Super Rare Atari 2700 Found At California Thrift Store

[tremoloman2006]

Hell of a find! Made a nice profit as well:

 

http://kotaku.com/super-rare-atari-2700-found-at-california-thrift-store-1797394693

 

[high voltage]

Very nice.

[BassGuitari]

Such an interesting design. You can clearly see where the case designs--and even controller designs--of the Atari 5200 and Sears Video Arcade II were descended from.

Take a Video Arcade II, give it wireless controllers, and put it in a 5200-style case, and that's the 2700.

[4Ks]

Too bad it doesn't have the controllers. From what the article says, they were supposed to be wireless radio transmitters with a combination joystick and paddle. Apparently they (and subsequently the entire console) were scrapped because there was no way to prevent the radio signals from interfering with other nearby electronics.

[spacecadet]

And he turned around and flipped it. Blah.

[Wyluli Wolf]

Wow! What a find. Something like that would kill me because I'd be torn between selling it or keeping it. I'm such an Atari nerd I think I would end up cleaning it up all purty and keeping it on display in my game room. Yeah, definitely.

[DrSidneyZweibel]

And he turned around and flipped it. Blah.

soon as I saw that I wanted to punch him.

[Shawn]

And he turned around and flipped it. Blah.

 

I would have done the same thing. If it doesn't mean anything to you that is free money. Lots of it.

[spacecadet]

 

I would have done the same thing. If it doesn't mean anything to you that is free money. Lots of it.

 

It just sits wrong with me. I can't really adequately explain why. It's not about profiting, although I will say that I just don't understand the mentality that values money over all else. I'd much rather have a rare item; to me that's more valuable. Lots of people have $3,000, but only a few people in the world have Atari 2700's. There's no indication on his Reddit thread that this guy is hurting for cash.

 

I guess the counter to that is whether that means I would pay someone $3,000 right now to buy their 2700, and the answer to that is probably no... but if you gave me one basically for free, I definitely would not turn around and immediately sell it. I'd rather have it than not.

[BassGuitari]

I dunno, I'd probably take the cash, and here's why:

1. I could do a lot with $3,000.

2. Being able to say I own an Atari 2700 isn't worth $3,000 to me. Because that's really the extent of its value: bragging rights. I don't need a 2700 to play 2600 carts when I've got a dozen pieces of hardware that run Atari 2600 games just as well. There's no reason, to me, to keep a $3,000 piece of hardware lying around when it's completely redundant. And even the bragging rights angle might be dubious--If I owned an Atari 2700, how many people here would actually give a shit? And why should it matter to me either way? It doesn't affect my life. Hell, a collector friend of mine owns one of the frickin' Kee Games prototype consoles (eat your heart out, 2700) and I don't even think about it.

3. For the most part I'm only interested in stuff people could have actually gotten back in the day. In stores, mail-order, whatever. The definitive original experience, as personal, subjective, and varied as that is. It's why I'm not too interested in homebrews (excellent though many of them are, and I do have several), PAL stuff (wouldn't have seen it in my area), or, say, unreleased prototype consoles.

[Supergun]

I kind of agree with you. Prototype hardware is mostly worthless junk to me. The only one that ever drew my interest was the Sega Neptune; but only because of the 32X accessory hassles involved. Had it been officially released, I would have it. But it wasn't. So be it. History cannot be changed or rewritten.

[Good_Times]

$3000 for a $30 obsolete lump? Seems like a no-brainer.

[Mephitblue]

If I had stumbled on it, I would have flipped it as well.

[+davidcalgary29]

And at least it ended up in the hands of someone who really wanted it. Wouldn't it be worse if it ended up back in someone's attic, collecting dust for another three decades?

[Atari PAC-MAN Fan]

ALL HAIL THE MIGHTY ATARI 2700!!!

 

Such a damn shame that it was never released to public.

[0078265317]

Cool. Better is to just sell it. Add it to your retirement fund. No point in keeping it just to collect dust.

[Rom Collector]

I was going to say "why doesn't this happen to me". But then I remembered I found a Millipede loaner cart in a Redwood City thrift store about 1999. I almost hit the floor when I saw it. It was in a box with a bunch of other loose carts. Probably paid a couple bucks for it. I held on to it for about 17 years, but sold it on here last year.

If I still lived near the Silicon Valley, I still would be checking those thrift stores.

[Lynxpro]

Such an interesting design. You can clearly see where the case designs--and even controller designs--of the Atari 5200 and Sears Video Arcade II were descended from.

 

Take a Video Arcade II, give it wireless controllers, and put it in a 5200-style case, and that's the 2700.

 

Not surprising since Dan Kramer worked on all 3 projects.

[phattyboombatty]

I am happily surprised and astonished.

 

I live on the border of Oceanside and Vista, CA (for over a year now), and I have been telling myself to hit up these thrift stores for months. When I saw this thread, I was telling myself, "I just bet that 2700 was discovered around here..."

 

Wow! What a find.

 

EDIT: The article was published on my birthday, no less.

Edited August 12, 2017 by phattyboombatty

[+wongojack]

Cool story. I kind of agree with @spacecadet. I can get $3000 other ways.

 

I probably would have either:

1) Traded it on here for some other cool rare stuff that is more useful that I don't already have

2) Donated it to the same video game museum referenced in that article - maybe they would have given me a free lifetime membership or something.

[HP Atari King of Michigan]

What a find! That's definitely something you don't see often!

[Rareusgold]

I think what that 2700 sold for was a joke and was Way Undervalued. You will never see one go for that low again. It is a true piece of history and not all people buy for bragging rights. Some buy it because they truely love the history and admire the incredible technology that went into something like a 2700! These will be viewed as the Honus Wagner of Video games in the future.

 

If a coin or a baseball card was one of 10 or 12 it would be worth $1,000,000+! Even Pokémon cards and magic cards are going for $25,000+! And those are cardboard!

 

In ten years Atari 2700's will trade hands in the $20,000+ range!

Edited August 14, 2017 by Rareusgold