loose Atari 2600 carts at thrift stores - valuations

[Anthony1]

For those of you that are familar with the valuations of loose Atari 2600 carts, my question is this....


Are there any games that one might find that are somewhat common, in terms of the likelyhood to possibly find one, that happens to be worth like 10 bucks? Or 6 bucks or 7 bucks or 8 bucks.


You know, like for the NES it would be something like Contra. You can find it every now and then, and they are worth about $15.


Anything like that for the 2600?


And what about the most common games? Are they only worth like a quarter or 50 cents at the most?


I looked at the rarity guide, and the lowest amount I saw was $1.00, but I'm sure there have to be quite a few that aren't worth more than 50 cents.

[squirrelnut]

It really all depends on who you buy it from. Some people know there worth and price accordingly (between a dollar and maybe 20 for like an r7). There are some that don't know there worth and will sell you 50 carts for 15 bucks just to get rid of them. There are some that will sell every cart for 10 bucks "cause its old and old stuff is in so its gotta be worth that!"

[thehistorian]

Well combat, ET and Pacman are as common as dirt.. If you pay more than a $1 you've been had.

You also ight want to check out Atari Age (http://www.atariage.com) if you have not already.

[Arcade Antics]

Are there any games that one might find that are somewhat common, in terms of the likelyhood to possibly find one, that happens to be worth like 10 bucks? Or 6 bucks or 7 bucks or 8 bucks.

No. Anything somewhat common that you're likely to find at a thrift store is something you'd be lucky to unload for $1. :)

[qbertandernie]

*sighs*

[-hellvin-]

I saw a rubik's cube at a little pawn shop yesterday. Front label look wrinkled and like it was peeling off and the top label was ripped in a corner. They wanted 19 bucks for it, heh.

[Captain Wrong]

I think someone has mentioned this before but, anthony1, why don't you just start a thread asking someone to tell you all the secrets you need to opening a video game store and just get it over with?

And to answer your question, try one of these. (http://www.digitpress.com/DP/cmf/search.cmf)

[Kid Ice]

I never have much luck in thrift stores, but I see uncommon 2600 games at flea markets occassionally. Nothing that'll knock your socks off, but good stuff for someone just getting into 2600 collecting. I think the last one I went to (a while ago) this guy had a number of CBS carts that he was selling for $2 a piece. I had most of them already but I did pick up Mountain King.

I would go even farther than saying the super commons are worth a quarter or fifty cents...they're really worthless. Any half-serious 2600 collector can fill a stable w/ Asteroids, Missile Commands, Space Invaders, etc., and will just let you take such carts out of their trade box for nothing. They are only of interest to those who want the cart shells. Some homebrew makers will give you a dime a piece for them. I think the $1 value in the collector's guide is just a convenience so Joe doesn't have to spend time figuring out if a given cart is worth a dime or twenty cents.

[Anthony1]

I think someone has mentioned this before but, anthony1, why don't you just start a thread asking someone to tell you all the secrets you need to opening a video game store and just get it over with?

And to answer your question, try one of these. (http://www.digitpress.com/DP/cmf/search.cmf)


This question actually has nothing to do with my GameStore situation. This is just a personal question for myself.

I often see loose 2600 games, and I imagine that most would only be worth 50 cents or a quarter, and alot of thrift stores sell them for $2 each or sometimes $3 each or sometimes $1 each.

Normally, I just avoid them and don't get them, unless it's a buck and it's one that I don't already have. But I was wondering if there were some that are like say Contra or Castlevania or something like for the NES. Like if you found a loose Contra or Castlevania for the NES, then it would be worth it to get them for a couple of bucks.

Basically, I'm trying to figure out which 2600 games have a good chance of actually being found, that are actually worth more than a buck?


I looked at the Rairty list, but I'm not really sure which 2600 games are the most common ones, and alot of the games on the rarity list are listed as 1 buck, but I'm guessing that alot of them aren't actually worth a buck loose.

[Anthony1]

I never have much luck in thrift stores, but I see uncommon 2600 games at flea markets occassionally. Nothing that'll knock your socks off, but good stuff for someone just getting into 2600 collecting. I think the last one I went to (a while ago) this guy had a number of CBS carts that he was selling for $2 a piece. I had most of them already but I did pick up Mountain King.

I would go even farther than saying the super commons are worth a quarter or fifty cents...they're really worthless. Any half-serious 2600 collector can fill a stable w/ Asteroids, Missile Commands, Space Invaders, etc., and will just let you take such carts out of their trade box for nothing. They are only of interest to those who want the cart shells. Some homebrew makers will give you a dime a piece for them. I think the $1 value in the collector's guide is just a convenience so Joe doesn't have to spend time figuring out if a given cart is worth a dime or twenty cents.


I see. So the best idea then is to just buy ones that you don't already have, for your own personal collection, if you can get them dirt cheap, but other than that, don't be buying any common games.

[Sniderman]

So the best idea then is to just buy ones that you don't already have, for your own personal collection, if you can get them dirt cheap, but other than that, don't be buying any common games.

And we have a winnah! Step right up folks! Another winnah, right heah!

/hands Anthony1 a plush toy
//always wanted to be a carnival barker

[Captain Wrong]

This question actually has nothing to do with my GameStore situation. This is just a personal question for myself.

If that's true, then I appologize for jumping to conclusions.

I still think you should buy a guide tho. :P

[Griking]

Maybe I'm being overly harsh but I would think that someone who has been around here as long as Anthony1 has would have picked up enough common knowledge by now to know which games are dirt common and which are worth more than a couple of bucks.

A second that you should invest in a guide.

[Anthony1]

Maybe I'm being overly harsh but I would think that someone who has been around here as long as Anthony1 has would have picked up enough common knowledge by now to know which games are dirt common and which are worth more than a couple of bucks.

A second that you should invest in a guide.


Well, the thing is that I'm not really a collector of video games. I just want to play them and read about them. I have a decent idea of what is dirt common and what is worth more than a couple of bucks from the NES forward. But pre NES, I don't really have a good knowledge of that. Certianly, with the Atari 2600, I knew of certain games that are dirt common, but still, I'm not that knowledgable about the 2600 and it's catalog of games. I had one when I was 7 years old, I and I probablly played with it and the Atari 800XL till I was about 11 years old, but I really didn't know much about them. Only the games that my dad bought for us. From about 12 to 16 I didn't really play much video games. Then I got a NES and all I played were sports games like Double Dribble and stuff like that.

I didn't actually become a real "hardcore" gamer till I got my TG-16 and Genesis a number of years later. So my knowledge of the NES is pretty limited, but my knowledge of pre NES is even more limited.