Locating and collecting Atari game cartridges

Starting your vintage Atari 2600 cartridge collection is really easy and, you won't have to surrender much cash to get a used system and a variety of the more common game cartridges available online.For whatever reason back in the day Atari kept the production lines churning long after the kids had stopped playing many of these games.

Titles like Asteroids, Space Invaders, Defender and that classic door stop Combat are so common that thousands of them dodged the landfills of the world. Their is now a endless amount of gaming and auction based websites ponying them up for sale or bid.

If your one of the few people that haven't purchased anything online then don't worry because it's real simple. EBAY and Amazon are still the big boys on the block when it comes to locating classic video games. If you don't have a PAYPAL account I would recommend signing up for one right away. A lot of online sellers will only accept PAYPAL as a means of payment from buyers.

PAYPAL is really cool because it acts as a security blanket between your bank account and the online world. You win the auction and then you can immediately send payment from your PAYPAL account to the sellers PAYPAL account. If you have to send a check or money order via snail mail it will take that much longer for you to get your goodies shipped back to you. When I first signed up with EBAY in 2003 I had no idea what I was doing. I figured it out and have made over 100 transactions on EBAY with no problems of any kind.

These two sites are not the only places online to shop for your vintage games. Over the last few years the listing fees that sellers are required to pay to use the big boy auction sites have gone up substantially. This has sent many sellers looking for an alternative place to list their vintage game wares. One of these sites that is gaining in popularity is called Chase the Chuckwagon. It's apply named after the hard to find game that was distributed by Purina. It's a auction based site that is dedicated to modern and classic gaming. If your interested in starting a collection check out the link below.

I still enjoy going to yard sales and to my local Faith Rescue mission to locate and collect Atari game cartridges. It's getting more difficult as time passes (even pack-rats like my wife and I clear the attic out every 5-10 years). Occasionally however, you can luck up and stumble across a Atari system with a few carts. It is a pretty neat feeling when this happens and you walk away with a box full of games for next to nothing. Here are a few things you can do to increase your chances of getting lucky while building your Atari 2600 cartridge collection.

They are:

1.) Become a familiar face in the store. Drop by once a week and try to get to know the cashier up front and one of the guys in the back that weed through the donations. Tell them that your trying to locate and collect Atari game cartridges. If you can build a repore with the staff it's possible that they will hold any Atari related materials that they receive.

2.) DONATE TO THE MISSION! This is how over a period of a couple of months I was able to build a relationship with one of the back room guys and I basically had first dibs on ANY video game related items that came in. In fact, I would sometimes donate unrelated items I no longer used to the mission for trade for Atari carts! And I still got my write off receipt for my taxes. It's a win, win for both of us.

3.) Know anybody who owns a pawn shop? This is a little bit tougher but if your a hard core collector like me it's still worth a try. Drop in and talk to the owner and again tell him what your up to. Now, I understand that in this day and age people are not pawning dusty 25-30 year Atari gaming systems. However, they still on occasion bring in Nintendo, Super Nintendo and Nintendo 64 games and systems.

Nintendo gaming systems are extremely popular for collectors as well. And I can guarantee you that the pawn shop owner is paying peanuts for this stuff! The first time I tried this I got burned because of a misunderstanding. This is what I recommend you do. Type up what your looking for print a copy and give it to the pawn shop owner.

I even had pics on my list to make it easier for him to follow. Keep things as simple as possible. The main point I would make is that I wouldn't buy any systems or games that have any physical damage to them. I would then trade or sell the systems I was not interested in to feed my Atari cartridge collecting habit.

It eventually came to point were he would hold everything he got in the back and I would check in once a month to settle up with him. This way it seemed like he was actually making a little bit of money and I was walking away with several boxes full of stuff. It's a blast when you can find somebody who will work with you like this!

4.) And the last thing I have done was to place an free ad advertising that I am in the market for old Atari 2600 systems and carts. We have a local publication that comes out once a week and you can place non business ads for free. I haven't received many call but every once in a while I hit pay dirt with this.