RE: Vectors OS - was Atari Power supplies

> > Paul Sommers wrote:
> >
> > Tek,
> >
> > The problem is the same in Australia.
> >
> > I have an Asteroids in almost mint condition that I paid $900US for.
> Price is
> > not the issue!!! Getting one is.
>
> Well, you must have a lot of money then there in Australia - I
> wouldn't-couldn't
> pay that much for 'just' an asteroids... But on the other hand I can
> imagine how
> rare these are overhere.
> Are you even sure they work upside-down? :)
>
>
Bugger! Maybe that's the problem with it - all the bits have run to the
other end of the chips!!!

> I also only have all the guts of Tempest, ESB and Starwars. Cabinets are
> harder
> to find in Holland.
>
I came across 3 Star Wars boardsets about a year ago and bought them in the
hope that I would one day find a cab or even a monitor.

>
> > In two years of searching I have not been able to find a color vector.
> There
> > is a Star Wars in the Blue Mountains on it's last legs as it is running
> 12
> > hours per day. God knows what they've done to keep it going but it's
> looking
> > pretty sick. The tech has said he has replaced the flyback about 5 times
> now -
> > when I asked him with what as the parts a scarce he just said "With a
> > compatible flyback. It's just a flyback"
>
> Well hell it is - every flyback provides different secundairy set of
> supplies -
> If he can get replacements so easy, better find out which they were!
>
> But doesn't he want to sell, such an old machine, I don't think he really
> could't care less to sell if he keeps it running for 12 h/day.
>
>
Well - it's strange. The machine is located at the Three Sisters in the Blue
Mountains which is a lookout point for our version of the Grand Canyon
(kinda). It's part of a cafe, cinema, skylift ride etc complex built in the
50's.

The game would be taking $2 a day.

The owner is real nice and I've spoken to him, but he won't sell. Doesn't
matter how much money I offer, or even that I would replace the machine with
a couple of upright classics or upright modern games.

He just won't let it go.

The sad thing is - all I can do is wait until it breaks beyond repair
(although as his techie is patching and modifying flybacks - correctly or
not - this thing could go for another 20 years... maybe his techie will move
interstate) and make an offer then, and hope that he has kept my card and
remembers to call me when it gone *snif*.

>
> > Well, it's not compatible - you should see the weird stuff that's
> happening on
> > the screen. Particularly the Death Star explosion - looks like the CRT
> is
> > about to shatter
> >
> > And another collector I know has a Star Wars.
> >
> > There was one for sale in our Trading Post about 18 months ago - he
> wanted
> > $1000US for it and as I had done a great job in finding some rare stuff
> by
> > hunting in the country I thought "Nah! Too expensive!" and I have kicked
> > myself ever since.
> >
> > After 18 months of looking I would pay $2000US for one. Seriously!!!!
>
> Yeah right. Would you pay THAT much? It better be a f*cking MINT one
> then...
>
Actually that should read $1200US - about $2000 Australian - and yes it
would have to be mint.

But again - there are none left here. None!!!!! Not even parts!!!! Oh - I'm
sure there's probably some stuck in a cow shed somewhere because the country
op couldn't be bothered to burn them (and yes - I know of one Op who does
this) - but finding them??????.... most of these guys have been out of
business for years now and they don't read the trading post.

> > Apart from the odd Asteroids - every single piece of vector stuff was
> junked
> > in the 80's.
> >
> > I'm now looking at shipping stuff from the US. But it's hard - every cab
> has a
> > dfifferent weight, shape and location, and the time it takes to get a
> quote
> > from a shipping company seems to be about 2 weeks and it's gone.
>
> A friesn of mine - the biggest collector in Holland - ships stuff on a
> regular
> base to the USA. He says it is fairly ease. He buys the games in the same
> region
> of the US, stashes them somewhere in a warehouse untill he has a few which
> then
> can be shipped simultaneously on one pallet. Sending four on one pallet is
> not
> much more expensive than a single one.
>
>
That's a thought - I might ask about storage when I get a price. Or maybe
pick up some raster games at the same time.

What I would like is for the Australian collectors to get together and fill
a small container and ship them over. That would reduce the price
considerably.

> > Living in the US would be wonderful for me. Just on a short visit
> earlier this
> > year I saw al sorts of classics still on location and earning money -
> and I
> > wasn't even looking - I just ran upon them.
> >
> > When you guys have Thanksgiving next year - REALLY give thanks!!!
>
> Well,be a rolemodel - :)
>
> Cya !
>
> > Cheers
> > MacMan
> >
> > ----------
> > From: Tek
> > Reply To: vectorlist@lists.cc.utexas.edu
> > Sent: Monday, 27 December 1999 10:13
> > To: vectorlist@lists.cc.utexas.edu
> > Subject: Re: Atari Power supplies
> >
> > Josh McCormick wrote:
> >
> > > You make me feel like an Ugly American! :)
> >
> > :) You are... In terms of easy-to-get-this-wonderfull-vector-game!
> :)
> >
> > > In a place like Holland, you've got to have old buildings, old
> tools,
> > old
> > > artifacts all over the place. And I'm guessing that people are
> very
> > quick
> > > to attach value to them and to recognize their place in history.
> >
> > Where the hell did you get that image from holland? hahaha... You
> > probably think
> > we're all in wooden shoes watering the tulips... :)
> > No really, I've never seen these myselves!
> >
> > > The United States, however, is such a "new" country that a since
> of
> > value
> > > in history just isn't there. A vendor isn't thinking about
> locking his
> > > arcade games up for 50+ years because they're historically
> valuable.
> > He's
> > > thinking that this game isn't earning money any more and is only
> worth
> > the
> > > parts. Or maybe he gets into a habit of just warehousing the
> stuff he's
> >
> > > not circulating.
> >
> > The same way overhere. Problem is however, operators trash a game
> after 1
> > or 2
> > years of use. Games like Tempest were thrown away back in 86, or
> even
> > before.The
> > only things you see are the newest of the newest since everybody's
> got
> > their
> > PSX...
> >
> > > So my theory is that the European vendor is happy to just hold
> onto his
> >
> > > vintage games. Sometimes they'll sell, but they'll keep in mind
> that
> > it'll
> > > be worth a lot more one day, and prices it accordingly. The
> American
> > > vendor might be thinking that maybe this guy knows something I
> don't,
> > but
> > > this is really just junk to me, and I'm thrilled that someone
> would PAY
> > ME
> > > to haul it off.
> > >
> > > What do you think?
> >
> > I think that you think we in Europe care more about old thing than
> > Americans,
> > just because our history goes back much longer (opposed to the 500
> years
> > of the
> > modern US). I think that is not true. I consider the Dutch as on of
> the
> > most
> > technically engaged people in Europe. For example, in Holland we
> have the
> > most
> > computers per resident, of Europe!
> >
> > I was once in the city of New York, and I really believe your
> culture is
> > much
> > more like ours (the Dutch) than, for example, the French or
> English. For
> > example, all the US movies, sitcoms or other TV shows are spoken
> > English,like
> > they should, in stead of dubbed as in the rest of Europe.
> > That's because almost everybody speaks English quite well.
> Sometimes I
> > think we
> > try very hard to be part of America :) (But we can go in a cafe and
> buy
> > alcohol
> > without ID or being 21! :P )
> >
> > > > So if anyone knows where to find an empty cabinet here in
> Europe, let
> > me know!
> > >
> > > I'm sure you've looked into shipping charges. How much does it
> cost to
> > > ship a cabinet from the state to Holland? From England to
> Holland?
> >
> > It would cost about $300 to get it in Holland, and maybe 100 UKP
> from
> > England.
> > Way too much for a game the same cost!
> >
> > > Hmmmmm... I wonder how much of your point of view is shaped by
> the fact
> >
> > > that the games are very hard to get ahold of. Your "reward" is in
> the
> > > effort of putting together a complete game. Here in the US,
> because
> > arcade
> > > games are more common, I think the reward is in finding the best
> price
> > (in
> > > complete games, or in parts). I know that if I didn't have as
> much easy
> >
> > > access to arcade games, I'd be more willing to adapt some of the
> PCBs
> > in
> > > my closet to JAMMA.
> >
> > You are peobably right about this. Here, the issue is not 'FIND ONE
> AS
> > CHEAP AS
> > POSSIBLE', but 'simple 'FIND ONE!' :) The price is not an issue
> (WHEN you
> > find
> > something, the price is quit right), since the higest price is
> still
> > cheaper
> > than buying one from the US + shipping.
> > Ofcourse I'm talking Vector here, raster games are quite easy to
> come
> > across.
> >
> > > No, but I was a webmaster from 1995-1997 for an ISP. It helps to
> see
> > all
> > > the bad things our customers created.
> >
> > That sure helps!
> > I did some web designing for my company also, you can see it at
> > www.matranortel.nl. It is not my job, however.
> >
> > > The discussion area is going to have to wait, unfortunately. The
> > feature
> > > that I thought would be the most valuable (and will have to wait
> as
> > well)
> > > is the "scoring". That is, someone submits a link, and the users
> can
> > > promote it up to a high score (and more prominence) or demote it
> into
> > the
> > > trashcan. The "mass moderation" concept not only floats the cream
> to
> > the
> > > surface, but it also increases the scalability of the site by
> reducing
> > the
> > > time it takes in administrative overhead.
> > >
> > > The concept is geared more toward it being a groupware
> application
> > rather
> > > than a website. In this sort of groupware application, the users
> of the
> >
> > > system are also the contributors and editors.
> >
> > Well, I'll be very curious to see the final result!
> >
> > > Other than giving the timeframe "soon", I'm not going to commit
> to a
> > time.
> > > I will say that the first version that goes online is going to be
> much
> > > less complex than the final design I showed you. (No user logins,
> no
> > mass
> > > moderation, no messages, no voting or scoring. Mainly the
> hierarchy
> > thing
> > > with various boxes under each category ("fact sheet", documents,
> links,
> >
> > > for sale, persistent sales). That, and cross-referencing to other
> > > categories (pokey chip, Atari button with LED, etc).
> >
> > Hmmm... I liked the looks as you send pretty much, but we'll see!
> >
> > > > C'mon... This is about a vector related site after all.. :) Now
> tell
> > me, WHAT
> > > > has the electrical storage capability of a 19VLUP22 to do with
> > Vectors... :)
> > >
> > > DOH!
> >
> > What? :) Got shocked?
> > I think we are really off-topic now, maybe it is better to send
> repies
> > only to
> > our own address.
> >
> > Cya !
>
Received on Thu Dec 30 16:15:33 1999