+bfstats Posted September 18, 2003 Share Posted September 18, 2003 I remember Kiddie City. Still had 2600 titles into the early 90's here in the Baltimore area. Here's some more: Kings Toy Barn Kay-Bee Murphy's Harmony Hut Toys R Us Video Concepts Sound Waves (they even had the Mystique titles) Games & Gadgets BEST Products (NOT Best Buy) Greetings & Readings Now Playing Bamburgers Home Entertainment Sears Montgomery Ward Drug Fair K-Mart Video Heaven Camelot Music Video Today J&R Music Circus World Electronics Boutique Record & Tape Collector ...and the dreaded Pleasant Valley Video. I purchased at least one 2600 game from every one of these stores between 1981 and 1991. Never realized how many stores there were (27) until this topic made me go back and count. But 1982 was the best: White Marsh Mall had 14 stores selling Atari at the same time. That much competition made for some great price wars. Those were the days! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inky Posted September 18, 2003 Share Posted September 18, 2003 I remember when the Sears Store opened near where I grew up. I thought it was wierd having a one level mall, with 2 level department stores. Oh the fun I had playing theAtari display. Then a few years later, Toys R Us open. I remember buying Missle Command with my paper route money. Then the shock of having to pay TAX on it. I was $1 shy. Fortunately my older sister spotted me the dollar. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mindfield Posted September 19, 2003 Share Posted September 19, 2003 Here's a pic inside Toys "R" Us ca. 1982 I found on Corbis a while back when I was looking for decent pics of Nolan Bushnell. I figure it's gotta be around '82 'cos there's a 5200 display in the foreground and an Atari 800 and Commodore VIC-20 behind; no XL or C64 in sight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tailGator Posted September 19, 2003 Share Posted September 19, 2003 Awesome picture! My, how the mighty has fallen... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mindfield Posted September 19, 2003 Share Posted September 19, 2003 Anyone know what those boxes are directly behind the 5200? I've never seen those before. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Godzilla Posted September 19, 2003 Share Posted September 19, 2003 That's the vid-lid system cases, I recognize the logo from old ads in EG magazine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foxglove9 Posted September 20, 2003 Share Posted September 20, 2003 Wow, that Toys R Us pic brought back lots of memories! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Csonicgo Posted September 20, 2003 Share Posted September 20, 2003 those are some cool looking ping pong paddles.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Agent57 Posted September 21, 2003 Share Posted September 21, 2003 Mindfield: That pic is awesome, almost brought a tear to my eye. If anyone has any more pics like that, POST 'EM! I remember being with my parents when they bought me a 2600 in Hess' (PA) - this was WAY back, like in '79, when only the original 8 titles were available. Sigh, I remember it like it was yesterday... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AtariDude Posted September 22, 2003 Share Posted September 22, 2003 I can remember getting 2600 games at Sears, Toys R Us, and Kay-Bee. There were also some mom and pop stores that I can remember that used to carry 2600 games in the day and I can even remember some repair shops that fixed non-working Atari 2600s although I never entered to get a cost. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gulag picture radio Posted September 22, 2003 Share Posted September 22, 2003 Wow. I haven't thought about this in a while... In Chicago (or more specifically the suburb that I grew up in - Berwyn), we had more or less the same stores to buy from that folks have mentioned here. Boy was I surprised to see that anyone else in the world has heard of Murphy's! My 2600 was first prize in a local contest, and that was already pretty close to the crash. It was pretty easy to find games for under $10 at Zayre (.88 each for God's sake...), Child World, and Toys R Us. Before I won the Atari I would play endlessly at stores like Musicland (they had all three systems set up in kiosks), Sears (eventually down to .99 each), and JC Penny. Another spot was Marshal Fields in downtown Chicago. they used to have a really elaborate toy department (lots of foreign toys and other really expensive stuff - no surprise) with all of the systems represented. I recall being there when an M Network representative was doing in-store demos. this also reminds me once of being at Carson Pirie Scott (mind you, we never could afford to actually BUY anything at these fancy stores...) when Vectrex was being premiered. They weren't for sale yet, but they had a company representative demoing it. I thought it was the coolest thing back then... and not much has changed. We also had some mom & pop stores carrying Atari stuff. the weirdest was "Jim's Stamps & Coins" who got into the murky world of being a toy dealer. He was kind of creepy, but in the late 80's he still had used carts in his window that you couldn't get anywhere else - and they were $3 with tax. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thetick1 Posted January 28, 2018 Share Posted January 28, 2018 (edited) Sears Kmart Jamesway Ames Montgomery Wards Boscovs North Central Digital Systems (local business that now just does business printers) Edited January 28, 2018 by thetick1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bohoki Posted January 28, 2018 Share Posted January 28, 2018 my k-mart burned up last october i remember buying games and transformers there they used to have a cafeteria in the middle they also had a little caesars for a while inside it was on its last legs when it burned roof leaks and the exterior was collapsing and fenced off another weird store i remember was called "consumers" they had neat stuff i got a tripletapedeck boombox and devastator there but it was weird they had somethings but you had to order anything you really wanted but stuff came in quick like 3 days "the good guys" was a neat store for electronics i bought my atari lynx there and my walkman there was a store called "toy and model" i do not think they did video games but thats where i got my rc-10 and constant upgrades our toys-r-us still stands i remember my parents buying the 2600 there and my sega genesis also a clothing store called MERVINS used to have a little toy area my bro bought hordak slime while i was getting gi joes cant remember them ever having video games Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rom Collector Posted January 28, 2018 Share Posted January 28, 2018 Gemco Clark Drugs Sears Probably Toys R Us, K Mart Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Place Logo Here Posted January 28, 2018 Share Posted January 28, 2018 Aside from a Montgomey Wards in Fort Collins, CO, all of mine were from stores in the northern suburbs of Cincinnati: primarily Service Merchandise, VanLeunens and Swallens. Also had a couple from Shillito's, which didn't carry games for long and I only had these because my Mom had an employee discount there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+sramirez2008 Posted January 28, 2018 Share Posted January 28, 2018 (edited) Anyone remember Korvettes? I used to get my Mego action figures from there, and Micronauts too. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E._J._Korvette Edited January 28, 2018 by sramirez2008 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kyle Posted January 28, 2018 Share Posted January 28, 2018 (edited) In the late 80s I Purchased Atari games at Kay Bee Toys and Roses department store Edited January 28, 2018 by kyle Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turbo-Torch Posted January 28, 2018 Share Posted January 28, 2018 A list of places that didn't sell 2600 games would probably be shorter. I bought games from... Zayre Venture K-Mart Wards Sears J.C. Penny Service Merchandise Tepes Riss Toys R Us Kaybee Child's World Goldblatts L.S. Ayers Camelot Music Playback Ribordy Drugs Harvey's Drug store Save More grocery store Last place would have been Big Lots in the early 90s. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atari Dogs Posted January 29, 2018 Share Posted January 29, 2018 Aside from a Montgomey Wards in Fort Collins, CO, all of mine were from stores in the northern suburbs of Cincinnati: primarily Service Merchandise, VanLeunens and Swallens. Also had a couple from Shillito's, which didn't carry games for long and I only had these because my Mom had an employee discount there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atarifan88 Posted January 29, 2018 Share Posted January 29, 2018 I'll never forget going to K-Mart and seeing one of these: It made going to the store fun as a kid! 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+cvga Posted January 29, 2018 Share Posted January 29, 2018 I know I responded to this thread back in 2003 but did anyone else purchase games from a store named 3D? It stood for Danner's Discount Department Store and I believe they had locations in Indiana, Illinois and Michigan. I would describe it as a poor-man's version of K-mart (keep in mind that K-marts were a little nicer back then). They went out of business around 1985/1986 but we lived near one as a kid and I purchased lots of train supplies, music and video games there. I still remember being super excited when we purchased Pitfall. My brother won a huge 6 foot or 8 foot plush bunny in a raffle around Easter there in 1980. After they closed, a Big Lots moved in and I worked there for a year while I was in high school. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hizzy Posted January 29, 2018 Share Posted January 29, 2018 I loved Ames. They had so much cool stuff https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ames_(store) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kennetzel Posted January 29, 2018 Share Posted January 29, 2018 Hills Two Guys Twin Fair Sattler's Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+sramirez2008 Posted January 30, 2018 Share Posted January 30, 2018 I loved Ames. They had so much cool stuff https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ames_(store) Nice! We had an Ames in my college town (New Paltz, N.Y.). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+KaeruYojimbo Posted January 30, 2018 Share Posted January 30, 2018 A couple of places I remember buying games that haven't been mentioned so far are Otasco and Ardan. Ardan put out catalogs and I would basically memorize the toy and games sections. In the 90's, after the Otasco closed, that building became home to a short-lived flea market where I found some Atari and Coleco stuff. The only other store I definitely remember buying video games from was Wilson's, which later became Service Merchandise. We probably got some games at the two main toy stores in town at the time though, Toys By Roy and Toys Plus. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.