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HIT THE JACKPOT IN THE THRIFT STORE

C

Computer Collector

Experienced Member
Joined
Jan 22, 2005
Messages
283
Wow! I had a major find in the wild today! I didnt think finds like this happened these days anymore. I went to the thrift shop around the corner, as I do quite often, just to see if there was anything I might find interesting. (finding classic computer stuff there never happens anymone, or so I thought.) So I was looking at some wire, when I decided to tun my head and see what other crap might be there that Im not seeing. Of course, while I did this, I was thinking tio myself, "who knows perhaps theres some Atari stuff there or something." I always have this thought in the back of my mind when I go to thrift shops. Then I couldnt believe my eyes. "Holy Smokes!" I thought. this cant be true But it was. There was a whole pile of cool stuff. This is what I found:
*Commodore 64 in original box with power supply and a bunch of other wires and stuff for hooking up other peripherals
* Commodore MPS83 printer w/ manual (I think Im going to trade this item away. So let me know if you need the printer)
*a special peripheral called the "Lipstick" Im not sure how to use it, but apparently Im supposed to pLug my joystick into it, and then plug it into my Joystick port. It goes on my head and when I say"fire" it does the same thing as pressing the fire button. Have you ever seen one of these?
* 2 Gemni joysticks (they are both missing the rubber ring for some reason)
*Ram Pak cartridges included:
River Raid
Defender
Visible Solar System
Omega Race

*Also in the pile were Atari Games for the 2600. They all came in one of those black cart. holders where you press the button and the game comes out. these are the 2600 games (I already have them all anyway):
3d Tic Tac Toe (Sears)
Space Invaders
Air Sea Battle
Casino (actually, maybe I didnt have this one, yet. When you have hundreds of Atari games, its easy to loose track)
Breakout
Freeway
Combat

* There were also these 2600 manuals:
Breakout
Space Invaders
Video Pinball
Combat
Casino

* There was also a bunch of software in 5-1/4" floppy format for the C-64
* There were also all sorts of other game software manulas, but the games for them are missing. Perhaps they are still in the thrift stores back room!

the cost of it all was 12 bucks
Anyway, this certain thrift store is known to be wasteful and to throw away good stuff all the time. So I often dumpster dive behind the place. In fact, they throw out so much stuff, that they built walls and have a whole outdoor "room" where they pile up stuff they are chucking. So I knew I would be foolish if I didnt go down there and look for more stuff. Sure enough, I hit the jackpot in the dumpster, boys!
This is what I found as I dove in like a rif raf bum:
*virtually mint condition cartridges for the C-64
Q-Bert
Frogger 2
*a VERY NICE disk cleaning kit called "Floppiclene" Its virtually new. To put it in easy quick language, its like a having a box of 15 or 20 floppy cleaning disks to clean the disk drive with. They are all unused and ready for years of good cleaning on my old computers! It probably cost a lot of money back in the day.

* A bunch more 5-1/4" disks of games and other stuff. Some of the disks are compatable with both the C-64 and the Atari 800XL

*Tac-3 joystick (I threw it out cus its so dirty)

and some other crap, but im going on too much, now.

See ya!
 
i still need the disk drive though. the ironic thing is, In past years I passed these up a couple of times because I wasnt collecting computers yet.
 
The "lip stick" goes to a game called "Echelon", a very in depth game that will probably take months to complete. If you have the game disk, you'll need both the manual and the keyboard overlay. The lip stick was used because the fire button on the joystick is used for another function. Plus it added a little more realism to the game. :wink:

I've had the game since it hit the shelves, and still haven't finished it. :shock:
 
i still need the disk drive though. the ironic thing is, In past years I passed these up a couple of times because I wasnt collecting computers yet.
Click to expand...


have you found a drive yet?

too bad we did not live closer, as i would trade away one of my drives.

i have three extra drives.

chris
 
Well, you can always ship it to me. What are YOU looking for? Money or what?

the sad thing is, in the past Ive passed up entire C-64 set ups at thrift shops. Now I wish I had bought it back then!
 
Regarding voice-controlled input devices, there was some other joystick like gadget you could shout to, not specific to a certain game. Swedish "Datormagazin" once had a competition where the one with the best slogan/reason would win one.

I remember one of the winners wrote "Min röst är så vacker / att min syster får epillepsiattacker" (translates into "My voice is so beuatiful / that my sister gets epilleptic attacks"). Maybe not very politically correct, but I thought it was fun at that time.

Interesting haul. The printer probably is MPS803. I can't recall if it was 801 or 803 which I owned, but frankly I'm happy I got rid of it. To me printers (and pens :wink: ) are the lowest form of computer hardware you can collect. I know your mileage may vary.
 
Sounds don't cause epileptic seizures...blinkenlights do! (Any epileptic Altair owners looking for a good home for thier machine, feel free to contact me).

--T
 
Carlsson- In this case, it wasn't actually "voice" activated...you could blow a light puff of air across it, and it would work(I know, I have one)...it was basicly a fire button...nothing more. It was kinda cool being able to just say "fire", and have your on-screen ship shoot.
 
Here ya go, Terry. A blinky Altair.

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(My apologies to those with slow modems)

Terry Yager said:
Sounds don't cause epileptic seizures...blinkenlights do! (Any epileptic Altair owners looking for a good home for thier machine, feel free to contact me).

--T
Click to expand...
 
When I tried out the "Lipstick" I simply plugged it into the joystick port, and whenever I made a noise, the space ship (in the game) would shoot. I had no way of making the ship move, though, So I read the description that came with the Lipstick and it said that Im supposed to plug my joystick into the lipstick and use both at the same time. But I dont see where the joystick plugs into the lipstick anywhere :cry:
 
I got the Echelon keyboard overlay and the instruction manual, but no disk, in fact, there are a whole bunch of manuals I found with no disks. Im assuming that the thrift shop workers threw out the disks the next day and I never got to rescue them from the dumpster the way I did the night before.
 
It is nothing like you need a Y-connector to plug the joystick into one and the Lipstick into the other? Maybe it came with the game, but your set is missing that part?
 
Cool, your're the man.

But not just yet. i first need to aquire a disk drive for my C64, and I dont want to do it till after I move. (I will be moving some time soon)

Right now I dont even have aplace to hook up my C64, with all my other systems in the room. This is one of the reasons I need to get a bigger place; not bacause of kids or anything like that; I need it for my old computer collection! :D
 
I hear ya...I have my C=128 hooked up in the living room, to the main TV. Have a 1541 and 1581 hooked up to it. We both have our main systems(the new ones) in our bedroom, along with my writing computer(about 5 years old), my Amiga 500, Atari 5200, and N64. That's 4 computers, 2 game systems in our bedroom, and a buncha stuff hooked into the Living room TV(including C=128, VCR, DVD player, SNES, PS1.....)
My old computer room(before I got engaged, and she moved in with me) still has room for my A3000...and the two arcade games I have. The rest of it is packed with stuff.
 
Wow! I had another big find at the thrist store today! This is quite odd. for years I couldnt find jack sht, but now all the sudden Im finding stuff again!

Well, today i bought a huge box of old Apple II software. I dont have an Apple II, but as a Classic Computer collector, I couldnt let this pass. Most of the disks are copies, but still, perhaps most of it still works. I would have no idea, since I dont have an Apple II. A long time ago this same store was selling one, but I passed on it, beacuse I really didnt want to tote the thing around, it is a big system, after all.

Im not sure what Im going to do with this software. If one of you wants to buy or trade for it, Ill consider. Otherwise, ill hold onto it till I find the computer for it again.
 
2nd hand stores = greedy *$$ holes

2nd hand stores = greedy *$$ holes

2nd hand stores in my area are gready as hell!
i use to buy old computer books from this one
it was 39cents for all paper backs and 1.00 for hardbacks
last few years they have been getting massive computer hardware
most of it 486/pentiums but some of the old stuff too
Well now they think there high class or something and
have and i quote "Library" & "Computer Center"
now there books start at 1.00 no matter how old it is or if it's paper back
hard backs start at 4.00 and for some reason they price there books
by size not content. So that 500 page book on blah blah blah
could run 8 or 9 bucks. they had this one the other day on
front page 2000 by sams and they wanted 15.99 for it OMG!

They also have a wide selecton (for a 2nd hand store) of music and software.
but they want at least 7.99 for any software. They had a copy of
DOS 4 5.25 for 9.99 (thats crazy). However i was able to pick up 4 box's
of 3com DSDD 5.25 disks. They was open and hand a mixture of crap
in them. They also had a unopend pack for 5bucks. But the open packs
had more disks in them about 15-20 of course they was used, But in my
mind i like the used disk better because who knows what goodies might
be on them. on ya 39cents so i grabbed them up.
Lucky me lotus 1-2-3 v2.2 on 5.25's brand new was in one of the box's

Now back to that fantastic "Computer Center" i was talking about.
They have some idiot that does not know there ass from a serial port
working on fixing computers (Pluging them in and seeing what happens)
for sale. They even have a parts department (Arent they fancy)
Where you can buy a used nasty phone cord for 1.25, A null modem
cable for 59cents or a Power cable for 5bucks. (Nice pricing system)
Anyhow there computers are aokay but they want to damn much for them
(Big Supprise) last time i was in they was still trying to sell that
486 dx 33mhz with 4mb and 200mb hdd for 69.99 (WHAT A STEEL OF A DEAL)
Oh ya and they will throw in a killer 13'in monocrome monitor for free!
Anyway the good news is because they have about an IQ of 30 if they
put there heads together. They never can get those old 8088's and 286s
up and running so there not too bad about 5-10bucks.

boy can i ramble on and on i should run for office.
never did find that Tandy color computer III.. oh well

P. S
I just had a thought one of the stores in my area has a sign
saying "to keep prices down & protect our customers this store under
CCTV watch.... All shoplifters will be charge to the full exent of the law!"
I can't help but to bring this up with who ever im with at the time
wondering... "Keep Prices LOW?" If i stole something (AND NO I DO NOT!)
what's there big lost? I guess that they have to order more stuff from
there over priced supplier. (The Donation Bin)
 
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