Columbia house 2600 with a decent BIN

[FND]

The system looks pretty nice but the controllers may be missing

something in the middle, Its hard to determine without seeing a closer picture

 

FND

[SS]

Darned hard to determine!

[Nukey Shay]

[Nukey Shay]

You sure that's a 2600? Looks like an automotive battery to me.

[Nukey Shay]

Seriously...

here's the link that I guess he's referring to

[FND]

It took a few minutes to relize what the problem was

 

Here is the link

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...8117447608&rd=1

[froggger2]

The seller indicated to me that the controllers are labeled Columbia House, but the power supply and game switch are not. If I didn't already have a Columbia House console with Coleco Gemini controllers, power supply and game switch, I would buy this one. Also, his shipping cost is reasonable.

[Mindfield]

Y'know, I'd kinda like it just 'cos it's rare, but I already have a Gemini, and I know how damn cheap those things are made. If it was boxed (er, did they even have a retail-style box for this thing?) I might consider it.

[ATARIPITBULL]

I saw that one when it first was posted and I also would have bought it if it came with its box. The columbia clone is one of the last few 2600 systems that I need for my collection.

 

[CPUWIZ]

I saw that one when it first was posted and I also would have bought it if it came with its box.

 

It isn't confirmed that there is even a box for it.

[ATARIPITBULL]

No shit! then how were they sold? They had to come in a box of some sort.

 

[sku_u]

No shit! then how were they sold? They had to come in a box of some sort.

 

     

 

They could have come in a non-descript corrugated cardboard box since they were sold through mail order.

[Mindfield]

I'm thinking something along the lines of the generic Atari Service boxes Atari 2600s were shipped in when they were send back from repair.

[MegaManFan]

Is it just me, or is the Columbia Home Arcade the most butt ugly VCS in existance? And who put the cart slot in the upper right hand corner? Gah! You couldn't pay me to buy one of these.

[video game addict]

No shit! then how were they sold? They had to come in a box of some sort.

 

     

 

I would ponder a guess to say, that Columbia House & Coleco worked up a deal, where Coleco supplied some of their Gemini consoles to CH to turn into the Columbia Home Arcade. They probably already had the PCBs & casing, joysticks, done, just a matter of slaping logos on them. They probably had a warehouse full of bits & pieces, and just finished them with the CHA name.

 

 

I'm guessing that Coleco never designed a box specific to it, and left that up to CH. I would guess that either it was a generic cardboard box, similar to the Refub 2600s that were on ebay recently, or maybe it came in an oversized box just with packing peanuts? But that would help explain why nobody kept the box to them, if they were basic plain boxes not specific to it in any way.

[Mindfield]

Is it just me, or is the Columbia Home Arcade the most butt ugly VCS in existance?  And who put the cart slot in the upper right hand corner?  Gah!  You couldn't pay me to buy one of these.

 

It's a rebranded Gemini, so blame Coleco. :-) They're not that bad -- compact, any rate, but they're really cheaply made. The paddle pots aren't even self-contained, they're printed directly onto the controller PCBs, and they get jittery good 'n quick (compared to Atari paddles anyway). Same with the joystick contacts; no aluminum domes, just bare contacts.