Page 9 - OSG Presents Classic Gamer Magazine #7

classic
classic

By Mark Androvich
B ing up with a few fellow collectors through own, and even when eBay made finding

those games easier, I couldn’t justify
ack in the day when my Atari 2600
The 2600 Connection fanzine, I decided to
was brand new and still smelled of
plastic, I used to receive a handful of car- start collecting 2600 games in earnest. I spending my kids’ college funds on the
cartridges I needed. My collection ended
started visiting flea markets and swap
tridges each year: one for my birthday, meets, and soon moved on to scouring at a grand total of 290 different 2600
two at Christmas, and perhaps two for thrift stores. I was fortunate to live in a games.
special events throughout the year. If I town that had three or four such thrift How I hated that number! 290. So very
managed to save up my allowance, I stores within a few blocks from each close to 300, which sounds much better.
might also purchase another one from other, allowing me to make the rounds “How many Atari cartridges do you have?”
time to time. When the video game market nearly every weekend. I took out a classi- “290” “Oh, is that all?” “How many do you
crashed, I had owned my system a mere fied ad in the newspaper, asked friends have?” “300.” “Wow! That’s incredible!”
four years and amassed a collection of for their old games, and even traded away See what I mean? It just sounds better. I
just 15-20 games. At the time, I decided I some of my comic book collection to ob- therefore resolved to obtain a mere 10
was more interested in computers, and I tain hard-to-find games (A handful of Mar- more cartridges to help me reach that
left my Atari 2600 behind when I went off vel comics for a Chase The Chuck magic number. This is the story of how I
to college. Wagon seemed like a good trade). did it.
It wasn’t until grad school that I finally In a relatively short period of time, I First, I went through Digital Press and
became an owner of a couple of new sys- managed to collect well over 100 different made a list of the games I didn’t have in
tems. I bought a 7800 for $50, since no cartridges, most of them loose, at prices my collection, noting the rarity of each. I
one else wanted one, and I ended up as k- ranging from 50 cents to 5 dollars. By the also included the rarity from the Atari Age
ing for an NES for Christmas after renting time I had run out of steam some three web site as a “second opinion.” Eliminat-
the unit and several games. The NES was years later, I had around 250 games in my ing label variations, overseas titles, and
also marked down in price, as the SNES collection and I had paid as much as 100 Sears versions, I pared down the list to a
had just been released. I purchased a dollars for one of them (a signed Cubi- mere 109 titles I was interested in. Then I
handful of titles for each of them, but nei- color). By then, I had moved on to other eliminated the rarest of the rare games,
ther recaptured the magic I had felt with systems (a PlayStation) and other respon- specifically Condor Attack, Eli’s Ladder,
the original 2600. sibilities that occupied my time (a house, a Gauntlet, Magicard, Mangia, Obelix,
Then, one fateful day in the late 1980s, wife, and two kids). It was getting harder Quadrun, River Patrol, and Video Life.
I got bit by the collecting bug. After hook- and harder to find games I didn’t already That left my “want” list at an even 100.

1. Thrift Stores 2. eBay

Ah, the old standby! Even though I had I didn’t expect to be able to afford Condor Attack even when I saw one,
struck out in the past, I figured I would start but there were a few games on my list that were up for auction. I put in bids on
with thrift stores. Little did I know, I apparently ten of them: Double Dragon, Earth Dies Screaming, Frostbite, Gangster
live in an “exclusive” area. Although there are Alley, I Want My Mommy, Math Gran Prix, Mr. Do!, Quest For Quintana
collection vans all over town, there is not a Roo, Quick Step, and Radar Lock. The auction lengths ranged from one to
single Goodwill or other thrift store near my four days. Even though I entered sensible bids from $5 to $15, I figured that
house! Strike one! with my luck I would get outbid at the last second.
I was right! I lost two of the games with 40 seconds or less remaining in the
auction, and was the second highest bidder on three of the games. I was quite
surprised to see Double Dragon go for $21.53, although I expected to see
Radar Lock ($17.53) and I Want My Mommy ($22.01) to sell in the range
they did. (Condor Attack went for $113.62, by the way).

291 Math Gran Prix
One of the two eBay

auctions I won. I didn’t
need to use my math
skills, as this one went
for only $1.50.

292 Gangster Alley
The final title I won in an
eBay auction…for $4.26.

Classic Gamer Magazine July 2004 9