My collection is going to be mothballed.

[Zeus]

Sadly, as my new baby son becomes older and more mobile, I realize the importance of keeping my collection well protected from is cute little monster fingers . To protect it, I must put it away in strorage. Its sad to know that I won't see most of my collection out at the same time for 2+ years.... . Has anyone else been through a similar experience?

[Godzilla]

locking cabinet is your best friend....

[Zeus]

Good idea, however I don't have a lot of space to work with.

[Voch]

Magnetic child restraints?

 

Sorry...my friends' kids are monsters and I think about this technology a lot.

[jetset]

locking cabinet is your best friend....

 

Yes definetly. Only let the child out to eat and drink when necessary and watch his/her every move until you put the child back. Your collection will be safe.

[ATARIPITBULL]

Some of us who have kids have talked about this before, I have two little ones, my son is 2 & my daughter is 9 months and they both are all over the house. I like you had keep the bulk of my collection in those big plastic tubs to protect them, but now I am working on my Atari room which is about 5 1/2 feet wide by 9 feet long, so far I have painted the walls and laid down black and white tile, I still have to put up one wall, but when its done, the only way to my room will be one door with a lock on it.

 

[Zeus]

Good idea. After I am finished painting the house, I was considering installing shelving on the walls of the family room using L-brackets. That way I could put them out of childrens' reach, while giving myself a nice place to display them. Untill them, it will be stored in nice big metal boxes with soft foam on the inside, under lock and key.

[ATARIPITBULL]

I'm still doing some crazy shit to my Atari room, but as soon as i'm done, I will post some pictures of it here.

 

[Mindfield]

One word: Velcro.

 

No, not for the kid. For your collection. A few squares of velcro in the right (non-damageable) areas and voila! As long as they're in areas not prone to being damaged by liquid spillage, mountaineering expeditions, or attempts to play the "Peanut Butter and Jam Sandwich" game, you're safe. :-)

[Robert M]

Look at it this way...

 

You're losing easy access to the collection for a while, but in the long run you are gaining a Player 2.

 

Cheers!

[Zeus]

Just yesterday my 6m.o. son crawled up onto my ADAM computer and knocked my 6-switch off its little perch . After a little testing and recuperation, I decided it was time to change.

[NoahsMyBro]

Good idea.  After I am finished painting the house, I was considering installing shelving on the walls of the family room using L-brackets.  That way I could put them out of childrens' reach, while giving myself a nice place to display them.  Untill them, it will be stored in nice big metal boxes with soft foam on the inside, under lock and key.

 

My son is almost 3, and just this week I saw something scary.

 

My collection fills my basement, which has walls lined with heavy, dark wood shelving mounted using those slotted tracks and the L-brackets that fit into the slots. I don't know if that's what you meant.

 

Well, the other night my son was in the basement with me, running around trying to keep me from catching him and carting him to his room - it was bedtime. As he ran around in the basement, he began to reach up to try and climb the shelves, and I had this horrifying vision of him pulling the shelves down on him, raining a large part of my collection, which would be full of 'sharp and heavy', down on him, damaging the collection, but more importantly him.

 

Don't consider shelves necessarily out of harm's way. Once Nate was able to climb he's been able to get just about anywhere. And he's now to the point where he can still climb anywhere, but is now heavy enough to cause things to break/fall/collapse, and he doesn't realize that yet.

[tyranthraxus]

You are making the right choice. I would use this as an oppurtinity to

sell off some doubles or items that just don't hold your interest. Find a

good high secure shelf and keep a few display pieces and be sure to

make a grab-and-go box with a system, hook ups and fav games in

case you get the urge... and put the rest of the collection into deep

storage.

[Joe Stella]

Sadly, as my new baby son becomes older and more mobile, I realize the importance of keeping my collection well protected from is cute little monster fingers  . To protect it, I must put it away in strorage.

 

I think it's perfectly reasonable to put your son into storage until he learns better.

[CPUWIZ]

Sadly, as my new baby son becomes older and more mobile, I realize the importance of keeping my collection well protected from is cute little monster fingers  . To protect it, I must put it away in strorage.

 

I think it's perfectly reasonable to put your son into storage until he learns better.

 

[davidbrit2]

"A gun safe? Why do you need guns???"

 

"Oh, that's for my Atari games. I keep the gun under the sink with the bleach."

[donkeykong1]

[Voch]

I use barrister shelves for my collection (I took the pic with the doors open, though). Maybe there's a way to lock 'em and blacken the windows so the kid isn't tempted? The shelves are anchored to the wall pretty well.

 

Voch

[Bivotar]

I recently had to mothball my collection too. I had a setup I was really happy with. I Had a coffee table with several classic and newer systems set up. The carts were displayed in several racks of those old plastic/woodgrain video organizers. There was a built in bookcase where I kept game boxes and stacks of loose carts. I really enjoyed it.

 

I have a 1-yr old boy, but he isn't the reason I had to tub up all my stuff. My wife and I are going through a divorce and have separated. I packed up all the gaming stuff in tubs and it is now safe in my parents basement.

 

My wife moved out and I've just moved back in to the house, but I just don't have the urge to set all the stuff back up. I'm even contemplating selling off some of the rare stuff and really paring the collection down just to things and games I really enjoy.

[Buck]

Perfect Solution...

Cuttle Cart 2. When it is produced that is. I havent pulled my carts out for a very long time. It wont save you on your other systems, but 2600/7800 will be safe!

Be sure to buy a Cuttle Cart 2 when they come out. Its great! (Yes I am a beta tester - and no, mine is not for sale)

 

Buck (Voluntary marketing exec for Chad Schell)

[Room 34]

My son is 7 months old right now, so I'm trying to figure out how I am going to handle this.

 

First off, I am working on creating TWO collections (including consoles and controllers) of both Atari 2600 and NES. One (the smaller collection, naturally) will be his, when he's old enough. I'm sure we'll get him the latest and greatest too.

 

Anyway, those of you who have older kids might be able to help me with this idea (i.e. shoot it down as totally unrealistic). I am just thinking that if he has his own Atari 2600 and games and his own NES and games, he'll be less tempted to mess with mine. (Of course, I will let him play the games he doesn't have in his collection, but it will be in the context of "sharing" and playing together. I will respect his stuff and hopefully he will respect mine in turn.)

 

I know the good stuff will probably need to be locked away in its own room. The apartment we're moving into in Minneapolis has a tucked-away storage room (5 ft by 6 ft) that is going to be my "lair" for the year we live there, then I hope to move to a house with a finished basement where I'll be able to have a game room.

 

Enough minutiae. Bottom line: I plan to take a combined approach of "give the kid his own stuff" and "keep my stuff put away in a room I can control access to." (Of course, he probably won't be able to use his own collection constructively until he's at least 5 or 6... so I need to figure out what to do especially in the 2-3 yr old phase... )

[vanman]

When you put the stuff in storage, set it up! You can play it in storage too.

[Ian Primus]

Just commandeer a closet. Set up an old color TV on top of an old dresser or something in a closet. Store the games and stuff in the dresser drawers, and have the Atari connected next to the TV, and put a couple folding chairs next to the dresser. That way, when you want to play, just open the closet, unfold the chairs and go. You'll probably need to run an extention cord out, since most closets don't have electrical outlets. Of course, you could always get one of those light bulb socket to power outlet adapters, or just wire in an outlet. This works really well with the closets with bifold doors. I had something like this set up for a while at my old house, and it worked out very well. An old dresser is a great way to store and organize carts, joysticks, etc. Of course, it won't hold an _entire_ collection, but it will keep handy and neat the games you like to play, and the controllers, etc. You can store the rest of your stuff in plastic tubs on the top shelf in the closet. Then, when you're done, just close up the doors. There isn't really a way to lock this sort of door well, but some good strong rubber bands between the door knobs of the two bifold doors should keep it shut enough to keep out a toddler.

 

Ian Primus

[email protected]

[donkeykong1]

I have most of my stuff in storage There are games and systems all over the place plus my Asteroids arcade and my Streetfighter II arcade. I go to my storage about 2 or 3 times a week to unload more stuff that I accumulate. The only thing I have at home is my PS2 and an NES that I use to test games and play once in a while.

If you don't have any space at home try renting a small storage unit and you can make it your game room and of course store stuff too. Make sure there is power available and it's free. I pay $120 a month for my 10 x 10 storage and i put most of my stuff in there. I would keep my valuable or rare games at home though, you never know.

[Megamaniac]

Two words for you my friend Zeus: Fallout Shelter!

 

Oh yes, you can convince your family and neighbors that you're mad and convinced the holocaust is nearing...meanwhile, your comrades on AA will know the real reason for the tunnel. Say hello to Dig Dug while you're down there!