This Week's Finds [Mattel Baseball, Lost Luggage, catalogs]

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

I didn't get out much this week due to a stomach virus. But I still had some luck. First stop Thursday was to go pick up a Mattel Baseball handheld I'd seen earlier. At $3.75, I'd been hesitant to pick it up, but a quick check of eBay afterwards confirmed I should have gotten it the first time. I was tempted to let it sit until it was half-price, but at this store it seems anything I want disappears the day it goes to half-price. Oh, and it was still there. Now it'll be eBait.

The last stop Thursday netted me a copy of Lost Luggage (green label) with the manual for $0.50! I've been looking for this for a while. I found one last summer, but the board is loose and I haven't had a chance to repair it. (Gotta be careful so I don't ruin the label.) This one works fine. I also picked up Apollo and Spectravideo catalogs with it, as I didn't have those. Oh, and an Entex Hockey for $1. It has some cloudy spots on the screen and I wasn't real impressed with it, so I may trade it.

I'd forgotten to take my list with me, so when I got back I discovered I should have picked up the Towering Inferno for its manual, too. I went back today (Friday) and did so, also deciding to pick up Defender & Atlantis (label upgrades) and Planet Patrol just to round things out to $2. All came with manuals. It just occurred to me, however, that I think I didn't really need that Defender. I need to get my printed list updated again, I guess.

A prior Friday stop netted me a Coleco Alien Attack handheld for $1.50. I can't say much about it yet as I don't keep C batteries at work. It looks nice and clean, though.

I also picked up two N64 promotional video tapes. The ones they send in the mail to registered customers. I only ever got two in the mail myself, as I never upgraded to the N64 from my SNES (that I rarely play). I already had both of them (Diddy Kong Racing & Banjo-Kazooie), but figures extras won't hurt at $0.50 each. Does anyone else collect these? I don't know why I started. Partly to preserve them, partly in hopes they'll be a wanted item in the future
since everyone seems to throw them out eventually.

[I eventually gave the Entext Hockey to a fellow collector who's also a big hockey fan. I found it incredibly hard to hit the ball in Mattel Baseball, so it went on eBay, as did the Alien Attack. —15 August 2010]

Today's finds [Telstar Colormatic, Simon, battery guarantee]

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

I tend to be long-winded, so here's the topics of interest in this post: Coleco, dedicated (pong-style) systems, Ralph Baer, Simon, Microvision.

At my first stop, I found a Coleco Telstar Colormatic. At first I thought it someone had broken off the paddle knobs. But then I realized the external two paddles sitting next to it were meant to plug into it. They weren't taped to it or anything, so I felt lucky they were still sitting beside it. The really unusual thing about this system is it's from Coleco *Canada*. (I live in Alabama, USA.) It also has legs that it sits on so the console is angled for reaching it easier.

I haven't seen a Telstar exactly like this one before. They wanted $5 for it, which seemd like a bit much, but since I hadn't seen one before, I picked it up. Does anyone know if it has a U.S. equivalent? Or was it released here in the U.S. too? As I said, it has two remote paddles. It also has a rest button, and on/off, tennis/hocky/handball/squash, & beginner/intermediate/pro slide switches.

The next find was at my second stop (of two): a complete, looks-like-new Simon. I've kind of been wanting a vintage Simon since I learned Ralph Baer (inventor of the original Odyssey) created it. I saw the box and thought it looked in good shape at a glance. A closer look showed the box was in great shape with only light wear on some corners and edges. Opening it revealed a pristine Simon, complete with instructions, blank warranty sheet, and even the styrofoam bit on top to keep the box from getting squished. The D battery compartment was empty, but the 9V compartment still had a battery in it. Luckily, it hadn't leaked (see note). Do modern Simons still require this many batteries of these sizes?

I put it back in the box and inspect it to see how "original" it is. It has the Milton Bradley Electronics logo on it, like a Microvision. There's a 1978 copyright on it, but that just means they hadn't changed the box markings since then. Then I look at the bottom. There's ads for the Super Simon (Never seen one of those before.) and Mircovision on it! That cinches it. This is worth $3. Once I got back to work and looked at it more closely, I found 1984 copyright dates on the instructions and inside top of the box. I guess they printed up a *bunch* of stickers to cover the boxes back around '78 and were still using them in '84. Oh, well, I won't quibble with one in this great a shape. (Hope it actually works.)

Note: As I was throwing the 9V battery (a Ray-O-Vac Heavy Duty) away, I noticed a note on the side.

Consumer's Guarantee: If any device using this battery is damaged by leakage, send the battery and the device prepaid to Ray-O-Vac corporation, Madison, WI 53703. We will either repair or replace the device and batteries at no additional cost. Guarantee void if either user or device recharges battery.

Now *that's* a guarantee! I wish modern batteries had that kind of guarantee on them. I'll have to look more closely at the electronics I find with corroded batteries in them from now on. I wonder how they'd repair or replace a vintage handheld or pong?

Today's finds [2600 Racquetball, Colecovision Spy Hunter & Spectron, Comp IV]

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

I hit a store today and was surprised to see they had some new Atari 2600 games in. ("New" as in used games that were new to the store.) I pick out what I thought was two 2600 carts and one Colecovision cart for about $1 each. Later, in the car, I glanced in the bag and noticed that there were actually two Colecovision carts. I had previously not noticed the distinctive Colecovision shape at the end of one of them. It turns out both CV carts are rare! Here's what I
got:

• Racquetball (2600; tradebait)
• Spy Hunter (CV; now I *really* need a Super Action controller)
• Spectron (CV)

The labels aren't in the best shape. In fact, the two CV carts look like they've been stored in an open box in someone's basement for several years. I also noticed after I bought them that the labels around the screw holes have been punched through, so I hope they really are what they say they are. (I once bought a Destructor that turned out to be a non-working Super Action Baseball.)

I also picked up a Comp IV at another store. For those that don't know, Leonard Herman says in Phoenix that this was the first electronic game produced commercially. This is my second one, and I still need the instructions. Anyone got them? (Photocopy, ASCII, anything!)

[I still don't have Super Action Controllers for my Colecovision. And I can't check at the moment, but I believe the two Colecovision games worked and were what they said. I believe I also found some form of instructions for the Comp IV as well. Interestingly, the silkscreen on the "screen" of the second Comp IV is different from that on the first. —15 August 2010]

Good find or not? [2600 & 7800 stuff]

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

So how do you define a "good find"? I'll tell you what I found and you can tell me if I did good.

First stop was an annual church rummage sale. I bought a C-64 Fast Load cart for $0.25 just because it was so cheap. I don't have a C-64 or any real interest in owning one, but I figure I might end up with one someday anyway and carts typically don't get any cheaper.

A few stops with nothing from there. Then I hit a neighborhood yard sale. The first house has a box with some SMS games & a loose Colecovision Venture. The sign on it said "Sega system & games $20," but there was no sign of the system. I wasn't interested and didn't need the Venture, so I moved on. (I probably should have asked about more Coleco games, though.)

The rest of the neighborhood revealed nothing until the last pair of houses. I saw a TI-99/4a box and decided to stop. Very little TI stuff and nothing else classic. Then I walked to the house down the street.

One of the first boxes I see is filled with about a dozen boxed 2600 games and loose console. I ask about the Atari and the owner points to *another* box saying, "this here?" It contains two 7800s, two 2600s, and some loose games. I ask how much for all. He says $30. I only have $25. He takes it.

I haven't tested most of it yet, but here's some of what I got. This is from memory as I don't have the stuff in front of me.

• 1 complete 7800 (power supply & two joysticks)
• 1 7800 minus power supply w/two questionable joysticks
• 3 2600s w/power supplies (I think it's 1 black 4-switch and 2 wood 6-switches.)
• 2(?) standard 2600 sticks
• 3 *gray* Atari power supplies (What the--?!)
• Shrinkwrapped 7800 carts (all available from O'Shea):
  • Centipede (x2)
  • Choplifter
  • Donkey Kong Junior
• Boxed 2600 carts:
  • Codebreaker
  • Combat
  • Jr. Pac-Man (shrinkwrapped)
  • Pac-Man
  • Space Invaders
  • Space War
  • Video Chess
  • more commons that I forget
• Loose 2600 carts:
  • Astroblast
  • Fathom (the only one I needed; the label could be much better)
  • Gorf
  • E.T. (x2)
  • more commons that I forget

I figure I'll sell the complete 7800 with some games on eBay to make back my money. The other one will probably become a spare. (I rarely see 7800 consoles in my area.) I don't know what I'm going to do with the 2600s. I may turn them into complete systems with some games and sell them, too. I didn't have some of the game boxes and instructions, so I'll keep those. I guess the rest goes on my trade list.

If you've read my brag posts lately, you'll know that I recently found a copy of Video Chess while waiting for one in the mail. Now I find one CIB! Why is it I go years without finding this fairly common cart, and then find two of them?

The disturbing thing is the seller said, "these things must be getting popular again. I sold five this morning." I'm not sure if he meant five games or five systems (w/about 10 games each, from what he offered me at first). I fear the latter, in which case who knows what good stuff I missed out on?! Well, to whoever got it, you missed the Fathom! 8)

["CIB" stands for "complete in box," meaning it has the box, instructions, and cartridge. —5 June 2009]

Hardly a brag [Mattel Football I handheld, 5200 joysticks, Pac-Man Fever 45]

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

When yard sale/rummage sale hopping on Saturday. The only video game items I saw at all were a Virtual Boy w/1 game($15; I passed), a Mattel Football handheld w/o battery cover ($0.25; I took), and a pair of 5200 controllers ($1; I took). The Mattel Football replaces my older unit which I've been unable to repair. (I don't have a screwdriver bit in the shape of a little triangle. Damn you, Mattel Electronics!) The 5200 controllers I haven't tested yet, but I only got them for spare parts. Someone's messed with them before because the two fire buttons are missing from one side of one and the flex circuit for the Start/Pause/Reset buttons has been incorrectly reinserted.

Finally, the minor brag. On a lark, I flipped through the 45s at one yard sale. About the third one in was the Pac-Man Fever single. One dime later, it was mine! This prompted me to finally hook up the turntable I bought at a yard sale last year. Now I've finally heard the instrumental version of Pac-Man Fever. I just need the Donkey Kong single now.

[I've since bought the Donkey Kong single on eBay. I still could use that stupid triangle-shaped bit, though! — 18 June 2010]