The ColecoVision

[vcoleiro1]

My Favourite console would have to be the ColecoVision for a lot of reasons.  I bought it new in the early 80's - or I should say my mum bought it , but hey I was with her.  I remember getting right into it when we got it home.  I can clearly remember Donkey Kong came with it in the box and spending many hours playing it. 

I used to be real good at the ColceoVision.  Actually when I was 14 I won a regional CBS ColecoVision Championship then the State Championship and then finally the National (Australia) Colecovision Championship. It was televised on a current affair TV show. There was going to be a world ColecoVision Championship but then the Video game crash happened, owe well , no trip to the US for me  :'(. Pretty embarring to watch the footage now, but for those who want a laugh its below.

I only wish I didn't throw out the packaging that it came in.  Who new back then that this stuff would be worth something.

[aeroc]

Nice work, was that cheque for $1000?

[Duke.Togo]

That is really cool. The ridiculous part is that they spent so much time talking to everyone else, but when they get to you as winner you get one short line in.

It looks to me like our Australian ColecoVision section of the database is empty, so if you have some time read the submission FAQ and submit this stuff to the DB.

[Zing]

I only owned Donkey Kong for the first three months after receiving my Coleco Vision in 1982. I wore out the controllers with that game. I had to constantly take them apart and clean the contacts.

[bombatomba]

I've wanted a ColecoVision for years now, but the tales of system breakage coupled with the high price have kept me away.

[Zing]

About three years ago, I sold my original system complete from 1982 and it still worked.

[vcoleiro1]

Must admit I've never heard of the Colecovision having a breaking down issue. Mine has never had a problem since it was bought new in 82/3.   And you can believe it's had a massive workout with all the practice I did on it.

[Razor Knuckles]

"Your vision is our vision, ColecoVision!"

[Duke.Togo]

I've had the power switch issues with my Coleco. I need to take it apart and try to really clean it out.

[bombatomba]

About five or six years ago I was in contact with a few fellows and one of our discussions turned to the ColecoVision.  I was interested in acquiring one from ebay, but was talked out of it.  The way it was explained to me was that a good amount of machines had problems with the power switch (extremely common) or the video output (very uncommon).  At the time the asking price with games was about $100, which was too much considering I only wanted to play a few games, especially since there was a chance that it wouldn't be working in the next ten years.  If I found one for a song (~$25-40) I would snap it up in a second, but that would be the lone exception.

[vcoleiro1]

I think if you thought like that, then you shouldn't buy any old tech items.  I'm not being rude when I say that, what I mean is this.  Old tech is not going to last, it will fail completely in the next 20 - 40 years max.  I have often thought about this myself, why collect this stuff when I know it will fail and be worthless at some point in time.  The capacitors are going to dry out and the game programs on the old roms are going to start failing etc etc etc.  At some point this old tech will become worthless junk. 

You really need to be of the mind set that it will give you medium term enjoyment and leave it at that.  As I say , Ive never heard of the power issues with the ColecoVision, not saying they don't exist, they probably do, but every bit of old tech will have it's issues these days until it finally crap's out completely.

[Duke.Togo]

Part of the retro gamer's skill list at some point is going to start including basic electronics skills to replace simple components such as switches and capacitors. This old tech can be kept going for a very long time with the proper maintenance.

In regards to the Coleco's power switch issues, I believe it is more common due to the switch design used. It allows for more dirt to get into the contacts area, which causes intermittent problems usually displayed as garbled graphics. It would be nice if someone just made a drop-in replacement, but I've seen plenty of people that have just used a different switch in its place.

[bombatomba]

Part of the retro gamer's skill list at some point is going to start including basic electronics skills to replace simple components such as switches and capacitors. This old tech can be kept going for a very long time with the proper maintenance.

You make an excellent point.  I think this bears further discussion and might make an excellent addition to a future Collectorcast episode.  Eventually retro console collectors and serious gamers will have to adopt the skill-set of pinball, arcade game collectors, and old computer enthusiasts.  That is, The Art of Soldering and Small Part Replacement.  This would be a slightly more upbeat version of that "Disc rot" conversation we all had last year (the upbeat part being in some cases the hardware can be fixed).