cjrocco Posted March 7, 2011 Share Posted March 7, 2011 (edited) Hi all, My mother-in-law was recently going through her old junk and cleaning out when she found a huge collection of old Atari games, she says she has between 300 and 400 games. She was wants to sell the games, but does not know where to start. I don't have a complete list of the games she has but she does have some extremely rare games such as Out of Control, River Patrol, and Video Life. She also says that she has the instruction books for all the games she has too. I am looking for advice on how rare these things really are, how much these things should be worth, and where is the best place to go about selling them to make sure they get to people who actually care. I could probably get a complete list and maybe some pictures but I haven't seen any of these things in person so I don't know how good of a condition they are in, I am just going from what she has said. Any help you people could provide would be appreciated. Edited March 7, 2011 by cjrocco Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bennybingo Posted March 7, 2011 Share Posted March 7, 2011 Hi all, My mother-in-law was recently going through her old junk and cleaning out when she found a huge collection of old Atari games, she says she has between 300 and 400 games. She was wants to sell the games, but does not know where to start. I don't have a complete list of the games she has but she does have some extremely rare games such as Out of Control, River Patrol, and Video Life. She also says that she has the instruction books for all the games she has too. I am looking for advice on how rare these things really are, how much these things should be worth, and where is the best place to go about selling them to make sure they get to people who actually care. I could probably get a complete list and maybe some pictures but I haven't seen any of these things in person so I don't know how good of a condition they are in, I am just going from what she has said. Any help you people could provide would be appreciated. Most of the information you are looking for is listed here throughout the forum threads. It is very subjective, when trying to figure out the value of "rare" games. It is dependent on what condition the items are in, how complete they are (include box and or manual) and most importantly - what someone is willing to pay for them. You listed off several real "gems", but the condition will be key. Another major factor is the reputation of the seller. This is tremendously important. If no one knows who you are, you are likely to get less or no offers at all on those items through this forum as it could be a scam. No offense, but you only have one post on the AA Forum as of today. As you can see, I am a new member as well. It is a bit risky for people to trust new members, as there is nothing to base the trust on. Post as many pictures as you can and I will let you know what I think. Some of those titles are items I still need and would be interested if they were the right price. Thanks! Ben 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tempest Posted March 7, 2011 Share Posted March 7, 2011 I call shenanigans. Your mother in-law just happened to have a huge stash of ultra rare 2600 games in her attic, including Video Life (only 10-15 made) which was only mailed out to people who bought an extremely rare programming cart? Riiiiiight.... Tempest 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rom Hunter Posted March 7, 2011 Share Posted March 7, 2011 (edited) Give the guy a chance, Matt. Hi all, My mother-in-law was recently going through her old junk and cleaning out when she found a huge collection of old Atari games, she says she has between 300 and 400 games. She was wants to sell the games, but does not know where to start. I don't have a complete list of the games she has but she does have some extremely rare games such as Out of Control, River Patrol, and Video Life. She also says that she has the instruction books for all the games she has too. I am looking for advice on how rare these things really are, how much these things should be worth, and where is the best place to go about selling them to make sure they get to people who actually care. I could probably get a complete list and maybe some pictures but I haven't seen any of these things in person so I don't know how good of a condition they are in, I am just going from what she has said. Any help you people could provide would be appreciated. First of all: make a list of all the games. By examining this list, we can pick out the rarest titles. Then make good quality pictures of these titles (box front, box back, manual front and cart front). And then you can ask what would be a reasonable price to sell them for. Good (detail) pictures of the rarest titles are essential for any serieus buyer. Edited March 7, 2011 by Rom Hunter 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bennybingo Posted March 7, 2011 Share Posted March 7, 2011 I call shenanigans. Your mother in-law just happened to have a huge stash of ultra rare 2600 games in her attic, including Video Life (only 10-15 made) which was only mailed out to people who bought an extremely rare programming cart? Riiiiiight.... Tempest I would have said the same thing, but I figured that on the off chance this was a real-deal oddball occurrence, I would give the benefit of the doubt. Who knows...maybe his mother in law was married to an old school hard core gamer? My mom had my collection in her attic for almost 20 years before I got back into the hobby and in that attic was a copy of tooth protectors, chase the chuck wagon, Texas Chainsaw and Halloween along with about 100 other regular titles. I know that's not Video Life, but you get my meaning. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bennybingo Posted March 7, 2011 Share Posted March 7, 2011 Hi all, My mother-in-law was recently going through her old junk and cleaning out when she found a huge collection of old Atari games, she says she has between 300 and 400 games. She was wants to sell the games, but does not know where to start. I don't have a complete list of the games she has but she does have some extremely rare games such as Out of Control, River Patrol, and Video Life. She also says that she has the instruction books for all the games she has too. I am looking for advice on how rare these things really are, how much these things should be worth, and where is the best place to go about selling them to make sure they get to people who actually care. I could probably get a complete list and maybe some pictures but I haven't seen any of these things in person so I don't know how good of a condition they are in, I am just going from what she has said. Any help you people could provide would be appreciated. First of all: make a list of all the games. By examining this list, we can pick out the rarest titles. Then make good quality pictures of these titles (box front, box back, manual front and cart front). And then you can ask what would be a reasonable price to sell them for. Good (detail) pictures of the rarest titles are essential for any serieus buyer. It may sound silly, but I would take photos with proof of date in them so we know that they aren't just photos taken off of a website somewhere.. Not the typical digital time stamp...anyone with basic photoshop skill can do that. Best way to do that is take a picture of the carts with a copy of today's newspaper under them. That would help verify your claim and then we could continue with a bit more confidence. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stan Posted March 7, 2011 Share Posted March 7, 2011 Yeah, this might be doubtful. But, let's see what happens. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AtariLeaf Posted March 7, 2011 Share Posted March 7, 2011 I'm tempted to ask the OP where he was, oh lets say, back in 89? 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cjrocco Posted March 7, 2011 Author Share Posted March 7, 2011 She is presently trying to take pictures of everything and catalog it, she says that she does not have any of the boxes, just the cartridges and instruction manuals. I don't know much about Atari games, I had an Intellivision growing up, sorry, but I wanted to get an idea if these were truly rare games. I will try and get some pictures from her as soon as possible. Thanks for the info everyone, even the doubters. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bennybingo Posted March 7, 2011 Share Posted March 7, 2011 She is presently trying to take pictures of everything and catalog it, she says that she does not have any of the boxes, just the cartridges and instruction manuals. I don't know much about Atari games, I had an Intellivision growing up, sorry, but I wanted to get an idea if these were truly rare games. I will try and get some pictures from her as soon as possible. Thanks for the info everyone, even the doubters. Always happy to help! Don't be put off by the "doubters" in here. It is understandable that everyone has their doubts, as you mentioned two particularly rare games. Not your typical attic find. Also, I've noticed that there have been some less than honest sellers in here through the years, so everyone is very careful not to just jump at things without caution. If you provide photos with some proof that they are legitimate cartridges in your possession, people will start to loosen up a bit. Also, photos will show the condition of the collection and then we can give you a ballpark of its' worth. I hope to see those pics soon. Feel free to send me a message if you have any questions. -Benny 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frostbite Bailey Posted March 7, 2011 Share Posted March 7, 2011 I bought a whole collection once from an attic; a little musty smell, but some great treasures as well One of the cool things was a lot of the games had the original receipts from where they were bought. If she has what you said she has; she may be a happy lady if she is selling them. Cheers, FB 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toiletunes Posted March 7, 2011 Share Posted March 7, 2011 Here's to hoping the pics surface before the first of next month, or maybe after the first... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Leach Posted March 7, 2011 Share Posted March 7, 2011 I call shenanigans. Your mother in-law just happened to have a huge stash of ultra rare 2600 games in her attic, including Video Life (only 10-15 made) which was only mailed out to people who bought an extremely rare programming cart? Riiiiiight.... Tempest Im right there with Matt.....a typical collection put into an attic from a person that bought them brand new might have 40 games...COMBAT, COMBAT FROM A FIREND, combat again with no label, donkey kong, asteroids, target fun and some other games like pac man and defender...nver do you see the same person ahve access to all of the ones listed in the post #1~! "Pics or it didn't happen!" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toiletunes Posted March 7, 2011 Share Posted March 7, 2011 I want to believe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AtariLeaf Posted March 7, 2011 Share Posted March 7, 2011 I want to believe Maybe we should get Mulder on the case? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iwan-iwanowitsch-goratschin Posted March 7, 2011 Share Posted March 7, 2011 I want to believe I can´t believe.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AtariLeaf Posted March 7, 2011 Share Posted March 7, 2011 Wait, I just read it again, the OP hasn't seen any of these games but she just MENTIONED some to you and out of a list of 400 games, she just HAPPENS to mention some of the rarest titles? How fortuitous. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Philflound Posted March 7, 2011 Share Posted March 7, 2011 We always get new people on here with the "holy grail" of cart(s). Most are bogus, but don't forget the Air Raid box. Phil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frostbite Bailey Posted March 7, 2011 Share Posted March 7, 2011 We always get new people on here with the "holy grail" of cart(s). Most are bogus, but don't forget the Air Raid box. Phil I got my ass burned on that one! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cebus Capucinis Posted March 7, 2011 Share Posted March 7, 2011 I got my ass burned on that one! Correction, you got your box burned on that one! Never buy a box from hugged! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frostbite Bailey Posted March 7, 2011 Share Posted March 7, 2011 I got my ass burned on that one! Correction, you got your box burned on that one! Never buy a box from hugged! Well, if I was a female maybe Point conceded...box burned as well as ass! Those boxes can get pretty hot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DickNixonArisen Posted March 7, 2011 Share Posted March 7, 2011 Assuming falsehood, what's the motivation? Enlighten me. Was that a Haiku? Guess not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BONEMAN Posted March 7, 2011 Share Posted March 7, 2011 Have some faith guys. I once found a box in a shed with roughly 1500 Atari games in it, (I think some of them were foreign). I'm going to sell them as soon as I make a list and take pictures, but I'm a little busy with today being Casimir Pulaski Day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jetset Posted March 7, 2011 Share Posted March 7, 2011 Assuming falsehood, what's the motivation? Enlighten me. Are you seriously asking that? Money. You've been around a few years. how many times have you seen some new member pop up with some rarities with some story about how they were discovered, and I want to sell but don't know what they're worth yadayadayada... I'm just surprised there hasn't been at least three "PM Sent" responses. I'll wager his inbox is stuffed already. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crazy Climber Posted March 7, 2011 Share Posted March 7, 2011 Bullshit... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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