Find: Electronic Milton

One of the local thrift stores (Thrift Mart on University Dr.) had a 50% off of sale today. I happened to drop by earlier and found out about it. I thought it might be a good chance to pick up some needed clothes for our children cheaply. Well, that and I spotted a copy of Essential Super-Villain Team-Up in one of their display cases. I couldn't see the price, but figured anything cheaper than cover price would be a good deal.

Then, over the weekend, I saw a commercial for the sale on TV. But surely, that won't really affect how many people show up that much, will it? Well, I can't say for sure what it was, but there were tons of people there. We arrived around lunch time and decided to go eat before coming back.

Upon our return, it wasn't any better. After we'd been inside a while, my oldest son pointed out that the checkout line stretched all the way to the back of the store! But at least the book was still there. And just $9.98, meaning today it would be $5! I'd searched the Web and discovered that the book, now out of print, can't be had for less than $20 online, so it was a steal.

However, this entry is about the electronic game I found called Milton. As you might have guessed, it's from Milton Bradley and features the short-lived MB Electronics logo on the box. I'm by no means an expert on such games and this one was unfamiliar to me. The box was taped shut, but I decided it was easily worth the $1 (originally priced $1.98) gamble to buy it.

As you can see on Wikipedia, this game came out in 1980, a couple years after Simon. I suspect from the round design and one-word name, they were hoping to capitalize on the huge success Simon was turning out to be. Apparently they were so confident it would be a hit, they were willing to name it after the company! Unfortunately for Milton Bradley, the game was not a hit and quickly became an obscurity.

One thing I found interesting is the inclusion of a power adapter. Again, I'm no expert, but I can't think of any similar electronic games of the time that weren't battery powered. I know adapters were offered for some electronic games of the age, but they were alternatives to batteries and usually had to be purchased separately. I love the big warning on the front of the box: "CAUTION: ELECTRICALLY OPERATED PRODUCT / Not recommended for children under 7 years of age. As with all electric products, precautions should be observed during handling and use to prevent electric shock." And you thought today's product warning labels were excessive!

So when I got home, I found inside the box the game, the adapter, one piece of Styrofoam for the adapter, and a feedback/registration card. No instructions, but the back of the box summarizes the three games well enough. Essentially, you've got to match the first (the red circles) and last words (the yellow circles) of various phrases (e.g. "kiss my lips", "flush your toilet"). It's like the card game Memory, but with spoken words instead of cards. So during play, you get phrases like "kiss my . . . toilet". Hilarity ensues.

Oh yes, just as the box says, it talks! And fairly well, too. From my experience with talking electronics, I'd guess they used recorded speech rather than completely electronically-generated speech. The interesting thing is that Milton has an accent I can't quite put my finger on. I initially was thinking Southern, but my wife said Cajun and she may be right. Judge for yourself by watching this YouTube video. (Not mine.) It also gives some basic instructions as you go, which is much more user-friendly than some other electronic games of the day I've tried to play without instructions. (I'm looking at you, Comp IV!)

Unfortunately, while this one is in working condition, the power cord is touchy. It fits into the game loosely and if bumped, will cause the game to reset. I'm not sure that anything can be done about that. The contacts also look like they need some cleaning. The adapter has a three-prong arrangement I've not seen on any other electronics.

This makes an interesting addition to my vintage electronic (non-video) game collection. I have yet to try it with my kids beyond a brief game with my 3-year-old daughter, but I suspect it won't hold any long-term interest with them. I can see why it wasn't a big hit.

Re: Ever picked up a cart out of pity?

[Originally posted to rec.games.video.classic as a response to the quoted (>) post.]

In article <20040106165616.01786.00001429@mb-m20.aol.com>,
Bass Guitar God wrote:
>Now here's the question: Have you ever "rescued" such a cart, purchased it,
>taken it home, cleaned it up, and add it to the stack of copies you already
>owned just out of respect for the game?

>And you cannot stand to see it like this, and figure that it would be much
>better in your care, until the time comes when you can at least give it to
>someone who could use it. Can anybody relate to this? I can!

Yes, and that's my problem! 8) I'm currently agonizing over that Pong clone I mentioned Monday. I went back and they wanted $15 for it! ($10 after I showed the lady the battery leakage.) I can't afford to pay $10 for the privilege of seeing if I can resuscitate it.

Today I went do a different thrift and found a Mattel D&D Computer Labyrinth game for $2! It was missing some pieces, of course, but in the (beat up) box. I went up to the counter and asked about opening it to check it out. I also made sure there wasn't an old battery in it and related my experience to the cashier. She said there were some thrift stores in town (didn't mention names) that price things based on how nice you're dressed. I figure that's what's happening to me, because I have to go on lunch hour from work. I also figure she was referring to that very store because I think all the rest in town put price tags on everything.

And before you suggest dressing down and going on the weekend or something, I've been making regular trips there so long they know my face. My only hope is to catch a time when a different lady is at the register. (I've never been fond of the one I had to deal with, and this is why.)

I hate my thrift!

[Originally posted to rec.games.video.classic. "Thrift" is slang for a thrift store--a store usually run by a charity that sells used items donated to them.]

I hate one of my local thrifts. They have insane prices, but I have to keep going back because they tend to get in more of what I'm looking for. (Unfortunately, it's so dry here that even they don't get in much in the way of video games.) Here's an exchange I had with the cashier today:

I put on the counter a C-64 magazine and paperback. The price sign by the register says $0.25 & $0.50 for paperbacks, but nothing about magazines.
"$1.25."
"A dollar? For a magazine?!?" I ask. I had been expecting 15 to 25 cents.
"For a computer magazine," she says as if this makes perfect sense.
"But it's over ten years old!" (It was from 1986.)
"It's an antique then, isn't it?" she says incredulously.
"Then you can keep it," I say in a bit of a huff.
"Be happy to," she responds icily. I paid my quarter for the book and left.

The cashiers at this store get to set the prices. Nothing is marked, although there is aforementioned sign giving prices of the more common items. They apparently have some unwritten code for pricing some items. (Like all video game cartridges, from 2600 to Genesis, are $3.) This is the same lady that priced an in-the-box pong-style system at $10 for me last week. I passed on that, too, and it was still there today.

Maybe I'm showing up on different days, but it seems to me they get a cashier who works for a few weeks and then disappears. (And for some reason they're all older women.) This lady has been there before. At least the previous cashier was pleasant, even if she was equally insane on pricing. The store is run by a local rescue mission, and I'm sure they'd make more money if they sold some of their items for less.

ObCVG: Picked up a NES Game Genie for $0.50 at a yard sale this weekend. Haven't tested it yet.

["ObCVG" stands for "obligatory classic video games" content. The newsgroup was supposed to be for discussing classic video games, which was not the main topic of my post. So I added a teeny bit about them to make it on topic.

I was much later told at another thrift store that some other thrifts in town priced items based on how the purchaser was dressed. I typically did my shopping on my lunch hour, so this is probably what bit me because I was wearing "business casual" dress--essentially slacks and a collared shirt. Fancy clothes for someone buying stuff at a thrift store. — 5 June 2009]

Odd cart holder & one that got away [NES Action 52 box]

[Originally posted to rec.games.video.classic.]

Time for me to drone on again. I've been busy, but here's how things went last week.

I found the box with all inserts for the NES Action 52 cart. These carts go for a quite a bit on eBay, so I tore up the bins where I found the box. No cart. 8( Farther over, I find some pristine label 2600 carts and a labelless Parker Bros. cart. I'm not sure that I need the label upgrades on these, but pick up four plus the PB cart. I figure I can afford $0.50 a piece. I get to the check out and the lady, who's been charging me $0.50 (instead of $3 like another lady there) says $3 each! I end up just getting Worm War I so I can get the Action 52 box & docs for free. BTW, this thrift also charges $3 for Sega & NES carts. It's my least favorite in town, but seems to have stuff the most often.

One day I went with very little money. I saw a Sears 2600 in the box at Value Village marked $25. More than I care to spend (even if I had it on me), but the box looks like the first release. (The picture on the front has the little Sears labels on top of the joysticks.) There's also a brandless 2600 holder and interesting cart holder for $3.99 each. Then at Salvation Army I see a Video Pinball console (white version) for $5. I already have one so I figure I'll come back tomorrow after I've gone to the bank.

The next day I go to Value Village and get them to let me open the 2600 box. I told them I wanted to know if it had any extra games in it (which I did want to know). The box said "complete as pictured," but you never know. It turns out the 2600 was a Sears version, but they substituted Combat for Target Fun (same game, different label) and 7800 sticks for 2600 ones. There was also an extra boxed 2600 stick in it. (It wasn't plain white, but had pictures on it. A football player is all I remember.) No extra games and definitely not worth $25. I also leave the 2600 console holder as it's generic. (No Atari label on it.)

I do, however, pick up the funky cart holder. It reminds me of a 5-1/4" disk holder. It has a transluscent cover that swings to the back when you open it. It holds 18 carts in two columns of 9. There's a small slot for instructions at the top. Anyone seen one of these before?

Then I get to Salvation Army and the Video Pinball is gone. No great loss, but it might explain why I never find much. Too much competition.

[I don't know why I called Target Fun the same game as Combat with a different label. Target Fun is the Sears equivalent to Air-Sea Battle. I posted a follow-up the same day berating myself.

Jeff Salzman responded a month later, saying, "The funky cartridge holder sounds like a TI-99 cartridge holder I have several of them myself and the cartridges are stored at an angle."]

First good 2600 brag in a while [Picnic, Stellar Track, Video Chess]

[Originally posted to rec.games.video.classic.]

Today's thrifting started out bad. Went to a store not usually worth going to and found some computer & SMS stuff. (I don't usually pick up either, but it's been so dry!) I grabbed three mostly common, third party, 2600-compatible joysticks, Pengo & Star Raiders II for the Atari 8-bit, and a Master Gear Convertor for SMS. The guys there weren't the regular guy and didn't know how much anything was if it wasn't priced. (They said the store wasn't even supposed to be open.) None of my stuff was priced, of course. I offered $5. He claimed a joystick alone was worth that. I left it all there. They said the guy who runs it is only there two days a week, and of course he didn't know which two. I think it's time to just stop going to that thrift.

At the next store, I found a Sears 2600 set up that had apparently just come in. (It hadn't been there Monday.) Lots of Sears game, but I don't collect those and at $3 a piece, it's usually not worth it for trade bait. I picked out Picnic (Woo-hoo!!! Didn't have it!) and Stellar Track. Take them to the register and the lady says $1. I tell her I'm going to grab a couple more! (I gotta make sure I only buy when this lady's at the register!) Go back and pick up Sears Demons to Diamonds and Video Chess. I've never found Video Chess before. I have the Sears version that a friend gave me, but prefer an Atari label. Of course, I just sent out payment for a copy of Video Chess two days ago, but bought this one anyway out of principal. Why does it always work like that?!?

This makes the third new 2600 cart I've found in the past two months. Before that, I don't remember how long it's been since I found one. This year just might be shaping up. Maybe I'll finally break 300. Oh yeah, the Sears Demons to Diamonds and Stellar Track are up for trade. My incomplete trade and want lists are at http://home.hiwaay.net/~lkseitz/trade/.

[18 June 2010 comment: That URL isn't linked because it no longer exists. My trade pages never seemed to lead to any actual trades and it was a pain to maintain them, so I eventually ditched them.

For anyone that is local to Huntsville, the first store was in the 900 block of Oakwood Avenue NW, between Buford and Grace Streets. I don't remember the name. It was two different thrift stores, one right after the other. One was much better run and organized than the other, which you can guess means it wasn't the one above. I don't even remember which store came first any more, it's been so long.

I honestly don't remember the incident at the second store, but from the $3 price mentioned I'd guess it was the Breaking Free Thrift Store on N. Memorial Parkway just north of Oakwood Avenue.]

[10 Nov 2011 comment: And regarding Video Chess? In a few days, it gets worse.]