14 replies to this topic

[CPUWIZ]

Who besides me and Tempest is collecting lab-loaners (prototypes,engineering samples, preview copies ... whatever you want to call them) and would you rate them as 10's or higher ?

Just curious.

[Tempest]

Depends on the proto. Some versions of certain prototypes are almost 9's if not 8's. I swear if I see another Big Bird 6/23 I'll scream!

Tempest

[CPUWIZ]

I thought it was 6-13 ?

[FND]

I have been collection them for some time now and would have to agree it depends on the
title but surly would not rate any original proto less then an 8 (common titles) or 9,
10 sounds high but given the limited numbers produced, especially for the smaller company's and
unreleased titles 10 would easily be in line compared to the numbers available for other 10's

FND

[Buyatari]

I've always considered all Atari lab loaners to be one cart.

Sure you can have different data on it but most have the same board and label. Some people even burn the games they want onto lab loaners with common games (no names guys). So to me all lab loaners have the same rarity.

By that thinking I only "need" 1 of each company for the collection.

3rd party protos with different labels are harder to find than the Atari lab loaners. I'd give them a higher rarity than the Atari lab loaners. Lab loaners I'd rate a 6.

Think about it. Finding one, just any one isn't that hard.

Adam

[MattG/Snyper2099]

I have roughly 10 prototypes across the board for Atari systems. I think it depends on the proto as well. Unreleased lab labels that are authentic, I consider 10's. Anything else varies on an individual basis. I also consider any 3rd party proto to be a 10.

MattG.


MattG.

[Buyatari]

Some prototypes are rarer than others but would you really want a rarity for each and prototype. In effect, doubling the database?

Atari 2600 Combat =1
Atari 2600 Combat prototype =10
Atari 2600 Air Sea Battle=1
Atari 2600 Air Sea Battle prototype =10
etc etc etc

I'd rather see

Atari 2600 standard Lab Loaner cart (titles vary) = 6
Atari 2600 old style lab loaner cart (titles vary) =8
Activison red label prototype cart (titles vary) = 9
etc etc etc

This is about rarity not value. Some titles are harder to find but not by much. Besides the Best Electronics titles , are there any known titles with more than 50 copies known?

Adam

[MattyXB]

I collect them all:
Prototypes, Promos, Demos, Preview, Instore, and more.... All what I can get and all what is Rare.
Here I have a site with alle Rare Videogames I own.

Atari 2600 Prototypes

My Rare Videogame Collection

And I think most of the are like a 9 or 10.

My favourite Game is Starwing Competition (German). And all Final Fantasy Promos. Missing on this list is Final Fantasy VIII (PAL Promo), this I own too.

[CPUWIZ]

Buyatari said:

Atari 2600 standard Lab Loaner cart (titles vary) = 6
Atari 2600 old style lab loaner cart (titles vary) =8

Explain the difference, will you please.

[CPUWIZ]

Buyatari said:

Some people even burn the games they want onto lab loaners with common games (no names guys). So to me all lab loaners have the same rarity.

Who ? PM me, I don't want to buy sh*t, I've been ripped off once with a fake lab-loaner. It was a production board in a case with a lab-loaner label that was printed on some cheesy inkjet printer. I believe JCroniger got ripped off on one of those too (If my eBay memory serves me right).

[cx2k]

I collect them. As for rarity, it may be pretty hard to rate them individually. Certainly a 2600 Tempest is worth more than a Big Bird proto or even an A-team proto but I think it's probably easier to place them into a "released" or "unreleased" game category.

protos of unreleased 2600 games - 9, 10, etc.
protos of released 2600 games - 7, 8, etc.

That's just for Atari protos. As stated elsewhere, 3rd party protos are another whole animal. Even there, you can't really blanket rate them. Which is worth more, a CommaVid proto or an Activision proto?

John

CPUWIZ said:

Who besides me and Tempest is collecting lab-loaners (prototypes,engineering samples, preview copies ... whatever you want to call them) and would you rate them as 10's or higher ?

Just curious.  

[Rick Weis]

i don't collect protos anymore! i did many years ago. i have 17 atari proto a few released mostly unreleased.

i agree with John.

Take Care,

Rick

[Buyatari]

Quote

Explain the difference, will you please.

Its the style of label. A few early Atari protos have a label which looks alomst like the text label with the Atari logo on it.

I know Marco has a Polo prototype of this variation.

Might also want to seperate games which use the larger sized proto board like Shooting galley and Saving Mary.

Quote

I collect them. As for rarity, it may be pretty hard to rate them individually.

Yes, I agee with that.

Quote

protos of unreleased 2600 games - 9, 10, etc.  
protos of released 2600 games - 7, 8, etc.

Well we are talking about rarity here not value. Are protos of unreleased games harder to find in general? There certainly are those one of a kind protos but has more than one prototype been found for every single released game? Some protos are more common than others that goes without saying but to say that ALL unreleased protos are in lesser numbers than ALL released protos. I dunno about that one. I just think you make out better when you find an unreleased one.

Ratio wise there are many more games which were released than unreleased. So lets say for the sake of argument that every game unreleased or released had 10 prototype copies printed up. Now you mix those up and spead em all over the world's thrift stores. They all have equal rarity 10 each but if you do manage to find one you will have a greater likelyhood of find a released proto. By the same theory we could say Atari 2600 prototype racing games were harder to find than prototype non-racing games.

You could argue that unreleased protos since unreleased were canceled early and less examples of them exist. However until a tally is completed on each prototype title it isn't a given. There have to be released games for which prototypes are just impossible to find. Its just the luck of the draw. Unreleased prototypes receive more attention when found so we have an idea how many exist of each but what of released titles. About how many prototype copies of 3D chess are there or Game of Concentration? I sure as heck don't know. Do you? Those are just examples I think you get what I am trying to say.

Adam

[MattG/Snyper2099]

BuyAtari wrote

Quote

About how many prototype copies of 3D chess are there or Game of Concentration? I sure as heck don't know. Do you? Those are just examples I think you get what I am trying to say.

I agree. I for one have never seen ANY red label only, late atari released protos (sprintmaster,double dunk,radar lock,sentinel,ect). I have, however, seen 3 Xevious protos in person. I think it comes down to common sense. As stated earlier, a [insert a game you've never seen as a proto here] is worth more than a big bird egg catch proto.

MattG.

[Tempest]

Quote

I agree. I for one have never seen ANY red label only, late atari released protos (sprintmaster,double dunk,radar lock,sentinel,ect).

I've seen a Jr. Pac-Man prototype, and I own Klax and Motorodeo protos. I've also seen some very early 2600 game protos (3-D Tic-Tac-Toe, Golf, Steeplechase), but I've never seen protos of the original nine games (Combat, Star Ship, Basic Math, Street Racer, etc.). I wonder if lab loaners for these games exist?

Tempest