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TI-99/4 (not 4A) -- is it that rare?

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willowmoon93

Experienced Member
Joined
Jan 1, 2008
Messages
288
Location
Green Bay, Wisconsin
Question for you all: I have quite a few TI-99/4A's in my collection, but not a TI-99/4 (the 4A's predecessor). One guy I know has a TI-99/4, no monitor tho, the thermal printer PHP-1900 (even with extra rolls of thermal paper), and about 5 relatively common cartridges (but they are boxed complete).

Quite honestly I have never seen a 99/4 out in the wild before, so I'm guessing it's relatively rare enough. He is asking $75 for the lot -- would that be a good deal for me to pounce on while I can? I'm guessing it is but some sort of validation from some of the forum members would be appreciated. Thanks!!
 
willowmoon93 said:
Question for you all: I have quite a few TI-99/4A's in my collection, but not a TI-99/4 (the 4A's predecessor). One guy I know has a TI-99/4, no monitor tho, the thermal printer PHP-1900 (even with extra rolls of thermal paper), and about 5 relatively common cartridges (but they are boxed complete).

Quite honestly I have never seen a 99/4 out in the wild before, so I'm guessing it's relatively rare enough. He is asking $75 for the lot -- would that be a good deal for me to pounce on while I can? I'm guessing it is but some sort of validation from some of the forum members would be appreciated. Thanks!!
Click to expand...

It's rare and that isn't too bad a price, imo.
 
99/4 was my first computer

99/4 was my first computer

When I was a boy I saw the TI-99/4 in the local department store. Luckily for me, that was the big Christmas gift that year (1980?). It was my first computer and sent me on my way.

That year, they ran a promotion, three free cartridges with the purchase. We got Football, Video Games 1, and Personal Financial Decisions.

I still have it. It came with some elaborate packaging, but I had to send it in for repair at one point, and so the computer came back in a bit of a generic box.

Mine has "99/4" in white lettering on the console. The original reference manual shows a more narrow font in black lettering.

Somewhere on the web is a very cool set of pictures of the original 99/4 peripherals that you daisy-chained together. I could never afford anything for that computer (especially as a boy) - cartridges and peripherals were very expensive. Those original peripherals (before the expansion box) are very rare.
 
Well I'd have to say I'm convinced that I will definitely make that purchase. I think it might have another one of those sidecar peripherals as well but I'm not totally sure, but it definitely has the thermal printer and the rolls of thermal paper with it -- that much I am certain. I won't see the seller until next Thursday at the earliest but I'll keep you posted.

Too bad he doesn't have an Exidy Sorcerer just sitting around collecting dust. ;)
 
TI-99/4's generally sell for between $110 - $150 or so, before shipping. I see maybe one pop up every three months or so on eBay. I had won one about a year ago, but it got lost in transit!
 
Dwo Shwoom said:
Speaking of 4A (Not 4), I went a to flea market recently and picked up a few 4A carts for $4, including parsec. How rare exactly are 4A's? Because I've had my eyes on this one internet dealer for quite some time: http://4jays.net/ (Though I guess their offer isn't too bad.)
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Not at all rare. They're easy to get. You can often get the main unit with some cartridges for $20 or less, not counting shipping. What's a bit more expensive in the TI world is the Peripheral Expansion Box (PEB), which, when decently populated can run $100 - $200. The Milton Bradley Expansion (MBX) system is even more sought after and can run for the same price as the PEB or more.

I'm actually a fan of the TI-994/a from a collector's standpoint, in that it's cheap and easy to collect for, and has interesting programming capabilities, with both a standard and Extended BASIC. Homebrew support is minimal, but there is a very nice and cheap memory expansion/compact flash/printer/etc. combo device available (around $40 or less, plus shipping).
 
Dwo Shwoom said:
Speaking of 4A (Not 4), I went a to flea market recently and picked up a few 4A carts for $4, including parsec. How rare exactly are 4A's? Because I've had my eyes on this one internet dealer for quite some time: http://4jays.net/ (Though I guess their offer isn't too bad.)
Click to expand...


IMHO, not too rare at all. I see them out there somewhat often. But then again, that's this area. Who knows what it's like out in your neck of the woods.

Regarding 4jays ... the price of $30 including the box wouldn't be too bad if it did include shipping. Unfortunately for their TI-99/4A stuff, you have to e-mail them with your order before a shipping quote can be prepared. Quite honestly, I'm spoiled though. Most of my TI-99/4A's were found in thrift shops, one of them I paid $1 for !!!

My suggestion ... hit the thrift stores & flea markets big time. You may not find a TI right away but eventually you will. Grab some game cartridges in the meantime that look fun to you. But if you do want one right away, you can probably snag one on eBay with probably 5 or 6 cartridges as a package deal for around the $30 mark, heck you might even do better than that on a good day.

Enjoy Parsec once you get your TI-99/4A -- and definitely pick up the speech synthesizer if you can, it makes the game all the more enjoyable.

Speaking of thrift stores, I've been finding some really rare games for the TI-99/4A lately. My best find however, were three of the four Milton Bradley Gamevision cartridges -- Hangman, Connect Four, & Zero Zap. They're not the regular TI style cartridges in terms of packaging and release date. The link for scans of what they look like follow here:

http://www.ti994.com/1979/cartridges/

I paid a whopping $1.99 for each one, cartridges only, at a local Goodwill. These particular versions are really really hard to come by -- rare, yes .... fun, not really.

I'd go with the cartridges of Donkey Kong, Popeye, Q*Bert, Munch Man, Parsec, & Tunnels of Doom. And last but not least, Microsurgeon. Very very enjoyable games.
 
Don't forget that just the Tunnels of Doom cartridge won't get you anything - that's just the interpreter. You need to load in modules from either cassette or disk. Same thing with the Adventure cartridge.
 
Bill_Loguidice said:
Don't forget that just the Tunnels of Doom cartridge won't get you anything - that's just the interpreter. You need to load in modules from either cassette or disk. Same thing with the Adventure cartridge.
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Exactly -- thank you for mentioning that, Bill -- I totally forgot about that fact which yeah is kinda crucial if you want to be able to actually play the game.

Darn senility creeping back up on me ....
 
The fourth Gamevision cartridge (Yahtzee) will likely never show up in any auction you see, because that version of the cartridge had a bug and they were recalled pretty early on. The replacements were the regular TI version of the cartridge, which had an updated version of the GROM that corrected the bug. MB never released an updated version of the Gamevision cartridge. I know of exactly three copies of the Gamevision Yahtzee cartridge in the wild. I have one of them (I used to have two but I traded one for another Gamevision cartridge I needed). I know the owners of both of the other two cartridges. A prototype of a fifth Gamevision cartridge exists, which contains the four games we already know and a fifth game: Card Sharp. I've only ever seen one of these, and it is in the hands of the guy I traded my second Gamevision Yahtzee cartridge to.
 
On rarity, I seem to remember reading an article back then that said that between 10,000 and 20,000 TI-99/4 machines were sold. They were not all of one variety--some had built-in speakers, some had a speaker jack, some had neither. The strip at the front of the module port was originally intended as the home for a slide switch that acted as a volume control for either of the two speaker options.

One other little note--the cartridge port for the 99/4 is not quite as deep as the one for a /4A, and some early /4 cartridges (generally prototypes) work fine in the /4 and won't make contact in the /4A. The power supply for the /4 is also a bit different. You can use a /4A power supply on a /4, but NEVER use a /4 power supply on a /4A, as it will destroy the machine.
 
Ksarul said:
There are some really good sources of new hardware for the /4A out there as well. The System 99 user group in Germany builds a lot of different cards for the peripheral expansion box.

http://home.arcor.de/system-ninety-nine-user-group/index.htm

I also build hardware for the rarest member of the TI family: the TI-99/8.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the link. Too bad there's no official English version. Also too bad you also couldn't build a TI-99/8 itself... ;-)
 
Ksarul said:
On rarity, I seem to remember reading an article back then that said that between 10,000 and 20,000 TI-99/4 machines were sold. They were not all of one variety--some had built-in speakers, some had a speaker jack, some had neither. The strip at the front of the module port was originally intended as the home for a slide switch that acted as a volume control for either of the two speaker options.

One other little note--the cartridge port for the 99/4 is not quite as deep as the one for a /4A, and some early /4 cartridges (generally prototypes) work fine in the /4 and won't make contact in the /4A. The power supply for the /4 is also a bit different. You can use a /4A power supply on a /4, but NEVER use a /4 power supply on a /4A, as it will destroy the machine.
Click to expand...

Very interesting -- hopefully I'll be able to snag the 99/4 on Thursday -- if so, I'll let you know what particular variety that one is, I'd be really curious to see if it is with built-in speakers. Still trying to remember if it had any other peripherals besides the thermal printer.
 
willowmoon93 said:
Very interesting -- hopefully I'll be able to snag the 99/4 on Thursday -- if so, I'll let you know what particular variety that one is, I'd be really curious to see if it is with built-in speakers. Still trying to remember if it had any other peripherals besides the thermal printer.
Click to expand...

Which printer? Is it the Gorilla Banana rebadge, or other?

I have a PHP-1400 monitor. Pm me if interested.

Also, besides Parsec, is there any list anywhere of which carts use the Speech Synth? I recall Canyon Climber, Defender, a few others...

--T
 
Terry Yager said:
Which printer? Is it the Gorilla Banana rebadge, or other?

I have a PHP-1400 monitor. Pm me if interested.

Also, besides Parsec, is there any list anywhere of which carts use the Speech Synth? I recall Canyon Climber, Defender, a few others...

--T
Click to expand...

It is the TI thermal printer PHP-1900....

As far as the different cartridges that utilize the speech synthesizer (games only, I assume), I have this list for you:

Alpiner, Bigfoot, Buck Rogers: Planet of Zoom, Fathom, M*A*S*H, Microsurgeon, Micro-Tennis, Moon Mine, Parsec, Princess and Frog, Star Trek. Don't think they made Canyon Climber for the TI, and I don't believe Defender was voice-enhanced but I could be wrong. Maybe you are thinking of "Crazy Climber" which Alpiner is pretty much based from.

I know some of the MBX titles could be playable on the TI without the MBX add-on (and again, only some), and I think speech would come out for those games -- not totally sure, maybe someone else remembers or knows?
 
willowmoon93 said:
Alpiner, Bigfoot, Buck Rogers: Planet of Zoom, Fathom, M*A*S*H, Microsurgeon, Micro-Tennis, Moon Mine, Parsec, Princess and Frog, Star Trek. Don't think they made Canyon Climber for the TI, and I don't believe Defender was voice-enhanced but I could be wrong. Maybe you are thinking of "Crazy Climber" which Alpiner is pretty much based from.
Click to expand...

Oooh, anyone else notice the list was alphabetized?

--Ryan
 
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Yeah, Alpiner is the one I'm thinking of. Others from your list that I've had and played include: Buck Rogers, M*A*S*H*, MicroSurgeon, Micto-Tennis, Moon Mine, Parsec, and Star Trek. I can't recall any others, but I'm sure there were some more. The only non-game cart I recall to use speech was the Terminal Emulator (TE-II?), which was kinda fun to play with too.

--T
 
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