Has anyone bought from www.ecoleco.com?

[ColecoNation]

Does anyone have any experiences (good or bad) with the online ColecoVision store www.ecoleco.com?

 

They seem to carry almost every CV game (including prototypes) in stock with instructions and overlays. Does anyone know if these cartridges are original or do they burn their own cartridges (as some have claimed)?

 

Also, they offer a handful of boxed CV games. Has anyone bought a boxed game from them? Was it still factory-sealed? What condition are the boxes usually in (any price tags on them)?

 

I purchased two overlays from them once and, while they were made of the same plastic as the originals, they seemed to be reproductions (they don't fit as snuggly in the controllers and in the back of the cartridge).

 

Any info would be appreciated.

Thanks.

+ Nathan

[sku_u]

Does anyone have any experiences (good or bad) with the online ColecoVision store www.ecoleco.com?

 

Yes

[uosipa llamxew]

Yes

 

That was helpful!

 

I'm also curious what experiences people have had. Good or bad... and maybe some details or a story to back it up...

[jetset]

Yes

 

That was helpful!

 

I'm also curious what experiences people have had. Good or bad... and maybe some details or a story to back it up...

1006671[/snapback]

 

Sku_ is on a one-syllable response limit today. Don't mind him.

Edited January 25, 2006 by jetset

[sku_u]

 

Sorry, I couldn't resist.

 

In response to the original question, I bought a bunch of ADAM software from them a few years ago and received the items promptly. Communication was poor, but since I got everything within 2 weeks of ordering, it didn't matter much. I couldn't tell you if they sell reproductions or not. Everything I got from them looked like originals to me. Keep in mind this was a few years ago, though. Maybe someone who bought from them more recently has some feedback to share.

[RangerG]

I got a used Colecovision from them once and it was listed as "refurbished/new" and it looked like a flea market find (although it did work). They probably tested it and then sold it as refurbished. When I have bought refurbished/new from Best Electronics what I got looked perfect like it was advertised (refurbished with new parts). I forget what happened with ecoleco but I contacted them and complained and we reached some type of resolution. They are expensive and have at times difficult to reach customer service. However, their computer parts and Colecovision accessories are new and come packed really well. On the other hand, all their games, manuals, and overlays are 100% photocopies and reproductions. They use old Coleco carts and the labels are direct copies, but they look cheaper. The manuals look identical (i.e. direct copy), but they are cheaper looking and you can tell they are reproductions in that they lack the Telegames ink stamps and/or other little clues.

 

Hope that helps,

RG

 

P.S. I am editing this because I see you asked about the boxed games. I assume these are new old stock and actual carts, but the other games are 100%copies/reproductions. They really do try to hide this fact and if you ask them they give you all kinds of bull about actual games. I have bought several from them - they are copies.

Edited January 25, 2006 by RangerG

[chuckwalla]

About seven years ago I bought an Adam game system and a dozen or so boxed (sealed) Colecovision games. Everything was delivered quickly, well packed, and as advertised.

 

A few months ago I ordered a new Colecovision power supply and it was of unusual size (compared to my other 'standard' power supplies - and as far as I know there are no substitutes for the standard Colecovision power brick) AND it didn't fit . I returned it and was sent a 'normal' one that worked fine.

 

In summary, i've had good experiences with ecoleco and found that problems are resolved promptly.

 

Hope that helps.

[Cootster]

They're quite good about shipping and such, but yeah, the games are copies. Not sure about the bare PCBs covered in tape as to whether they're copies or cannibalized from broken carts.

 

Not a big deal if you're wanting them for pure play purposes instead of collecting, though, and they're the best source for CV/ADAM stuff out there. Better than eBay, where half the Coleco carts will always be mislabeled as Atari 2600 carts and often shoved in lots with same.

[kelman66]

I have bought from them a few times. No problems. I had to make special arrangements to purchase because I am in Canada. They are a good source of coleco stuff. I plan on buying more.

 

But I think I have the answers you seek:

 

A while ago, I asked them about the history of some of the 'protos' that you see. They responded that they bought the remaining stock of coleco stuff back in the 80s. They had CBS electronics produce runs on some of the unreleased games. So they would be 'copies', except that they had official license to produce the games, and they had them made by CBS. That is as close to official releases as was possible for those games. I have a few them that you can see at:

http://members.shaw.ca/kelly_davies/cbscopycarts.htm

 

Same with the Bitcorp games. They are hard to distinguish from real, and I have seen a few people on ebay pay a lot for what, I am fairly positive, were copies that came from adam's house (ecoleco).

 

Most of the other stuff that they have is the real-deal though.

 

from ecoleco

website and emails:

 

"We started Adam's House and Ecoleco to assist and continue support for Colecovision and Adam Coleco Computer customers back in

the 1980's. Over the years this support has become non-profit, essentially less than profitable as we continue at a loss. We continue, however, because we

love the Colecovision game system and the Adam computer and game system and we have an inventory of supporting products that would otherwise be disposed of

due to the high cost of shipping to another vendor - essentially depriving anyone of these items that are valuable to those who also love these

systems."

 

"When Coleco industries inc went into bankruptcy we were doing quite well and they contacted us for purchase of inventory remaining and the

unreleased games and software. It was quite surprising, but it was the very last inventory produced and all the supporting hardware and software. We never

promised we'd still be supporting the Colecovision, but we have never seen any reason to stop. Guess they knew we'd be a good choice to support their

customers and primary products."

 

"Most of the 20th Century Fox games were unreleased. We bought most of the stuff from Coleco and had CBS produce the

games for us with the labels."

[Tempest]

What I don't understand is why the Colecovision version of The Fall Guy is a driving game. From the promotional materials I saw for the 2600 it was supposed to be a rebadged version of Squish em with some really dumb plot tacked on (something about aliens invading a movie set).

 

Too bad they didn't use the 2600 art work on those labels, it would have looked much better (well except yolks on you which doesn't have a 2600 version).

 

Tempest

[Inky]

What I don't understand is why the Colecovision version of The Fall Guy is a driving game.  From the promotional materials I saw for the 2600 it was supposed to be a rebadged version of Squish em with some really dumb plot tacked on (something about aliens invading a movie set).

 

Too bad they didn't use the 2600 art work on those labels, it would have looked much better (well except yolks on you which doesn't have a 2600 version).

 

Tempest

1009417[/snapback]

 

Actually, The Fall Guy is a driving game / platformer. The object is to find a house in a certain ab=mount of time, and rescue the hostage on the ground floor. Fairly challenging game, and quite fun to boot, once you figure out the control scheme.

[DominiRican05]

The only vendor that I buy all of my Colecovisions games from is eColeco. Up to this point I hadn't realized that all of their carts are copies, although I suspected the manuals were, but that explains why the carts look all new. Since I only buy them for play purposes this doesn't bother me one bit plus they work a lot better than some of the used original carts that came with my Colecovision. I do agree that their prices are rather high, but where else can you get brand new Colecovision games most with manuals? Their customer service is decent. They don't really answer questions but when you order, they give you a confirmation number within a day and games usually arrive in 2-3 days. So far I have purchased extension cables and the following games from them: Spy Hunter, Root Beer Tapper, and Escape from Mindmaster. I highly recommend them, although if you're looking for an actual Colecovision console I say go to www.vikingvideogames.com because you can get a clean, A/V modded Colecovision.

 

Hope this helps.

[kelman66]

I dont really know, but I would be willing to bet that your Spy Hunter and Tapper actually are the real deal. Maybe not. Escape from the Mindmaster is definately kinda one of those "pseudo"-reproduction as described above.

Their prices are high for some games, but not bad at all for some of the rarer ones actually. They are all priced the same really.

And for the reproductions, I think those prices are pretty fair really, since they actually had them produced, as opposed to just reselling. And as they mentioned, they basically operate at a loss. That Scooter stuff is their bread and butter. (I know, wtf?)

I think it is great that they have kept it going all these years. I have considered sending them some of my surplus supercommons and broken carts or hardware as a donation, for any use they can put them to. I would have to ship them down there, but hey....