Atari's Landfill Adventures, I now have the proof it's true.

[jasinner]

Seems like a contentious topic but wanted to chime in it looks like one of the E.T.'s is being resold already:

 

http://m.ebay.com/itm/Atari-E-T-Cartridge-in-box-from-the-Alamogordo-landfill-dig-/272081432174?nav=SEARCH

[+H.E.R.O.]

Seems like a contentious topic but wanted to chime in it looks like one of the E.T.'s is being resold already:

 

http://m.ebay.com/itm/Atari-E-T-Cartridge-in-box-from-the-Alamogordo-landfill-dig-/272081432174?nav=SEARCH

 

Some inventive pricing there

[Master Phruby]

I would rather have one mint conditional in box.

[Andromeda Stardust]

I would rather have one mint conditional in box.

This. Cheaper too...

[classiccollector]

Seems like a contentious topic but wanted to chime in it looks like one of the E.T.'s is being resold already:

 

http://m.ebay.com/itm/Atari-E-T-Cartridge-in-box-from-the-Alamogordo-landfill-dig-/272081432174?nav=SEARCH

 

Love how they say it is in the top 5 quality wise, When did trash start getting a rating? It's still trash.

[Andromeda Stardust]

 

Love how they say it is in the top 5 quality wise, When did trash start getting a rating? It's still trash.

These @$$hole resellers selling landfill fodder for thousands...

[Moo]

So was that guy allowed to take that adventure game they mention in the doc? I thought I heard he had to pay for it when they found out.

[Andromeda Stardust]

So was that guy allowed to take that adventure game they mention in the doc? I thought I heard he had to pay for it when they found out.

I wish they'd dug up more. They didn't even attempt to crack the cement dome. I bet some minty pristine copies exist still entombed in concrete.

[Moo]

They were worried about unleashing toxic pigs, or something.

[sn8k]

I never knew why this story was so hard to believe. It's easier and cheaper to destroy stock than it is to store it. At the time videogames we consider classics and must haves today were in bargain bins and wouldn't sell. The crash was real. It happened and the general public lost interest. This wasn't 50 cases of cartridges burried in a desert, this was mass clean up. What ever they had went in the ground. Not just copies of ET but other games, consoles, joysticks and pretty much everything gaming related still in their warehouses.

 

I wasn't surprised when Game Over proved it. From an economical stand point, it made perfect sense. Even the government burries shit. There's no use keeping what you can't sell, we treasure our consoles but at the time you really couldn't give this stuff away until Nintendo blew up and took over.

[Keatah]

These @$$hole resellers selling landfill fodder for thousands...

Fun to watch the flunkies buy it.

 

Imagine the wife, she'd EXPLODE if I ever bought anything from there.

[Andromeda Stardust]

Fun to watch the flunkies buy it.

 

Imagine the wife, she'd EXPLODE if I ever bought anything from there.

Ever worse are the firsthand reports from guys who actually opened up the baggies to take a whiff...

[Keatah]

Can anyone report in detail what it smells like? I'd assume the landfill stench overpowers the plasticy and new cartridge smell by a thousand to one.

[Keatah]

Hmmm, maybe they got all their ETs sold early when the prices would be best. Smart decision, if so.

 

I posted this photo earlier in this thread, but here's my shadowbox Defender.

 

SAM_4840.JPG

I might have separated the two items into separate case and certificate frame. Eventually the smell is going to escape the plastic and stink up the cert. Edited December 26, 2016 by Keatah

[bradhig1]

I heard the reason for the cement dome was because local kids were looting the landfill and finding undamaged games and stuff at the top of the pile that was just thrown in without it being crushed.

[Andromeda Stardust]

Yes.

[Mock]

[Andromeda Stardust]

via Imgflip Meme Generator

[jasinner]

From what I understand, the games below the thin concrete barrier would not have been in better condition than those exumed. The top 15' was destroyed by rainwater and below 30' was the level of the local water table and was similarly destroyed. The recovered materials existed in a sort of sweet spot.

 

And to answer the question, it smelled bad. Not like septic blackwater but sour like vomit or gym clothes a dirty tween hasn't washed all year. The smell eventually dissipated but I removed it from the ziploc. It would likely retain the smell if left in the bag.

Edited January 3, 2017 by jasinner

[Keatah]

Got news for ya' bud.. Put it in a bag, and the smell will come right back. It's stuck and intertwined in the molecules of the plastic and paper. Kid you not.

[moycon]

I never knew why this story was so hard to believe.

 

What was hard to believe was the myth that millions of E.T.s were buried because everyone hated the game so much most copies were returned and that the game caused the crash, and rightfully so because it was nonsense.

 

Geeze how many times has that been gone over in this thread? My guess is like 52.

[Inky]

I found the story hard to believe because there was only one source for the longest time.

[sciflyer25]

Fun to watch the flunkies buy it.

 

Imagine the wife, she'd EXPLODE if I ever bought anything from there.

Flunkies? What a douchey comment. My wife just gave me the look, but she knows my collecting habits and I know her spending habits.

Disposable income is a good thing to have.

[Andromeda Stardust]

I found the story hard to believe because there was only one source for the longest time.

I just wish the second edition of the Atari Business is Fun book could have come out so we could read the revised landfill chapter.

 

Kind of ironic, but had this thread on AtariAge not existed and people not pestered the local Alamogordo newspaper to dig up an old article and republish it, the whole landfill dig and unearthing probably would never have happened.

 

Never underestimate the power of AtariAge. If someone suggested ten years ago that a dig event would actually take place, people wouldn't have believed it, but a pipe dream shared by millions of Atari fans became reality that fateful day, and many people on this forum played part in making it happen.

 

Thank you, Spud, if you're still here, for starting this thread!

[Philflound]

I wish I was into the classic video games during the time when everything was being dumped at the retail stores. My friend picked up 5 copies of SW:ESB for 20 cents each at Toys r Us. I got 4 of the 5 from him. One is in my collection, the others long sold. At least I did get into it early, back in 1996, when I could get anything for a steal. I still have the O'Shea invoice somewhere where I paid like 87 cents per sealed game with shipping. Now I see and have been getting much higher prices for boxed games the past couple of years.

 

Phil