The Golden Atari 2600

[classicgamingguy]

I can't believe this, but I suppose I should. Recently, I heard tell (from a TV news show, no less) that the Atari 2600 has doubled/tripled in price recently in collectivity. I didn't hear about the games themselves, but by the news account the Atari 2600 has become a "hot item" to obtain and collect for, more so than recent years.

 

Anyone experience a price surge in the consoles lately, or seen as they are out and about the Atari 2600 slowly increasing in value?

[AtariLeaf]

I can't believe this, but I suppose I should. Recently, I heard tell (from a TV news show, no less) that the Atari 2600 has doubled/tripled in price recently in collectivity. I didn't hear about the games themselves, but by the news account the Atari 2600 has become a "hot item" to obtain and collect for, more so than recent years.

 

Anyone experience a price surge in the consoles lately, or seen as they are out and about the Atari 2600 slowly increasing in value?

 

I don't know about the consoles but some of the rarish games I've been buying off ebay lately have all been way down in price from the last few years - examples being games like Tapper, Spy Hunter, Up & Down being half of what they were 4 or 5 years ago. I wonder how much of this news coverage is a result of the Air Raid auction.

[classicgamingguy]

When I heard the news report, that wasn't mentioned. If it is the result of that auction, then they failed to bring it into the news report. Going down in price isn't what I expected, however.

[DickNixonArisen]

It makes sense. The people who know those titles are worth money are collectors, not likely to be swayed by the hype over Air Raid. The poor economy is pushing them to drop titles for less. Folks who have a 2600 in the basement and no rare carts don't know not to be swayed by the hype and now assume they are sitting on a goldmine.

 

"how much for these atari games"

 

A. (Hasn't heard anything) "10 cents sound good?"

B. (knows true value ) "2 each"

C. (All hopped up on hype) "Fifteen bucks a piece"

 

That said, there's a lady at our flea market here who's been asking ten bucks for some commons for well over a decade - someday she may get it.

[Philflound]

I know there has been an increase in Atari collecting overall, though I think prices are relatively stable. My buddy will continually sell a working unit with working controllers and throw in Combat. No boxes or instructions, and has always sold out at $40.00. In fact, I'm about to try out a boxed unit I have sometime in the next few weeks and put a good 40-50 games with it and auction it off. We'll see how it goes. I'm still in the process of cleaning.

 

Phil

[Cebus Capucinis]

I think there has been an increase in interest due to high-profile sales such as Air Raid CIB and Music Machine, etc. but I also think that this is added to due to the economy being down-turned. Does this increase price? I would think both do. Those sellers who are primarily getting income from selling video games have to increase their prices to make up for less sales volume.

[classicgamingguy]

It was strange that the Air Raid auction wasn't mentioned, or that I just missed that part of the broadcast. I thought that the demand for the 2600 had just gone up on it's own, but as you said, it's been pretty stable as far as supply and demand go. Thanks for the information.

[homerwannabee]

I have noticed an upsurge as well. It started around September, and since than there has been a steady increase. I think also it has to do with the high profile games being sold. Music Machine, MagiCard, and the Air Raid Box have changed the game. There also are about 3 or 4 hard core collectors that have entered seriously into the market, and are willing to pay prices for games never seen before. It definitely has been a wild ride.

[Benzman66]

The consoles are definitely pulling more on Ebay lately. There have been quite a few going for $50-#150 every day, plus some MIB/never opened systems going for $350-$700 in just the past week alone.

[otaku]

I can't believe this, but I suppose I should. Recently, I heard tell (from a TV news show, no less) that the Atari 2600 has doubled/tripled in price recently in collectivity. I didn't hear about the games themselves, but by the news account the Atari 2600 has become a "hot item" to obtain and collect for, more so than recent years.

 

Anyone experience a price surge in the consoles lately, or seen as they are out and about the Atari 2600 slowly increasing in value?

 

great now that I'm trying to get a 2600 of some sort to play with...

[classicgamingguy]

Glad I have my light sixer already...not sure I could afford to buy another console right now. Although, I'd love a Darth Vader model sometime down the road...

[Shantai]

I think there has been an increase in interest due to high-profile sales such as Air Raid CIB and Music Machine, etc. but I also think that this is added to due to the economy being down-turned. Does this increase price? I would think both do. Those sellers who are primarily getting income from selling video games have to increase their prices to make up for less sales volume.

 

 

This is VERY true.

 

When the economy drops, people are out of work and have more time to search their attics, garages, etc.. When they hear about some millionaire that just bought Action Comics #1 for 1.5 mil , it gets them all fired up with hopes of hitting the collector's lotto. Also sometimes the wealthy will get bored and trade rarities around to shoot the shit and make the news (This is rare but DOES happen) to chat about with thier buddies at the CC.

 

 

I for-see a HUGE spike in VG collecting for at least 6 mos-1year.

 

If you have something truly "rare" sell, as it may become uncommon as more people dig up their stuff.

[shadowdoggie]

I watched ebay for a few weeks and it appeared that people were willing to pay slightly more than usual for a unit with games... but then I listed a nice unit, everything tested and working + 21 games, and it only sold for $24 on Sunday night. I'm finished with the $.99 starting bid on these units with games. I highly recommend setting your min. accepted value as the starting bid price even though it costs a little more to do so that way. [ end rant ]

 

Last night, I was able to grab an auction of 21 games that included Crazy Climber for $54, and last week I grabbed a silver Gravitar for under $11.

 

So, it still seems to be hit or miss on ebay. I'm not noticing a flood of new collectors fighting for games or units, but I'll keep my fingers crossed (or something like that)

Edited April 30, 2010 by shadowdoggie

[phaxda]

I'm not either. I have had a couple of pretty good deals on systems out there and no one has bitten. For me personally it's been pretty much of a down time these last few weeks. I will never start a system at .99 on eBay ever again. It's definitely worth the listing fee to put it in the area of what you are looking for. I sold a 5200 once for $16.00 shipped and ever since then have never started a system auction that low. Definitely hit or miss, but congrats on the good finds!

[DickNixonArisen]

I agree that there will be/has been a price spike, but it might be over pretty quick.

 

However - all classic game systems are getting harder and harder to find in the wild. There will still be plenty of atari's for a while since they sold so incredibly well, but I see more Gen and 64 at yardsales and flea markets now. If you collect guns or civil war memorabilia, and you know their prices, then read a catalog or price guide for collectors from just like 25 years ago, you'll see that they were almost worthless compared to what they are now. Things considered rare now could be had for a song - and it wasn't like they were new at the time, they were still 120 years old back then... 120 years is almost as long as 140, but something changed to make prices spike - just increased interest, I guess.

 

The point of my ramble is that we're all kind of used to low prices for most games under r6, and finding things out there that we actually need - and that state of things probably won't last that much longer. Unless you start collecting ps2 and xbox games. blech!