NEEDED Atari 2600 cart shells! I'm out!

[+batari]

I need Atari 2600 cart shells to build Harmony carts. Looking for lots of 25 or more, ideally.

 

I am OUT! If I don't get a response in a few days, Harmony will no longer be available. Really, this is a lame reason to suspend Harmony sales but so far nobody has wanted to sell me any! So I really have no choice.

 

I pay $0.50 each for Atari-branded shells with the movable dust door. I can use any label style (even silver.)

 

I pay $1 each for Atari-branded, red- or silver labeled shells without the dust door (these have slots under the label near the insertion end.

 

The shells must be intact in good condition, free of markings, scuffs, or scratches. I pay shipping costs.

 

Or... if you can guarantee the quality of your shells (meaning you send me the shells, I examine them and then pay you only for the ones I can actually use) then I will double my offer. If you are confident with the quality of your shells, this option may suit you.

 

But either way, please let me know. I cannot make any more Harmony carts until someone can sell me some.

[Algus]

Now I feel kind of bad. Did I get the last Harmony cart lol?

 

I've got a few dupes around here but I'm not sure what I did with them as I stored them separately from my main library. I'm inclined to donate them to a worthy cause if you can cover shipping but I'll have to figure out what I did with them. Although maybe a dollar for Combat is pretty good, haha! Anyway, I'll be off work in a couple of days and I can let you know. I don't think I have more than 5-6 though.

[+iesposta]

Bump for help.

I, too, only have around 10 duplicates.

[+batari]

Now I feel kind of bad. Did I get the last Harmony cart lol?

 

I've got a few dupes around here but I'm not sure what I did with them as I stored them separately from my main library. I'm inclined to donate them to a worthy cause if you can cover shipping but I'll have to figure out what I did with them. Although maybe a dollar for Combat is pretty good, haha! Anyway, I'll be off work in a couple of days and I can let you know. I don't think I have more than 5-6 though.

I literally used my last shell today! I had exactly enough to get the week's orders out.

 

Don't worry about 5-6 carts. At least not right now. My desperate plea did get me a PM from someone with a number of carts to sell me. Fingers crossed! But sooner or later I'm gonna have a mold made so we don't have to scrounge for shells anymore.

[ntcmpjg]

I can give you one it was DOA to my house

[Rick Weis]

PM coming

 

Rick

[Andromeda Stardust]

But sooner or later I'm gonna have a mold made so we don't have to scrounge for shells anymore.

This really needs to be done ASAP. Makes me feel guilty for buying all those fridge magnets at the AA store. Maybe you and Al could work out a deal somehow? There exists similar designs for NES cart shells already. Have you given thought to the plastics that will be used for possible future production runs? It needs not be black. Clear Atari shells (think Star Castle) would be awesome:

http://www.retrousb....&products_id=40

 

Also bear in mind that it isn't absolutely necessary to use a sliding cart door for repro shells. That may drive down the costs of having an injection mold made (less parts = less money). Most 3rd party games and many late 1st party releases didn't use sliding doors at all...

Edited April 1, 2013 by stardust4ever

[AtariBrian]

I would be in favor of as close to the original in terms of color and plastic and I am a fan of having the dust cover doors . I like the 7800 style ones . The pcb's get so dirty being exposed . Just my 2 cents

[+batari]

I have a cad model of a new shell about 80% ready - it is a two-piece design instead of 3-4 as the older shells are, and corrects some of the flaws like the slots under the label, and I put the screw holes on the back (not under the label.) Finishing the cad model isn't the problem, though, the problem has always been raising the capital to get a mold made (I don't know how much exactly, but I fear it's a lot.)

 

It's probably about time I got some quotes just to get a feel for the ballpark.

 

Thanks for the response on shells - I think I'm good for the moment, I have a few deals going!

[Andromeda Stardust]

Any chance you could post some of your CAD screenshots?

 

FYI, I kinda got hooked on the look of transparent NES shells for homebrew / repros. It's fun staring at the PCB through the cart shells. Once you've got the molds made, you could do small to medium sized batches in whatever color plastic your heart desires for fairly cheap per cart. It would be cool, but you'd need to tape or paint over the EPROM windows on repro chips if they were exposed. Harmony would look slick a translucent green cart, just saying...

[Algus]

I really like the look of the shells that they use at Retro USB for NES repros. Pity they have discontinued most of their lineup. I never did get that NWC repro I wanted.

[Andromeda Stardust]

I really like the look of the shells that they use at Retro USB for NES repros. Pity they have discontinued most of their lineup. I never did get that NWC repro I wanted.

They were back in stock recently, but they sold like hotcakes, likely due to the rush to buy buy buy. NWC is not being discontinued, though:

http://www.nintendoage.com/forum/messageview.cfm?catid=7&threadid=92557&forumid=1

[shadow460]

I have 19 duplicates in the box right now. There are 10 Pac-Man, 6 Combat, 2 Asteroids, and one very dead Street Racer. If you wanna buy 'em for Harmony shells, just say the word. I'll check 'em myself for physical damage.

Edited April 2, 2013 by shadow460

[Tickled_Pink]

Is there any way of using a 3D printing service? Would that be cheaper than creating a mold?

Edited April 2, 2013 by Tickled_Pink

[CPUWIZ]

Is there any way of using a 3D printing service? Would that be cheaper than creating a mold?

 

I believe he already bought a 3D printer and was experimenting with cart case designs.

[Andromeda Stardust]

Is there any way of using a 3D printing service? Would that be cheaper than creating a mold?

An injection mold holds a startup cost of around 10,000, but the production cost per part is probably $1-$2. About a thousand homebrew carts would need to be sold at a $10 profit margin per cart before you could break even on the mold price. If Albert started using the repro shells for homebrew games in the AA store, it would definitely help you break even a lot sooner.

 

Commercial 3D Printing costs about $1.50 per cubic centimeter with zero discount for volume orders. To produce something the size of an Atari cartridge would cost probably around ~$50 USD. Definitely not economical at any scale. SLS Nylon is a strong material that flexes without breakage, but it is porous and attracts dirt. Thicker walls would result in a sturdier cart but also cost more. I believe at the moment, SLS Nylon is the only 3D printed material suitably strong enough to be used for game cartridges. However, the surface is a rather rough matte material that is usually covered in white powder, and would require sanding/painting and other surface prepping prior to being used as a cartridge. I don't think most gamers would want white nylon powder from an unfinished cart in their cartridge ports.

 

More info about 3D printing:

http://shapeways.com

The nylon material I referenced is called "Strong and Flexible" on their site. Batari, if you wanted, you could sign up at Shapeways and upload your CAD designs in *.STL format; then you or other customers could order cart samples. It won't be economical though. They also have other non-porous (but much weaker) materials which would be suitable for mold casting. Casting would be cheaper than the initial investment of tooling an injection mold, but casting is a very laborious slow process. The transparent Star Castle carts were casted using a homemade mold, and it took nearly a year of work to finish the production run of carts from the kickstarter project.

 

Batari, if you do create a Harmony cart using a production run of brand new repro shells, I will probably buy an extra to support your business, especially if it's an attractive color. You should do a poll to see if there is interest in additional colors besides Atari black. I would definitely vote for a transparent cart shell. Once the molds are produced, you could do small runs using pretty much any color plastic you want to without too much overhead.

Edited April 2, 2013 by stardust4ever

[Algus]

I'd be down for buying a second cartridge in a different colored shell as well. And if it helps make that option available to all AA carts, I'd be inclined to donate to that cause.

[Cebus Capucinis]

This really needs to be done ASAP. Makes me feel guilty for buying all those fridge magnets at the AA store.

 

Don't be. I made those from a lot of carts that weren't even good enough for homebrew donors. Those carts were vomit-inducing, some painted over, some sanded down horribly, some warped slightly in ways not easily noticeable, etc. We made those fridge magnet carts from carts that would not be serviceable otherwise.