rasch_C Posted December 19, 2014 Share Posted December 19, 2014 Regardless of what this actually is our isn't, this person knows what they are doing and that's too utilize current popular events to prey on the otherwise uninformed. They rate, in my book, no better than the email scams from Nigeria preying on unsuspecting grandmas and grandpas! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Asaki Posted December 19, 2014 Share Posted December 19, 2014 Yes, definitely. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
high voltage Posted December 19, 2014 Share Posted December 19, 2014 Clever Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hookem Posted December 20, 2014 Share Posted December 20, 2014 Picked up one of the dig carts off ebay today. Phoenix. Probably spent too much, $75, but I agree with the earlier poster that it is part of Atari history... and the history of classic game collecting. I had wanted to go out to Alamagordo for the dig back in May (?), but didn't, so this is the next best thing for me. I think it's cool that the after the initial round of ridiculous prices, you can now get a dig cart in almost any price range. If you just want to own one, some are going for $35 (and a couple not even receiving bids)... if you want something nicer looking, or one of the special titles, then you can pay more if you like. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andromeda Stardust Posted December 20, 2014 Share Posted December 20, 2014 Picked up one of the dig carts off ebay today. Phoenix. Probably spent too much, $75, but I agree with the earlier poster that it is part of Atari history... and the history of classic game collecting. I had wanted to go out to Alamagordo for the dig back in May (?), but didn't, so this is the next best thing for me. I think it's cool that the after the initial round of ridiculous prices, you can now get a dig cart in almost any price range. If you just want to own one, some are going for $35 (and a couple not even receiving bids)... if you want something nicer looking, or one of the special titles, then you can pay more if you like. Glad these are getting more affordable. I have no interest in owning one, but cool to have nonetheless. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miss 2600 Posted December 24, 2014 Share Posted December 24, 2014 My Defender arrived from the dump! I'll wait til after Christmas to look for a display case. I might frame the certificate separately from the cartridge because I don't want the case to be too big. Will probably keep it in its ziplock bag to preserve the dirt that came with it, LOL. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigO Posted December 24, 2014 Share Posted December 24, 2014 My Defender arrived from the dump! Worst damsel in distress storyline ever. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miss 2600 Posted December 25, 2014 Share Posted December 25, 2014 Worst damsel in distress storyline ever. Garbage man! My Hero! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trinity Posted December 25, 2014 Share Posted December 25, 2014 My Defender arrived from the dump! I'll wait til after Christmas to look for a display case. I might frame the certificate separately from the cartridge because I don't want the case to be too big. Will probably keep it in its ziplock bag to preserve the dirt that came with it, LOL. Are you going to open it and test it to see if it still works? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retro Rogue Posted December 25, 2014 Share Posted December 25, 2014 Are you going to open it and test it to see if it still works? They're all corroded, and you can risk blowing it out if you do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trinity Posted December 25, 2014 Share Posted December 25, 2014 They're all corroded, and you can risk blowing it out if you do. Really? Though, I could not resist trying to clean it and giving it a go if it wasn't fubar. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retro Rogue Posted December 25, 2014 Share Posted December 25, 2014 Really? Though, I could not resist trying to clean it and giving it a go if it wasn't fubar. Yes, I have a set of three they tried to get to work on site. Plus Ben Heckendorn documented his attempts at getting his cart working. http://www.benheck.com/atari-landfill-cartridge-resurrection/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miss 2600 Posted December 25, 2014 Share Posted December 25, 2014 Are you going to open it and test it to see if it still works? I did peek a little inside the box where it is ripped. I saw the cartridge and it is covered in dirt. I don't want to disturb it. I want the dirt to remain how it was when it was in the ground. That sounds strange, I know. Another thing is it smells AWFUL! I guess I wouldn't expect it not to being from a dump. After zipping up the bag, I washed my hands and could still smell it, LOL. The only time I will unzip it again is to remove the metal tag with the certificate number because I think I want to place that somewhere more prominent when I get the case. Otherwise, that sucker is going to stay in its bag. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trinity Posted December 25, 2014 Share Posted December 25, 2014 Yes, I have a set of three they tried to get to work on site. Plus Ben Heckendorn documented his attempts at getting his cart working. http://www.benheck.com/atari-landfill-cartridge-resurrection/ Thanks for that link! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trinity Posted December 25, 2014 Share Posted December 25, 2014 The only game I have new in box and never opened is Defender (got it from ebay a few years ago) and God knows I want to open it even though I still have my original that I got in the mail one summer day back in the 80's. What a great day that was! I have it sitting here right now,,, and it's taunting me!!! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Random Terrain Posted December 25, 2014 Share Posted December 25, 2014 benheck.com/atari-landfill-cartridge-resurrection/ There could be Atari artifacts down there beyond our wildest aspiration but now that they’ve done the dig, it’s over. They won’t go back – the legend has been confirmed. It’s very much like the adventure movie where they find the “cave of treasures” but it all crashes down and they leave with but a few coins in their pocket. But at least it gets us asking “What else might still be out there?” Only time and shovels will tell. I can't wait until a bunch of mask-wearing Atari fanatics get organized and start digging a tunnel inside of an abandoned warehouse. They'll dig down to an appropriate level, then dig all the way to the famous spot in the landfill and recover every item that was buried there. The public won't know that anything happened until a video of the whole adventure is put online for everyone to see. The city suits will regret that they didn't dig up and sell all of the historic items themselves when they had the chance. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andromeda Stardust Posted December 25, 2014 Share Posted December 25, 2014 (edited) Yes, I have a set of three they tried to get to work on site. Plus Ben Heckendorn documented his attempts at getting his cart working. http://www.benheck.com/atari-landfill-cartridge-resurrection/ That's scary that leads can actually short together due to corrosion. I would assume corrosion to act as an electrical insolator, but I guess I was wrong... It would be a fun experiment to bury a game cart in my backyard for a year and attempt to ressurect it. No nasty garbage smell either, just good old sod, rain water, and oxidation. Possibly some grass root action, and if I'm lucky, fire ants will build a mound on it... Edited December 25, 2014 by stardust4ever Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miss 2600 Posted December 27, 2014 Share Posted December 27, 2014 (edited) Here is the trash-becomes-treasure shadow box. I might need to adjust the pins around the certificate as it is a little wavy. It is 8 months to the day (April 26) when it was unearthed. So eight months ago, it was buried in dirt and hadn't seen the light of day in 31 years, and now it is on display. Crazy world. Also, the reading material that came with it is very interesting. Vintage newspaper clippings at the time of the initial disposal and the article includes photos from 1983 of the games' transport and concrete pour. I didn't even know such photos would be taken much less saved. Edited December 27, 2014 by Miss 2600 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mock Posted December 27, 2014 Share Posted December 27, 2014 I will autograph my posts in this thread for free via mail if anyone wants to print them out...just throwing that out there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Random Terrain Posted December 27, 2014 Share Posted December 27, 2014 . . . and the article includes photos from 1983 of the games' transport and concrete pour. I didn't even know such photos would be taken much less saved. Those photos don't exist. They're all in your mind. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retro Rogue Posted December 27, 2014 Share Posted December 27, 2014 (edited) Also, the reading material that came with it is very interesting. Vintage newspaper clippings at the time of the initial disposal and the article includes photos from 1983 of the games' transport and concrete pour. I didn't even know such photos would be taken much less saved. Jim Heller, the person who buried everything took pictures of that and another destruction and held onto them all these years. We're in the process of doing high-res scans of all of them for archiving. If the photos you're talking about are in color, those are some of them. He provided them to the film company for their proposal to the city and helped them find the location. Edited December 27, 2014 by Retro Rogue 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miss 2600 Posted December 27, 2014 Share Posted December 27, 2014 Jim Heller, the person who buried everything took pictures of that and another destruction and held onto them all these years. We're in the process of doing high-res scans of all of them for archiving. If the photos you're talking about are in color, those are some of them. He provided them to the film company for their proposal to the city and helped them find the location. I hope the high-res scans will be available to see online. It was a pleasant surprise to see those photos in the article, but they are small computer printouts. It would be cool to see more details in the photos. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moycon Posted December 27, 2014 Share Posted December 27, 2014 Seemed like there were two types of non-believers: Non-believer Club #1: They didn't believe that any Atari stuff was buried there. Non-believer Club #2: They thought Atari stuff was buried there, just not millions of E.T. carts. (They were correct. Millions of E.T. carts were not buried there.) There was also a Non-believer Club #3 : They would buy into the fact that Atari buried something but not millions of E.T. carts, and then other people would argue with them that, that WASN'T what they believed at all, bringing up posts that didn't exists, and trying to alter what the myth was all along. This was the strangest of the 3 clubs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andromeda Stardust Posted December 27, 2014 Share Posted December 27, 2014 There was also a Non-believer Club #3 : They would buy into the fact that Atari buried something but not millions of E.T. carts, and then other people would argue with them that, that WASN'T what they believed at all, bringing up posts that didn't exists, and trying to alter what the myth was all along. This was the strangest of the 3 clubs. That would be the believers, Marty included. He was saying all along in this thread for years before the dig happened, that the loot was returned/unsold merchandice, not "millions of ETs" We know now and have solid proof that Marty was right all along... I just wish they'd of dug a little deeper and busted the caps. Might be more treasure troves under there. I'd like to see a landfill VCS, for starters... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IBP Posted December 27, 2014 Share Posted December 27, 2014 I haven't posted, or even been, on Atariage for almost 10 years, and I thought I would dip in tonight to see what was happening in the scene since I put my collecting on standby. The first thing I find is that the old urban legend was completely true. It's really made my day. Happy Christmas all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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