40 replies to this topic

[DocEss]

Would you count the converted Sentinel?

I'm working at finishing off my collection (at this point, it's just Tank Command that's holding me back) and I've been debating on if I should count Sentinel among that number. Points against it counting for me are the fact that it was never really released NTSC, and that it's probably all but impossible to get hands on one of the cartridges ResQSoft made, and things like that.

So I'm curious what the opinions here would be on what counts as a full library for the 7800?

[Rex Dart]

I wouldn't count it any more than I would count a homebrew cart of RexDart's Pixel Scooting Demo, but then I'm not a big-time collector...

[GroovyBee]

Rex Dart, on Mon Jan 31, 2011 5:46 PM, said:

I wouldn't count it any more than I would count a homebrew cart of RexDart's Pixel Scooting Demo, but then I'm not a big-time collector...

Is that an XM title?

[the.golden.ax]

Well if you are going for an NTSC library then no. If you are going for PAL, or everything yes, or maybe. If just PAL in general yes, if everything you have to get the wonky Australian cases for the Absolute and Activision titles too. *UGH* I did NTSC... and then bought a PAL Sentinel. I'd call mine complete. It's up to you.

AX

[DocEss]

the.golden.ax, on Mon Jan 31, 2011 7:15 PM, said:

Well if you are going for an NTSC library then no. If you are going for PAL, or everything yes, or maybe. If just PAL in general yes, if everything you have to get the wonky Australian cases for the Absolute and Activision titles too. *UGH* I did NTSC... and then bought a PAL Sentinel. I'd call mine complete. It's up to you.

AX

Yeah, was partly thinking of just grabbing a PAL Sentinel if I was unable to find one of the converted carts Res did, and calling it even, since the standard PAL carts can be had fairly easily. I don't think I'd go for label variants, or PAL versions of the same games. I'd call it complete just having a full playable collection of each game. A PAL Asteroids is the same as an NTSC one, so I don't think I'd feel the need to have both.

[The_Laird]

DocEss, on Mon Jan 31, 2011 8:02 PM, said:

Yeah, was partly thinking of just grabbing a PAL Sentinel if I was unable to find one of the converted carts Res did, and calling it even, since the standard PAL carts can be had fairly easily. I don't think I'd go for label variants, or PAL versions of the same games. I'd call it complete just having a full playable collection of each game. A PAL Asteroids is the same as an NTSC one, so I don't think I'd feel the need to have both.

You won't find a PAL Asteroids, it was built into our 7800's

[DocEss]

The_Laird, on Mon Jan 31, 2011 8:24 PM, said:

You won't find a PAL Asteroids, it was built into our 7800's

Ah, you got me there, but you know what I mean.

You guys also got much better controllers, but I've nabbed a pair of those. Wouldn't Double Dragon without them.

[DJ Clae]

Buy a converted Sentinel and an official PAL one. Without buying the official one all you have is a bootleg.

[WERY]

DocEss, on Mon Jan 31, 2011 12:03 PM, said:

So I'm curious what the opinions here would be on what counts as a full library for the 7800?

Well if you got all 57 of them it should be a complete collection of the NTSC retails. I congratulate you and would like to se a picture as I am goin for that myself

[DocEss]

DJ Clae, on Sun Feb 13, 2011 4:31 AM, said:

Buy a converted Sentinel and an official PAL one. Without buying the official one all you have is a bootleg.

I was generally implying NTSC library. So, since that was pretty much the only PAL-only, yet converted to NTSC, it sorta occupies an odd spot.

WERY, on Sun Feb 13, 2011 4:58 PM, said:

DocEss, on Mon Jan 31, 2011 12:03 PM, said:

So I'm curious what the opinions here would be on what counts as a full library for the 7800?

Well if you got all 57 of them it should be a complete collection of the NTSC retails. I congratulate you and would like to se a picture as I am goin for that myself

I could easily photograph 'em now, but I'm still nagged by that missing Tank Command. Still hunting about for a better deal on a loose cart than what eBay has up.

[SpendTooMuchOnAtari]

I too am short a Tank Command for my 7800 collection. That is the only game truly holding me back from a complete NTSC collection. I am also missing the Tomcat label variation error that says it's for the 2600 but only works on the 7800. So, if I count that variation, I am in need of two cartridges for my complete cart collection and only about three instructions (one of which is Tank Command of course). I am slowly working on boxes with only about 12 or so but do have a good start with Water Ski, Planet Smashers and Mean 18, all CIB.

DocEss: Do you collect 7800 label variations for your collection? I actually love 2600 variations so naturally, I had to go for the few 7800 variants to feel that my collection is complete. Just this last week, I finally acquired the RealSports Baseball with the black lettering...that one was a pain in butt to find at a good price. The Ballblazer variation is easy enough to find and the Pole Position is even easier but I'm stuck on the Tomcat one. I have the regular Tomcat in my collection but still need that error label. Then, when I have an extra 100 bucks, I'll snag a Tank Command because the chances of finding one in the wild here in Phoenix is very slim. I have only seen 7800 games a few select times and never found a 7800 rarity here. I've found a few 2600 rarities and those finds were few and far between but the 7800 is very hard to find in the wild here.

[DocEss]

SpendTooMuchOnAtari, on Thu Feb 17, 2011 11:41 PM, said:

I too am short a Tank Command for my 7800 collection. That is the only game truly holding me back from a complete NTSC collection. I am also missing the Tomcat label variation error that says it's for the 2600 but only works on the 7800. So, if I count that variation, I am in need of two cartridges for my complete cart collection and only about three instructions (one of which is Tank Command of course). I am slowly working on boxes with only about 12 or so but do have a good start with Water Ski, Planet Smashers and Mean 18, all CIB.

DocEss: Do you collect 7800 label variations for your collection? I actually love 2600 variations so naturally, I had to go for the few 7800 variants to feel that my collection is complete. Just this last week, I finally acquired the RealSports Baseball with the black lettering...that one was a pain in butt to find at a good price. The Ballblazer variation is easy enough to find and the Pole Position is even easier but I'm stuck on the Tomcat one. I have the regular Tomcat in my collection but still need that error label. Then, when I have an extra 100 bucks, I'll snag a Tank Command because the chances of finding one in the wild here in Phoenix is very slim. I have only seen 7800 games a few select times and never found a 7800 rarity here. I've found a few 2600 rarities and those finds were few and far between but the 7800 is very hard to find in the wild here.

Yeah, I just, as of yet, am unwilling to plunk down 100-130 bucks for Tank Command via eBay, so I wait it out. I've acquired other expensive rarities for less than their expected value, so I hope to find TC for less than that sticker-shocking 100 bucks.

I don't specifically seek out label variants, but over the course of collecting, I've ended up with some. I have the regular Tomcat and the error one. My Realsports Baseball, I can't actually recall which color the type is, I'd have to check. I just remember the labels are both flipped. Both end and front label are upside-down. That's more attributed to bad quality control on Atari's part than anything else, though.

Sometimes I can acquire 2600 games in the wild, but really the only place is Play'n'Trade, which vastly, ridiculously overprices their "classic/retro" hardware and software.

Though, in order to be fully satisfied with my library, I'll have to get all of Bob's 7800 homebrews that I don't yet have, such as Asteroids Deluxe, Space Duel, Space Invaders, and Failsafe. That's more of a personal preference, than a "complete NTSC" thing, though.

[SpendTooMuchOnAtari]

Yeah, check your Baseball, I'm betting it has white letters. It really is pretty hard to find that black label variation but if you're not into them than it really doesn't matter I guess. I just like the hunt and it's fun to have all the variations for me to feel my collection is "complete". Although, without all the boxes, it's never really going to be complete.

Do you collect instructions? I only need about three more booklets and I'll have them all. I like the hunt for booklets too!

[DocEss]

SpendTooMuchOnAtari, on Fri Feb 18, 2011 8:29 PM, said:

Yeah, check your Baseball, I'm betting it has white letters. It really is pretty hard to find that black label variation but if you're not into them than it really doesn't matter I guess. I just like the hunt and it's fun to have all the variations for me to feel my collection is "complete". Although, without all the boxes, it's never really going to be complete.

Do you collect instructions? I only need about three more booklets and I'll have them all. I like the hunt for booklets too!

Well, I never actually set out to collect the manuals, but noticed a lot of the games I was buying had them, so it's sort of a side project, not nearly as high priority to me as at least having one of every cartridge in the full catalog.

Same goes with boxes. Many of my purchases came CIB (not NIB, as if I get a sealed game, I'll never open it, and never play it, which kind of defeats the purpose for me), and as time went on, I realized I had about 80% of the boxes for the 7800. Funny how it worked out without really intending to.

[SpendTooMuchOnAtari]

Wow, you are really on your way to a CIB 7800 collection with that many boxes! I have 12 boxes so have a long way to go there but I'm proud of my instructions collection. I wish Tank Command wasn't so damn expensive, I might just wait for a CIB one if I'm already paying $100 for a cart only, might as well go hard and get it all.

[DocEss]

SpendTooMuchOnAtari, on Fri Feb 18, 2011 9:47 PM, said:

Wow, you are really on your way to a CIB 7800 collection with that many boxes! I have 12 boxes so have a long way to go there but I'm proud of my instructions collection. I wish Tank Command wasn't so damn expensive, I might just wait for a CIB one if I'm already paying $100 for a cart only, might as well go hard and get it all.

Aha, I checked my collection, and my Realsports Baseball, in addition to having both labels flipped upside-down, does indeed have the black type of "Baseball".

[SpendTooMuchOnAtari]

Congrats on that, I was on a few month quest to find that variation. No problem getting the white lettering version. Now, try finding a box with the black lettering, I've never seen one but have heard from a very reliable source that it exists. The instructions for both versions are the same though.

I'm having a tough time finding a Super Skateboardin manual reasonably priced in addition to Titlematch Pro Wrestling. And the box for Titlematch is crazy rare and/or expensive.

[DocEss]

SpendTooMuchOnAtari, on Sat Feb 19, 2011 10:43 PM, said:

Congrats on that, I was on a few month quest to find that variation. No problem getting the white lettering version. Now, try finding a box with the black lettering, I've never seen one but have heard from a very reliable source that it exists. The instructions for both versions are the same though.

I'm having a tough time finding a Super Skateboardin manual reasonably priced in addition to Titlematch Pro Wrestling. And the box for Titlematch is crazy rare and/or expensive.

Yeah, it appears as though I acquired that one entirely by accident. I never made a specific effort at it. The Absolute titles, I don't have the boxes for any of those.

[DocEss]

Tank Command get! At half the price I expected to pay, no less. Good thing I held off on getting one of the 100 dollar copies on eBay.

With that acquisition, I now have the entire 7800 retail library.

Now, when that store comes back up, I'll work on acquiring Bob's Space Invaders, Space Duel, and Asteroids Deluxe. . .

[KevinMos3]

Awesome. Where did you end up finding it? Other than Tank Command, I've had a complete NTSC 7800 collection since the mid-to-late nineties. I've always wanted Tank Command, but was never willing to shell out close to $100 to get one.

[SpendTooMuchOnAtari]

Do you guys collect the instructions? I have almost every instruction booklet and variations of some of those too. I've been working on boxes lately, I don't have many but my best one's are Planet Smashers, Water Ski, Mean 18 and Scrapyard Dog. I think if I'm going to shell out that kind of money for a Tank Command, I'm looking for it CIB.

[KevinMos3]

I have instructions for almost all my 7800 games. The ones I may be missing them for are a few really common games. The reason being that some of those commons came from a flea market back around '94 or so. A few of them were bought from friends who were happy to get rid of their Atari games for $.50 or $1 each and some of those came with manuals.

The bulk of my collection was purchased new in the box back when they were still not too difficult to find. Many came from a Hills department store at clearance prices, (I miss that chain). Others from Big Lots, and several from Video 61. I remember spending about $300 on games with Video 61 back in '95, and got several nice 2600 titles NIB too. That was basically my life savings at the time.

So basically, I have boxes for much of my 7800 collection and all the more rare games except Rampage. However, I never really cared about collecting boxes. They're more of a hassle than anything for me. I've never thrown any away, but I don't make a point to buy games with them either.

[mimo]

what sort of value does a loose Water Ski command?
nice condition label.

Edited by mimo, Fri Mar 18, 2011 5:37 AM.

[GroovyBee]

mimo, on Fri Mar 18, 2011 5:24 AM, said:

what sort of value goes a loose Water Ski command?
nice condition label.

£5.19 in the UK. That's the price one on ebay.co.uk finished at the other day.

[mimo]

I know just wondering if I got lucky. Never thought I would see one on ebay.uk