Where Did You Get Your First Atari 2600 and What Type Was it?

[20ohm20]

Christmas 1979 - Sears Heavy Sixer purchased at a Sears in Santa Fe Springs, CA (still have the receipt). I still have it CIB, sans the original controllers that came with it.

 

It came with Target Fun and I also received Gunslinger, Tank Plus, Pong Sports and a couple Atari titles I don't recall at the moment. Later the following year I bought my first two Activision games, Boxing and Fishing Debry, from the same Sears.

[cecrowder]

It was Christmas of '78. I was home on leave from W. Germany. I went to the Service Merchandise and bought some stereo equipment and on a whim, bought a Atari VCS. It was the original woodgrain, 6 switch version. What I didn't learn until later was that it was one of the preproduction prototypes that lacked the channel selector switch. It only worked on channel 3. I had it until 2003 and was fully functional with all the original parts, box and manuals along with receipt. Even the switches were original and functional. Alas, it and the large number of carts for it were stolen.

[MrMaddog]

Christmas of '82 and 4 switch woodgrain... A few months before my mom took me to a video game expo at a local department store where a section was made into an arcade, but with game consoles and home computers. I played Pitfall on an Intelivision and wanted to play Donkey Kong on the CV but someone else was. So wjhen she asked me what games I would like to have those were the two.

 

On Christmas morning I wanted to open up the big box so badly but my mom made me open a smaller one first. I unwrapped it and it was Donkey Kong for the 2600. I said, "But I don't have a..." and THEN I ripped open the big box like a fiend!

[Urchin]

I got my first and so far only Atari 2600 (it's a Vader model) in October 2013 with one joystick and 26 loose carts including Pac-Man, Ms. Pac-Man, Donkey Kong, Combat, Warlords, Pitfall, Defender, Space Invaders, Mario Bros., Frogger, Q Bert, Missile Command, Grand Prix, Asteroids and some lesser known carts. I got it from a man on Craigslist who had it sitting in his basement for 15 years and had been trying to sell it on Craigslist for $15. It works great! The only issue was that the switchbox that came with the console went bad, but thanks to the information on this site I got the inexpensive F-Connector to RCA adapter and I have a clearer picture than I ever have! I'm actually only nineteen, so I didn't grow up with Atari and it was referred to occasionally in a positive light by my aunts and uncles and as a running joke amongst my peers when talking about modern games of inferior quality, but I've purchased a 2600 and I've been extremely happy about the purchase for the last few months!

[Mulletino]

My dad got our first Atari in a local second hand shop in the early 80s with Space Invaders and Combat. It was a family Xmas present and I subsequently always spent my birthday and xmas money on games for it in the January Sales.

 

The picture below not only shows that very (light sixer) console in the early 80s (with my Grandad and some other relatives) but also shows it as the very same unit is now, in the case we bought for it in the 80s. The boxed games are all the ones I bought as a kid (since this photo they're in protective cases) and the loose ones are games I picked up at a market for a few quid in the 90s, they were in a hard plastic carry case (not sure where that is now though). The one with no end label is a 32-in-1 cart.

 

 

One of the original controller survived, the other was a replacement due to my cousins' heavy handed joystick use, they snapped the plastic ring. Just need to put the rubber covers back on. Have the original paddles plus a spare set I got from a Flea Market last year oh and not pictured is another spare controller I got from a Market. The Quickshot 2 I think was a remnant of my ZX Spectrum days.

 

I brought the console and case back as checked in luggage in a cardboard box with my two boxed Sega Megadrive earlier this year when i visited my family. I haven't had a chance to test it yet, but IIRC the power supply was a bit iffy, may have to replace it with a local Australian one as it's a UK one at present.

Edited April 27, 2016 by Mulletino

[retrogoober]

Mine was a 4 switcher bought off ebay with 16 games for $22 last year:) This is my revenge.

 

You see, as a child, on XMas my parents went to a local Roses, whereby the redneck salesman there talked them OUT of the Atari 2600 I so wanted, and talked them into the Odyssey 2, yup you guessed it, cause it had a KEYBOARD and was therefore EDUMCATIONAL:) I had to listen to that painful story on XMas morning and act like I was happy:)

 

Mother f#@##n Santa man..........................

Edited April 28, 2016 by retrogoober

[The Mr. Video]

Mine was a 2600 jr. that I bought off ebay in 2012. It came with the system itself (of course), the power supply, an RF cable along with a female rca to male coaxial converter, 4 games, and a 3rd party joystick. It was one of the game systems that got me into retro games along with the NES.

[Jason_Atari]

Got a vader in 1982 from Kmart, came boxed with space invaders, asteroids, missile command and berzerk

[Talneharus]

Picked up my Vader from a garage sale in '05 for 5 bucks! It came with 20 games all the hook ups and 3 joysticks! Speaking of which my son just got into Atari. So yesterday on his 10th B-day we got him a 2600 jr. off Ebay. He's stoked!! Nothing like sharing retro goodness with the next generation

[Brain Breaker]

Birthday, 1981. 4-switch woody with Combat. I'm pretty sure my mother would have gotten it at the big Toys R Us in Totowa, NJ. That's where I bought most of my 2600 and Colecovision games back then, as they always seemed to have the largest selection around.

I started gaming early, with one of the first Sears Tele-Games pong units that my father got in the mid '70s, when I was very young. I had started playing the VCS around '78/'79 at a neighbor's house and became increasingly obsessed with getting one. The problem was that I already had an Apple II+ in my house (and tons of games) that roughly cost what some people were paying for their cars at the time, so it was kind of tough to convince dear old mom that I needed this "toy" game console as well, but I eventually wore her down. One of the first games I got along with it was Fishing Derby. My family had a summer lake house, and my mother loved fishing and sailing, so it was one of the only video games she ever had any interest in playing. Playing that game with her is one of my fondest childhood memories...

Luckily, I still have photographic evidence of that fateful day:

[fultonbot]

Christmas 1981. 4 Switch. Also got a Breakout cartridge. My dad bought it from Gemco in Culver City, Ca. The video output was broken, and we had to stand in a long line on December 26th 1981 to get it replaced. The next day my brother and I went and bought Asteroids, Tennis and Dragster. The next week we picked-up Laser Blast. Missile Command and Adventure soon followed. Glorious time.

[Professor Gull]

My first Atari was the 4 switch VCS that my parents won in a church auction I want to say 1982. It came with 10 games and a driving controller and paddles. I thought the original box had 2 sticks in it as well. Sadly when moving it was lost to the ages probably around 1985 but we had the games still so in 1986 we bought a Atari JR. Then shortly there after in 1987 I bought a Atari 7800 with paper route money and gave the Jr to my sister. Sadly my 7800 from day one never played 2600 games but I still have that one. The Jr is gone where ever my sister put it along with all the 2600 games I had.

 

Then last year in winter I picked up a Sears Tele Games in the box as seen below here. Well worth the $10 from the pawn shop. And I picked up Target fun and the system manual so just waiting for some sears paddles to complete it.

[Christophero Sly]

4-Switch Woody. Christmas 1980.

[+sramirez2008]

June, 2008. 4-Switch Woody from eBay for $40.00. Came with 40 games, 2 joysticks and hookups.

 

On another note, $5??? That is stupid ridiculous, Talneharus! (filled with jealousy and envy)

[Talneharus]

Yeah I got lucky! I think they thought it was broken cause the switch box was FUBAR haha. Luckily I had a spare ^.^ Also the poor plastic shell had one corner broke off.

[+KaeruYojimbo]

Light sixer at a garage sale in '97. In the box with joysticks, paddles and a few games but no power supply. Two bucks.

[+save2600]

Had to be 1982 and was a "Vader" model. Begged for one the year before and settled on getting a Radio Shack TV Scoreboard for Christmas instead. Had fun with that of course, but by the time Donkey Kong was released, HAD to have the 2600 then!

[BassGuitari]

December 1999. I was 14 and got it from a kid in Salt Lake City I'd been IMing and emailing with (can't remember how we ever got in touch), who went by the name Dade. I'd wanted one since reading about retro systems in an issue of EGM in 1997, and along the way got an Odyssey 2 and an Intellivision.

It was a 4-switch woody with two joysticks; I'm honestly not sure if I still have them. I had to get a power supply from Radio Shack, but I happened to have an old switchbox from the Commodore 64 my parents had when I was rand I got nine games and a set of paddles from a friend who found them tucked in the back of a closet at his house (they must have been his dad's or something); I still have them, except two that I traded/sold and later reacquired. The games were Combat, Pac-Man, Breakout, Super Breakout, Warlords, MASH, Chopper Command, Donkey Kong (torn-off end label), and Space Invaders (red label).

[+TwentySixHundred]

Got one from my mum for my 5th Birthday in 1988 and was the first system i could call my own, was a very happy lad. Woke up in the morning and un-wraped a 2600Jr long rainbow, along with 3 games. Midnight Magic, Realsports Boxing and Missile Command. Midnight and realsports boxing were actually CIB and knowing me i probably threw the boxes away as soon as i got the game out . As for Missile Command i used to play it at my mums friends house prior and have a sneaking suspicion thats where she got the cart from as it was pre owned and she knew i loved the game. I was kinda lucky though and never a spoiled child but only a few months later of owning the system my mother got a new boyfriend and long story short he gave me around 30 odd games. Great memories

[Andromeda Stardust]

eBay, 2012, 4-switch woodgrain. My first post on Atariage was related to a video issue I was having caused by a failing filter cap. A couple parts from Radio Shack and good as new.

 

EDIT: thought I sensed Dejavu...

 

 

Been retro collecting starting with NES in 2003. My first Atari came 9 years later: After years of Atari bashing due to the proported inferior graphics compared to NES, I decided to see what the fuss was and I bought one in May 2012. Woodgrain 4-switch. Ebay lot + 8 games, and another lot with 16. It's been a great ride, buying up classic carts on the cheap, as well as brand new homebrews from the AA store.

[Nutsy Doodleheimer]

The first 2600 was the family console which was bought in Christmas 1981. It was a VCS Light Sixer. I was a baby at tbe time but didn't really start playing it until around 1985-1986.

 

The first one that I bought for myself was a Vader unit, I bought it in 2011 and soon after I got a four switch woody. In 2014 I got a VCS Heavy Sixer and another Light Sixer then in 2015 I got a Sears Heavy Sixer and a Junior.

[atariactionman]

Me and my brothers asked our mum and dad for one for xmas 1980. On xmas day morning we opened all our prezzies but alas no atari. Then after dinner they surprised us with a very large parcel and a very small one. I was given the small one to open first. Imagine my surprise when it was space invaders! Of course we then knew what the big parcel was. Thus began my 36 year love affair with the atari 2600. From the humble beginings of just combat and space invaders me and my brothers were transfixed and my poor parents and grandma hardly ever got to watch telly that xmas. The day after boxing day me and my brother bought adventure air-sea battle and outlaw. And the collection just grew and grew. It was the 2600 which led me to buy my first computer, the 800xl.

And now at 48yrs old, I'm still atari crazy and now have 7 2600 units including a heavy sixer, which I adore, and 5 8-bit computers as well as an st and a lynx. Oh and 2 7800s. And of course hundreds of games. I am still collecting to this day. I think the best thing ive got lately is the harmony cart. The best thing ever invented for the 2600.

Long live Atari........

[gauauu]

My Dad brought home a sixer one day in 1981 or so (no idea if it was heavy or light, it took a lightning strike and we threw it away!). As a young kid, I remember thinking the key on Adventure was a horse, and couldn't figure out why it was stuck to me.

[retrobits]

A light sixer for christmas in '79 bundled with Combat. Also got Circus Atari, Pac Man, Asteroids, and Space Invaders at the same time.

[AceHart]

My older brother had a VCS since early days, but it stopped working was was put into a closet for years with the intention of fixing it, which never happened. It was a wood-grain - don't remember whether it was a 6- or 4- switch model.

So then I got my the 2600 Jr. when it was brand new in 1986. Still got it; I've replaced the board recently and so I still use it.

 

And for what its worth, I got my 7800 this week on May 2, 2016.

Back in the '80's a friend of mine had his 7800 serviced, and then got it back with another copy of Pole Position II. He gave it to me, but when I realized I couldn't play it on my 2600, I returned it. A pity - I could be using it now. But that would be a long time to hold onto a game before ever using it.