People destroying old hardware

[carlsson]

I much prefer the Atari joystick candle holder by the UK (?) designer Mixko from 2007.

 

http://www.wonderlandblog.com/wonderland/2007/05/atari_candlehol.html

 

Someone got inspired and made what I understand is an entire candle of the same shape!

https://kescha66.wordpress.com/2015/03/14/atari-2600-joystick-candle/

[HoshiChiri]

For me, this sort of thing is kind of bothersome, unless the crafter points out somewhere that it's made of non-functioning gear. Because let's face it, there's less people with the know-how and drive to repair this stuff then there is broken gear. Some use is way better than a trash can.

 

I don't like it when the items where working, though... because there's enough broken gear out there for people to source for this stuff! Why destroy more of a dwindling pile of functional vintage equipment when there's lots of already broken stuff to use?

 

It's only a minor irk, though- I'm not gonna lose any sleep over the fate of a couple zappers. I also agree that, while these Zapper/Advantage lamps are much better than most, this stuff is almost always really tacky. The one I hated is in a sharpie project book at work... They spray-painted a grey brick Game Boy solid mint green (including all buttons and the screen) and wrote "don't hate the player" on it with a black sharpie. It's ugly, it's stupid, and I bet they didn't even check to see if it worked before they ruined it.

[thadsilverfox]

Hell is hot (not cool)

These lamps are ugly

Old NES stuff is finite but hardly rare

These are my opinions

You must not have kids based on these comments...This is just my opinion.

[Flojomojo]

The one I hated is in a sharpie project book at work... They spray-painted a grey brick Game Boy solid mint green (including all buttons and the screen) and wrote "don't hate the player" on it with a black sharpie. It's ugly, it's stupid, and I bet they didn't even check to see if it worked before they ruined it.

I saw that book by this guy at the craft shop the other day, other parts of it were neat, but the GameBoy wasn't great. There are lots of custom game consoles that look great. I agree, this wasn't one of them.

 

You must not have kids based on these comments...This is just my opinion.

Not that it's any of your business, but you're wrong. And we have much better taste than you. :-P

[Flojomojo]

https://www.etsy.com/listing/237925098/recycled-sony-playstation-1-ps1-retro?

 

[icemanxp300]

 

I don't like it when the items where working, though... because there's enough broken gear out there for people to source for this stuff! Why destroy more of a dwindling pile of functional vintage equipment when there's lots of already broken stuff to use?

 

Even if they used working gear your thoughts don't workin a $$ way. Sure there are tons of broken stuff out there but unless the people making these buy the broken stuff how do you expect them to use it. That brings us back to the value of these items. If I was going to make one of these would I pay $15 to buy a broken one or use one of my working ones sitting in a box that I would only profit $5 on selling. The decision is quite easy for me.

 

Unfortunately the value on much of this stuff is so low it means people use what they got whether it is working or not.

[Omega-TI]

Different strokes for different folks. It's not exactly my kind of decor, but hey, if a guy can actually make a few bucks off his idea and give people who like this stuff some enjoyment, great. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder and art has always been subjective.

 

I know a lot of light pens and other gadgets only worked with the old CRT technology. Do those guns actually work with LED or LCD screens? If not, I imagine they would be pretty useless on 99 % of currently in-use TV's, so making them into lamps is better than dumping them like so many E.T. cartridges.

[+save2600]

Do those guns actually work with LED or LCD screens?

 

 

No they don't, so yep! Pretty worthless with all but gamers with CRT's still.

[carlsson]

I think the PS1 clocks are beautiful, and given that people tend to throw PS1 consoles after you, it doesn't seem to hurt to repurpose one with a bad laser.

[HoshiChiri]

 

Even if they used working gear your thoughts don't workin a $$ way. Sure there are tons of broken stuff out there but unless the people making these buy the broken stuff how do you expect them to use it. That brings us back to the value of these items. If I was going to make one of these would I pay $15 to buy a broken one or use one of my working ones sitting in a box that I would only profit $5 on selling. The decision is quite easy for me.

 

Unfortunately the value on much of this stuff is so low it means people use what they got whether it is working or not.

 

You're assuming the creators of this stuff are hardcore retro collectors who are trying to get greater value out of unsold/traded items from said collections. That's not really the case- these people are usually crafters first, looking through thrift stores/flea markets/ebay for items to 'upcycle'. If they're into gaming enough to intentionally seek out broken or damaged things for their projects, that's great. That's a good use of otherwise trash-bound items, and even helps keep up the value of functional gear for those who want/need it.

 

Most of the time though, these are people buying 'videogame things' with no idea of what exactly they have, just an idea of how to hack it up into something else. Ever see the show Flea Market Flip? They typically have only the most basic idea what they're buying. I saw one where a couple guys got an old chop table with a big blade attached to it. They bolted the blade down and turned it into a desk... only to find out from a guy when they went to sell it that it was a particularly rare piece of farm equipment. They've doubled their money if they hadn't permanently altered it. I'm not sure they were able to sell it at all.

 

Like I said, it's a minor irk- none of this stuff is so rare and historic that a few kitschy décor pieces are going to hurt any of us collectors. Doesn't mean I wouldn't feel a pang if I saw some guy who'd gutted out a heavy sixer to make a 'retrogame' desk organizer.

[Osgeld]

you might have a point if you start seeing channel F's hacked up to be a Ipod dock, meanwhile my local retro store has a 5 gallon bucket of broken zappers he cant get rid of

 

and yea those people might have doubled their money, to one guy on the planet that A) knows what such a thing is B) actually wants it and C) is willing to pay for it

Edited May 12, 2016 by Osgeld

[Keatah]

It pisses us off when we see somebody (usually prepubescent kids) using a sledgehammer on a working heavy sixer just to get views.

That's the real destruction. This artsy fartsy stuff is just repurposing.

[Keatah]

I thought this would be applauded by many here. I've learned lately that owning and playing real hardware is for collectors only and that real gamers go digital, shedding the materialistic selfishness of physical ownership of games. Therefore, destruction or mangling of capitalist goods like that lamp should be promoted!

That's right. The best way to play the games is by staying entirely in the digital domain. Far away from analog inaccuracies!

[icemanxp300]

 

You're assuming the creators of this stuff are hardcore retro collectors who are trying to get greater value out of unsold/traded items from said collections.

 

No I was simply stating whether it works or not is irrelevant is all. I was saying I doubt these people went out of their way to buy advantage sticks and zappers and used what they had. I could be wrong though.

[0078265317]

https://www.etsy.com/search?q=nintendo+lamp

 

The rob one is cool.

[EdwardK]

Atleast it's not this.

http://www.geeky-gadgets.com/the-sequel-to-the-thermocromic-urinal-not-21-05-2011/

[Omega-TI]

Atleast it's not this.

http://www.geeky-gadgets.com/the-sequel-to-the-thermocromic-urinal-not-21-05-2011/

 

That is just SO WRONG!

[0078265317]

 

That is just SO WRONG!

 

Ditto

[EdwardK]

Agreed, but it is mostly Madden carts, so it's not a HUGE loss

[icemanxp300]

That link will not load for me.....

[EdwardK]

That link will not load for me.....

 

Double checked the link so i could investigate the issue you were having and I couldn't load it either this time. I'm guessing their server went down or they're performing an update. Anyhow, here's a link to a story about the same thing on another website. http://www.geek.com/games/urinal-made-of-snes-games-lets-you-show-nintendo-how-you-really-feel-1579890/

[icemanxp300]

LOL that is sooo wrong.

[HoshiChiri]

 

No I was simply stating whether it works or not is irrelevant is all. I was saying I doubt these people went out of their way to buy advantage sticks and zappers and used what they had. I could be wrong though.

 

It's a little of both. They aren't going out of their way to buy specific things, but they aren't likely using stuff that they already owned. Usually it's 'dig around a flea market and see what's there.' In other words, these are the guys keeping the booths that want crazy prices (like 10 bucks a zapper) going because they just see materials & have no idea what the going rate is. There's a reason those are $75-100 lamps!

[teh_lurv]

Worst I've seen was a vendor at Magfest about 6-7 years ago that was selling NES cart shells re-purposed into clocks. The vendor had about a dozen re-purposed Battletoads & Super Mario Bros 3 each. The games at that time were IIRC $5-10 to buy, so the seller probably killed a bunch of working games to make $60 clocks.

 

I guess the silver lining in rising retro game prices is that it forces the arts & craft people to stick to the common-as-dirt & unwanted items.

Edited May 13, 2016 by teh_lurv

[+GoldenWheels]

Stuff like Madden carts end up in landfills anyway....if that happens enough maybe my Madden 92 will go up in value?