Buying a ColecoVision

[DemonoidTentacle]

So I've had my eye out for a ColecoVision for a while now, but now I'm ready for a full commitment to buy one, my main reason is because there's a few homebrew games that I would like to try out and support.

 

The reason I haven't just gone out and gotten one is because there don't seem to be any in my local area / state. Flea markets, online noticeboards, garage sales, nothing.

 

So I decide to give in to eBay. But there aren't any on eBay at the moment. Not even any completed listings now that they've shorted the timeframe down on completed listings.

 

My main question is what kind of money am I looking at as a fair price to get a console, and what are the main problems with the system that I should be aware of?

[Mirage]

You need to work on your search-fu. There's a mess of them on ebay right now.

[Mirage]

eBay Auction -- Item Number: 170723485939

 

eBay Auction -- Item Number: 130603634317

 

eBay Auction -- Item Number: 300627644250

 

eBay Auction -- Item Number: 110781432604

 

eBay Auction -- Item Number: 220900239882

 

eBay Auction -- Item Number: 300627668296

 

eBay Auction -- Item Number: 350508820820

 

That's just in the second page of the 8 page search. There's no shortage of CV's on ebay.

[Mirage]

Here's some completed listings... also no shortage of those:

 

eBay Auction -- Item Number: 360396945270

 

eBay Auction -- Item Number: 260894067244

 

eBay Auction -- Item Number: 320794385470

 

eBay Auction -- Item Number: 390365260533

 

eBay Auction -- Item Number: 300626670981

 

eBay Auction -- Item Number: 230702716923

 

eBay Auction -- Item Number: 290633753507

 

eBay Auction -- Item Number: 140635794642

 

eBay Auction -- Item Number: 110775765043

 

eBay Auction -- Item Number: 110775744528

 

eBay Auction -- Item Number: 120811548730

 

eBay Auction -- Item Number: 320793776110

 

eBay Auction -- Item Number: 120811530694

 

That's just the ones on the first 2 pages of the completed items search... there's plenty more, but you get the idea.

 

How on earth did you think there were no CV's on ebay, live or completed?

[+bennybingo]

Check here with Yurkie....he has been selling refurbished Colecovisions with A/V mods, pause button, BIOS skip and upgraded controllers. I have a refurb that he did and it is amazing!!!!

 

http://www.atariage.com/forums/topic/172279-colecovision-hardware-for-sale/page__st__75__p__2410867__hl__colecovision__fromsearch__1#entry2410867

[cOLeCoHiTMan]

I agree... Get one from Yurkie if he has any.. I got burned on eBay. Looked nice.. but it only went in one direction with the controller. Opened up.. Inch of "something" inside.

[DemonoidTentacle]

You need to work on your search-fu. There's a mess of them on ebay right now.

 

I'm a douche and hadn't clicked international.

[Mirage]

You need to work on your search-fu. There's a mess of them on ebay right now.

 

I'm a douche and hadn't clicked international.

 

LOL... I didn't even notice you are in Australia, I'm the douche LOL... well, if you're looking at local-only, I can't help you there. I imagine they'd be harder to find there than in the US.

[DemonoidTentacle]

You need to work on your search-fu. There's a mess of them on ebay right now.

 

I'm a douche and hadn't clicked international.

 

LOL... I didn't even notice you are in Australia, I'm the douche LOL... well, if you're looking at local-only, I can't help you there. I imagine they'd be harder to find there than in the US.

 

I would prefer to buy a PAL system, there's one in Germany at the moment.

[+bennybingo]

I didn't notice the Australia address either. I'm not sure if Yurkie handles PAL systems or if he ships internationally...

[NIAD]

Indeed, a system refurbished and modified by Yurkie would BE YOUR BEST ROUTE TO TAKE as you will be guarenteed to receive a perfectly working system and controllers... whereas going the eBAY or other route could lead to a lot of headaches and heartbreak not to mention a drain on the old pocket book if the system doesn't work properly. You can also save some money by not including all the extra modifications that Yurkie provides if money is an issue.

 

As far as a PAL system, I am not exactly sure if the Composite Video Mod that Yurkie provides is compatible with the CBS PAL ColecoVision and hopefully Yurkie can chim in with an answer here that I'm sure would benefit many other people who frequent these forums.

 

As far as finding a system on eBAY Australia, I haven't noticed any systems show up there in a while, but I might not have been paying close enough attention... I mostly see loose and CBS boxed games on there as well as on the eBAY sites that handle European countries.

 

Anyhow, good luck with the hunt and welcome aboard.

[leroyneiman]

Yurkie is your best bet. You will pay more on shipping, but it will be headache-free.

[+5-11under]

Unfortunately, the PAL units are a different animal, as far as video mods go.

[coleconut]

 

My main question is what kind of money am I looking at as a fair price to get a console, and what are the main problems with the system that I should be aware of?

 

Cant comment on how much you might pay for a unit in Aus, likely a little more than the N. American auctions. But main problems, and they are discussed in other threads here, are as follows:

Power switch original dielectric grease dries out and causes screen "noise" garbled graphics or worse. Repair, replacement necessary. Desoldering required.

Joysticks become unresponsive, often a cleaning helps but if the foils break, they need replacement, i.e. desoldering, replacement

Joystick ports IC's fry, symptom is inserting a game then the game starts without prompting for skill level and/or on-screen character moves in one direction with no control over it. Replacement necessary, more desoldering, replacement

Power connectors loosen up a bit, then even an otherwise good power supply doesnt fit tightly enough and moving the connector results in intermittent connection problems.

There are other less common problems that are ultimately fixable but sometimes hard to trace and harder to fix.

[NIAD]

Here's a PAL CV that just showed up on eBAY Global with the seller located in Australia!!! Not sure if it was listed in one of the posts above as I didn't check all of them.

 

eBay Auction -- Item Number: 170735432411

 

 

Good luck!

[Mark_Coleco]

Looks like those CBS pal units had better power supplys- vented.

[NIAD]

Looks like those CBS pal units had better power supplys- vented.

Good catch their Mark! I wonder if that is a replacement Power Supply or if, indeed, that is an original to the system.

[Mark_Coleco]

Hmm, he stated a "colecovision power supply" but who knows, need a closer look at that label on it.

[retroillucid]

Looks like those CBS pal units had better power supplys- vented.

 

Canadian power supplys too

Alot much more reliable than their US bros

[Mark_Coleco]

Back in the day, I had to buy a C64 custom power supply, cause the brick died, probably over heated. Anyways the new custom power supply was a dream, nicely incased in a Vented metal case.

 

I just don't under stand why Coleco didn't sell there improved brick for us customers, where the cord extend out both sides of the adapter and vented and servicable. (not that the old bricks can't be fixed as we all know, just got to crack open the case).

[coleconut]

Back in the day, I had to buy a C64 custom power supply, cause the brick died, probably over heated. Anyways the new custom power supply was a dream, nicely incased in a Vented metal case.

 

I just don't under stand why Coleco didn't sell there improved brick for us customers, where the cord extend out both sides of the adapter and vented and servicable. (not that the old bricks can't be fixed as we all know, just got to crack open the case).

 

Might have been to just meet the UL standards vs our CSA standards, i.e. 2-prong plug vs 3-prong plug.

[DemonoidTentacle]

One has come up on eBay in australia that includes the expansion module to play 2600 games. Seeing as my 2600 is dead, that would be handy. If I decide to bid, and win the auction, I'll announce it.

[Silent Hill]

I have seen some strange looking boxed Colecovision games from Australia, they seem to come in video cases with a rounded spine?

 

I'd say the main thing to be wary of when buying a console is the controllers ~ of the four I've obtained only two work, they seem to be prone to damage over time so I would ensure that you ask any seller that they've tested the jostick component in all directions and BOTH fire buttons as some games actually require that both fire buttons work (Looping for example).

 

Best of luck!