Is the Toploading NES worth it?

[ZP3]

So, I have been battling my NES for a few months now, and sadly, I think she is about to hit the dust. My question for you all is this: is the toploading NES that much more reliable? I know people often say it is, but why?

[bb_hood]

So, I have been battling my NES for a few months now, and sadly, I think she is about to hit the dust. My question for you all is this: is the toploading NES that much more reliable? I know people often say it is, but why?

I think the front-loading NES has gotten the reputation for being unreliable, but really its just the pin connector that either gets dirty or worn out. The pins in the original nintendo can easily be replaced, but I dont think thats the case with the toploader. The pins in toploading Nintendos will eventually wear down with use. I have found multiple non-working toploading nintendos so they will not last forever. It seems like the pins in original nintendos go bad from abuse or excessive use without cleaning. Original Nintendo pins in good condition will last a long time as long as you clean all the games.

Also you gotta keep in mind that Toploaders do not have AV video, just RF. If you switch over to a toploader nintendo you might be disappointed with the video quality. You can have them modded for AV out but thats extra work.

[Rickstilwell1]

AV Famicom + converter = the best combo possible.

[shadowkn55]

Toaster + Blinking Light Win = the best combo possible.

FTFY :p

[Rickstilwell1]

FTFY :p

It has to come out first

[Tanooki]

With what is currently out there now, it depends.

If you're ok straightening the pins on a 72pin connector using a pin, or popping it out and boiling it for a few minutes to 'reset' the quality of the pins to like new, you're better off just doing that and cutting PIN4 on the 10NES chip. Doing those 2 things will make it superior to the top loader because it has an RCA jack and doesn't suffer from RF interference (aka: jailbars.)

If you're not, then you get the top loader and save the hassle but lose some picture quality being stuck on RF, or you pay up for one and more for a modder to make it RCA capable.

Personally I went with a good deal at the time(far better now) top loader with 3 mods (rca jacks, stereo sound separation wheel, and a little led under the power switch so it glows red.) That system outperforms a stock classic system across the board, but if I were in front of two bare systems right now, I'd take the original and do the fixes myself as I've done it before and it lasts.

[ProjectCamaro]

I'll simply give my opinion and what I did.

I currently have 27 different consoles hooked up to TV's in my game room. I do not have the time to be constantly working on the different consoles to keep them running. So for me it was absolutely worth it. I did do the composite out modification as well and don't regret it for a second.

[Cornelius]

My experience has been that the biggest problem with the regular NES is dirty games. Clean the games and most of the time that will fix your problem. And I don't mean any of the 'alcohol on a q-tip' bs. Open the games and use some metal polish or one of the other methods that gets mentioned. There is, however, a point at which the pins need some attention. I've used a bent then clipped off paper clip to pull them back/up into place, but it takes a light touch and patience. Usually good results, but not always. The boiling thing is relatively new to me so I haven't worked on one since I heard about that. I'd try it, though. The toaster is cheap and has composite, it is worth a little time to me to keep it going. Seriously, though, clean the games first.

I have watched AV famicoms for many years, always on the verge of buying one, but never quite been able to pull the trigger. Definitely the best solution, as said above. I should probably check into getting my top-loader modded, but the lines on mine don't seem too bad.

edit: meant to add this if you haven't seen it: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/113891498/blinking-light-win-resurrecting-your-nes
more economical than a top loader even without composite mods.

[Gentlegamer]

My experience has been that the biggest problem with the regular NES is dirty games. Clean the games and most of the time that will fix your problem. And I don't mean any of the 'alcohol on a q-tip' bs.

Rubbing alchohol and q-tips is actually exactly what most NES games need. Never use metal polish on contacts, you'll strip the gold and make them susceptible to rust. Alchohol and q-tips will remove the tarnish just fine.

[Edmond Dantes]

What the hell do people DO to their NESes to have these problems? My NES has been in my house since 1987, has been through some real ass and has even been taken apart a few times, but any time a game doesn't work it just needs q-tips and alcohol.

What, does my NES in particular happen to have magical protection on it?

[celerystalker]

What the hell do people DO to their NESes to have these problems? My NES has been in my house since 1987, has been through some real ass and has even been taken apart a few times, but any time a game doesn't work it just needs q-tips and alcohol.

What, does my NES in particular happen to have magical protection on it?

Minr works great, too. I bought a top loader years ago as well, but it's usually unhooked in favor of the classic console I got for Christmas in '87. A little alcohol at most and it works pretty great, and without all of the vertical lines in thebackground on a top loader.

[Tanooki]

You know you can filter the lines out of a toploader very easily. Just have it pass through another system with a coax on it like an old VCR. That's what I did a decade ago with the first one I had. I didn't like the bars, so I got desperate thinking it was interference(and I was right) and ran it rhough the RCA ProScan I had and it was crisp and clear.

Perhaps just plugging in a crappy goodwill bought $5 VCR might be a savior for many, far cheaper than a mod job, and if you have any old tapes, that's a bonus.

[ZeroCool]

Minr works great, too. I bought a top loader years ago as well, but it's usually unhooked in favor of the classic console I got for Christmas in '87. A little alcohol at most and it works pretty great, and without all of the vertical lines in thebackground on a top loader.

Same here, the top loader I got is modded but its stored in the closet while Im playing the original my parents got for me 25 years ago. The alcohol q tip works well most of the time, for the most part the original still works fairly well I think its how kids treated their consoles back in the day. If you weren't reckless it should work fine the majority of the time. Unlike some poor NES consoles that are just beaten, battered and dead.

[Arkanoid_Katamari]

I crapped out and got a Retron 2, it works fine but I might work more on rejuvenating my original NES cuz I've had the same issues. The toploader sounds more reliable, cuz all my other toploading systems have never given me problems, even my Colecovision works fine, but they're expensive, harder to find, and they only support RF. When I was a kid I used to play my NES games in RF, and then I didn't care, but since switching to AV cables, never again

[Tron 2.0]

AV Famicom + converter = the best combo possible.
This the setup i use and it works great to.

[davidbrit2]

Just use a front-loader, replace the connector if necessary, and disable the CIC chip. I have no major problems with mine. If a game doesn't make good contact because of the lack of self-cleaning abrasion from the ZIF socket, all you need to do is make sure the cartridge is in the down position, and wiggle it side to side quickly using your fingertips for a couple of seconds. For a really dirty cartridge, use the proper bit to open it up and clean it.

[Dashopepper]

I used to swear by the front loader untill I actually got a top loader, now I would never go back. I spent so much time ripping apart and bending pins and cleaning them. Worked great as long as I religiously cleaned every game every single time.

So with my top loader I can start up any game I want after having not used it for 6 months and know it's going to work perfectly. (I also a/v modded for jail bars)

[thisIsLoneWolf]

The top loader is pretty slick indeed.
For those of you with front loaders that have been fitted with a new cart connector, how reliable are they?

[Thrillo]

I'd go with an A/V Famicom + a converter. It's hard to beat native composite out. Plus, you can play Famicom games that need the Famicom expansion port on the front, and it works with Famicom games that use extra sound chips.

[wizardofwor1975]

I crapped out and got a Retron 2, it works fine but I might work more on rejuvenating my original NES cuz I've had the same issues. The toploader sounds more reliable, cuz all my other toploading systems have never given me problems, even my Colecovision works fine, but they're expensive, harder to find, and they only support RF. When I was a kid I used to play my NES games in RF, and then I didn't care, but since switching to AV cables, never again

Same here. My original front loading NES died on me. So I picked up a NES Retro Entertainment System aka RES for less than $15 bucks. I've yet to come across any carts that it wont play and it uses my original controllers. I loved my front loading NES but the RES is an OK stand-in.


I'd go with an A/V Famicom + a converter. It's hard to beat native composite out. Plus, you can play Famicom games that need the Famicom expansion port on the front, and it works with Famicom games that use extra sound chips.

I like your Famicom suggestion. The RES gets the job done but it would be nice to play Famicom games.

[schnuth]

Have you seen the Blinking Light Win Kickstarter yet?

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/113891498/blinking-light-win-resurrecting-your-nes

This looks like a good solution for your old toaster.

[genesisguy]

I've been doing the boiling of the pin connector on my Toasters and they work GREAT. Ii had a couple of top loaders laying around. Sold them for big money. Stock they are garbage. RF doesn't bother me. It's the jailbars.

[treismac]

With the advent of the Blinking Light Win (https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/113891498/blinking-light-win-resurrecting-your-nes), this discussion will, hopefully, soon be over. Providing the Blinking Light Win works, why would anyone now shell out X amount of cash for an Toploader AV mod when they can snag this for $20?

[bb_hood]

With the advent of the Blinking Light Win (https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/113891498/blinking-light-win-resurrecting-your-nes), this discussion will, hopefully, soon be over. Providing the Blinking Light Win works, why would anyone now shell out X amount of cash for an Toploader AV mod when they can snag this for $20?

Yeah, if the Blinking Light Win works WELL this could be epic. No more shitty replacement pins, no more deathgrip.

Toploader mods are cool, and the actual mod job isnt really all that expensive. The main problem is that if you mail your system to someone you gotta pay shipping there and back, which adds like 40-60$.

[treismac]

The main problem is that if you mail your system to someone you gotta pay shipping there and back, which adds like 40-60$.

To be sure. Shipping both ways is killer.

[Tanooki]

If this new part works as advertised those who would still buy a top loader over an original would be for three reasons -- resellers, people who don't know it exists, and Nintendo collectors as it's a piece of legit history.

I hope it works out as advertised and is that cheap. It would be great to see all these makers of these 'new' 72pin connectors run out of business because they're awful. Death grip, brittle, dirty easy so they fail fast, weaken into a poor connection after not too terribly long -- they're made to keep a reselling trail of buyers around.

[bb_hood]

I hope it works out as advertised and is that cheap. It would be great to see all these makers of these 'new' 72pin connectors run out of business because they're awful. Death grip, brittle, dirty easy so they fail fast, weaken into a poor connection after not too terribly long -- they're made to keep a reselling trail of buyers around.

I think most of the NES pins people use come from dealers on ebay who buy them in bulk, probably from China.
They are junk in my opinion so I wouldnt mind seeing these people stop selling them.
I dont mind so much having to change pins if one connector stops working, Its the deathgrip that will slowly damage the games thats scary.

[camarotuner]

There do exist factor US toploaders with a/v output. Not exactly a budget friendly option however given what they go for.

[Tanooki]

You're correct, never at retail though. It was a silent kinda-recall Nintendo did. Even after the warranty was up if you called into them up until 2000 I found out you could send them a top loader and they've pop an entirely new properly shielded board in there with their SNES like multi-av out with a mono a/v cable with it back to you. I haven't looked one up in years, but last I did was before things got major retarded and it still was a few hundred bucks. I'd hate to think what that escalated to now.

[Niku-Sama]

AV Famicom + converter = the best combo possible.

I beg to differ.

Twin Famicom with converter

[jperryss]

If this new part works as advertised those who would still buy a top loader over an original would be for three reasons -- resellers, people who don't know it exists, and Nintendo collectors as it's a piece of legit history.

In my case, it's about space. My 27" Trinitron stand has an AV Famicom (previously an AV-modded NES toploader), SFC, PCE Duo-R, and a pair of Wiis with a Wiimote charging dock, and everything barely fits. I'd never fit a toaster NES in there.

Also cosmetics, because the AVF (and even the toploader when it doesn't have a cart towering out of it) is slick as hell.

[Tanooki]

Makes sense and you're a Japanese console buyer, but I was talking about just US systems with that as there are a lot of US-NES collectors out there that'll go to any length to pay for an item.

[BlastProcessing402]

You're correct, never at retail though. It was a silent kinda-recall Nintendo did. Even after the warranty was up if you called into them up until 2000 I found out you could send them a top loader and they've pop an entirely new properly shielded board in there with their SNES like multi-av out with a mono a/v cable with it back to you. I haven't looked one up in years, but last I did was before things got major retarded and it still was a few hundred bucks. I'd hate to think what that escalated to now.

Actually there WERE some found at retail. My cousins had one. I think they got it at Meijers. Long gone before I knew A/V toploaders were anything special, tho, I just thought they were all that way.


What the hell do people DO to their NESes to have these problems? My NES has been in my house since 1987, has been through some real ass and has even been taken apart a few times, but any time a game doesn't work it just needs q-tips and alcohol.

What, does my NES in particular happen to have magical protection on it?

If yours does have magical protection, mine from roughly the same time does too. I've never had a game that refused to work once it got a good blowing. Never even had to clean a game, though I never bought any games dirty enough to need it in the first place.

Only problem it ever gave me was in early 89 when after I opened it up and put it back together (just for curiousity's sake) the cart mechanism wouldn't stay down when you pressed it, and I had to come up with a workaround to get it to stay down. Then one day I was mad at a game and slammed my hand down on the top of the system and suddenly the mechanism worked again. It was a glorious day, I felt like Fonzie. LOL

[camarotuner]

You're correct, never at retail though. It was a silent kinda-recall Nintendo did. Even after the warranty was up if you called into them up until 2000 I found out you could send them a top loader and they've pop an entirely new properly shielded board in there with their SNES like multi-av out with a mono a/v cable with it back to you. I haven't looked one up in years, but last I did was before things got major retarded and it still was a few hundred bucks. I'd hate to think what that escalated to now.

At a live auction I was outbid at a grand (Final price was just over 1100) on the last one I had a shot at and that was a few years ago. I'd be curious with the impressive improvements to the clone systems (I'm looking at you retron 5) if they'd still command that kind of money or if they've gone down some. It's still on my "holy grail" list of items I'd love to acquire.

[Tanooki]

Wow that's the first case I've seen of an a/v toploader at retail even after the 4 years over at that other cracked out site as there were debates about it.

I never had a problem with my NES, at least that someone else didn't make happen to it. Shortly after a move in 1989 was its first death by five year old girl with an orange popsicle with the power turned on after insertion. There were a couple other dumb mishaps too, yet it kept on trucking through when I sold it maybe 3 years ago to a very appreciative guy with his kid he wanted to introduce to the NES. He bought a game bundle off me from craigslist, saw the NES and begged for it so that one lasted with occasional maintenance from 1985-2011 and probably still works.

camaro -- 1.1K is nuts. I would not be surprised at all if it gets well over that. The sharp NES tv when I got it was a deal at $200~ back in 1/2012 and they now sell for $600-700, sometimes higher if you get some fools fighting over it going as high as 1K. Around the time I got the sharp they went in the shape/completeness of mine for 300.

[Dashopepper]

I have a dozen or so toasters I'm getting ready for Ebay and the only thing I have to say is, Fuck Toasters! For the last two days I've bent, boild, cleaned and replaced 72 pins and they still only work 80% of the time. I hate them and everything about them. My hand hurt as I type from pulling out cartridges. Damn i hate them...

[camarotuner]

camaro -- 1.1K is nuts. I would not be surprised at all if it gets well over that. The sharp NES tv when I got it was a deal at $200~ back in 1/2012 and they now sell for $600-700, sometimes higher if you get some fools fighting over it going as high as 1K. Around the time I got the sharp they went in the shape/completeness of mine for 300.

Never said I was sane, just that I wanted it. Three of us "went for it" at the auction and apparently we all had similar caps in mind. I'm hoping the next time I get another shot I have more money to throw at it. I have a feeling this is one of those items that everytime I get a chance the price is just going to keep rising. There really are not a lot of these things out there.

[Hwj_Chim]

Disable the 10NES chip as well as refurbishing the 72 pin. Old toaster works better then new;)

http://youtu.be/LLMCj2VosLc

[Casati]

I had the toaster 25 years ago, but have used a toploader since I returned to NES gaming, and I don't have it modded and have become accustomed to the jail bars.

[Tanooki]

It's not too hard to ignore but that also depends on the TV as every one will be more obvious or less obvious so it's random. Like I said though, if you use a device with a coax on the back (like a vcr) as a pass though, it filters the bars out.