Ranking your collection

[+johnnywc]

After completing the long task of getting a spreadsheet of all the domestic Atari 2600 games, including the title, company, label and rarity (per the Atari Age Rarity guide), I set out to 'rank' the quantity and quality of my collection.

 

For quantity, I simply computed the percentage of games I have to the total games in the list. The result: 38%. I have a loong way to go...

 

For quality, I computed the percentage of 'rarity points' for games I have (ie. Combat gets 1 point and Quadrun gets a 10 (if I had one!)) to the total rarity points in the list. The result: a paltry 25%.

 

Although my results are not by any means scientific, I was wondering how my collection, modest as it may be, stacks up against the rest. Any one care to share?

[atari70s]

ill go do the point system on my collection as long as you explain to me how rate PAL and Pirated games,

[+johnnywc]

atari70s - I'm only doing domestic (NTSC) and non-pirated games (for now).

[atari70s]

ok ill get started on my collection ill see what i got so just use the atari age site list to see the rarity on the guide to give out points? i have a list with all that on NTSC carts cool

[cvga]

I don't think we'd ever get a universal benchmark but it would be fun to vote on the top collections and rank them based on atariage member opinions. Especially now that it is college football season Just think, you might walk around and say "I'm rated #4 in the AA (atari age) and #6 in the DP (digital press) this week".

[Wntermute]

Will there be a copy of this spreadsheet made available so everyone can check their "ranking"? I'm rather interested myself.

[atari70s]

i think the total amount of rarity divided by the amount of carts give a fair value

[+johnnywc]

Pitfall Harry -

 

Thanks for your insights. I completely agree with you - a Gauntlet cart is certainly worth a lot more than ten common carts, heck maybe even a hundred. And sure, a boxed game in pristine shape will always be worth more than just a loose cart with no label. PAL games should be included, and dupes, prototypes, etc. These are all true.

 

Let me clarify: I just thought it would be neat to determine how far along I was in my quest: to collect all NTSC games that were released, including major label variations.

 

As far as the rarity points: I again agree on the absurdity of the ridiculous assumption I made that a rarity of 10 is worth only 10 times more than a rarity of 1 in a collection. My initial calculation gave rarity points based on the power of 2 (2,4,8,16,32...1024) so that 1 rarity 10 (ie. Gauntlet) cart would be worth 512 rarity 1 (ie. Combat) carts. The result of 4% was just too depressing.. .

 

Anyway - let me put up a disclaimer that my results are in no way scientific and just a general benchmark that I'm using. But I do agree that it would be neat if we could come up with an agreed upon scoring system to *rank* our collections more accurately.

[atari70s]

we arent doing like 4 combats = 4 poitns right one of each title or major varation once only right? i got 4 copywrite year ms pacmans

[Osbo]

I don't know the rarity of my collection, but it's worth like 400 bucks (one 2600, one 5200 and one 7800 with like 60 carts and the controllers and the supercharger...)

 

OsBo

[Tempest]

I don't even want to think about how much my collection is worth (or how much I've pumped into it).

 

Tempest

[+johnnywc]

atari70s -

 

I'm not including dupes, so you're right - 1 rarity score for each major label variation.

[atari70s]

ok im done

 

heres what i have

 

 

358 different 2600 carts

 

1073 rarity points

 

so its about 2.99 per cart.

 

how much i put in alot how much is it worth Alot + more

 

like Tempest i dont want to think of the money hehe

[atari70s]

ok im done

 

heres what i have

 

 

358 different 2600 carts

 

1073 rarity points

 

so its about 2.99 per cart.

 

how much i put in alot how much is it worth Alot + more

 

like Tempest i dont want to think of the money hehe

[Mountain King]

I have 526 games in my collection

274 Combats

173 Missle Commands

78 Pac-Mans

and a Journey Escape

How much do you think its worth?

[Osbo]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Tempest:

I don't even want to think about how much my collection is worth (or how much I've pumped into it).

 

Tempest

---

 

I know... I just saw the auction you won for the 5200 stuff... and that's a sh*t load of money to me

 

Osbo

[atari70s]

Mountain not much i do need 110 combat carts. in the near future, i need 5 now so i can start working on how to pin count . but if you hold me 110 combats maybe you can help with project

[+johnnywc]

I apologize for posting my question of "ranking" collections without actually giving the standards I used.

 

Well, here they are:

 

1) I only included NTSC (Domestic) games listed in the Atari Age Rarity Guide, mostly because I do not own one PAL or foreign cart.

 

2) I only included the MAJOR label variations (again, as defined by the AARG)

 

3) I did not count dupes. For example, I have 10 picture label Combat carts, but only 1 counts towards completing my collection.

 

4) I did not include prototypes, pirates, or modern releases.

 

5) When determining the percentage of my list (for rarity), I simply gave each game a value based on it's rarity (as defined by the AARG). So, by dividing the rarity points of the collection by the total rarity points would give this number.

 

6) The condition or completeness of an item did not affect it's points. So, a complete MIB Moon Patrol is worth the same as a loose cart with magic marker on it.

 

As we know, (5) is very subjective and I may alter it to give a more realistic value, and I'm certainly open to any suggestions. One was the power of 2 scoring (so that a 1 would get 2 points and a 10 would get 1024). Another is the sqaure of each, so that a 1 gets 1 point and a 10 gets 100. There are certainly endless possibilites...

 

As for (6), perhaps a list that ranks the "condition" of a collection would be more appropriate. For example, each point ranking could be scaled according to things like condition of the cart, instructions, box, etc., with a maximum score for MIB and a minimum score for a loose cart with a damaged or missing label.

 

Perhaps the members of Atari Age would be able to come up with a fair scoring system. It may even be worth while to have separate lists for different things (ie. top 100 list for NTSC carts, PAL carts, prototypes, all, "best condition" carts, etc.). Alot of work, for sure, but interesting none the less...

 

Thanks for letting me rant - I'm gonna go play Atari Video Cube now (just got it and it's my crown jewel.... )

[Osbo]

Well if that's the case, I don't have anything rare than 4 (pitfall 2 and california games)

 

Osbo

[Wntermute]

So would Sean Kelly's 256-in-1 multicart count as nothing (since it's a modern release) or count as 1 of each game that's on it?

[Unbeliever]

This should be easy for me to calculate....less than 1%!! Since I just started not too long ago, I'm WAY down there on the meter.

 

Steve

[Parcel]

Best I can say for my collection is having the first nine numbered, and a few odds and ends like some fire fighting game.