ZippyRedPlumber Posted November 18, 2021 Share Posted November 18, 2021 On 9/16/2003 at 12:48 AM, Rob Mitchell said: Big Lots (1997) Wait, Big Lots sold 2600 games in 1997? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrekMD Posted November 18, 2021 Share Posted November 18, 2021 Hmm, I lived in Puerto Rico then. Some of the stores I got games from were: - The New York Department Store - Barker's - B&B - Woolworth's - Kay-Bee Toys - Sears Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atariboy2600 Posted November 18, 2021 Share Posted November 18, 2021 Woolworth's 14th St - NYC Union Square, from the 1970s, 1980s until its shutdown in October of 1997. GOD I missed it so much every Atari, Coleco, Intellivision NES and Sega from that store 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+D Train Posted November 18, 2021 Share Posted November 18, 2021 11 hours ago, Atariboy2600 said: Woolworth's 14th St ah, I miss that woolworth's. I bought a lot of mickey mouse watches there. Kept losing them and needed to replace them. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kermit73 Posted November 18, 2021 Share Posted November 18, 2021 I recall getting cartridges at Toys R Us, K-Mart, and Jafco. Two specific games I remember getting at Toys R Us are Night Driver and Pac-man. Night Driver was the 4th game I got (after Combat, Air Sea Battle, and Asteroids when I got the console on my 9th birthday). We chose Night Driver because I wanted a paddle game. I recall getting Pac-man not too long after it was released. The poor quality of the port didn't matter to me at the time - I was just happy to have Pac-man at home. I remember that K-Mart locations had a large kiosk where you could load up and play/demo several different games. I always asked my mom to shop at the K-Mart which didn't set a time limit on their kiosk. I specifically remember playing the 2600 version of Donkey Kong on as a demo in Jafco and then talking my mom into buying the cartridge. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+sramirez2008 Posted November 18, 2021 Share Posted November 18, 2021 5 hours ago, D Train said: ah, I miss that woolworth's. I bought a lot of mickey mouse watches there. Kept losing them and needed to replace them. Not Atari related, but in addition to this Woolworth's, I miss the old Tower Records (4th & Broadway). Literally floors of records BITD. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+bcombee Posted November 19, 2021 Share Posted November 19, 2021 On 11/17/2021 at 6:17 PM, ZippyRedPlumber said: Wait, Big Lots sold 2600 games in 1997? Yep - they were part of a big Atari inventory liquidation in the mid-90s along with Radio Shack. They had a bunch of Atari Corp 2600 and 7800 cartridges. See this old thread on the rec.games.video.classic newsgroup from back then: https://groups.google.com/g/rec.games.video.classic/c/CJ0actTPQAs/m/g6pMJvqRQ2sJ 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atari_Bill Posted November 19, 2021 Share Posted November 19, 2021 15 hours ago, bcombee said: Yep - they were part of a big Atari inventory liquidation in the mid-90s along with Radio Shack. They had a bunch of Atari Corp 2600 and 7800 cartridges. See this old thread on the rec.games.video.classic newsgroup from back then: https://groups.google.com/g/rec.games.video.classic/c/CJ0actTPQAs/m/g6pMJvqRQ2sJ Thanks for the link to rec.games.video.classic. I was a big follower back in the day while on dial up Prodigy service LOL. I was just looking at many of my posts from the late 90s. Cool memories of when I picked up some of cooler items. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flojomojo Posted November 19, 2021 Share Posted November 19, 2021 Boscov’s had a great electronics section for the time, and lots of games. I remember when they were blowing out Times Sinclair 1000 and Vectrex sets for $40 each. I wanted both. My parents only wanted me to have the educational product. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zzip Posted November 19, 2021 Share Posted November 19, 2021 2 hours ago, Flojomojo said: Boscov’s had a great electronics section for the time, and lots of games. I remember when they were blowing out Times Sinclair 1000 and Vectrex sets for $40 each. I wanted both. My parents only wanted me to have the educational product. So you got the Vectrex? :) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keatah Posted November 20, 2021 Share Posted November 20, 2021 (edited) Sears TurnStyle Venture Precision Video K-Mart Toys'R'Us Minnesota Fats Osco Drugs Dispensa's Castle of Toys Kay-Bee Edited November 20, 2021 by Keatah Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ctelkin19 Posted November 20, 2021 Share Posted November 20, 2021 Wow, this is a relic of a thread! Des Moines Iowa Richman Gordman (Had around 6 Atari 2600's so you could try before you buy) Arden's or Ardan's? Sears (Had an arcade too with Zaxxon, Congo Bongo & others I can't recall) JC Penney K-Mart Montgomery Wards Service Merchandise Turnstyle Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crazy Climber Posted November 20, 2021 Share Posted November 20, 2021 Pretty much all the games I bought myself came from the children's palace bargain bin. I got games as Birthday/etc gifts, mostly Parker bros stuff that I'm assuming came from Sears since my parents bought EVERYTHING there back in the day. I remember winning a school raffle ($20) and immediately buying Berzerk from K mart (along with a bag of doritos and 6 pack of soda) The last new game I bought was snoopy. Me and a buddy took a bus to Kaybee toys. He bought little Nemo dream master (I think?) for $40, I bought snoopy 2600 for $5 ? Shortly after that I made the NES switch IIRC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
schuwalker Posted November 20, 2021 Share Posted November 20, 2021 I'll tie some purchases with some of the stores mentioned. All Chicagoland area... Sears: Atari 2600 system itself came from here, majority of the Telegames releases, Chopper Command Kmart: Donkey Kong, Smurfs, Berzerk, Mattel Air Raiders (this was in Aurora, Il.) Zayre: Swordquest Fire & Earthworld Jewel/Osco: Mrs. Pacman Dominicks Foods: Defender Montgomery Wards: Deadly Duck Woolco: Checkers, Star Raiders Gaylords Department Store: Pacman (this was also in Aurora, Il.) Mcdades Catalog House: Venture Hornsbys: Seaquest (this was in Yorkville Il.) K&B Toys: Name this Game, Firefly (lol) Toys by Rizzi: Imagic games: Riddle of the Sphinx, Firefighter and Trick shot (anybody else recall this toy store?) Toys r Us: Empire Strikes Back, Keystone Kapers Camelot Music Store: this is where most of my Activision titles came from..., Frankenstein's Monster and Frontline I'm not sure if I've ever purchased a game through JC Penny. Not even sure if the stores I came across had a videogame section. Service Merchandise is another one I don't think I purchased anything till the Sega Master System days. It's incredible how I remember some of these after ALL these years Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keatah Posted November 20, 2021 Share Posted November 20, 2021 (edited) Want to add Montgomery Wards Zayre Dominicks I usually don't remember what games I got where except for a few highly anticipated ones. I was amassing carts like nobody's business and they all seemed to blur together. One after another after another. I also don't recall getting any carts or consoles from JC Penny. Don't recall if they carried the stuff or not. Likely not because, if they did, I'm sure I'd have been right there in the thick of it. At lease the one in Woodfield didn't. Edited November 20, 2021 by Keatah Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pacman000 Posted November 21, 2021 Share Posted November 21, 2021 White’s Home & Auto, a regional chain which sold to hardware & auto goods stores. Carried more than hardware tho, like WesternAuto they sold appliances & the like. Most stores were franchises. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RJ Posted November 22, 2021 Share Posted November 22, 2021 (edited) I remember Target starting to close out Atari carts for $6, my story of almost getting to know a female Atari fan is on episode 6 of the Atari 2600GBG podcast at 20:24. During the crash at this same Target store I remember waist-high stacks of Donkey Kong, Basketball, & Video Olympics at .50 per cart. Edited November 22, 2021 by RJ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+cvga Posted November 23, 2021 Share Posted November 23, 2021 I saw an article today in the Detroit Free Press stating that the last Kmart in Michigan has closed. Evidently there are only 6 stores remaining in the whole chain. I remember buying music (Def Leppard Pyromania), my first computer (Commodore Vic 20) and several Atari games (Space War and more) at our local Kmart growing up. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+frankodragon Posted November 23, 2021 Share Posted November 23, 2021 I remember getting a few NES titles as gifts from the defunct Phar-Mor store. That was before all the Walmarts started moving in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
classicgamesnut Posted November 23, 2021 Share Posted November 23, 2021 I visited many of the stores already listed here, like Toys-R-Us, Kay-Bee, Sears, Kmart... Some others I didn't see listed (or missed) that had a good Atari selection were Broadway, Thrifty Drug, Gemco, and Sav-On Drugs. My best experience EVER was in 1985 at Pamida, the closest thing to a big box store in tiny Jackson Hole, Wyoming. They were blowing out their Atari stock at ALL titles for $1.99 each. The five bucks I had landed me Circus Atari and Star Raiders, which included the keypad controller at that price...hog heaven! Larry 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+cvga Posted November 24, 2021 Share Posted November 24, 2021 On 11/22/2021 at 10:49 PM, frankodragon said: I remember getting a few NES titles as gifts from the defunct Phar-Mor store. That was before all the Walmarts started moving in. I had almost forgotten about Phar-Mor. I don't remember buying any games there but my wife loved that store. 23 hours ago, classicgamesnut said: My best experience EVER was in 1985 at Pamida, the closest thing to a big box store in tiny Jackson Hole, Wyoming. They were blowing out their Atari stock at ALL titles for $1.99 each. The five bucks I had landed me Circus Atari and Star Raiders, which included the keypad controller at that price...hog heaven! I wish I had taken more advantage of the closeouts. I was just looking at my Star Raiders with a 99 cent price tag from Revco! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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