Marco Posted February 13, 2004 Share Posted February 13, 2004 I think we can now safely establish these are real pirates. The club reminds me of the Brazilian videogame clubs that also sold/rented cheap Atari 2600 games back in the day. I suppose they don't fit 100% into the Romox / Xante category, but that might be a good spot for them in the rarity guide anyway. Cheers, Marco Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
san-d-2000 Posted February 13, 2004 Share Posted February 13, 2004 Do they have eproms inside, I mean do they feel heavier than a normal atari cart? -San Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marco Posted February 13, 2004 Author Share Posted February 13, 2004 They're slightly heavier: Atari Missile Command: 62 grams Beagle Bros Missle Command: 72 grams Cheers, Marco Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ATARIPITBULL Posted February 13, 2004 Share Posted February 13, 2004 I have 3 questions Marco, 1) Are any of them NTSC carts? 2) Did these games ever have boxes? 3) Are all these yours ? and if so how much did you sell your soul to the devil ??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cootster Posted February 13, 2004 Share Posted February 13, 2004 I can answer that. Hopefully someday, I shall get to finish the article I have planned. 1: They're all NTSC, not PAL-M or other contraption, but standard US format, straight copies from legit US carts. 2: No, but they do have manuals, which I think are nothing more than straight copies of the originals. You have several of those now, don't you Marco? 3: He got them off eBay and my discussions with that seller were what piqued my interest in them. And I suspect a lot of Coloradans know what they have now, and so the price will drop. They're not R10's . . . I'm sure even individually, there are more of the popular titles than there are Romox/Xante, and collectively, there are far more than that . . . And he might as well have sold his soul. I know he went over $50 on a few of them, and probably others, or perhaps SD just gave him a deal on the whole lot . . . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattyXB Posted February 14, 2004 Share Posted February 14, 2004 Remember me on my Pet Boat Collection. Look all near the same (bad picture from a Boat with animals on it, looks like a child paint it), only Endlable different. I own 8 different Pet Boat games. Defender Donkey Kong Enduro Frogger (real Freeway) Megamania River Raid Soccer (+ Box, I think there was no manual by Pet Boat games, because on the back from the Box is one) Tennis Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Posted February 14, 2004 Share Posted February 14, 2004 Very interesting, thanks for sharing. I'd like to hear more about the Colorado connection, as that is where Smitty found one of the first known BB carts. (known to modern collectors that is). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marco Posted February 15, 2004 Author Share Posted February 15, 2004 I got them from the eBay seller that had a couple of them on eBay recently. I got a very nice deal, so I most certainly did not have to sell my soul I got a couple of photocopied manuals with them, and the 'brochure' that lists approximately 150 available titles. Cheers, Marco Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CPUWIZ Posted February 15, 2004 Share Posted February 15, 2004 I got them from the eBay seller that had a couple of them on eBay recently. I got a very nice deal, so I most certainly did not have to sell my soul I got a couple of photocopied manuals with them, and the 'brochure' that lists approximately 150 available titles. Cheers, Marco Then I suppose it won't hurt to crack one of them open huh? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tamashii14 Posted February 17, 2004 Share Posted February 17, 2004 is this the same company? http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...0&category=3799 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sku_u Posted February 17, 2004 Share Posted February 17, 2004 is this the same company?http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3078166380&category=3799 No, VCS Beagle Bros. carts were not made by Beagle Bros. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marco Posted February 25, 2004 Author Share Posted February 25, 2004 Okay, I opened one up and here's what its guts look like. Any thoughts? Cheers, Marco Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CPUWIZ Posted February 25, 2004 Share Posted February 25, 2004 Awesome, looks like a Brazillian , very . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spirantho Posted February 25, 2004 Share Posted February 25, 2004 I'll tell you one thing, though - it won't be true that those carts are common. If these carts were really sold at $10 a piece as the advert said, that's not a lot of money when you include: Initial outlay: $200 for the burner (roughly - they weren't cheap in them days!). He may have had access to a burner anyway though. Per cart: $2? (a guess) for the EPROM $1 for the capacitor/invertor 20c? for the PCB $1 for the cartridge casing And then there's the time it takes to hand-solder a capacitor and two ICs to a PCB. It all adds up to very little profit - as pirate operations go it obviously wasn't a very good one. I'd imagine the total amount of these carts is approximately the ones sold on eBay (assuming they're genuine) + the genuine ones known + about another 10 in people's lofts probably. That's a total guess of course, but I can't imagine the maker carried on for very long with this operation - not worth his while at all! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marco Posted February 25, 2004 Author Share Posted February 25, 2004 Perhaps someone from Brazil can enlighten us on the way the videogame clubs overthere worked? I can imagine that it was not about making a profit, but about providing as cheap as possible games for friends and family, and, perhaps later on, for a broader public. There are still MSX clubs overhere that enjoy working on projects like these, soldering around together on a Saturday, everyone chipping in with skills, materials, knowledge, machines and a bit of money. Cheers, Marco PS: Interesting to see how you still hold on to the option that your Beagles are real and that these are fakes. I say yours are way too dirty, they should be nice and shiney! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spirantho Posted February 25, 2004 Share Posted February 25, 2004 hehe... no, I just said "Assuming they're genuine" - I'm just covering my bases. I'm still wary, though the story does fit. But mine are definitely genuine, 'cos I said so. I agree, though, it looks like a favours-for-friends-and-family kind of thing... so unless Mr. Beagle was _really_ popular I'd say we're still holding onto something pretty rare! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marco Posted February 25, 2004 Author Share Posted February 25, 2004 Absolutely, I vote these to still be 10s Cheers, Marco PS: you can prove yours are genuine by opening one up and compare the pcb to mine :wink: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spirantho Posted February 25, 2004 Share Posted February 25, 2004 Absolutely, I vote these to still be 10s Funny thing is, they _must_ still be 10s. Most BB carts are unique - or at least there's only one known - and by that definition they must be a 10. Marco - I think you have the most 10s of anyone on AtariAge. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CincYnoTi Posted February 25, 2004 Share Posted February 25, 2004 i think they should be grouped together in ratings with any repro's made by hozer games. rate them a 10 if you want, but then also categorize them as repros. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spirantho Posted February 25, 2004 Share Posted February 25, 2004 No, they're not repros, they're pirate. If you're going to categorise them as repros you would also have to categorise _all_ the pirate carts as repros, and that'd be not only incorrect but also a bit silly. Would you also call, for instance, Exocet by Panda a repro? They were just as authorised as the BB carts, I suspect... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cassidy Nolen Posted February 25, 2004 Share Posted February 25, 2004 I wonder what a 2532 eprom cost back in early 80's? I bet it was more than today....think how much an old processor was... Cassidy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marco Posted February 25, 2004 Author Share Posted February 25, 2004 Funny thing is, they _must_ still be 10s. Most BB carts are unique - or at least there's only one known - and by that definition they must be a 10. I was just kidding a bit. I'm not too bothered about these being rated super-duper rare or not. I do feel they're something special in some way, but I wouldn't dare to compare these to gems like Gauntlet and Air Raid, which are two of the very few true 10s in my book. Cheers, Marco Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spirantho Posted February 25, 2004 Share Posted February 25, 2004 Agreed... the BB label variation may be a 10, but the games themselves aren't, so they're of substantially less interest. Gauntlet/Air Raid etc. are unique games so I'd still swap my BB carts for them (but not a lot else. ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CincYnoTi Posted February 25, 2004 Share Posted February 25, 2004 No, they're not repros, they're pirate.If you're going to categorise them as repros you would also have to categorise _all_ the pirate carts as repros, and that'd be not only incorrect but also a bit silly. Would you also call, for instance, Exocet by Panda a repro? They were just as authorised as the BB carts, I suspect... by repro, i mean "reproduction made on an eprom". even pirates tended to have come in boxes with a company name and were sold in stores. repros tend to be made in someone's house and sold/distributed by means other than legal brick & mortar businesses. if you had to answer the question: what production/distribution most closely matches beagle brothers? would you choose: a) atari b) quelle c) hozer video games d) name some other entity/company that it most closely matches what characteristics does a beagle brothers cart have in common with quelle/zellers/sears and what characteristics does it have in common with hozer games or a cubicolor eprom made by pleasant valley video or a quadrun eprom made by best electronics? it seems that simply calling it a pirate or a repro seems much too vague. define the characteristics of each and see what it has the most in common with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas Jentzsch Posted February 25, 2004 Share Posted February 25, 2004 Gauntlet/Air Raid etc. are unique games so I'd still swap my BB carts for them (but not a lot else. ) Air Raid is just a clever hack of Space Jockey. Not very unique. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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