Intellivision memories - part 1

 When we got an Intellivision in 1980, there were only 8 games out for it.  In addition to the Las Vegas Poker & Blackjack that came with the system, we bought an extra 3 games to ensure we had a variety to play.  We never did pick up the remaining 4 games, but I might grab them if I get a chance, just to complete the original collection.

We did not get NBA Basketball, ABPA Backgammon, Checkers, or The Electric Company Math Fun.  I probably would have played the Backgammon the most of these.  Versions of all of these are available on the Flashback, including the Super Pro version of Basketball which allows you to play against the computer.

The other ones from this year we did get were Major League Baseball, NFL Football, and Armor Battle.  We did play Football a bit, but you needed the playbooks to really make it work.  The Armor Battle was played a bit more, and we really played the Baseball a fair amount.  At least until I got really good at it, and very high scoring runaway games became the norm.  I also played a lot of the Poker & Blackjack, since you were able to play that solo.

 

Eleven games came out in 1980.  We ended up getting five of them.  We did not get the NASL Soccer, NHL Hockey, or PGA Golf but all of these are now on the Flashback with the Super Pro versions which allow single player against the computer.   Not wanting to promote gambling, we also did not get the Horse Racing, or the Las Vegas Roulette, both of which are on the Flashback.  The Electric Company Word Fun was considered too young, so we also passed on that, and it also appears on the Flashback.

We did get a few of the Sports games.  We did get Auto Racing which we played a lot.  We got the Tennis, and US Ski Team Skiing, both of which we played a little.  The Skiing did not make it to the Flashback.  We did get Sea Battle which we also played a bit, but preferred Armor Battle to it.  We also got the first game under the Space category, Space Battle.  This one I played a lot of until the following year when the new games came out, but even then, it remained in rotation.

 

Of the seven games that came out in 1981, we got all of them except for the Boxing, which also appears on the Flashback.

We played the PBA Bowling a surprising amount.  We played Snafu a lot, being very similar to the Tron light cycles.  Triple Action had three simple mini games in it and got a lot of play as it had an airplane combat, a tank combat, and a racing game.  Astrosmash got played the most of the Space games, and I got very good at it, able to roll through all the backgrounds.  Space Armada was a Space Invaders clone, and we played it a fair amount.  Star Strike was based off the Star Wars trench run but wasn’t great.

Figure Painting Total - July 2023

I was finally able to get some zombies and gorilla for Dust Tactics.  Which was the whole reason I wanted to get into the game in the first place.

My package from BlackSite studios finally showed up.  It had been delivered to the wrong address and when whoever got it opened it, they realized it wasn’t for them and they dropped it off on our doorstep.

I didn’t get anything painted yet, but did pick up the new model in the month from Games Workshop, or Warhammer as they now like to be called.

 

Bought

Unmatched – Brains and Brawn – 3

Unmatched – Teen Spirit – 4

40K – Primarus Marine – Infernus – 1  (model of the month – July)

DLB – Taste of Vitae – 1

DLB – The Gourd Reaper 3 – 4

Dust Tactics – Axis – Gorillas – 3

Dust Tactics – Axis – Zombie – 5

 

Painted

 

 

 

July total – 21 figures bought, 0 figures painted

Running total 2023 – figures bought 151, figures painted 26

Figure Painting Total - June 2023

 In June I was able to get the special edition Leviathan box for the tenth edition of Warhammer 40,000.  I started with Space Hulk and Rogue Trader and, while the last few sets have been placeholders, this return to bugs versus Marines may be the push needed to actually play this edition. 

 

Bought

Unmatched: For King and Country – 3

40K Leviathan – 72

 

Painted

 

June total 2023 – figures bought 75, figures painted 0

Running total 2023 – figures bought 130, figures painted 26

 

The original big three - there is another

 In talking about the big three, I should mention that there was actually a fourth - The Magnavox Odyssey2.  It first came out in 1978, making it part of the original three with the Atari 2600 in 1977, and the Intellivision in 1979.  It was the lowest selling of the three and, even though it lasted until 1984, by the time the Colecovision came out in 1982, it was already largely forgotten. 

It had 8-directional joysticks more akin to early computer joysticks, and came with a built in keyboard.  The cartridges also had a handle to make them easier to remove.  One of my friends had one of these so I was able to play a few of the games. 

But with the choice of this, the Atari 2600, or the Intellivision, the choice was clear for me.

The original big three - video game systems

 When they cleaned out their basement, my parents passed along the Intellivision and cartridges.  I looked through them to see what I had.  I might be missing a few, but I seem to have 28 original Intellivision cartridges and 4 extra ones by other companies.  Only two of the boxes (Space Armada and Triple Action) were in really rough shape.  The rest of them seemed okay.  I was only missing two of the overlays (1 for Major League Baseball, and 1 for Triple Action).  

In another box was a silver Atari 2600, and a Colecovision with one of the controllers opened up and the wires cut.  They said that they got these much later when they helped someone move.  I never had these as a youth.

Of the three systems, the Atari came out first, in 1977.  It had a joystick and you could also get paddles.  My cousins had one, but I was never impressed with the quality of the games.  It was a lot of people’s first game system so it usually ranks high but it was the lowest of the three to me.  People usually give it higher marks as it had the most games, but both the Colecovision and even the Intellivision had emulators that would allow you to play Atari games on their systems.  The Atari was finally discontinued in 1992.

The Intellivision came out in 1979.  The graphics were miles ahead of the Atari.  It also had some solid sports games for the day.  Their controllers has a keypad as well as a disc instead of a joystick.  People either loved or hated the disc; I loved it.  This is the system that I pushed hard to get, and played deep into the 80s, even after we had upgraded to the Nintendo Entertainment System.  It was discontinued in 1984 but it continued under different labels until 1990 as INTV.

The Colecovision did not come out until 1982.  Of the three, it had the best graphics, with any games looking identical to their arcade versions.  It also had, what I consider the worst controllers.  They had a keypad like the Intellivision but the controller was a bit thicker and did not fit the hand as comfortably.  It did have a stubby joystick with a flat top.  It did have a lot of expansions available, with a normal joystick and buttons, a steering wheel and pedal, a roller controller (track ball), and a super awkward super controller with a nice joystick.  One of my friends had a Colecovision so I was able to try it. It was discontinued in 1985

Sealed N64 Zelda

 When Tribute.ca launched, way back in 1996, we were some of the first people to frequent it.  I know as we won a lot of the contests that they had. The prizes were usually for movie passes but they also had some merchandise.

In 1999 I won a copy of the Zelda: Ocarina of Time for the N64.  Since that was not a system that we had at that time, we didn’t open it.  We didn’t know any friends with a N64 or we would have probably given it to them as a gift.  It used to hang around on my bedside dresser for a while until we moved a few years later.  Since then it has been boxed away.

In going through our storage locker recently, we came across it again.  Since it was still sealed, I was wondering if I could trade it in for maybe a copy of the Wii Sports Resort.  But I was not in a rush to deal with it. 

One of the people at work mentioned that it might have some real value.  So we looked into and discovered that some highly graded sealed copies went for some really crazy amounts – like over $200,000.  But they were usually selling in the $1400 - $4000 range.  Finally getting around to checking with PnP games (a local used video game store) and they offered $450.  If they had offered $1000, we probably would have taken it.

Instead we looked online for where to sell it and contacted Heritage Auctions to see if they were interested in 

selling it.  They were.  I sent them a few pictures and they gave an estimate of $2000 to $6000 but this would greatly depend on the condition.  They would take 15% for auction costs and would take the grading costs (they figured about $100) out of the total price for which it sold.

I shipped it to them (insured of course).  So if nothing comes of it I am out the shipping costs of $120 as well as the $450 I could have gotten from PnP.  They had some issues with the box, thinking it might be resealed, so they returned it without getting it graded.

So I will wait a bit before I send it WATA directly to get graded.  Then we will see.

 

Figure Painting Total - May 2023

We had company come over in May so we had to clean the basement.  It was time.  It had been accumulating clutter over the last few years as I have been painting figures.  They are now boxed up much better than they were.  

My figures from the Black Site Studio sale arrived.  We also picked up a Deltof glass cabinet from Ikea.  This allows me to put out some of the painted figures on display.

I didn't find any time to paint in May.  The May Model-in-a-Month was an Arbiter.  This would have been a cool model to work on but I didn't the time to fish it so I didn't pick up one.

Bought

BSS – FBI Agents – 2        

DLB – Sideshow Slaughter – 5

DLB – The Gourd Reaper II – 1

DLB – The Whistler – 1

 

 

Painted

  

 

May total – 9 figures bought, 0 figures painted

Running total 2023 – figures bought 55, figures painted 26