labels are nearly always in a terrible state usually ripped or plaqued. Sometimes the cartridge cases are cracked or broken, one cartridge I have has a hole bored into it for some reason. Of my collection of 50 or so carts i only have about 5 or so that are in good condition.

 

2. A few games rattle because something is broken/loose inside and to remove it you have to damage the label to get to the screws. Sometimes the actual PCBs are loose.

 

3. The games stuff up too easily. I only have a small collection and there are two cartridges which don't work, one of them is an R6 and the other is a fair bit rarer because it is not even listed in the PAL DB (which has many games listed).

 

4. It's very difficult to find them with the box and manual in the wild, when I do they are hardly intact. Although the same can be said for other cartridge based consoles, but the other consoles games work and the cartridges are often in decent condition.

 

5. Other miscellanious problems such as the dust cover on my Obelix cartridge which prevents me from playing it because it stays locked in the closed position. It is very difficult to use an object to push it up then put it in the cartridge slot before it gets locked closed again.

 

On the plus side though there are a lot of good games, and a lot of rare ones so its easier to find a good deal on a rare game than on the other consoles. Does anyone else have as many problems as me with the 2600 or am I just really unlucky?

Well what do you expect from items that are 20-30 years old?the law of ENTROPY applies here too :)Quite frankley,considering the time thats elapsed,atari consoles and cartridges have stood up to time amazingly,phenomenally well.And no,i dont get tired of collecting,BEST HOBBY IN THE WORLD!

Edited February 22, 2007 by Rik

[Crazy Climber]

collecting 2600 cartridges is really starting to annoy me.

Stop Whining

[shadow460]

Game collecting in general can be disappointing. I'm too cheap to use ebay much, so I hunt in the wild and I've got some decent finds (up to R6).

 

Still, though, there comes a point when you've already gotten everything you can find in the wild and your searches increasingly turn up nothing. That is the point of frustration, and the point at which it's time to back off and play what you've probably neglected since you got it. Many of my frustrations with the hobby melted away in a round of Pitfall II the other night.

[lowscore]

No, I don't get annoyed, but my Old Lady does.

[Crazy Climber]

Game collecting in general can be disappointing. I'm too cheap to use ebay much, so I hunt in the wild and I've got some decent finds (up to R6).

 

Still, though, there comes a point when you've already gotten everything you can find in the wild and your searches increasingly turn up nothing. That is the point of frustration, and the point at which it's time to back off and play what you've probably neglected since you got it. Many of my frustrations with the hobby melted away in a round of Pitfall II the other night.

Shadow is right, you should join the High Score Club. I just did and it is totally cool man Sometimes people get so caught up in collecting they forget to play, I think that happened to me for a while

[Atari Punk 78]

I don't let little things like that bother me as long as the sticker is in OK condition and the game works. I'm just trying to get my childhood back not collect for profit (still I have close to 200 games). I'd love it if my kids got into the sytem as well.

[crunchysuperman]

The worst part of collecting is being sniped on Ebay

 

 

Indeed.

[jboypacman]

The reason i got back into Atari/classic gaming can be said in one word.....FUN! All these new games and systems seem to lack(at least)for me the fun i had from my youth.Thats why i almost quit videogaming last year.Thanks to the Flashback2,my friend Neonesmaster(supplied me my 2600 and first round of games),and AtariAge.Am having the most fun i have had with videogames in a very long time(Wii Sports however is quite fun too).Finding,buying,collecting,playing i love it all.Also i feel am saving a little part of history by keeping these games alive in my neck of the woods and it can rub off on other people too(several people i work with have felt the need to dig out there old games after talking with me).So who can get annoyed or find anything negative about that.I sure cant.