View Full Version : Protos found in the wild?
Buyatari
09-21-2002, 12:32 PM
Has anyone here ever found a prototype at the local thrift store or flee market?
Come on let us know about it.
We need some hope here.
Adam
CPUWIZ
09-21-2002, 03:06 PM
Oh yeah baby, there is still hope in the Bay Area.
retrogmr
09-21-2002, 06:07 PM
Are we talking recently, or ever? :)
gamergary
09-21-2002, 06:51 PM
i think buyatari ment ever
Buyatari
09-21-2002, 07:09 PM
I found an ODY2 prototype once at a flee market for $2 other than that every proto I ever aquired has been over the internet.
Ahh I forgot once I found 2600 Polo at a game store for $20.00. It wasn't at a thrift store or a flee market so I don't know if that "counts" but it was a better score than the ody 2 proto thats for sure.
I think there is an unwritten law that you must find at least 1 proto in the wild to earn your "proto hunter status".
Adam
Tempest
09-21-2002, 10:43 PM
I found a Vic-20 Gorf proto once. That's about it.
Tempest
neschampion
09-22-2002, 02:39 AM
A few years back I found a NES Tag Team Wrestling proto in the bin at Funcoland of all places. Worked well for me, i'll take a NES prototype for $1.99 anyday of the week.
any pics of that Tag Team proto?
neschampion
09-22-2002, 10:58 AM
Unfortunately not, its been long sold.
retrogmr
09-22-2002, 11:21 PM
As CPUWIZ said, living in the SF Bay Area is the best... during "prime time" (1994-1996), classic games were EVERYWHERE. Several flea markets located around Atari would produce interesting stuff every few weeks. I found my 5200 Battlezone, Sport Goofy, Xevious and Microgammon protos at a few of them (as well as a bunch of 5200 lab loaners of released games, about 20 or so total). Over time, I've also run across Activision 2600 protos, a couple of Data Age protos (Frankenstein's Monster and Journey Escape).
Of course, there are the infamous dumpster diving episodes that occurred right around the time Atari was closing up shop (late 1997 IIRC). I was a little too late, but I've heard stories about some pretty cool scores. I've also heard stories about people stopping to admire their score while still in the dumpster, only to have to leave it behind to avoid getting arrested :P
As far as finding stuff in the wild goes, I do suspect there's still stuff out there... but since a lot of the Bay Area collectors seem to be highly anti-social, who knows?? :)
Tempest
09-22-2002, 11:45 PM
Wow! Do you still have those 5200 protos? Can you tell me what the dates are on them?
Tempest
retrogmr
09-23-2002, 09:10 PM
I'll have to dig them out, but I'll send you the details via e-mail.
deadtech
09-24-2002, 02:54 AM
I too, live in the SF Bay Area (Pacifica). To date I own only one proto, and I got it at a Funco. It's Tecmo Cup Soccer Game. I think it was a review copy or something for a magazine. It cost me $3. :)
-deadtech
Also live in the Bay Area and over the years
I have found
2 2600 Proto's --- Garage sale
1 Nintendo Proto?1 Nintendo Review copy ( white label ) --Flea market
8 possible Coleco Proto\bootleg boards with EPROM's -- Answer to news paper add
a few (more than two) Atari 8-bit proto carts --- Garage sale Just missed the STORE display
Probably more but those are the ones that come to mind.
Sothy
09-24-2002, 05:30 AM
We had a prot genesis game traded in at the store 97 or 98 maybe
had the eproms and 2 stickers MKI and MKII on the chips... we knew it was unusual but Really no idea that stuff was of real interest to collectors. Just kinda got stashed away and years later still no luck finding it.
Mr. NEStalgia
09-24-2002, 08:31 AM
Man!!! Why cant I live in the Bay Area???
Protos found to date:
A big FAT zero
:cry:
-=Mr. NEStalgia=-
CPUWIZ
09-24-2002, 02:40 PM
As far as finding stuff in the wild goes, I do suspect there's still stuff out there... but since a lot of the Bay Area collectors seem to be highly anti-social, who knows?? :)
What makes you say that Bay Area collectors are anti-social ? Is it because people don't like spilling the beans on where these proto's were found ?
Talking about finding stuff in the wild, I went out to some places I know have stuff that they can't identify and in fact, I found a proto yesterday. :)
@Drew...if you don't mind saying, what NES proto/demo did you find?
retrogmr
09-24-2002, 05:46 PM
@CPUWIZ; I guess I wasn't specific about my statement... usually the collectors that are local talk amongst themselve about what they found, not necessarily where they found it. What I've observed is a higher number of people who are obviously hunting for classic games at the various thrifts/fleas than people that I've met during the time I've been collecting.
I mean, if you find a proto, what good does it do unless you can brag about it to someone who can appreciate what you've scored? :)
nesman85
09-24-2002, 10:45 PM
i live in southern oregon and have found no protos in the wild. i am planning on moving to sacramento in about a year though, maybe my luck will change.
rbudrick
09-25-2002, 12:42 PM
I found an NES Total Recall Proto once...my first proto actually. I bought 9 nes games for $3 total....so Total Recall was about 33c. I also know of a store where the guy has them all the time, only he gouges on price, so I don't go there often.
-Rob
@Drew...if you don't mind saying, what NES proto/demo did you find?
Crystalis and Super Mario Bros.
I was not the one who found them but I know
there were some Activision Intellivision protos
found in the area also Robot Rubble and Leaague of Light
just to name a few.
Drew, was the Crystalis proto the one I own now? The one that DreamTR used to have? Or is it a second one?
TheRedEye
09-27-2002, 05:22 PM
Super Mario Bros.?
...no. Impossible. Did you open the thing up?
nesman85
09-27-2002, 06:36 PM
@theredeye: my words exactly.
Drew, was the Crystalis proto the one I own now? The one that DreamTR used to have? Or is it a second one?
It's another one, I still have it.
The Super Mario Bros. cart came in a no label gray
cart but has EPROM's on a regular board.
portnoyd
09-28-2002, 11:29 AM
But like TRE said... that's not possible. Are you *sure* those are eproms?
dave
But like TRE said... that's not possible. Are you *sure* those are eproms?
dave
They are EPROM'S, when I get a chance I will
scan it and post a picture.
Need to get ready for a wedding this afternoon
so I will put up a picture later tonight.
Drew
I wouldn't mind seeing pics of the Crystalis proto--just to see how it looks compared to mine--if it's not too much trouble dude. Thanks
MattyXB
09-28-2002, 07:27 PM
If someone will sell one from this Crystalis Prototypes, please tell me. This is one from my favourite NES games.
Or maybe some other advantures, like Zelda. :D :wink:
@MattyXB: What NES protos do you have, if any? If none, I probably wouldn't want to trade mine away...
MattyXB
09-29-2002, 02:52 PM
@MattyXB: What NES protos do you have, if any? If none, I probably wouldn't want to trade mine away...
I have no Prototypes for NES, sorry.
But I own some great pirated games for NES. But you need an Adapter (Tri-Star or others) or a japanese NES to play them.
Or maybe such pirates NES consoles which you find most on fleamarkets (here in germany you find many from them).
Here a link from my pirated NES games.
My NES Pirated Games (http://david-matthias.piranho.de/Html/nes.html)
When you interested on these, tell me what you want for the Crystalis Proto. :D
I will give all you need, and maybe a bit money.
PS: Was your Prototype this with the diffrent text?
gamergary
09-29-2002, 05:19 PM
iw ant the 2-in-1 with fbi policeman 2 and toxic crusaders on it. i would take the onther ones too. check out the gametz link in my sig.
@MattyXB: Some of those Fami games look interesting, though all of them wouldn't even pay for the amount of $$ I had paid for my cart. Email me later drta04@planetnintendo.nospam.com and maybe we can discuss it a bit.
I wouldn't mind seeing pics of the Crystalis proto--just to see how it looks compared to mine--if it's not too much trouble dude. Thanks
Here are the scan's I promised the Super Mario board
is at the bottom of the picture.
Those are D2764 EPROM's.
The white window sticker that reads SM-PRG is written
in black ink and the other looks like it was done on a
typewriter
http://members.aol.com/deny1/image/nes.jpg
CPUWIZ
09-30-2002, 02:31 PM
Hehe, look's like an EPROM cart to me. The one on the left contains 8K of character set data and the one on the right contains the program code.
TheRedEye
09-30-2002, 03:04 PM
I dunno. It's definitely not a Nintend of America prototype, but what the hell is it?
ianoid
10-04-2002, 09:53 AM
Sorry Tempest, that Gorf cart with a dot matrix label is an actual release, not a proto. I have one too.
I've found:
2600 Rabbit Transit Atari Lab Loaner (traded it, dammit!)
2600 Journey Escape prerelease (there must be hundreds of the Data Age ones)
2600 Decathelon prerelease (red label)
NES Indiana Jones (it's in storage so don't ask for details you Nintendo whores)
Colecovision Montezuma's Revenge- damn thrift wrote 60 on the little white tag.
Golly, that's all I can remember. All the other protos I own are from internet and local trades and cash.
Tempest
10-04-2002, 10:36 AM
Really? I wonder why it has a EPROM inside then? I'll admit I don't know much about Vic-20 stuff.
No protos for me then, but then again I doubt Michigan is a prototype hot bed.
Tempest
ianoid
10-21-2002, 02:04 AM
One wouldn't think that Chicago would be either, but I've found a few there, as did close friends, and others. Some really sick protos have been found in Chicago, for no good reason.
Stuff gets around, Matt, and you never know what made it to your city. Those Silicon Valley types don't all stay there forever, nor does all the product they mail out to every corner of the country to get them to buy their stuff in quantity. You odds may be low, but if you don't look, you won't find.
Still, I can see it's a low yield thing, and on a time vs. money thing you might as well just buy stuff. My problem is that I really enjoy the hunt.
ian
Tempest
10-21-2002, 08:42 AM
Actually I came VERY close to making an important prototype discovery once. The Good Luck Charlie Brown prototype (which has yet to be dumped BTW) was found in a flea market in Kenosha Wisconsin I visit when I go to see my relatives. I missed it by only a month or two. To this day I wonder what booth or pile of crap it was laying under and how I could have missed it!
Tempest
esylvia
11-02-2002, 09:47 PM
I found a Atari 2600 Proto (Blue Lab Loaner Label) Moon Patrol in a Rhode Island Flea Market!!!!!!
Tempest
11-02-2002, 10:24 PM
The Blue Lab Loaner label is actually a GCC lab label (they did alot of work for Atari). GCC labels are very hard to find. What was the date or version number on the label?
Tempest