How many C64 cart collectors visit these boards?

[zektor]

Besides myself and Mayhem that is :) I am just wondering where people's collections are in terms of size.

You know, when the C64 was at it's height of greatness, I was knee deep in hardware, peripherals, and disks. I was running a BBS at the time and piracy reigned supreme. But, I did like the idea that the C64 took carts. Only problem was that it seemed I could never find any. Everything was distributed on disks as far as I could see....when I went to local computer/game stores. But I did end up with a Popeye cart I found once.

Fast forward to this decade. Always wondering what I had missed in cart form (or could not find), I have been on and off hunting down game cartridges for my beloved computer. To this day I have obtained about 120 game carts. Mostly loose, but some with boxes and manuals as well.

And the games are mostly REALLY good! It's fun to see how arcade conversions via cart went on the C64. For the most part they are spot on. And then there are some others that are mostly unknown but awesome. "Castle Hassle" is one game that I really enjoy.

I already knew what a great computer the C64 was/is obviously. But what a great cart based system it makes as well. Too bad the carts are hard to come by (aside commons like "Kickman") even today...

[Blanka789]

I've been getting into it a little bit, although I don't actually own a C64 yet (sad I know). The coolest thing I have is a vic-rel cartridge.

[jb143]

I think I have 1 laying around somewhere. Does that count? It's Attack of the Mutant Camels. I went to a local game store in the area that has EVERYTHING and asked if they had any. He said they occasionally show up in lots of Atari carts but otherwise he didn't have any and rarely ever does.

[vintagegamecrazy]

I'm trying to get into it more though it's been on the backburner lately. You could count me as a collector because I have about 50 carts and a couple disks/tapes. I have two disk drives, a tape drive that's apparently broken, I have a doodle pad and a monitor too. I plan on hooking it all up and giving it a fair shot soon though.

[Sanriostar]

There's a few Hardcore C64 cart collectors here on DP. I'm one.

The C64 'grails"; feel free to argue these, I want some discussion on this.

Laser Gates
anything by OEM
River Raid (yes. River Raid. on cart. you can find everywhere on tape or disk, but I dare you to get it on cart. I DARES YA!)
Super Zaxxon
the early 90's Ocean carts

...and I'm willing to debase myself for an Australian HES Ghostbusters cart.

While not a cart, the Magic Voice Module never seems to come up on Ebay too often.

[PingvinBlueJeans]

Along with ColecoVision, the C64 is probably my favorite thing to collect for.

Yes, even the loose carts are generally uncommon...many of the rarer titles only pop up once or twice per year on eBay. Much like ColecoVision, boxed C64 games are significantly harder to come by and are rarely found in the wild. Not surprising, since the majority of the C64 cartridge releases were sold in 1983-84 during the crash and therefore in significantly lower volumes than most Atari 2600 games, etc. Actually, most of the cartridge releases for the Atari computers that were not released by Atari themselves are just as hard to locate as the Commodore versions. If you're going to collect for these systems you definitely have to learn to be patient.

[old_skoolin_jim]

I'd love to call myself a C64 cart collector. I have a C128 I bought at a flea market a few years ago with (literally) BOXES of stuff that came with it. Unfortunately, there were no carts in the lot, and the 3 I have I found myself- 2 at a flea market (lemans and block breaker or whatever that common breakout-esque one is) and from eBay, a boxed Rootin' Tootin', probably the best pac-man clone ever.
If I could find more carts, I'd pick 'em up, but eBay's a bit of a hassle and they tend to be either dirt-common or totally overpriced.
Hopefully I'll get some good finds one day!

[AB Positive]

No. Not... yet.

I have to admit the classic computing bug hit me hard and I already have an Atari 600 xl heading my way (I already have the ram ready to solder in to make it 64KB). Also, thanks to the economic downturn I was able to snag a C64-C in the box complete and a 1541 disk drive for $35 including shipping.

Next... to find an amiga.

However the only cart I have (albeit was mixed in with about 150 or so disks...) is the Epyx Fast Load cart. I'm sure I'll have no clue how to use that. :D

[Mayhem]

Well the manual to the Fast Load is online if you go look...

I guess I hadn't dared step into this thread, because you know what's coming. Sort of. There always has to be one mad person for every format, and I guess C64 cartridges are my weakness. There are very few I still need that are known about as listed in the online guide. Ten or less I believe. I'd say 80% of mine are complete to boot.

As for River Raid Sanriostar, I've seen at least two (loose) River Raid carts offered on eBay so far this year, so you just gotta keep looking! In fact, one of those just finished three days ago (http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Vintage-C-64-River-Raid-Game-Cartridge_W0QQitemZ190296039739QQihZ009QQcategoryZ 74945QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem)! Australia will be your best bet to get one, I know it...

[Wookie]

Can't hold a candle to Mayhem but I've got between 275 and 300 C64 carts, including a large number of app/utility/interfacing carts. I do have a river raid cart, but can't remember where I got it.

[PingvinBlueJeans]

As for River Raid Sanriostar, I've seen at least two (loose) River Raid carts offered on eBay so far this year, so you just gotta keep looking! In fact, one of those just finished three days ago (http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Vintage-C-64-River-Raid-Game-Cartridge_W0QQitemZ190296039739QQihZ009QQcategoryZ 74945QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem)! Australia will be your best bet to get one, I know it...
Actually, there was another in a lot that ended yesterday...
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=270366413497

It turns up loose often enough. Boxed is another story...

[Sanriostar]

As for River Raid Sanriostar, I've seen at least two (loose) River Raid carts offered on eBay so far this year, so you just gotta keep looking! In fact, one of those just finished three days ago (http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Vintage-C-64-River-Raid-Game-Cartridge_W0QQitemZ190296039739QQihZ009QQcategoryZ 74945QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem)! Australia will be your best bet to get one, I know it...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v88/Sanriostar/frustrationgif.jpg

:bad-words::rockets::2gunfire::texaschain::frustrated:

Dammit! Dammit! Dammit!

Oh, and as for collection size. I'm running at about 100 carts.

[Mayhem]

Well if/when I spot another River Raid, I'll PM you with a link to it ;)


It turns up loose often enough. Boxed is another story...

Yeah... aside from my boxed copy, I think I know of ONE other. That's a stupidly hard box to find, and I have no idea why. Part of the reason may be that it is a dedicated cart box; it's NOT the same as the disk box unlike all the other Activision cartridge releases.

[boatofcar]

Are PAL carts a lot easier to find than NTSC versions?

[swlovinist]

I was very happy to sell some very obscure C64 carts to Mayhem years ago, and sold the rest of my 100+ cart collection to a friend of mine. I used the money to wrap up my Nes set, but have a C64 hooked up still with about 20 or so carts that are my favorites.

Jumpman Junior being my all time favorite.

[Steve W]

I've only got seven or eight, at most. I'm always on the lookout for some and when I find them I rarely pass them up, but that doesn't happen too often. They're hard to locate in the wild. It's easier to find Atari 8-bit carts, which are still difficult to source in these here parts.


April 12th EDIT: I've actually picked up three more C64 carts in the wild while killing time before OEGE in Oklahoma City yesterday. Music Machine, Music Composer, and Frogger (which has a post-it note taped on stating 'Turn Keyboard off plug in back').

[Sanriostar]

I should have thought of AU for River Raid; that's where I got my Pastfinder cart from.

[Mayhem]

Are PAL carts a lot easier to find than NTSC versions?

Generally there are no games I can think of that have both PAL and NTSC versions on cartridge for the C64. Plenty for the Vic20, but none for the C64. All the ones released by Commodore in the 82-84 era work fine on PAL machines for starters. I don't think I've had a single game that's flaked out when I've tried it. All my Japanese MAX carts work fine too.

A perfect example is the fact Activision (in the US) sold HES (in Australia) an entire boat load of stock to resell during the mid 80s. The US of course is NTSC, and Australia is PAL. There are no compatibility issues. This is why I suggested you look to Aussieland for your missing River Raid, there's a decent number of them over there ;)

Now in the second cartridge era, 90-92, it's a different matter. All the games are PAL and some of them don't work on NTSC C64s due to the usual scanline and timing issues.

[Tupin]

So, I got my first C64 cart today, Speed/Bingo Math. Not a great start, but all I've seen before this point were disks.

[Mayhem]

Welcome! And yeah, bit of a crummy cart to start with, but hey, it can only go up from here ;)

[Atarileaf]

I'd like to know how many here are collectors of the Tandy Color Computer. That was the computer I grew up with in the early 80's.

[Steve W]

Tandy Co-Co carts are hard to find in my area, which is strange considering the nearby city of Fort Worth is Tandy's headquarters. I've found a lot of Radio Shack VIS stuff locally, but very little Trash-80 cartridges. I've actually found many more computers than games.

[Tupin]

Welcome! And yeah, bit of a crummy cart to start with, but hey, it can only go up from here ;)
Ah, I actually find these games fun because I will win at them absolutely every single time. LOL

It was a dollar, and it was sitting at the bottom of the store's bargain bin for well over a year before I picked it up, and I don't even have a C64, I'm only planning to get one soon. :D

What's the code for loading carts? Or does it do it automatically?

[PingvinBlueJeans]

What's the code for loading carts? Or does it do it automatically?

The cart slot operates like any other and the computer will check for media there before anything else. No load code is needed.

[zektor]

I should have thought of AU for River Raid; that's where I got my Pastfinder cart from.

Funny as hell. This is where I got MINE from too :)

As for River Raid, yup, it has popped up on ebay a few times that I have seen, but I missed it each and every time for one reason or another. It is the only Activision cart I am missing at this point...

I started with Radar Rat Race and a few other commons that came with a C64 that I purchased locally. I have learned quickly that this is a collection that you most certainly have to be patient with. I have many rares, but there are even many commons that I have a hard time obtaining (like Popeye!). Sometimes I am forced to purchase a lot just for even one title I do not have, then turn around and sell off the rest. At one point I had like 15 "Kickman" carts just because of this :)

I love the C64 to death, and feel really lucky to have come across what I have at this point. I play alot of disk based games, but it is a nice option to use the C64 as a straight up console with a cart too. I just hope to obtain a full collection (or get very close to it) one day. As for boxed, that is definitely out of my scope. Obtaining boxed complete game carts for it would probably take me a few lifetimes :) Out of 130+ carts I believe at this point, only 12 are boxed complete!

[Atarileaf]

Tandy Co-Co carts are hard to find in my area, which is strange considering the nearby city of Fort Worth is Tandy's headquarters. I've found a lot of Radio Shack VIS stuff locally, but very little Trash-80 cartridges. I've actually found many more computers than games.

I had a very nice coco collection about 11 years ago that I foolishly sold. Had about 35-40 carts too and some hard to find. :(

[Mayhem]

Obtaining boxed complete game carts for it would probably take me a few lifetimes :) Out of 130+ carts I believe at this point, only 12 are boxed complete!

It's certainly possibly though; about 80% of my collection is complete. Then again, I feel that I had an easier time getting complete games back in the mid to late 90s when I started gathering cartridges in dribs and drabs, compared to now. Just feels like that.

//shudders at costs to import the Chalkboard games to the UK

[zektor]

It's certainly possibly though; about 80% of my collection is complete. Then again, I feel that I had an easier time getting complete games back in the mid to late 90s when I started gathering cartridges in dribs and drabs, compared to now. Just feels like that.

//shudders at costs to import the Chalkboard games to the UK

Yep, you started collecting at the right time. I was collecting Vic-20 carts around that time, and I would guess that I had obtained almost 90% of the entire collection...and over half were complete. I foolishly sold it off however....one of the many regrets I do have. Oh well...at least there's Megacart :)

[Mayhem]

eBay had helped naturally, but some of my best and greatest finds were private sales, especially a number of the OEM cartridges. And for quite cheap too (and before you say, the seller set the price, not me making an offer!)... very happy to snap those up ;)


I was collecting Vic-20 carts around that time, and I would guess that I had obtained almost 90% of the entire collection...and over half were complete. I foolishly sold it off however....one of the many regrets I do have.

Actually, I'm now probably about where you were with the Vic20; I need under 20 cartridges for the complete set, but I doubt I'll see most of them in a blue moon. And around 95% of my Vic20 collection is complete, I just kept finding them that way and buying them.

[Wookie]

I'd like to know how many here are collectors of the Tandy Color Computer. That was the computer I grew up with in the early 80's.

I collect that one, too. By my notes, I've got 106 different coco carts (including things like Orchestra90, Color Burner, and similar non-game widgets). AFAIK, I'm only missing two titles (Katerpillar Attack and Star Blaster).

I started collecting for cartridge-based computers before expanding to consoles, so I've got a fair number of carts for most systems of that type (C64 = 280, VIC20 = 164, CoCo = 106, TI99 = 204, Atari 800/XL/XE = 230, plus a handful of others like Tomy Tutor, PCjr, C16/+4, and TS2068).

[robotriot]

I've only got 3 carts, all of them apps: Visible Solar System, Prophet64 and one with a hand-written label that states Layout Designer.

[Mayhem]

I just love discovering homebrew carts like that. Layout Designer? Any chance of a picture and some shots of it in action? I have one here that was used for colouring and tinting customers' hair in a salon during the 80s!

[Sanriostar]

One of my carts is a Homebrew: 'Game Killer" the name is written in the cart case via a soldering iron and then highlighted with some sort of red pen.

[Wookie]

One of my carts is a Homebrew: 'Game Killer" the name is written in the cart case via a soldering iron and then highlighted with some sort of red pen.

I have an 'Infinity Machine' cart that is subtitled 'Game Killer'. Wonder if they're the same. It's stored away somewhere but I *think* it has an actual commercial label on it, and a quick google search shows a 'Infinity Machine (Game Killer)' by Mastertronic on somebody's rarity list.

[Tupin]

Wow, how did people make their own carts without a burner?

[jb143]

Wow, how did people make their own carts without a burner?

I'm pretty sure C64 carts just take an EPROM and any old EPROM burner would do the trick. My electronics teacher in high school used to tell us all his stories from his Commodore days how they'd copy and share cart games.

[Sanriostar]

I have an 'Infinity Machine' cart that is subtitled 'Game Killer'. Wonder if they're the same. It's stored away somewhere but I *think* it has an actual commercial label on it, and a quick google search shows a 'Infinity Machine (Game Killer)' by Mastertronic on somebody's rarity list.


Does your cart have a small red square button on the side? If so, then we have the same thing.

[Wookie]

Does your cart have a small red square button on the side? If so, then we have the same thing.

Yep, that's the one.

[Rickstilwell1]

I got started being interested in computer collecting a few months ago. Before that I only touched consoles and handhelds. First I got an Atari XEGS from a good member here and then I got a CIB Commodore VIC-20 from ebay for $20 after shipping with a few carts and a few more tapes.

I was lucky and found a tape drive off ebay for another $30, which is probably worth it since I got a good deal on the VIC-20 and had that pile of tapes I needed to test. The only VIC-20 tape I found any fun out of my lot was "Blue Meanies From Outer Space".

Next on my list is Commodore 64, but I must first save money again due to me buying that big HDTV. When I get a Commodore 64 I want it to come with a Floppy Drive since so many games are easily found on floppy. A Commodore brand joystick would be nice too. I hate controlling directional movement with arrow keys.

I care mostly about snagging various versions of Arcade ports for these old systems before I start collecting on the original titles. I tend to have more enjoyment of the various arcade ports of the same title across pre-Nintendo systems. Every version behaves differently.

[zektor]

Does your cart have a small red square button on the side? If so, then we have the same thing.

I have this too. Mine is complete. Comes in a VCR tape type plastic box with manual. The cart is designed for cheating on loaded games by disabling sprite collision (basically giving you invincibility)