About The Collector's Guide

Welcome to the Institute for Advanced Atari Gaming Studies Official Atari 7800 Collectors Guide! This guide has been carefully assembled to assist Atari 7800 collectors and casual aficionados alike. Towards the bottom of this web page, you will find a Collector's Rubric, featuring every American released title for the Atari 7800 series systems, including officially published titles from Atari, third party titles from Activision, , Froggo, and Absolute, and even a few recent home brew releases. These games are listed along with their rarity and prices listed for their respective cartridge conditions. This list has been independently developed by the Institute, based upon the most current research of sales figures and availability in flea markets, gaming stores, classic gaming exhibitions, on line trading, eBay™, and reputable Atari vendors. Prices are updated to keep current with the going rate of all the 7800 titles listed. You may print this list to use along with your collecting supplies, or carry with you as you go out on your latest gaming hunt.

This list does not reflect any one particular gaming source, vendor, or previous guide, nor does Atari 7800.com currently sell any of these titles on the collectors guide. This is simply a compilation of what we find the current financial value of these games to be worth, suggesting what you should be prepared to pay should you be fortunate enough to locate your desired titles.

Collecting For The Atari 7800 Series Systems

Although the 7800 has a limited release of game titles, it is still a very exciting system to collect for. The 7800 series its self is quite rare, so to find anything lurking out "in the wild" at a flea market or pre-played game store is something to celebrate over. You are much more likely to find items for the 2600 or 5200 systems, as well as an abundance of Nintendo and Sega cartridges. The 7800 is definitely a rarer breed of animal. However, it is definitely worth your time to search around locally at flea markets and the like for used 7800 titles. You probably won't find too much, but chances are you will find something to bring home. This also serves as the prime situation in which you may stumble across that rare 7800 title at a great price! Alot of people out there don't know what they have, they have the garage sale mentality of "everything goes for thirty dollars."

Should you run into trouble locating 7800 series items locally, games are always available for sale and trade online. If you are a serious collector and care about label condition, etc. this may not always be the best choice for you, since you cannot examine the games up close. Serious collectors may consider attending an exhibition such as PhillyClassic or Electronic Gaming Expo, where they can walk amongst their own kind and have access to thousands upon thousands of great classic titles which are on the market for sale or trade. You can view their condition up close, and talk one-on-one with other knowledgeable and enthusiastic collectors.

If dirty flea market cartridges aren't your style, a limited number of 7800 titles are available online and through quality Atari vendors. While most of these titles will cost you more than flea market finds, they are clean cartridges with perfect boxes and instructions that really make for great additions to your 7800 collection. A few titles are commonly available in MIB condition and can be had for under ten dollars. The Institute recommends purchasing your new titles from Video 61 Atari Sales & Service. Video 61 has the best selection of quality Atari titles which are available for purchase.

The Value Of Game Cartridges

The value of game cartridges is determined by more than just the rarity of the game cartridge its self. Ten years ago, in 1994 when collecting for the 7800 first began to get fun, the financial value of the cartridge was determined basically on how difficult it was to find the game. Impossible Mission was quite difficult to locate then, just as it is now, and has been a "holy grail" game ever since. However, as the years have gone on, cartridges have become more difficult to find, and the value its self has changed. The value of a cartridge is simple to understand: the game is only worth as much as somebody is willing to pay for it. Some cartridges, which are not extremely rare but still somewhat difficult to attain are worth almost as much as the rarer game titles, simply based upon their play value. If a game is fun, there is a high demand and that game becomes more collectable, even if there are a decent number of cartridges floating around. Then again on the other hand, some of these same titles that are not extremely rare but still somewhat difficult to find may not be worth any more than a common title such as Pole Position II or Dig Dug. Games such as "Crack 'ed" were never produced in significantly large numbers, however the gaming communities response to these titles was lukewarm at best, as many people do not find much play value to these titles. Since games like these are not played or enjoyed by as many people, there is not as much demand. These titles are generally only wanted by serious collectors, or those who wish to complete their 7800 series collection. Those collectors who purchase games to play and enjoy typically have little interest in these titles, making their financial value less than other titles that were initially produced in similar numbers. Yet common titles such as Pole Position II are very rare, but have become a staple of every 7800 collection over the past 20 years. Bottom line: just because a game is "rare" doesn't mean it's valuable.

Organizing Your Collection

Once you bring home your 7800 series system for the first time, one of the most intelligent things you can do is to begin to sort out your new collection and get everything organized. Should you purchase a used non-refurbished "flea market" style 7800, you may first want to give it a good cleaning both inside and out, and stop by Radio Shack to purchase new connector cables to ensure a nice clear picture. After cleaning and testing all of your used hardware and software, set up the 7800 in a dry, non-humid, safe place where you can enjoy your 7800 series system for years to come. If you have a wall unit or entertainment center, the closed off area beneath the television is usually a good choice for those of you who wish to leave your 7800 series system connected to your television full time. For those games that you have that are either brand new, or came complete with the box, you may want to treat these cartridges like books in a library. Carefully keep the game cartridge and manual in the original box, which when not in use may be stored upright (like books) near your 7800 series system. Whenever you want a game, you can select your title, pull out the box, and your game cartridge and instructions are all contained, nice and neat right there. You can even line the titles up based on their CX designation.

If you are just collecting for the sake of collecting, wrap your 7800 in fresh newspaper and store your system in a cool, shady spot in your house. You can store your games near by. It is usually a good idea to purchase small clear plastic bags, such as zip lock style bags, collector bags, or plastic money bags, which you can use to wrap your cartridges in for long-term storage.

How To Use The Collector's Rubric

The Collector's Rubric is a matrix displaying all American released titles for play on the 7800 series systems. The matrix is easy to understand if you read through the following key:

CX - This signifies the original Atari model product code. All 7800 titles begin in a "78" to designate these as 7800 titles. The las two digits in the code designate the product development number. For example Centipede was the first title developed for the 7800, and is designated as CX7801.

GAME TITLE - It's the name of the game!

RARITY - Rarity is shown based upon a scale of 1 to 4, with the higher numbers being the rarer titles. Common games such as Joust or Galaga are given a rarity score of 1. Moderate titles are given a rarity score of 2 or 3, and rare titles such as Basketbrawl are given a rarity score of 4. "Holy Grail" game cartridges such as Impossible Mission receive a rarity score of 4+. Homebrew games and games released after 1992 are designated as H, for Homebrew. The rarity score is based purely upon the ratio of initial production numbers and current availability on the open market. Remember, rarity does not necessarily determine the financial value of a game title.

LOOSE - Listed under this column are the fair market values of game cartridges that are considered to be in "loose" condition. Loose cartridges are generally in fair shape, with moderate wear and tear on the cartridge labels. These cartridges do not come with boxes or instructions.

BOXED - Listed under this column are the fair market values of game cartridges that are considered to be in "boxed" condition. Boxed cartridges are typically in very nice but used condition with minor wear and tear. These games are complete with the original instructions and box in respectable functional shape.

MIB - "Mint In Box." Listed under this column are the fair market values of game cartridges that are considered to be in "Mint" condition. These game cartridges come complete, new in the box with instructions. These games are typically unplayed, with the exception of cartridges that have been "tested" once or twice to assure that they work. These cartridges are considered very desirable.

RETAIL - Listed under this column are the fair market values of game cartridges that are considered to be in "Factory Fresh" condition, with prices reflecting what you should expect to pay a reputable Atari dealer for purchasing this single title. These titles are "factory fresh" in the shrink wrap, and have never been opened since they left the factory at Atari. These titles may be had at a discount from many Atari dealers if you make a larger purchase, and do not "cherry pick" one or two choice titles from their stock. Generally, these titles have been sitting on their shelves for 15 or 20 years, as they have been retailing Atari products since they heyday of Warner Atari.

ATARI CORPORATION

ACTIVISION / ABSOLUTE

FROGGO GAMES