Newbie with my find and some questions!

[FlashStash]

Hi all!

First post here! I've recently begun amassig a classic gaming collection and have found this board an amazing source of information! Right now, my goal is to pick up at least one of each old system, and amass my favorite games for each...I'm not looking to own 1000's of games, just the ones *I* want to play! I also have a wierd fascination with music-based games (DDR, PaRappa) and FMV games (many of the Sega CD games...)

I just headed back home to Pittsburgh for the holidays, to where my stash of games were from when I was a kid (I'm 30 now...) I pulled everything out and here's what I've amassed:

1. Atari 2600 with over 100 cartridges, all in great shape, no boxes, but all of the instruction books (The rarest games I found were Rubik's Cube with instructions and Shuttle Orbiter with instructions)

2. Atari 7800, new in box, and 4 games

3. Sega Genesis , CD, and 32x with all the boxes.

Now, here's some questions...

1. How rare are the instructions for the 2600 cartridges? I see the games for sale quite often on eBay and elsewhere, but the instruction books seem to be kind of rare. I have quite a few game catalogs also ('82 Atari Catalog, Data Age, Imagic) Are these hard to come by?

2. How about issues #2 and #3 of the Nintendo Game Club newsletter?

3. What is the Sunnyvale, CA Atari 2600 and what's so special about it?

I think that's it for now! I live in the Philly area and will be at the Philly Classic show...thanks for a great website and I appreciate any help you can offer!

FS

[omnedon]

I'll reply to what I know.

The Sunnyvale Sixer is the original, made in the US, first model Atari 2600. It is literally heavier due to much thicker internal RF shielding than all later models. This is the Atari they originally made, to see if it would sell at all. It of course did, and they sent manufacturing to Hong Kong so it could be done more cheaply, and they revised the Atari to make it cheaper to manufacture as the years wore on.

If you are a hardware nut (I am) the heavy Sixer is special because it is the original design, revision 0. It has no special abilities, or is it missing any functionality. It's worth a bit more to some, but only some collectors give a whit, as far as I can tell.

I was pleased as punch when I got mine!

[NESCollector75]

With youyr question about the instructions, its just like game scarcity, some are some aren't! (Air raid instructions would be alot scarcer then Asteroids)

[kainemaxwell]

Welcome to the boards and nice collection you got there to start out with too!

[Arcade Antics]

Now, here's some questions...

1. How rare are the instructions for the 2600 cartridges? I see the games for sale quite often on eBay and elsewhere, but the instruction books seem to be kind of rare. I have quite a few game catalogs also ('82 Atari Catalog, Data Age, Imagic) Are these hard to come by?

Like some of the other posters mentioned, some instructions are definitely tough to track down and some are easy as pie to find. Generally the more common a cart is, the more likely you'll be to find its instructions. Tougher 2600 carts like Quadrun or Springer will sometimes command just as much $ for the box or instructions.

2. How about issues #2 and #3 of the Nintendo Game Club newsletter?

Not too tough to locate, but certainly much tougher to find than the countless issues of Nintendo Power. Generally sought after by Nintendo completists.

3. What is the Sunnyvale, CA Atari 2600 and what's so special about it?

Short answer: nothing, unless you're a die hard variation collector. Long answer, still pretty much nothing, although some people have a fondness for it that I suspect is mostly based on the fact that it's "the first" model 2600. See Omnedon's post for more a few additional details.

I think that's it for now! I live in the Philly area and will be at the Philly Classic show...thanks for a great website and I appreciate any help you can offer!

FS

Welcome aboard! Have fun looking around and keep those questions and insights coming. Great score by the way!

[WiseSalesman]

Hey, FlashStash, welcome to the board. Your starter for your collection is larger than my entire collection itself! In any case, don't forget to post in the "introduce yourself" thread! Thanks.

[FlashStash]

Thanks for all the help! I will add a post to the Introduce Yourself area soon...

FS