Ultra Nerdy Update Ahead
So we found something awesome in the thrift store at the city recycle center.
Jay called it a Foxy Trap. Two graphic novels, one strange Lois Lane comic book from 1972 (awesome), a regular Superman comic from the 90's and an Atari 5200!
I'm really excited about the Atari 5200. I really don't know why. I never had one as a kid. We moved from the 2600 directly to the NES which I have. It was just a really awesome find in perfect condition in the box still.
It didn't have controllers though, and I've been doing research on the controllers all day. Apparently, the controllers were definitely ahead of their time, but they were also riddled with issues. Mainly the parts would break down over time and with use. That seems to be the most expensive part of this adventure. One controller can be as much as $20 and that may or may not work being almost 30 years old now. Everyone says that refurbished is the key, but those are usually $40 for one.
Luckily I found this site. Not only do they have lots of absolutely fascinating information about Atari consoles and hardware, but they happen to carry actual Atari parts which they got out of the Sunnyvale Warehouses when Atari closed down. At one point, when they were running low of parts for the 5200 controller, they spent money to make new molds. And they've actually made upgraded and improved parts.
The games had interesting issues too. Not just for the 5200 but the 2600 (which we do have). I hear there's some issues with corrosion, and once they thought they had that figured out, there were then issues with the chemicals used to produce the corrosion free contacts leaking out of the circuit boards. In one cruel twist of fate, some grease that was used back in the day to beat the corrosion of the old tin plated connectors actually gunked things up more because over time it would collect dust and become a hard gunky coating. As it was a grease, you can probably guess that it stuck to the console and then transferred to any other games that were played.
So this morning I opened up the box and took the console out, hoping that there might actually be controllers. There are not, though there is a storage space for it when we get them. The console is in great condition, but it had a stickiness to it and I'm not sure from what. So I wiped down all the cords and the surfaces.
I plugged it in and pushed the power button just to be sure it actually worked, and it does seem to. I of course don't have a cartridge to test it out with, so I decided (using strategy developed from playing too much Final Fantasy as a kid) that it would be smart to get a game first, be sure it's working, and then buy the controllers.
The games are super cheap depending on where you get them. I went on Ebay and made my first purchase ever. I won Pac-man for .99 plus $5 shipping. So almost $7 all together for one game which isn't too bad. I'll see how it goes once I get it. The seller made a point of getting a picture of their TV with the game playing to verify that it actually does work and they really did test it, they're in the US so I'm pretty sure that it's a compatible cart, and the shipping was pretty regularly priced, so I have a good feeling.
I've never really thought of myself as having a hobby before, but you know, now that I think about it, I guess this would be it. Old video game systems. We were thinking about a better way of displaying the systems we do have. One of these days, probably not soon, we'll get that worked out and have the most awesome entertainment system ever.
Jay called it a Foxy Trap. Two graphic novels, one strange Lois Lane comic book from 1972 (awesome), a regular Superman comic from the 90's and an Atari 5200!
I'm really excited about the Atari 5200. I really don't know why. I never had one as a kid. We moved from the 2600 directly to the NES which I have. It was just a really awesome find in perfect condition in the box still.
It didn't have controllers though, and I've been doing research on the controllers all day. Apparently, the controllers were definitely ahead of their time, but they were also riddled with issues. Mainly the parts would break down over time and with use. That seems to be the most expensive part of this adventure. One controller can be as much as $20 and that may or may not work being almost 30 years old now. Everyone says that refurbished is the key, but those are usually $40 for one.
Luckily I found this site. Not only do they have lots of absolutely fascinating information about Atari consoles and hardware, but they happen to carry actual Atari parts which they got out of the Sunnyvale Warehouses when Atari closed down. At one point, when they were running low of parts for the 5200 controller, they spent money to make new molds. And they've actually made upgraded and improved parts.
The games had interesting issues too. Not just for the 5200 but the 2600 (which we do have). I hear there's some issues with corrosion, and once they thought they had that figured out, there were then issues with the chemicals used to produce the corrosion free contacts leaking out of the circuit boards. In one cruel twist of fate, some grease that was used back in the day to beat the corrosion of the old tin plated connectors actually gunked things up more because over time it would collect dust and become a hard gunky coating. As it was a grease, you can probably guess that it stuck to the console and then transferred to any other games that were played.
So this morning I opened up the box and took the console out, hoping that there might actually be controllers. There are not, though there is a storage space for it when we get them. The console is in great condition, but it had a stickiness to it and I'm not sure from what. So I wiped down all the cords and the surfaces.
I plugged it in and pushed the power button just to be sure it actually worked, and it does seem to. I of course don't have a cartridge to test it out with, so I decided (using strategy developed from playing too much Final Fantasy as a kid) that it would be smart to get a game first, be sure it's working, and then buy the controllers.
The games are super cheap depending on where you get them. I went on Ebay and made my first purchase ever. I won Pac-man for .99 plus $5 shipping. So almost $7 all together for one game which isn't too bad. I'll see how it goes once I get it. The seller made a point of getting a picture of their TV with the game playing to verify that it actually does work and they really did test it, they're in the US so I'm pretty sure that it's a compatible cart, and the shipping was pretty regularly priced, so I have a good feeling.
I've never really thought of myself as having a hobby before, but you know, now that I think about it, I guess this would be it. Old video game systems. We were thinking about a better way of displaying the systems we do have. One of these days, probably not soon, we'll get that worked out and have the most awesome entertainment system ever.