E.T. Landfill copies

[Wayco Wirz]

Hi all, 

I am new to Atari collecting and was curious if all landfill versions of E.T. were sold yet.  I saw an article that mentioned half were on EBay and the others may be sold at another time. Did that happen?

 

Does anyone here own a copy?  I have loved that story my entire life and would LOVE to track down a copy if anyone knows someone. 
 

Really appreciate any insights on the whole story of this too. I have seen to documentary but knows there’s more to it!  Thanks!

W

[Tavi]

As far as I have heard, the initial batch of 881 cartridges were the only ones sold so far. Lewandowski had stated he still has another 297 E.T cartridges, but no immediate plans to sell them.

You do see the landfill cartridges listed on eBay very rarely, but the prices are pretty outrageous (but I suppose a worldwide supply of just 881 will do that?)

Hopefully the other 297 will be released at some point and people can have a second shot at getting a bit of Atari history for a reasonable price.
 

[keithbk]

Just thought up a scene (The Simpsons):

 

Marge: "Oh, Homer, what did you buy now?"

Homer: "It's a landfill copy of E.T. for my Atari 2600. And it only cost me 120 bucks!"

Marge: "Homer, we don't have that kind of money right now!"

Homer rips open the package and looks inside. A flood of cockroaches pours out of the box and fills the house, carrying Homer and March out the front door and into the lawn.

Homer: "Doh!"

[Wayco Wirz]

Appreciate the info guys. Maybe someone here can ask the guy/people that have the extra 297 copies available and see if they will sell some?   I tried to find the contact info but could not.  Thanks 

 

Edited December 17, 2019 by Wayco Wirz

[toneinblack]

There's some on american eBay but the prices are just daft.

[Tavi]

8 minutes ago, toneinblack said:

There's some on american eBay but the prices are just daft.

Indeed.

From what I recall, most cartridges were going for around 100-150$ at auction. Looking on eBay, the cheapest seems to be around 600$ currently.

A little too rich for my blood. It certainly would be interesting to own one, but not at anywhere near those prices.

[DragonGrafx-16]

So... I wonder if this means some shady people would just rough up some of the ones that actually sold back in the day and sell them as if they were landfill copies.

[Philflound]

Well, you'll have to add garbage/landfill smell and then seal them with certificate that the ones offered has.

[masschamber]

e.t. atari 2600, new sealed 1 dollar or best offer,

e.t. atari 2600 crushed in a land fill, reeks of garbage 800 dollars firm

[Philflound]

What hasn't been mentioned is that ET wasn't the only game to get pulled from the landfill and offered for sale. I would never purchase any of these. They are garbage, though people believe nostalgic garbage. Back during Mickey Mantle rookie, Topps double printed the card and had so many cases unsold they dumped them in the Hudson River. Maybe we should take an underwater expedition to NYC and see if we can find them and sell blobs of stuck together cardboard (if they're not disintegrated by now) for millions of dollars.

[+D Train]

22 minutes ago, Philflound said:

Back during Mickey Mantle rookie, Topps double printed the card and had so many cases unsold they dumped them in the Hudson River.

I believe that the actual story is that in those days cards were printed in series throughout the season; they were not all printed and packaged ahead of time.  As a rookie, mickey mantle did not have a card at the beginning of the season, but was included in later series (not sure if it was the last series of the year, or just a later one), which was typical of the way the process worked at that time.  However, demand for baseball cards dropped as the season progressed; maybe people did not know that the cards were issued in series; maybe people did not know that rookies were included later in the year; people certainly did not value baseball cards or complete sets then as now.  The upshot, however, was that topps overproduced, and late season production usually accumulated as overstock.  The overstock was probably incinerated but Topps was located in brooklyn in those days, so if the cards were dumped somewhere, it is more likely in NY harbor rather than off the hudson.

[Wayco Wirz]

Wow, didn’t know that about the Mantle!

Well if anyone does know someone with an ET from the dump, I’m paying good money for it. ??
It’s.  worth it to me to own a piece of this history. Ideally I’d like to buy one of those they’re holding still though. Thanks. 

Edited December 18, 2019 by Wayco Wirz

[+KaeruYojimbo]

2 hours ago, D Train said:

I believe that the actual story is that in those days cards were printed in series throughout the season; they were not all printed and packaged ahead of time.  As a rookie, mickey mantle did not have a card at the beginning of the season, but was included in later series (not sure if it was the last series of the year, or just a later one), which was typical of the way the process worked at that time.  However, demand for baseball cards dropped as the season progressed; maybe people did not know that the cards were issued in series; maybe people did not know that rookies were included later in the year; people certainly did not value baseball cards or complete sets then as now.  The upshot, however, was that topps overproduced, and late season production usually accumulated as overstock.  The overstock was probably incinerated but Topps was located in brooklyn in those days, so if the cards were dumped somewhere, it is more likely in NY harbor rather than off the hudson.

The '51 Bowman Mantle was part of the second (and final) series that year. Mantle's first Topps card was in the '52 set. I don't know what series it was part of, but it's card #311 of 407, so definitely a later one. Maybe the second-to-last.

[jhd]

On 12/17/2019 at 7:43 PM, Philflound said:

Well, you'll have to add garbage/landfill smell and then seal them with certificate that the ones offered has.

 

What would a "landfill" cartridge without the certificate of authenticity be worth?  More than a standard ET cartridge?