99er Posted February 28, 2020 Share Posted February 28, 2020 On 2/13/2020 at 10:26 AM, Ksarul said: The TI was not sold in this configuration. There were a lot of surplus keyboards for sale through Radio Shack after TI pulled out of the market (Radio Shack also sold surplus internal power supplies). The price couldn't be beat and the keyboards were high quality. A lot of folks bought a few of them for their systems and changed the keyboard out when they started giving issues (or in many cases, as the Mitsumi keyboards were the best available keyboard back then, just to get the most comfortable keyboard of all in their console). The Mitsumis later degraded to the point where they lost their advantage, but the ones with the ALPS or Stackpole switches usually survived long-term. ^^ Yep. That's how my original TI ended up that way. I was just a kid and I couldn't afford to buy a new console when my keyboard went bad. The only replacements were the white/beige ones. I didn't care- I was just glad that my computer worked again! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Asmusr Posted February 28, 2020 Share Posted February 28, 2020 1 hour ago, Asmusr said: Espial is not an arcade game i remember from BITD, but from my first glance at this video I think they could have done much better with the 9918A graphics. Using the 3 red or green shades, for instance, instead of making everything one color. Maybe they could have used a color scheme like this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omega-TI Posted February 28, 2020 Author Share Posted February 28, 2020 Maybe someone could hack the game to make it more presentable? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Asmusr Posted February 28, 2020 Share Posted February 28, 2020 2 minutes ago, --- Ω --- said: Maybe someone could hack the game to make it more presentable? Not me, and I'm not really happy with my own proposal either. Maybe blue would work better? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omega-TI Posted February 28, 2020 Author Share Posted February 28, 2020 It's above my pay grade, so count me out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+hloberg Posted February 28, 2020 Share Posted February 28, 2020 2 hours ago, Asmusr said: Espial is not an arcade game i remember from BITD, but from my first glance at this video I think they could have done much better with the 9918A graphics. Using the 3 red or green shades, for instance, instead of making everything one color. one reason they may went with just one color was contrast. When ever I play Demon Attack on the TI99 I lose the demons birds in the moon due to lack of contrast. I find it very annoying. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Asmusr Posted February 28, 2020 Share Posted February 28, 2020 1 hour ago, Asmusr said: Not me, and I'm not really happy with my own proposal either. Maybe blue would work better? Blue and green actually work a lot better. But I will stop since this is the wrong thread. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+sixersfan105 Posted February 29, 2020 Share Posted February 29, 2020 19 hours ago, pixelpedant said: Copy of Espial in pristine condition, with manual and warranty card (in good condition) and box (in bad condition) went up here. Zany starting bid ($225), but you never know what people will pay these days. No surprise, I guess, if it goes for that or more. That's actually not a bad price, considering a cart + manual listing went for this a month or so ago (confirmed with the seller of the other listing that it actually sold for this and wasn't a case of taking a lower best offer). Curious if this auction will sell at this price. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fabrice montupet Posted February 29, 2020 Share Posted February 29, 2020 8 hours ago, sixersfan105 said: That's actually not a bad price, considering a cart + manual listing went for this a month or so ago (confirmed with the seller of the other listing that it actually sold for this and wasn't a case of taking a lower best offer). Curious if this auction will sell at this price. I'm not agree, It's a really overvalued price. If an another Espial game was sold for a hight price, that doesn't mean that this was the normal price and because it was sold it became the reference value. It's a stupid speculation. By my side I find this game not a must have. Bad srolling, wrong colors choices, poor design sprites. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pixelpedant Posted February 29, 2020 Share Posted February 29, 2020 Back to the topic of transplant keyboards in EBay TI-99s briefly, what keyboard is this, in this TI-99 listing? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atrax27407 Posted February 29, 2020 Share Posted February 29, 2020 If anyone is dying to play ESPIAL, and has a cartridge board that will support a 32K EPROM, I can burn you a copy for $7 shipped. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Ksarul Posted February 29, 2020 Share Posted February 29, 2020 6 hours ago, pixelpedant said: Back to the topic of transplant keyboards in EBay TI-99s briefly, what keyboard is this, in this TI-99 listing? It looks like one of the somewhat uncommon Black Mitsumi keyboards. . . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fonzie Posted February 29, 2020 Share Posted February 29, 2020 I have a couple of spare Mitsumi keyboards. Although the keys are not black they both a white sticker with Mitsumi on them on a brown back plate. I’d be wary. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pixelpedant Posted February 29, 2020 Share Posted February 29, 2020 So the weird lettering on those keys (with the overly tall and bizarrely spaced text) is a characteristic of some Mitsumi boards? I've seen boards identified as Mitsumi boards before, but I've never seen them with lettering in that style. Pretty ugly, to my eyes, but that's probably to an extent just based on what I'm used to looking at. Still, writing "SHIFT" in the same font, but with totally different spacing on opposite sides of the same keyboard is pretty straightforwardly awful, from a graphical design standpoint, it seems to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+sixersfan105 Posted March 1, 2020 Share Posted March 1, 2020 21 hours ago, fabrice montupet said: I'm not agree, It's a really overvalued price. If an another Espial game was sold for a hight price, that doesn't mean that this was the normal price and because it was sold it became the reference value. It's a stupid speculation. That's your opinion. I'm just going off of what the game has sold for lately. You may find the price obscene, but if that's what the market dictates, that's the current value...the last Espial before the one that sold for $225 including cart and manual wound up selling for "only" $108.75 for cart-only, so that's a little more reasonable I suppose - that was back in November 2019. This is a hard to find game for Atari 2600, too, and it often sells for $150+ cart-only for that system. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+hloberg Posted March 1, 2020 Share Posted March 1, 2020 12 hours ago, sixersfan105 said: That's your opinion. I'm just going off of what the game has sold for lately. You may find the price obscene, but if that's what the market dictates, that's the current value...the last Espial before the one that sold for $225 including cart and manual wound up selling for "only" $108.75 for cart-only, so that's a little more reasonable I suppose - that was back in November 2019. This is a hard to find game for Atari 2600, too, and it often sells for $150+ cart-only for that system. ya'll are both right. the price is obscene but that's what 'currently' some people are willing to pay. this all reminds me of the big baseball card thing of several years ago. I knew people who were paying big bucks for baseball cards and hoarding boxes and boxes of cards. prices shot up and up then the bottom dropped out. now crates of baseball cards are for sale for a few bucks. it had just turned into a speculative thing or 'trend' or to have the crowing rights to say I gotta 1966 Atlanta braves pitcher and you don't even though I have no idea who that pitcher was. my friends who were actual hard core baseball fans hated that time of speculating. now it's a thing to collect retro gaming and computers. check out all the youtube videos on the subject. this jacks up the prices till one day, it's not. then all these collectors will start dumping their store houses of old computers and the price will get back to where it should be for us hobbyist. that's not to say all the people who are currently buying retro computer and gaming are speculators but check out ebay and you'll see just how many are selling stuff they have no idea what it is at what price they last saw it for on ebay. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ti99iuc Posted March 1, 2020 Share Posted March 1, 2020 (edited) i have to say that i paid my boxed copy about $200 10 years ago or more. I wanted like new copy and i only found at that price when i had money in my pocket ? In the years i seen this game sold for all kind of prices, a friend purchased this boxed for $50 last year but also others auctions are ended for a higher price. I agree with Fabrice that it is an horrible game anyway, i can't play it for more than 5/8 minutes . I just believe that this is a collector item and i love to see it in my collection anyway only the box was sold in auction $33 ? incredible (worldwide auction) in 2015 - $200 only the cartridge without box package (Worldwide auction) in 2016 a cheaper price for a boxed one but it was not a worldwide auction, maybe this was the why the price stopped for less money. this is in January 2020 instead, no box, just the manual - (worldwide Buy-it-now) 13 hours ago, sixersfan105 said: That's your opinion. I'm just going off of what the game has sold for lately. You may find the price obscene, but if that's what the market dictates, that's the current value...the last Espial before the one that sold for $225 including cart and manual wound up selling for "only" $108.75 for cart-only, so that's a little more reasonable I suppose - that was back in November 2019. This is a hard to find game for Atari 2600, too, and it often sells for $150+ cart-only for that system. Edited March 1, 2020 by ti99iuc 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fabrice montupet Posted March 1, 2020 Share Posted March 1, 2020 (edited) Only one rule: patience. It always pays off. One day, prices will return to normal and it will be time to acquire. I have always done that since more than two decades with success. No hurry, it's just for fun ? This should not become a compulsive grabbing following the retrogaming fashion trend. Edited March 1, 2020 by fabrice montupet 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrewmacattack Posted March 1, 2020 Share Posted March 1, 2020 I have two Espial boxed, Been very lucky and paid reasonable prices for both. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ti99iuc Posted March 1, 2020 Share Posted March 1, 2020 (edited) 1 hour ago, fabrice montupet said: Only one rule: patience. It always pays off. One day, prices will return to normal and it will be time to acquire. I have always done that since more than two decades with success. No hurry, it's just for fun ? This should not become a compulsive grabbing following the retrogaming fashion trend. Well, patience is always good to have in the life but i have to say for example that at today i couldn't purchase some stuff for TI99 (because i am more poor than 10 years ago ? ) and so i needed i gave up on lot of stuff, like Dimension4, i will doubt i will have another occasion to purchase it, luckily it is in good hand here for the community anyway also there are some stuff i decided to not purchase in the past years and that had never pop-up again sold anywhere (i started to collect TI99 stuff since 1998). Probably, when one day prices will return normal and it will be the good time to acquire, that same time, will been arrived for me the time to sell my stuff also probably ? ...when we will be, like i wish, all too much older ? Edited March 1, 2020 by ti99iuc 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mehridian Sanders Posted March 2, 2020 Share Posted March 2, 2020 On 2/26/2020 at 7:49 AM, OLD CS1 said: Post pics and we can identify. In order to determine which system this Super Sketch is for. Does anyone know? or show me how to determine? Thank you kindly in advance. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+save2600 Posted March 2, 2020 Share Posted March 2, 2020 ^ Not the TI! Remember, the TI's Super Sketch plugs into the cartridge port. The example above plugs into the joystick port and in this case, would guess the C64. -edit- It is for the C64... can tell by the joystick plug; has that white rectangular dongle. Atari A8 version looks more like a regular CX-40 joystick plug. Verified by looking at current and previous eBay listings just now. Torrax in the thread below, listed the Atari version as having a long joystick plug like the C64 version, just don't see any evidence of that right now. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+OLD CS1 Posted March 2, 2020 Share Posted March 2, 2020 Not sure I can tell without the associated cartridge. It could be for the Commodore 64, Atari, or the ColecoVision (though I have not seen the CV version.) I do not see anything there which indicates for what system, but it is definitely not TI and probably not Apple. The Atari A8 Super Sketch plugs into the cartridge port as well Oh, yeah? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+arcadeshopper Posted March 2, 2020 Share Posted March 2, 2020 I'm going to go with c64 version.. 2nd guess is the atari 800 version based on this info: if you don't need it lmk 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+save2600 Posted March 2, 2020 Share Posted March 2, 2020 10 minutes ago, OLD CS1 said: Oh, yeah? My bad... both the A8 and C64 version plugs into the joystick port. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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