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Thread: The scarcity of Commodore 64s in the wild

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    Cherry (Level 1) wizardofwor1975's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Steve W View Post
    That was always my problem, Atari 8-bit games are so damn hard to find around here. Years back I found a bunch of good games including a lot of third-party cartridges, and I excitedly posted about it online, only to have people basically say "so?" To them it was no big deal, finding Atari XE carts must be easy where they're from. Around my area it's next to impossible. That bunch of games I ended up getting around maybe 2005 or 2006, I only found more third-party cartridges about a month or so ago. Usually on the off-chance I ever find 8-bit carts, they're usually BASIC or Pac-Man or something dirt common. I would totally love to get a good selection of XEGS games, they just aren't out there in the wild. Or at least my area.
    That's definitely been my hesitation with pulling the trigger on an XEGS. I love the games on the A8/XEGS but the availability of reasonably priced carts is kinda disappointing. If you just want Donkey Kong, Missile Command, Star Raiders, Pole Position, and Congo Bongo your golden but if your looking for games like H.E.R.O., Karateka, Choplifter!, or Pitfall II be prepared to spend some cash. Even Orc Attack is going for nearly fifty bucks not including shipping. I love Orc Attack but not for $50 bucks.

    http://www.ebay.com/itm/ATARI-Orc-At...item27ef3ce7c6

    On the upside Blue Max & Star Trek SOS are going for less than $20 though. Until I pick up a reasonably priced XEGS I guess I'll go on collecting C64 carts. Recently I added Choplifter and Buck Rogers to my 64 cart collection.
    Last edited by wizardofwor1975; 10-28-2014 at 09:45 PM.

  2. #22
    Apple (Level 5) Gamevet's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by danny_galaga View Post
    I happened to find a C64C on the side of the road about a month ago. Took it to a friends to test and it worked (",)

    When it came to finding a good power supply though, now THEY are getting rare! I ended up making my own, which gives me piece of mind since it turns out the originals are rare because they keep dying and taking out your computer while they're at it!
    I had 2 C-64s just freeze up and die on me back in the late 80s'. I ended up buying an aftermarket power supply from a local C64 dealer in Phoenix @ 1988. I still have the power supply and my 3rd C-64 is still going strong. I have a boxed C-64c that I'd bought from Rick Stillwell on this site. It works, but I have a feeling that it has a capacitor, or 2, that are going bad.


    I've seen VIC-20 and C-64 carts being sold at Half-Price-Books in Dallas. The last cart I'd bought from them was Radar Rat Race, which isn't really that great of a game. I already had a copy of that game on floppy, but I bought it anyways.

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    Cherry (Level 1) wizardofwor1975's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Gamevet View Post
    I've seen VIC-20 and C-64 carts being sold at Half-Price-Books in Dallas. The last cart I'd bought from them was Radar Rat Race, which isn't really that great of a game. I already had a copy of that game on floppy, but I bought it anyways.
    Radar Rat Race was the 1st game I played on the Vic-20 back in the day. A decent Rally-X clone but like you said not great. For Nostalgia's sake I bought the cart for my 64.

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    Banana (Level 7) Atarileaf's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by wizardofwor1975 View Post
    That's definitely been my hesitation with pulling the trigger on an XEGS. I love the games on the A8/XEGS but the availability of reasonably priced carts is kinda disappointing. If you just want Donkey Kong, Missile Command, Star Raiders, Pole Position, and Congo Bongo your golden but if your looking for games like H.E.R.O., Karateka, Choplifter!, or Pitfall II be prepared to spend some cash. Even Orc Attack is going for nearly fifty bucks not including shipping. I love Orc Attack but not for $50 bucks.

    http://www.ebay.com/itm/ATARI-Orc-At...item27ef3ce7c6

    On the upside Blue Max & Star Trek SOS are going for less than $20 though. Until I pick up a reasonably priced XEGS I guess I'll go on collecting C64 carts. Recently I added Choplifter and Buck Rogers to my 64 cart collection.
    Try posting a wanted ad on Atariage for 8-bit carts. I've purchased a few through users there over the years. Ebay can still net good deals. I recently got 8 carts for $34 plus shipping. I bought it mainly for 3 - beamrider, dreadnaught factor, and bc quest for tires. Each of those games are worth around $15 so it wasn't a bad deal.

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    Cherry (Level 1) wizardofwor1975's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Atarileaf View Post
    Try posting a wanted ad on Atariage for 8-bit carts. I've purchased a few through users there over the years. Ebay can still net good deals. I recently got 8 carts for $34 plus shipping. I bought it mainly for 3 - beamrider, dreadnaught factor, and bc quest for tires. Each of those games are worth around $15 so it wasn't a bad deal.
    Thanks for the suggestion. I'll give Atariage a shot. BTW nice pickup for $34 bucks. BC's quest for tires is a real gem.

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    Screw the C64, I'm still trying to find an Amiga CD32. Now that's a hard console to find.

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    Cherry (Level 1) wizardofwor1975's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by ProjectCamaro View Post
    Screw the C64, I'm still trying to find an Amiga CD32. Now that's a hard console to find.
    I haven't seen an Amiga CD32 console for sale in quite a while. Have you tried posting on Lemon Amiga in their supermarket. I've gotten some really good deals from them in the past and I've seen CD32 stuff every now and again. Makes me really glad I hung onto my Amiga 500. Another rare Commodore is the Commodore 64GS (Games System). I don't recall ever seeing one in the wild.

    http://www.lemonamiga.com/

    http://www.zzap64.co.uk/zzap66/thec64gs.html

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    Apple (Level 5) Wraith Storm's Avatar
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    Around the Tulsa area C64s are almost impossible to find anywhere other than craigslist.

    It irritates the hell outta me too. In the past 8 years I have bought 4 C64s locally and none of them work anymore. I tried and failed at soldering ic sockets and new ram chips on one of them and don't know whats wrong with the other 3. So i have 4 C64s in various states of working order. I cant repair them, but i hate to throw them away, and no one locally wants them.

    I just wish i could find a GOOD RELIABLE WORKING C64. Are the 128s better built? Better chips and components or anything? Would they last longer or be more reliable than getting yet ANOTHER C64?
    If a god is willing to prevent evil, but not able, then he is not omnipotent. If he is able, but not willing, then he must be malevolent. If he is both willing and able, then why is there evil? If he is neither able or willing then why call him a god?

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    Cherry (Level 1) wizardofwor1975's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Wraith Storm View Post
    Around the Tulsa area C64s are almost impossible to find anywhere other than craigslist.

    It irritates the hell outta me too. In the past 8 years I have bought 4 C64s locally and none of them work anymore. I tried and failed at soldering ic sockets and new ram chips on one of them and don't know whats wrong with the other 3. So i have 4 C64s in various states of working order. I cant repair them, but i hate to throw them away, and no one locally wants them.

    I just wish i could find a GOOD RELIABLE WORKING C64. Are the 128s better built? Better chips and components or anything? Would they last longer or be more reliable than getting yet ANOTHER C64?
    Given your location you should try and track down the Tulsa Area Commodore Users Group (TACUG). I'm not sure if their still around but that would be a good place to start. Buying from a Commodore User Group in my experience has always worked out well whereas Ebay has been a hit & miss. Plus they are usually a vast source of knowledge especially when it comes to repairs.

    In the mean time this website has been helpful to me in the past with repairs to my 64 & SX-64:

    http://personalpages.tds.net/~rcarlsen/cbm.html

    If your interested in having one or more of your 64's professionally repaired you should talk to Ray Carlsen.

    http://personalpages.tds.net/~rcarlsen/
    Last edited by wizardofwor1975; 11-08-2014 at 03:55 PM.

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    Quote Originally Posted by wizardofwor1975 View Post
    I haven't seen an Amiga CD32 console for sale in quite a while. Have you tried posting on Lemon Amiga in their supermarket. I've gotten some really good deals from them in the past and I've seen CD32 stuff every now and again. Makes me really glad I hung onto my Amiga 500. Another rare Commodore is the Commodore 64GS (Games System). I don't recall ever seeing one in the wild.
    Don't think the C64GS was released in the US, it was UK, Germany, Australia, and Scandinavia only I believe. If not, then maybe a couple other European countries, it's PAL only.

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    Cherry (Level 1)
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    Quote Originally Posted by Wraith Storm View Post
    Around the Tulsa area C64s are almost impossible to find anywhere other than craigslist.

    It irritates the hell outta me too. In the past 8 years I have bought 4 C64s locally and none of them work anymore. I tried and failed at soldering ic sockets and new ram chips on one of them and don't know whats wrong with the other 3. So i have 4 C64s in various states of working order. I cant repair them, but i hate to throw them away, and no one locally wants them.

    I just wish i could find a GOOD RELIABLE WORKING C64. Are the 128s better built? Better chips and components or anything? Would they last longer or be more reliable than getting yet ANOTHER C64?
    If you've had multiple 64s die on you, I'd suspect the power supply. They're notorious for going bad and taking out the computer with them. Check the output voltage under load and if the 5VDC line goes above 5.2V, throw it away. There are multiple possible solutions to the power supply problem (using a protective relay, find one of the more reliable supplies sold with the 1764 REU, convert a C128 supply, build a new one from scratch, etc).

    The 128 is generally a more reliable machine than the 64, mainly due to its beefier and more stable power supply. The do tend to develop keyboard problems, though. I've also had better luck with the 64C model compared to the original. None of them were really well built, though, and all are more than 20 years old at this point.

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    Strawberry (Level 2) AdamAnt316's Avatar
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    The unfortunate thing about the C=64 power supply (apart from its tendency to fail) is that the vast majority of them are sealed in epoxy, so you can't work on them without cutting the shell apart. I've been lucky, though, in finding a number of power supplies that can be opened up, including one intended for use with Commodore's 17xx RAM Expander Units (basically a C=128 brick with the C=64 connector on the end). The most interesting of these is actually a third-party unit, the Phoenix CPS-10, apparently sold via the Jameco catalog at some point (and also made under the Estes name, apparently). It's in a metal box (mine is white, not black like in the preceding images) with a power switch on the front, and has a pair of (switched?) accessory outlets on the back. I haven't tried it yet, due to the likely presence of 20+ year old electrolytic capacitors, but it seems like it should be reliable otherwise.
    -Adam

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    Default The scarcity of Commodore 64s in the wild

    Very rarely do I see any C64's. The only one lately was at a Mega Replay. But the price was too high. Plus already have a ton of Commodore stuff and systems I got when my Dad passed away. Even had a silver C64 that works. Did buy an Atari 800 like new in the box with the outer box, styrofoam, power supply, and RF switch. Looks like it got little use. No paper work though.
    Last edited by thegamezmaster; 12-31-2014 at 07:11 AM.

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    Great Puma (Level 12) Niku-Sama's Avatar
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    About an hour ago I picked up a complete c64 for 32 bucks. First time I ever saw one for sale in years.

    I think it might be a pal one though. Is there any way too tell between pal and ntsc without turning it on?

    Still undergoing physical hardware checks / cleaning

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    Yeah, open her up and look at the VIC chip (it will be underneath the metal plating area). NTSC is code 6567, PAL is code 6569.

    Although if it's made in West Germany (look at the label on the bottom), it's probably going to be PAL. Where was it made?

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    Chasing the chuckwagon. schnuth's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Niku-Sama View Post
    About an hour ago I picked up a complete c64 for 32 bucks. First time I ever saw one for sale in years.

    I think it might be a pal one though. Is there any way too tell between pal and ntsc without turning it on?

    Still undergoing physical hardware checks / cleaning
    Nice score if it's a PAL machine. I paid way more than I wanted to for my PAL C64, but it's been more than worth it. So many good PAL only games.

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    Great Puma (Level 12) Niku-Sama's Avatar
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    I can't tell if it is or not.
    It has a pal jumper behind the mitsumi rf box. Rev a board with 1983 dates on most stuff

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    As said you're going to have to unscrew the case and look instead to see if it's PAL or NTSC

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    oh I missed that post on my phone mayhem, I already have it apart for cleaning i'll check it real quick

    edit:

    its a 6567 HOWEVER...
    its a gold chip!
    and while reading up on the best way to get the metal top off I found that the gold chips are some of the earliest.
    if the sticker on the bottom edge of the board is a serial number then this is a pretty old one.

    the number on the sticker is CS00053809

    edit#2:

    looks like I might have to do some digging into this. visually everything was ok.

    powers on but no video over RF channels 3 and 4. not using a switch box just going directly RCA from the system to the coax to rca adaptor I got from radio shack that I use for the Atari stuff. the Atari stuff works, this still just gives static

    EDIT#3:

    never mind, apparently my 19 inch sony trinitron's tuner is not any good any more.

    I took a rca cable and rca to coax adapter and plugged it into my brand new 40" hisense lcd "monitor" and it came up no problem on both channels 3 and 4 and new LCD TV's are really picky about the signal coming off of these sort of things so I am almost certain all the problems I had are solely that tv and the fact its tuner is going bad...which sucks because it was the perfect size and has excellent picture quality.
    i might attempt a tv repair but i donno. good CRT tvs don't show up here, just a lot of cheap crap or really old unusable stuff with the middle gen stuff (i.e. no coax or rca hookups)

    any way. getting minor interference that goes away when i touch the rca cable. possible ground/shielding problem but there is a 3/4 local channel that might be the cause aswell.

    i'll look into making a scart cable (yes i have a scart tv that's NTSC) with a cable i found for some audio equipment at a goodwill.
    its got the scart male end with rca females on the other side
    Last edited by Niku-Sama; 02-02-2015 at 01:28 AM.

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    Are the decals on the case silver or the standard rainbow? If they are silver (see first photo here http://www.mayhem64.co.uk/c64reva/c64reva.htm this is the one I own ), then you possibly have a Revision A C64 there, and its value jumps a bit heh.

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