I can't believe people paid good money for that crap. Not a single thing there was in any way rare or valuable.

sliderider wrote:

I can't believe people paid good money for that crap. Not a single thing there was in any way rare or valuable.

It was a part of history my argumentative friend, and not just any history - Computer Game History.

Thanks for the link!

sliderider wrote:

I can't believe people paid good money for that crap. Not a single thing there was in any way rare or valuable.

Sure, if all you see if "a copy of Asteroids".

But once you factor in the providence, and the folklore surrounding the landfill site, that's where the value comes from.

It's like saying a poster with John Lennon's signature on it is "just a piece of paper with some ink". Or that a chunk of the Berlin wall is "just a scrap of concrete". The value quite obviously isn't in the physical matter that makes up the object.

They're not "just" copies of ET, or Asteroids. They're proof of an urban legend that many wrote off as silly speculation.

Scarcity is hardly the only determining factor of value.

However, there are a huge number of them, and they're selling for a LOT of money right now. They're going to become a lot less special, impressive, and valuable as more are sold.

The high prices right now are purely the "be the first" prices. Inflated, yes, but that "being first"-ness is important to some people.

They'll normalise eventually, but they'll never be worthless as such.

My issue with these is how can you tell the difference between a cartridge that came from Alamogordo and a cart someone crushed with a steamroller today?

Great Hierophant wrote:

My issue with these is how can you tell the difference between a cartridge that came from Alamogordo and a cart someone crushed with a steamroller today?

According to the article you get some kind of documentation along with your purchase to confirm its been dug up at the site.

The argument in terms of how much money is being spent on these is moot: The premium being paid is solely for the notoriety, since anyone wanting to actually play one of these games is better off just buying a regular cart for a dime or three. :B

Also, that's twice in a month now that this Ben Heck guy has shown up in the stuff I'm interested in. Maybe I should start paying more attention to him...

He's been around the console modding scene for quite a while. His back-catalogue is way more interesting than his current "The Ben Heck Show" stuff, although this year he's built custom portable-ized ZX Spectrum and Apple I clones, which were very cool.

Blog, goes back to the early naughties and includes write-ups of even older stuff: http://www.benheck.com/

Old stuff + podcast: https://www.youtube.com/user/benheckdotcom

element14/Farnell sponsored The Ben Heck Show: https://www.youtube.com/user/thebenheckshow

I don't think there were a whole lot of people who ever doubted the story about the Atari dumping, just like not a lot of people doubt the story of the dumping of truckloads of Apple Lisa's. I'm surprised the management of the landfill gave them permission to dig at all. What if someone had been injured? Over what? A bunch of junk video games? There are people in the Atari fan community who have access to reams of internal documentation going back to the beginnings of Atari who already confirmed the rumor, anyway. There was no need to even go to the landfill for confirmation.

I wouldn't pay $5 for an asteroids cart even if it has some historical value (and not much since thousands could be dug up).

Maybe if they had some game that never made it to market because of the crash.

sliderider wrote:

I don't think there were a whole lot of people who ever doubted the story about the Atari dumping, just like not a lot of people doubt the story of the dumping of truckloads of Apple Lisa's. I'm surprised the management of the landfill gave them permission to dig at all. What if someone had been injured? Over what? A bunch of junk video games? There are people in the Atari fan community who have access to reams of internal documentation going back to the beginnings of Atari who already confirmed the rumor, anyway. There was no need to even go to the landfill for confirmation.

For someone that posts on a forum concerned with the expensive and time-consuming hobby of building old computers, you're having an oddly hard time grasping the idea that someone might want to spend time+resources to do a thing because it's what they're passionate about, or "because they can", even though it might seem wasteful or silly to an outsider (i.e. a person that might say "Why not just use DOSBox?").

Hasn't been very expensive for me at all so far.... oh wait... I just realized I spent nearly 50$ buying the computer and parts for my main retro rig. D:

Your outrageous luck has no power here!! 😜

You're still missing the point. When documentation of the dump is available, there is no need to dig. The proof is already there to see. It's like trying to prove the sky is blue by applying scientific equations that may take months to solve when all you have to do is look up and see it for yourself. No need for all the mental gymnastics.

sliderider wrote:

You're still missing the point. When documentation of the dump is available, there is no need to dig. The proof is already there to see. It's like trying to prove the sky is blue by applying scientific equations that may take months to solve when all you have to do is look up and see it for yourself. No need for all the mental gymnastics.

You're still missing the point.

Owning an actual piece of "the dump" is, for some collectors, way more satisfying than simply knowing it happened.

I received the impression that mainstream coverage made it seem like some great discovery was being made, an urban legend being proven true. It was more interesting to see what they put in that dump. Unfortunately, it appears to be mostly common games, nothing exciting like some undiscovered prototypes. I cannot get excited about crushed boxes of ET, Space Invaders or Asteroids, regardless of its source.

I can see that for some people, it is not too dissimilar to owning a Moon rock. We know the Moon is there, but it is pretty inaccessible to everybody. Having a Moon rock is something special. Without the permission to excavate and the equipment to do it, the Atari stuff buried under the landfill might as well have been buried on the moon.

http://www.ebay.com/sch/tbhs575/m.html?item=2 … =p2047675.l2562

Utter lunacy

I could see it being pretty cool in a nice frame with the certificate hung up in my games room. Would make a good conversation piece. I think I would be maxed out at paying about $30 (maybe 40) though...and it would have to be the ET in the box..but from slideriders link...looks like they're going for $150+ wow.