Common threshold

[Opry99er]

Every system has one..... The stage at which collecting games becomes more than a passive interest. You can pick up a certain number of games for a buck to two bucks, but there is a threshold... a point at which you have run out of $2 games and your collecting world changes from buying boxes of commons to seeking out specific cartridges and spending an increasing amount of money per acquisition to fill the gaps.

 

What is the VCS threshold? I currently have 80 2600 games (close to as many as I had as a kid) and I have a pending deal for another 10. I have nice games, but nothing I would consider uncommon.

 

Is 120 the line? 150? I've mostly collected for the TI-99/4A over the years and the threshold there is a different beast.... there is no stability in the /4A market.

 

With the Atari though.... I have blown through 80 games without a hiccup, and there seem to be another 80 that are just as cheap!!

 

Thoughts?

[reklen]

I have like 40 ps3 games, a system I've barely touched. I dont' think there is a threshold. I prefer Atari stuff, but by looking for it, now I have huge Sega, Nintendo, Turbo grafx, Vectrex, Intellivision and more collection. I think its like anything else, if you like one system, you'd probably like another.

[Osgeld]

going to get some flack here

 

but I only have maybe at tops a half dozen 2600 games, which is the current max of easily found games I actually find fun

 

a handfull of others I have not stumbled across and the rest are pretty shit ... so not dedicating a shrine to 2600 anytime soon though 10 years ago I wouldnt use one to prop up a wobbly table so its grown on me

 

(we had coleco, apple and then sega during my yute)

 

its a collector vs gamer internal battle so that threshold will be different for everyone

Edited June 15, 2018 by Osgeld

[Opry99er]

I guess maybe I wasn't as clear in my initial post as I wanted to be. Apologies for that.

 

Essentially, I'm wondering how long one can collect common cartridges at dirt cheap prices before getting into the fringe stuff and eventually into the unobtainium?

 

The threshold for the Intellivision is probably about 80% of the games before reaching the "Collectibles" stage (Diner, DigDug, etc.) Then there are the king daddies like Spiker, Stadium Mud Buggies, Congo Bongo, and the Learning Fun cartridges that make up the final 5% of collectible insanity.

 

The Atari has a much larger library of games.... Roughly 450 or so. What is the "Common threshold" in that library when you stop collecting bargain bin carts and get into some dough? The "common" in that term refers to the ubiquitous nature of our typical common cartridges we find at every swap meet or the Craigslist lot "box of sh** out of grandma's attic."

Edited June 15, 2018 by Opry99er

[accousticguitar]

R1, R2, and R3 games are fairly cheap. Once you hit R4 the price starts going up. iirc that is around 200 games.

[BassGuitari]

Essentially, I'm wondering how long one can collect common cartridges at dirt cheap prices before getting into the fringe stuff and eventually into the unobtainium?

 

At the risk of stating the obvious, "how long" kinda depends on you. But you can probably get to at least 125-150-odd games (conservatively) before you kind of start to consider your purchases a little more.

 

The real crisis comes when you've even knocked out most of the uncommon and "common rare" titles and most of what's left are the the 8s, 9s, and 10s.

 

I think its like anything else, if you like one system, you'd probably like another.

It's a slippery, slippery slope.

Edited June 15, 2018 by BassGuitari

[louisg]

For me, I think it was a couple dozen cheapies and then I started ordering more expensive 2600 games. I really wanted to get the games I had discovered in the 00s like HERO, Frostbite or Beamrider, and those weren't cheap. It wasn't because the cheap games had been exhausted, but because I wanted to snag these particular games. I'm still missing a few $2 games I want.

[awhite2600]

I collect for lots of systems. I'm not a super serious collector. Virtually everything I have was obtained in the wild. I have close to 300 Atari 2600 carts. The only duplicates are a couple of label variations. I've been collecting since the '80s.

 

I think I hit a point around the 150 to 200 mark on the 2600 where it became more difficulty to find something I needed from the common stuff that's out there. That's also when I found that I went from the $2 to $5 per cart up to $10+ per cart.

 

Not sure if this answers the OP's original question. Just my own personal view.

[GeekDragon]

I have over 200 2600 games and it is now starting t get to that point for me. I know there are 100's more and I will never get them all, but I keep seeing the same $1 games over and over.

[Swami]

For me, it is where you can buy lots of 10-15 games for $30 and there is only 2-4 you dont have or you are paying $8 a piece because you already have 3-5 copies of several games. I think you are close, as it is probably a little over 170 and things start to become more difficult for the budget-minded cart collector. At this point, the only way to avoid paying hundreds of dollars for the next 30 carts is to buy one of those monster lots for $300 and sell the 80% you already have or become a thrift shopping junkie.

[+Spriggy]

I have over 200 2600 games and it is now starting t get to that point for me. I know there are 100's more and I will never get them all, but I keep seeing the same $1 games over and over.

 

Likewise. I'm a few off 200. I'd say around 160-170 was my threshold. I've been using the AA top 100 as the main player guide, as well as favs from bitd, and of course lubetube reviews. Also playing in the HSC reveals some personal gems. That allowed me to have a bigger want list.

[up2knowgood]

Depends on you. Don't have as many games as you, but I also was more interested in the fringe stuff so probably spent more on it.

 

Call me stupid, but I bought every label variation of Space Invaders I have come across just because I like to display them.

[+KaeruYojimbo]

I cruised to 200 games in a couple years of collecting as a broke-ass college student in the 90's. Then things changed from every stack of 2600 games having something I didn't have to games I needed being few and far between. In the 20 years since, my collection has grown to around 360 games including 30 or so homebrews. So consider this another vote for "around 200 games" as the point where things start getting harder to find and more expensive.

Edited June 20, 2018 by KaeruYojimbo

[Opry99er]

Great stuff, guys... thank you all for your input!

[Swami]

You wonder how there can be over 500 games, until you find out just how many obscure games like Dice Puzzle and I want my mommy are out there.

[GeekDragon]

It's like every other "collectable". When you start collecting, its really easy to get items, because of all the common stuff. But once you get the common stuff, then that's where you start running into trouble.

[jhd]

But you can probably get to at least 125-150-odd games (conservatively) before you kind of start to consider your purchases a little more.

 

The real crisis comes when you've even knocked out most of the uncommon and "common rare" titles and most of what's left are the the 8s, 9s, and 10s.

 

I started collecting Atari 2600 games back way in about 1990, when they were very cheap and still ubiquitous at local garage sales and such like.

 

I have about 130 to 140 games in my collection. Other than a small handful of online trades, everything was purchased locally (including some NIB games at retail in the early-1990s). I have a few R6 games (e.g. Gremlins, River Raid II). I am not actively adding to my collection, though I will still buy a cheap game that I do not have if I find one at a thrift shop or flea market. I am not a completest; I have no interest in sports games or titles aimed at children.

[digdugnate]

i think maybe i have 30-40 carts- i just started collecting about 6 months ago.

 

my collection mostly just consists of games that i really want to play, i'm not super interested in completing a collection of any sort lol. i do like snagging cib copies of the games i really like, tho.

[Opry99er]

Im not really focused on completing a collection... mainly I asked because I blow through 2600 games. I mean, there are only a few that I go back to over and over, and I'm always looking for well-balanced single player games with replay value that I can improve on by playing. Outside of Activision, there are really only a few that I keep coming back to time and time again.

 

 

 

Asteroids (although I've really gotten as good as I can get)

Berserk

Donkey Kong

Galaxian

Missile Command

Super Breakout

Turmoil

Worm War I

 

 

 

Of my 80 games, only these 8 (and maybe 5 or 6 of my beloved Activision titles) keep me coming back to the sticks.