Atari Reconditioned 2600A Video Game System! This is the Second Generation Atari 4 Switch 2600A System! All Best’s Reconditioned Atari 2600A systems are reconditioned with New Atari OEM Factory Replacement Parts and Tested and Burned in, using Atari 2600 Factory Diagnostic Equipment and have New Protective Atari Static switch Strips (which most of the reconditioned Atari 2600A's on the Internet Do Not have or are damaged in the reconditioning process) installed. Each Reconditioned US Atari 2600A System comes with the 2600A Main Console, two New Non Atari brand BP or Pro-Stick Joysticks your choice (Click here to see pictures of the Joysticks), New U.S. 110 Volt Atari 2600 Power Adapter, New Upgraded Atari R.F. Cable (better than stock supplied original 2600A RF cable), New Atari Universal Cable Ready TV Switch Box (better than stock supplied 2600 original TV switch box), New Owners Manual and New Atari CX2692 Moon Patrol Cartridge and comes with the same Atari 90 day Warranty as when they were first released! CB102441 Temporally out of stock
Atari Reconditioned 2600A Darth Vader version (all black) Video Game System! This is the Second / Last Generation Atari 4 Switch 2600A System made! All Best’s Reconditioned Atari 2600A systems are reconditioned with New Atari OEM Factory Replacement Parts and Tested and Burned in, using Atari 2600 Factory Diagnostic Equipment and comes with the same Atari 90 day Warranty as when they were first released. Each Reconditioned Atari 2600A System comes with the 2600A Main Console, two New Non Atari brand BP or Pro-Stick Joysticks your choice (Click here to see pictures of the Joysticks), New U.S. 110 Volt Atari 2600 Power Adapter, New Upgraded Atari R.F. Cable (better than stock supplied 2600A original RF cable), New Atari Universal Cable Ready TV Switch Box (better than stock supplied 2600A original TV switch box), New Owners Manual and New Atari CX2692 Moon Patrol Cartridge! CB103086V Temporally out of stock!
Boisy P of LA "I received my Atari 2600 order this weekend." Boisy purchased a Reconditioned Atari 2600 Heavy console with the Composite Video mod. "All I can say is WOW. What a beautiful, clean heavy sixer. It looks like it just came off the factory floor! Thanks for providing this great hardware in fantastic condition. I’m very happy with the system and am glad I got the composite mod."
Atari Reconditioned 2600 Video Game System! This is the Original / First 6 Switch Version 2600 System Atari Made! All Reconditioned 2600 Consoles are Circa Atari 1980 - 1984 Vintage. All Best’s Reconditioned Atari 2600/2600A systems are reconditioned with New Atari OEM Factory Replacement Parts and Tested and Burned in, using Atari 2600 Factory Diagnostic Equipment and comes with the same Atari 90 day Warranty as when they were first released. Each Reconditioned Atari 2600 System comes with the US 2600 Main Console, two New Non Atari brand BP or Pro-Stick Joysticks your choice (Click here to see pictures of the Joysticks), New U.S. 110 Volt Atari 2600 Power Adapter, New Upgraded Atari R.F. Cable (better than stock supplied 2600 original RF cable), New Atari Universal Cable Ready TV Switch Box (better than stock supplied 2600 original TV switch box), New Owners Manual and New Atari CX2692 Moon Patrol Cartridge! CB103086 Temporally out of stock!
Click here for a short list of New Atari OEM 2600 replacement parts
Click here for a list of Atari Controllers
Atari 2600 Composite Video mods feed back: There are a lot of different Atari end user designed / cloned Atari 2600 / 2600A / 2600JR Composite Video (CV) mods listed on E-Bay. They are listed as 100% tested, DIY, seem very cost effective and very simple to install. One of the problems with these 2600CV mod fixed design board that fits all (like one shoe fits all people) of the different Atari 2600 models made, is very simple. Close to 30+ years of different 2600 console PCB manufacturing methods, 3 different Atari Engineering design groups for the 2600, then 2600A and 2600Jr motherboard circuit redesigns, 2600 motherboard component (capacitors, resistors) tolerances and quality that varied over those 30+ years and even the Atari 2600 3 chip sets that have varied from chip manufacturing lot to lot and the many different chip suppliers / manufactures Atari used over the last 30+ years. That does not include the 20 to 30+ motherboard revision levels for all 3 different version 2600 motherboards went thru.
These Atari 2600 motherboard manufacturing differences is why on the original 2600 6 switch Atari Engineering design group (and all of the 2600A and 2600Jr Engineering groups did the same) put in a Color Adjustment pot (variable resistor), so the 2600 RF color display could be set to an Atari Engineering specified video standard during the Atari 2600 assembly line process. Atari 2600 assembly line people would 100% test (tune / set the proper color pallet) all of 2600 consoles made, using a 2600 diagnostic screen color bar generator for each Atari 2600 TIA chip on all Domestic and International 2600 motherboards ever made. If the Atari 2600 console ever needed to be repaired and a new Atari 2600 TIA chip installed, the 2600 color display could be set back to the original Atari factory setting using the 2600 color adjustment Pot.
So for all of the E-Bay 2600 CV board fixed / static (no on board adjustments can be made) design to fully work (consistent quality 2600 CV display) with all of these total 2600 console variables are just about impossible. Now you can get close to a decent 2600 CV display on some Atari 2600 consoles, but not on all 2600 consoles made as the 2600 CV mods E-Bay sellers claim. If you read the E-Bay 2600 CV mods seller claims, they never say what type quality 2600 CV display you will get using their 2600 CV board / mod, only that it works on all Atari 2600 consoles.
Most Atari 2600 owners are thrilled to install one of these cheap one fixed design that fits all Atari 2600's made, E-Bay 2600 Composite Video mods in their old Atari 2600 consol and get them going. But after the initial thrill goes away, a lot of 2600 owners start to notice some new CV video screen problems that were not on their original Atari 2600 RF TV display before the 2600 CV was installed. One of the more common display problems is best described as Ghosting (one main full 2600 color moving image like a Pac Man and a second faint / lighter / ghost Pac Man image) that moves in sync with the full color Pac Man as it moves around the game screen display. Also fixed items on the 2600 game screen display like walls, doors and other screen objects will also have fixed ghost images / shadows. RF interference (sometimes described as light white thin wavy lines that move around the TV screen display) that can range from light to heavy. Small white snow dots over the 2600 game color display image, that range from very light to very noticeable. Basically the one fixed design 2600 CV mod display is being over driven / to bright on most flat panel screen TV's. Most Atari 2600 owners just live with these 2600 new CV display problems since there is no way to correct these type of display problems on the fixed design E-Bay 2600 CV boards. The only way to really correct this over driven CV 2600 display is turn down your Tube or Flat panel TV contrast setting. Darken the TV screen display until all of the above over driven screen display problems disappear. Basically get the 2600 CV screen display back to original R.F. black background game screen.
Best gets a lot E-Mails from new or 1st time (picked up a used 2600 consoles) Atari 2600 owners who are having screen displays on their flat panel TV’s.
Typical diagnostic Atari 2600 questions we ask are:
1 Is this a stock Atari 2600 with a RF out display?
2 Did you do install one of the E-bay 2600 fix design CV mods?
3 Did you at least test the Atari 2600 RF display before you did the E-Bay 2600 CV mod? A lot of new Atari 2600 users expect the CV mods to cure a 2600 RF display with a problem(s), which it most cases it does not. Best strongly recommends the any Atari CV mods should only be done an Atari 2600 with a good RF display.
4 Are you using a Atari made 2600 power supply?
5 How are you connecting up your new Atari 2600 up to your TV?
The Atari 2600 Engineer, who designed the Best Electronics Atari 6 switch 2600 CV mod, knew that this CV over driven screen display could be a possible problem. He designed in a contrast setting Pot into his Atari 2600 6 switch CV circuit design. So you can dial (darken or lighten) the contrast setting on your new 2600 6 switch Best CV TV screen display. So you could get back to the original Atari 2600 Engineering / Atari 2600 game developers / 2600 programmers full rich 2600 color tube type of TV display but with a better sharper / clearer 2600 CV screen display. All of the above listed possible E-Bay 2600 CV fixed display problems can be easily adjusted out during the installation of the Best Atari Engineer designed 2600 6 switch CV mod.
Best Atari 2600 6 switch fun Information Tip: On the very early Atari 6 switch 2600 consoles (heavy 6er's) internal angled switch board PCB assembly without the TV channel 2 - 3 switch installed, that is mounted on the internal 2600 die casting, on the back side (solder side) you will find one of the very very early Atari Marketing Department Company sayings. You will find the normal Atari Fuji Logo etched in copper, Atari Name below and below the word Atari, "Innovative Leisure". We have been told by very early Atari Employee's, Atari even had Atari T shirts made with this same Atari Logo and Innovative Leisure Trade Mark saying silk screened on Atari Company T shirts of that era.
Best 2nd Atari 2600 6 switch fun Information Tip: On the very early Atari 6 switch 2600 consoles (heavy and light 6er's) internal angled switch board PCB assembly with the TV channel 2 - 3, switch installed, you will find on the solder side Copper foil lettering, "Pro" lettering on the one right side (viewing from the back side of the 6 switch PCB board) by the Difficulty switch pads. Atari Engineering wanted the two 2600 Difficulty switches on the 2600 consoles to be marked Pro and Amateur settings originally. Atari Marking Department wanted to go with Right and Left Difficulty A / B settings. You can look at any Atari 2600 made and you will see which Atari department got their way on the final 2600 Bezel labels. This Pro and Am Atari Difficulty sayings / settings was also used on the Atari very early made products Stunt cycle and the Atari Super Pong Pro Am Ten consoles but was fazed out from use soon after those Atari consoles were made.
Best Atari 2600 Trivia Information Tip. Early in Atari 2600 History, Sears contracted with Atari Corp. to make the Sears Telegames versions of the 2600 consoles (2600, 2600A and CX380 Pinball consoles) under the Sears brand label. They had completely different Sears game console boxes, Owners manuals and all other Sears documents included with each game console, we think early models even had Sears branded / labeled 2600 Power supplies, Sears branded / boxed replacement CX40 Joysticks, Paddle controllers and CX20 Driving controllers. One of the slight upgrades / differences between an Atari made 2600 console / motherboard and one made for Sears was the 6 (2600) or 4 (2600A) silver slide switches. The Atari 2600 consoles always had the brushed aluminum slide switch handles and the Sears version 2600 consoles / motherboards installed a chrome cap installed over the brushed aluminum 2600 switch handles to prevent the normal aluminum oxidation (brushed aluminum surface turns black) you see on very old 2600 consoles. Back then Sears had so much pull (tied up so much of the Atari 2600 production schedule) / control over Atari game console production, you NEVER ever saw an Atari made 2600 / 2600A console with the upgraded upgraded Chrome caps. But years latter, as Sears and Atari parted ways / cut marketing ties, you would start to see some Atari remanufactured / repaired 2600 / 2600A consoles with either new or reworked Sears 2600 motherboards with the chrome capped side switches. But now a days it is still very very rare to see any Atari 2600 / 2600A game consoles with the Sears chrome capped slide switches. Best as an authorized Atari Dealer and able to just about any Atari OEM replacement part from the local Sunnyvale Atari part warehouses, Best could not buy the Sears 2600 chrome cap slide switches from Atari. We not sure if Sears ever sold the chrome capped replacement 2600 slide switches thru the Sears nation wide replacement parts network.
Atari Reconditioned Light 2600 Video Game System with Best's 2600 Rev. 3 Composite Video modification installed (see below for more information on the Atari 2600 CV upgrade)! This is the Original / First 6 Switch Version 2600 System Atari Made! All Reconditioned 2600 Consoles are Circa Atari 1980 - 1984 Vintage. All Best’s Reconditioned Atari 2600/2600A systems are reconditioned with New Atari OEM Factory Replacement Parts and Tested and Burned in, using Atari 2600 Factory Diagnostic Equipment and comes with the same Atari 90 day Warranty as when they were first released. Each Reconditioned US Atari 2600 System comes with the 2600 Main Console, two New Non Atari brand BP or Pro-Stick Joysticks your choice (Click here to see pictures of the Joysticks), New U.S. 110 Volt Atari 2600 Power Adapter, New Owners Manual and New Atari CX2692 Moon Patrol Cartridge! CB103086CV $135.95 Temporally out of stock!
Tom K. of MN Tom purchased one of Best Reconditioned upgraded Light 2600 6 switch console in May with the Rev. 3 Composite Video out mod. He also exchanged out the two non Atari BP Joysticks for 2 Best CX40 Gold Upgraded Joysticks with Best's lifetime Gold CX40 PCB boards "Thank you so much for the Atari! It arrived a few weeks ago in perfect condition and I have been playing it since. I especially like the upgraded joysticks - they work great!"
Atari Tip: Do not forget to get a New Atari Translucent Dust cover for your Atari 2600 console listed below.
Atari Reconditioned Heavy 2600 Video Game System with Best's 2600 Rev. 3 Composite Video modification installed (see below for more information on the Atari 2600 CV upgrade)! This is the Original / First 6 Switch Heavy (3/8 inch thick bottom case) Version 2600 System Atari Made! All Reconditioned 2600 Heavy Consoles are Circa Atari 1979 - 1982 Vintage. All Best’s Reconditioned Atari 2600 systems are reconditioned with New Atari OEM Factory Replacement Parts and Tested and Burned in, using Atari 2600 Factory Diagnostic Equipment and comes with the same Atari 90 day Warranty as when they were first released 30+ years ago. Each Reconditioned US Atari 2600 System comes with the 2600 Main Console, two New Non Atari brand BP or Pro-Stick Joysticks your choice (Click here to see pictures of the Joysticks), New U.S. 110 Volt Atari 2600 Power Adapter, New Owners Manual and New Atari CX2692 Moon Patrol Cartridge! CB103086HCV Temporally out of stock!
Bart K. of IN "Really enjoying my 2600! The console looks like new!" Bests Reconditioned Atari 2600 6 switch console with the Bests Atari Composite Video modification installed. "I'm soooo pleased."
New in the box Atari 2600Jr. Console with 1 New CX40 Joystick. Comes with US / NTSC 2600 Jr. Console, CX40 Joystick, Atari RF cable, Atari TV switch box. Atari US 2600 Power Supply, Atari 2600Jr. Owners Manual and 90 day Atari Warranty.
Sold Out
Atari Reconditioned 2600Jr This is last Generation Atari 2600 System Atari made! All Best’s Reconditioned Atari 2600Jr systems are reconditioned with New Atari OEM Factory Replacement Parts and Tested and Burned in, using Atari 2600 Factory Diagnostic Equipment and comes with the same Atari 90 day Warranty as when they were first released. Each Reconditioned US Atari 2600Jr System comes with the 2600Jr Main Console, two New Non Atari brand BP or Pro-Stick Joysticks your choice (Click here to see pictures of the Joysticks), New Auto switching Atari 2600 Power supply, New Atari 6 ft R.F. Cable, New Atari TV Switch Box with Coax adapters, New Owners Manual, comes with the Atari 90 day Warranty. CB102570-RE Temporally out of stock!
Chris C. of PA Chris contacted Best Electronics wanting to purchase a reconditioned Atari 2600Jr console. We explained to Chris there is a unadvertised option on the Reconditioned Atari 2600Jr consoles. He could trade in the two non Atari made BP Joysticks for a credit toward any Atari made controller we have in stock. Chris opted for two of the new CX40 Joysticks that have been upgraded with Bests Lifetime CX40 Gold PCB boards. "The package arrived today, I just hooked everything up and it’s working great. The console and joysticks look and feel like they’re brand new, I’ve very pleased with the quality of everything and looking forward to getting back to playing some of the games from my younger days, and maybe a few new ones. It was great doing business with you."
Atari Engineering 2600 Heavy and Light Six switch consoles Composite Video modification.
General Information
When Best Electronics helped cleared out all of the Sunnyvale Atari Warehouses over a 10+ year period, one of the additional buildings we bid on and got the rights to remove any Atari Hardware from was the Atari Corp. Main building 1196 Borregas Ave. In this Atari Corp. building was Atari Purchasing, Engineering, Engineering Prototype lab, Sales, Accounting, Marketing, Legal and other Atari departments.
In the Engineering section we came across a single Modified Euro PAL Atari 2600 Light Euro console with a Composite Video mod. installed. It got put into a box and stored onto one of the thousands and thousands of Pallets of Atari goods we put into our San Jose Warehouse over the years. We recently finally broke down one of those Pallets of Atari items from the Atari Corp building and again found that Engineering 2600 console. To us this 2600 Light console looked like an Atari Engineer’s modified 2600 Light console with a Composite Video mod installed project.
Items required for this 2600 Composite Video Modification.
General Soldering: 25 Watt Soldering Iron
RF Modulator Unsoldering: 35 Watt Soldering Iron
Solder
Needle Nose Pliers
Small Flat blade Screwdriver and Phillips Screwdriver
A good Solder Sucker or a lot of Solder Wick
Hot Melt Glue
Small pencil Flash Light
Ohm Meter
Recommend Video Test Cartridges Atari Diagnostic Cartridge or Atari 2600 Game cartridges, Missile Command, Space Invaders, Casino, Black Jack or Combat.
The abilty to follow written installation instructions with pictures
This upgrade is so simple no schematics / prints are supplied but is well documented and has many color photos of the upgrade process. You should be able to solder and unsolder components, read resistor color codes, read Signal Diode part numbers and read the silk screen component # locations (Example: R222 location) on the Atari 2600 Motherboard
Optional: Drill and ¼ inch drill bit.
About 1 to 2 hours installation time.
21 Page set of Installation instructions with 16 color pictures
All Electronic Components required for this 2600 Composite Video Mod.
Set of 6 ft Composite Video and Audio cables with Gold Plated RCA connectors on the other end already modified cable ends for easy installation onto the 2600 motherboard.
Atari Engineering US 2600 Light and Heavy Composite Video Modification Rev. 3 CB103132 $20.00
Best Electronics Special Buy!
A lot of the
Atari 2600/7800 Game Consoles that were released in Europe came with
an Atari 32 in 1 Game Cartridge. Yes! 32 full blown, 2600 Games on one Atari Game
Cartridge. Here is a list of the Atari and Atari Licensed PAL 2600 games on this 32 in 1
cartridge: Air-Sea Battle, Ant Party,
Basketball, Blackjack, Bowling, Boxing, Video Checkers, Combat, Fishing, Fishing Derby,
Flag Capture, Football, Freeway, Freeway Rabbit, Fun with Numbers, Golf, Homerun, Human
Cannonball, Laser Blast, Miniature Golf, Outlaw, Othello, Skiing, Sky Diver, Slot Machine,
Slot Racers, Space War, Stampede, Surround, Tennis, 3D Tic-Tac-Toe and UFO. 32, Atari Joystick and
Paddle 2600 Games with a Total of 281+ Game variations on one Atari made Cartridge. The way you access each different game, is to insert the Atari 32 in 1
cartridge into your 2600 or 7800 console and turn it on for the first 2600 Game, then off
and on for the next game and so on.
Since this is a 2600 PAL (50 Hz) version cartridge when you use it on an NTSC/US 2600/7800 system, you may have to adjust the vertical "Hold" adjustment on your Color TV.
32 in 1 Atari 2600 Cartridge
$32Atari 2600 Game Cartridges as of 12-15-24
Limited supply on some 2600 Titles, some titles only one is in stock, sold on a
first come first serve basis! We suggest when placing orders for 2600 Cartridges,
you always have a 2nd and 3rd choice of the same dollar Value 2600 Game
Cartridge listed, in case your 1st choice has sold out. This allows us to process your
order faster and Not have to issue Credits, Refund checks or try to contact you by phone
or E-Mail
Atari Titles (Boxed)
Best 2600 Information Tip: Atari 2600 Warlords is one of the Very Very few Atari 2600 games ever made that with an extra set of Atari CX30 Paddles, 4 players can play at the same time! Warlords has 23 different Game Variations. You will find that Warlords is a great Party game. The Atari Arcade division made a Arcade Version machine of Atari Warlords.
Battlezone, Berzerk, Brain Games, Circus Atari, Crossbow, Defender II, Football, Galaxian, Joust, Jungle Hunt, Kangaroo, Midnight Magic, Millipede, Missile Command, Moon Patrol, Pole Position, Real Sports Baseball, Real Sports Boxing, Real Sport Football, Real Sports Soccer, Real Sports Tennis, Real Sports Volleyball, Solaris, Sprint Master, Super Baseball, Super Football, Venture $12 ea. Air Sea Battle, Asteroids, Big Bird Egg Catch, Mouse Trap, Off the Wall $15 ea. Demons to Diamonds, Doge'em, Star Raiders no keypad, Space Invaders (Red box), Warlords $18 ea. Centipede, M.S. Pac Man, Space War, Super Breakout $29.95 ea. Crystal Castles, Desert Falcon (last one), Donkey Kong Jr., Pac Man Jr., Secret Quest $38 ea. Sentinel one of the very very rare and last to be made, Atari 2600 Light Gun game. Requires Atari or Best Light gun. $75.00 Limit 1
Benjamin H. of TX All of the Atari 2600 games I ordered arrived in mint condition and still sealed in their factory laminate, which is quite amazing when you remember how old many of these games are. There's nothing quite like opening a brand new Atari game for the first time and experiencing the excitement of putting a brand new game into your Atari console. I get all kinds of flashbacks from the 80's whenever this happens and it's always such a thrill to receive brand new games from such a great source!
Best 2600 Information Tip: Atari 2600 Space Invaders game has an undocumented feature that the Atari programmer put into this Atari 2600 Game. Normally when you play Atari 2600 Space Invaders, you only get one Missile shot at a time. That Space Invaders Missile shot must go off the top of the TV screen before you can shot another missile up. If you hold down the 2600, 2600A or 2600JR Reset switch / Button when you first turn on your Atari 2600 console with the Space Invaders cartridge installed, you will now find that you can fire a second Missile before the first Missile goes off the TV screen. If you just turn off and turn on your Atari 2600 console, this undocumented Space Invaders hidden feature goes away!
Non Atari Titles (Boxed)
Space Attack $9.95 Ice Hockey, Sea Hawk, Task Force $12.95 ea. Cruise Missile, Karate $15 ea. California Games, Pete Rose Baseball, Skiing, Skateboarding $20 ea. Dark Caverns $25.95 Cross Force, Reactor, Star Voyager, Tutankham $39.95 ea. GI Joe: Cobra Strike $59.95 ea. Enduro, River Raid I $69.95 ea. River Raid II $74.95 Frogger $89.95 TomCat F14 $99.95
Star Wars Sold Out
Spider-Man Sold Out
Atari Loose Cartridges
(No Instructions)
Air Sea
Battle, Asteroids, Berzerk, Circus Atari, Combat, Defender, Dodg'em, ET, Football,
Golf, Jungle
Hunt, Home Run, Human Cannonball, Indy 500, Missile Command, Mouse Trap, Night Driver, Othello, Pac Man, Outlaw,
Sky Diver, Solaris, Space Attack, Space
War, Street Racer, Super Breakout, Surround, Vanguard, Venture, Warlords, Yar's Revenge All at $5 ea.
Basketball, Brain Games, Breakout, Blackjack, Canyon Bomber, Casino, Codebreaker, Crystal Castles, Desert Falcon, Golf, Human Cannonball, Kangaroo, Pele's Soccer / Championship Soccer, Real Sports Baseball, Real Sports Boxing, Real Sports Football, Real Sports Soccer, Real Sports Tennis, Real Sports Volleyball, Solaris, Sword Quest Fireworld, Video Pinball $6 ea. Battlezone, Bowling, Championship Soccer, Hangman, Hunt & Score, Mouse Trap, Star Raiders $7 ea. Big Birds Egg Catch (glue stained end labels), Centipede, Demons to Diamonds, Haunted House, Maze Craze, Mouse Trap, Skydiver, Space Invaders, Video Olympics (with Atari Pong game) $9.95 ea. Basic Math, Basic Programming, Backgammon, Flag Capture, Hangman, Miniature Golf, Star Ship, Slot Machine, Superman, Video Chess $12 ea. Flag Capture $14.95
2600 News Flash 08-13-23
Best Electronics buy's out one of the largest Collection of 2600 Cartridges we have Ever seen! One of our Atari Dealers decided to retire after 16+ years Selling (and Collecting) Atari 2600 Games at his Local Store and Flea markets in his area! Many of the 3,100+ Atari and Non Atari titles we bought, we have only heard about in the last 39+ years in business, But have Never seen! Because most of the loose 2600 Game cartridges on this list were out in the Sun for years (6 to 15), just about all of the cartridge Labels on the 2600 cartridges are in Good to Fair and Poor Shape (noted with a (G)(F)(P) after the title), some even maybe missing the end labels! All of these Atari 2600 Collector Series Game Cartridges work and are Perfect for the Atari 2600 Collector who wants to fill in his 2600 Collection with the missing Cartridges you have been Searching for Years and Years and could Not seem to find at a Reasonable Price! When ordering any of these Special Buy 2600 Cartridges, Please put the (F) or (P) past the Game Title with the price, this will help us to differentiate between our standard 2600 inventory and this Special Buy Group.
Atari/Sears Titles (Loose)
Circus Atari(P), Demons to Diamonds (F to P), Berzerk(P), Home Run Baseball(P), Vanguard(P) $3 ea. Crystal Castles(P), Sears Defender(P), Human Cannonball (F to P), Kangaroo), Missle Command(P), Math Grand Prix(P), Star Raiders(P), Sears Target Fun(P) $4 ea. Real Sports Boxing(P), Maze Craze(P), 3-D Tac-Tic-Toe(P) $5 ea. Street Racer $9.95 Sears Baseball(P) $12
Absolute (Loose) Titlematch(P) $10 Super Skateboarding(P) $12
Activision (Loose) (All Carts have adhesive spots showing thru the label, faded to very faded or Missing end labels) Barnstorming(P), Dragster(P), Enduro(P), Freeway(P), Ice Hockey(P), Laser Blast(F to P), Skiing(P), Stampede(P), Starmaster(F to G), Tennis(P) $4 ea. Sking(F to G), Sky Jinks(P), Spider Fighter(P), Chopper Command(P), Robot Tank)(P), Grand Prix(P) $6 ea.
Apollo (Loose) Infiltrate(P), Shark Attack(P), Space Chase(P) $6ea.
CBS Electronics/Video (Loose) Blue Print(P), Solar Fox(P) $6ea.
20th Century Fox (Loose) Mash(P) $6 ea.
Coleco (Loose) Donkey Kong(F to P) $4 Carnival(P), Mouse Trap, Venture(P), Donkey Kong Junior(G) $6 ea. Zaxxon(P) $20
Date Age (Loose) Journey Escape(P to G) $6
Epyx (Loose) Winter Games(P) $10 ea.
IMagic (Loose) Cosmic Ark(F), Riddle of the Sphinx(F), Star Voyager(F) $4 ea. Fire Fighter(F), Trick Shot(F) $6 ea. Demon Attack(F), Atlantis(F), Dragon Fire(F) $10 ea.
Mattel / M Network (Loose) Space Attack(F to P), Super Challenge Baseball(P), SuperChallenge Football(P) $4 ea Astroblast(F to P), Lock n' Chase(P) $5 each Adventures of Tron (F to G), Air Raiders(F to G), Armor Ambush(F), International Soccer(F to G), Lock and Chase(F to G), Tron Deadly Disks(F to G) $8 each
Mythicon (loose) FireFly(P) $6
Parker Bros. (Loose) Qbert(P), Reactor(P to G) $4 ea. GI Joe(P), Tutankham(P to F) $6 ea. Spiderman(1/2 label) $7ea
SpectraVision (Loose) Gangsteralley(P) $8
U.S. Games / Vidtac (Loose) Space Jockey(F to G) $6 Commando Raid(G), Sneak in Peek(F to G), Word Zapper(F to G) $7 ea. Gopher(F to G), Name This Game(F, No top label), Towering Inferno(F to G) $10 ea.
Best Atari Tech Tip: Faulty Game Cartridges?
How you can salvage questionable Atari Game Cartridges.
Over the years we have had a lot of inquires, phone calls and E-Mails from Atari Owners saying they are having problems with their Atari Game system or Atari Computer system and their Game Cartridges. This Best Tech tip is based on 20+ years of experience with Game Cartridge problems and thousands of responses to Atari Cartridge Owners.
Typical Comments / Symptoms:
We put the Atari Game Cartridge into our Atari console and when we turn it on we get a black screen only.
The Atari Game Cartridge seems to work fine, but when we touch the Game Cartridge (or slightly move the console) the game stops, glitches or locks up.
The Atari Game Cartridge seems to play fine until a certain time has passes, we reach a certain level or point in the game and the game stops, glitches or locks up.
Most of our Atari Game Cartridges work fine but some seem to have problems.
We put in the Atari Game Cartridge and get funny Screen Colors (Solid screen Colors or distorted Screen displays) or funny Sounds out only.
All of the above Atari Cartridge problems can be caused by many different reasons on an Atari consoles and Computers. Some of them are:
Dirty Cartridge Edge card connectors within the Atari Game Cartridge.
Dirty Cartridge female connector within the Atari Console or Computer.
Damaged (bent), Worn out, Corroded or Dirty Cartridge female connectors on the consoles.
Bad Game ROM (Chip) inside the Cartridge.
Bad Cartridge Printed Circuit board inside the Atari Cartridge.
This Best Atari Tech Tip will explain how the average person can try to fix Atari Cartridge problems with common Items, Tools and Supplies most households have. The Skill level to try to fix these Atari Game Cartridge problems is Basic and Most people should be able to correct these problems.
History and General Information
Atari 2600, 5200 and 7800 Game Cartridges and Many Atari Computer Cartridges are anywhere from 15 to 20+ years old now. The 2600 Series Game cartridge are some of the Oldest ones made!
All of the Atari and other manufactures Game Cartridges of this era contain a small Printed Circuit Board with a Game chip (ROM, Read Only Memory Chip) Soldered into this small Printed Circuit board. To Interface this Atari Game Cartridge chip / board inside the Game Cartridge to the outside world (connect it up to the Atari Console) all of these small printed Game internal Circuit boards have little fingers or small plated contact areas (top and bottom sides of the printed circuit board) along one end of the internal printed Circuit board.
Some 20+ years ago, the Printed Circuit board industry was relatively new. The mass produced Printed Circuit board industry went thru a big Learning curve. Early Atari and other third party Game Cartridge manufactures first used Tin Plated (sliver looking) edge card fingers. These Tin plated fingers were found to cause Major problems with the Game cartridges and other computer applications Atari and manufactures found out latter.
The Major problem with these Tin plated contacts, was they would Oxidize or Corrode very easily and not allow proper contact between the Game Cartridge and mating female connector inside the Atari Console. Thus causing the Game Cartridge to fail or eventually go bad.
Old Atari Techs knew about this problem and would use a pencil eraser tip to rub / clean this oxidized contacts when they went bad. Another Trick / Technique Atari and other 3 party manufactures used to try and fix this problem was to coat the Tin plated (and some gold plated contacts too) contacts / edge card connectors with a conductive protective Grease. This fix seemed to work for a little while but end up turning into a 15 to 20 year old Ticking Time Boom! Using these early version Atari Game Cartridges, this Conductive Grease was spread to Game Cartridge mating female connectors and other Game Cartridges that people had in their Atari collection. We have found these Conductive Greases, would attract Dust, Dirt and other foreign materials to these game cartridge Tin and Gold plated contacts. In a good percentage of cases, this 10 to 20 year old Conductive Grease and Foreign Materials mixture would turn into a solid Non Conducting (sometimes a Very hard) coating, which the normal self-wiping gold contacts of the Mating female Game cartridge connector inside the Atari console could not clean off the Game cartridge internal PCB edge card fingers, when it was inserted into the console.
When Atari and other third party Manufactures switched over to Gold Plated edge card connectors Most of the above Oxidizing and Corrosion problems went away or it seemed to.
Atari made Game Cartridges with Gold plated contacts seem to be very well manufactured. But some manufactures like Parker Bros, Activision and others have had some other problems with their gold plated game cartridge edge card connectors over the years. It seems that during the Gold Plating process, that some of the chemicals required for the Gold plating process would be absorbed by the printed circuit boards themselves. Years and years latter, many of these harsh / acid type of plating chemicals would leach out of the printed circuit boards onto the Gold edge card contacts, forming a solid and sometimes a Very hard coating over the Gold contacts. This coating is usually Green, Tan or Black / Brown in color.
We have seen this leaching out problem show up in Brand New (20+ year ago) factory shrunk wrapped sealed New Parker Bros and Activision game cartridges!
Now if you used your Atari Game Cartridges all of the time for the last 20+ years, the normal inserting and removing of Game cartridge from your Atari console would wipe off these coatings before they could harden. But if you have a 12 to 20+ year old Game Cartridge that has not been used for years, there is a Very good chance the Gold / Tin plated contacts have some type of Coating / Corrosion on them.
Materials Required:
White paper towels
Isopropyl Alcohol (rubbing Alcohol)
Small Paper Clip or small straight blade screwdriver
Acetone cleaner (fingernail Polish remover)
Small amount of fine Steal Wool, # 0 or # 00 grade (Second choice, a 3M Scotch Bright pot / pan cleaning pad)
Optional:
Small Magnifying Glass
Small Flashlight
Small fine pencil type art paint brush or used Toothbrush
Skill Level Required:
Basic
Time Required Per Cartridge:
3 to 10 Minutes, first time
Precautions:
The following cleaning procedures should NOT be done on days / locations where high Static discharges (Example: Walk across a room and get zapped when you touch a door knob) can occur. If you walk across a rug or room where there is high Static electricity, you can short this built up static electricity charge in your body across the Game cartridge Gold Edge card connectors when you touch them to clean them and blow up the Game ROM inside the Game Cartridge!
First Procedure:
First there are two basic Atari or third party manufactured Game cartridge styles. One’s with exposed (you can see inside the game cartridge) edge card Gold or tin plated contacts and others that have hidden (sliding in collapsing protective plastic panel) Contacts. Most of the older type of Atari made Game Cartridges have this sliding protective dust cover Mechanism. To defeat this Atari protective dust mechanism, first turn the game cartridge end you normally insert into the game console toward you. Inside Atari game cartridge end you will see three thin rectangular closed slots. One short slot, one long slot one in the middle and another short slot on the other end. The long rectangular slot is where the internal Game Cartridge edge card connector / fingers comes out when this dust control panel collapses into the game cartridge. The other two smaller rectangular slots are part of the game cartridge internal Dust cover mechanism and when activated, cause the sliding dust cover panel to collapse into the Atari Game Cartridge.
Insert a small paper clip or small straight blade screwdriver blade into either the left or right small thin rectangular openings on the end of the game cartridge. With a little light pressure, push in the paper clip into either one of the small left or right rectangular slots until you see the long thin rectangular opening in the middle, open up. With a little applied pressure, push on the whole black internal plastic panel with the three rectangular slots and you will find that this sliding plastic panel with collapse into the game cartridge, thus exposing the gold or tin edge card connectors on the internal Game ROM PCB board. During the edge card cleaning processes below, you can keep a finger (or small Screwdriver) inside the cartridge to prevent this sliding protective dust cover panel from snapping / popping closed or hold pressure on the outside of the top and bottom of the game cartridge cases over the collapsed dust cover Mechanism panel.
First / Easy Clean Method
Get a white paper towel and soak a small end of it in Isopropyl rubbing alcohol. Clean (wipe or scrub hard) the top and bottom sides of the gold plated contacts with the rubbing alcohol soaked paper towel with a small finger tip. Try to clean all of the exposed Gold / Tin plated finger surface areas, especially along the front edge of this PCB board were the gold contacts touch the mating female Game console connector. As you are cleaning the Gold plated fingers/contacts, you should see a green, tan or black residue come off onto the white paper towel. Keep cleaning / scrubbing (changing and resoaking clean sections of the paper towel) the top and bottom Gold contacts until nothing comes off onto the white paper towel. If the Gold contacts look very clean with no residue left on them, then Test the game Cartridge you just cleaned. If your cleaned Game Cartridge now works fine then stop at this first cleaning procedure. If you can still see residue left on the Gold plating or still have Cartridge problems, then proceed to the next level cleaning process below.
Get a
Second
Clean Method
Using a new white paper towel, put a Very Very small amount of Acetone (Finger nail paint remover) on the paper towel and VERY VERY carefully clean the Gold / Tin plated Contacts top and bottom. BUT do not get the Acetone on the black / brown plastic game cartridge inside the case. If the Acetone comes in contact with black / brown plastic game cartridge, in most cases it will melt or damage the black / brown plastic cartridge case.
After you have carefully cleaned the Gold contacts with the Acetone and nothing more comes off onto the paper towels, before you insert the cleaned cartridge into the Atari console to test it, wash / clean the gold contacts one or more times with a separate clean paper towel soaked with alcohol to clean off any Acetone residue. Again retest the Cleaned Game Cartridge.
Third / Final Clean Method
If you are still having cartridge problems after the Acetone cleaning then as a Last Resort, next try cleaning the Top and Bottom Gold / Tin Contacts with a fine #0 or #00 Steel wool. This is best done with the Gold or Tin edge card side of the game cartridge facing the ground or over a trash container. (Note: It is possible to sand off the thin Gold / Tin Plating (expose the Copper plating under the plating) on the Game Cartridge contacts with enough sanding / cleaning with Steel wool. So you should only use light pressure when cleaning with Steel wool and only sand / clean with a couple of light passes only). After you have cleaned the Gold / Tin contacts with the Steel wool, try to blow / brush / wipe out any fine Steel wool hairs that break off during the cleaning / sanding operation and drop into the inside of the Game cartridge. Also make sure all of the loose fine hairs of the Steel wool are completely removed from the Gold / Tin Contacts on the Game cartridge before you insert them into the console. A final wipe of the gold contacts with a clean paper towel soaked with alcohol would be a good idea (inspect the white paper towel, if you find strands of Steal wool on the paper towel, keep cleaning with clean sections of the alcohol soaked paper towel until no Steel wool strands show up). If all of the Steel wool strands are not removed from the Gold / Tin plated Contacts or surrounding areas inside the cartridge, you may find that any Steel wool strands left, eventually may short across the Gold / Tin edge card connectors and damage the Atari console or short out the Game ROM inside the cartridge when it is powered up.
Retest your cleaned Game Cartridge.
If this
third and final cleaning method for a single Atari Game cartridges does not
work, but the other cleaned ones do work fine, then consider that Cartridge ROM
chip or PCB board inside bad.
If you still have Cartridge problems with all of your Cleaned Game Cartridges, you can also use a small magnifying glass and inspect the Mating female connector on the Atari console for dirty, damaged contacts or foreign materials inside the connector. Most of the Atari consoles mating female cartridge connectors have the same type of sliding internal plastic panel protecting the female connector. Use the same paper clip method for opening up the protective sliding inner plastic panel as above with the game cartridge instructions above. If you have a very tiny pencil tip paintbrush or old toothbrush, you can also try to clean the mating female cartridge connector with alcohol on the Atari game console. Make sure you blow / dry out any Alcohol that has collected inside the bottom of the Female game cartridge connector and on the Gold plated contacts on the Game Console / Computer BEFORE you insert a cleaned Game Cartridge and power up. The Acetone and Steel wool cleaning on the Female console connector is not recommend because of the size of the mating small connector opening and the close proximity of the black plastic casing around the Female mating game cartridge connector.
If the Mating female Cartridge connector looks clean, then the problem may not be a female cartridge connector / Game Cartridge Edge card connector problem, but an electronic internal problem within the Atari console.
Also remember that just cleaning one questionable / troublesome Game Cartridge in all of the old game cartridges that work OK, is not a good Idea. The other Old working game cartridges in your collection may still transfer dirt, old Grease or foreign materials to other cleaned Plated edge card connectors Via the Mating female console connector, thus setting the stage for other old working Game Cartridges to go bad. So it is best to always clean all of your Old game cartridge PCB edges at the same time.
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