Sales Yard Finds - V
-David, webmaster DVGI

The skies were clear and we had some excess items that didn't sell at a yard sale the weekend before so it was time for another trip out to the Sales Yard.  I wasn't really looking to pick anything up but it seemed that the price was right on some things and I ended up stumbling across some good deals.  I started out by picking up a copy of Klax on the NES for $4.  Not super cheap but it's around what the game should cost and the cartridge label is in excellent condition, which always seems to be an issue in the copies of Klax I come across.  A needed purchase since this will be the game showcased in my next Retrogaming Times Monthly Tengen article.  Moving along I picked up a pair of lazer tag guns from the Chinese guy that sells miscellaneous junk.  He only wanted a few dollars for them so I figured why not.  They're the type where the gun is connected to the target so only the gun requires power.  I was able to pick up two gun / target combinations however there was another set but someone else had them or I would have bought them as well.  (I was able to trade one of mine with theirs so we both got a red system and a blue system - it really doesn't matter since they're adjustable but I figured why not)  Both guns and both targets work fine but it took me awhile to figure out how the settings work and so forth - I think I've pretty much figured everything out now.

I continued to look around and found a complete longbox copy of Destruction Derby for the PlayStation, in really good condition aside from some sticker residue on the front of the box.  Destruction Derby was always one of my favorite PC games back when Destruction Derby 2 came out (it was bundled with it as a bonus) and I actually enjoyed the original more than the sequel.  The PlayStation version is dead on and just as fun to play.

As the day wore down most of the junk sellers moved to selling everything for a dollar no matter what it was.  I picked up an "Authorized Personnel Only" sign from one such junk dealer that was leaving until the summer, he actually ended up dumping everything for a quarter at the end of the day.  I grabbed a Fighter's Choice Arcade Stick for the PlayStation for a dollar however it was coated in dirt and dried mud.  This is the third one of these joysticks I've owned (sold the other two) and while they're decent I don't understand why they're called fighter sticks - since they suck for fighting games.  The joystick is more similar to classic arcade games and the buttons aren't microswitched - they use standard circuit plungers like a gamepad.  Given all these faults many would ask why I bought it then.  The answer is simple, it's a pretty good joystick for use with MAME through a PS2 - USB adapter.  While the buttons aren't great they work for most shooters and the joystick is good enough for such applications.  It'll make due until I begin to seriously construct my control panel for the eventual emulation arcade cabinet.  (since I'm using it with my PC it won't show up in my game directory) From the same seller I later picked up a handheld LCD Battleship game, again for a dollar.  I also came across Joe Montana's NFL Football and Racing Ages for the Sega CD, disc only.  Although they're badly scratched they still seem to be in salvageable condition and the price was right so I picked them up.

Well it seemed like that was it for the day but I decided to take a look over at the last few boxes the Chinese junk dealer had.  One of them I came upon happened to be filled with Atari 2600 cartridges in excellent condition aside from Actiplaque on a few. He told me he wanted 50 cents each, so I asked him for a deal on the box, he said $8 and I told him that I'll just take a few out of the box then.  I noticed he also had the second version of the Atari 2600 (the larger system but without the simulated wood grain paneling).  After looking through them I decided to bite the bullet and pay for the entire box of cartridges but I picked up the system and set it atop the box as well and asked him if he'd take $6 for the cartridges.  He said he would and then I tried to get the system as well for $6, he wouldn't go for it and said $8 for it all - I got him down to $7, I figured if the system didn't work it couldn't be beat for a dollar extra.  The cartridge assortment had plenty of Activision games and a few titles such as M*A*S*H and Wabbit that I don't come across all that often.

When I got it home and tried out the system I noticed that there was something wrong with the color.  Greens display blue and reds are pink and so forth.  It's probably just something with the internal RF modulator and I'll take a look at it later but just the case itself is worth a dollar.  Everything else works fine and will be sorted and added to the rest of my archive shortly.  As I didn't have any game related items to sell, this update is purely additions.

Acquired...
Atari 2600 - Console (second release with black panel)
Atari 2600 - Crackpots (cartridge only)
Atari 2600 - Defender (cartridge only)
Atari 2600 - Demon Attack (cartridge only)
Atari 2600 - Donkey Kong Junior (cartridge only)
Atari 2600 - Frostbite (cartridge only)
Atari 2600 - Haunted House (cartridge only)
Atari 2600 - Ice Hockey (cartridge only)
Atari 2600 - Journey Escape (cartridge only)
Atari 2600 - Keystone Kapers (cartridge only)
Atari 2600 - M*A*S*H (cartridge only)
Atari 2600 - Megamania (cartridge only)
Atari 2600 - Planet Patrol (cartridge only)
Atari 2600 - Pressure Cooker (cartridge only)
Atari 2600 - Robot Tank (cartridge only)
Atari 2600 - Roc'n Rope (cartridge only)
Atari 2600 - Seaquest (cartridge only)
Atari 2600 - Skiing (cartridge only)
Atari 2600 - Starmaster (cartridge only)
Atari 2600 - Star Raiders (cartridge only)
Atari 2600 - Super Challenge Baseball (cartridge only)
Atari 2600 - Super Challenge Football (cartridge only)
Atari 2600 - Wabbit (cartridge only)
Atari 2600 - Word Zapper (cartridge only)
JVC X'Eye - Joe Montana's NFL Football (disc only)
JVC X'Eye - Racing Aces (disc only)
NES - Klax (cartridge only)
PlayStation - Destruction Derby (complete longbox)

Sold...
None
 

Written on 02-11-05 by David, insanedavid@classicplastic.net

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