Why are 5200s so expensive?

[ReddMcKnight]

Seriously, I can't even begin to count the bad things I hear about it, and as far as I know, it's a general rule that Consoles that people hate tend to sell for low prices, so why is this one so expensive? Were not a lot of them made? Did it suddenly become everyone's favorite Console? What's the deal? Seriously, my 3DO FZ-10 was cheaper than this thing.

[bombatomba]

I think some of the exorbitant price fluctuations you see are just because of ebay, but some of it is also a sign of the times.  I like to think we are in a period where younger people are discovering the roots of console gaming, and thus are snapping up older stuff like candy.  Even CIB Odyssey^2 machines with a few games are selling for $40-$200 (which is ridiculous).  I would rather hope for that than the same old collectors buying up old stock to increase prices.  Seems quite a bit less romantic, if you ask me.

Still, 5200 prices don't look that bad.  In "Completed Listings" I see a CIB 5200 with a slightly worn box go for $200 (likely some jackhole), while another for $69.   Loose with a bunch of games for about 15% less, but price goes up when bundled with those awesome Wico controllers.  Not too pricey.  Not where prices were last year, mind you (via Price Charting), but still acceptable.

Just out of curiosity, where are you looking, Redd?

[ReddMcKnight]

I was looking on eBay. I just want one in decent shape with all the hook-ups that works.

EDIT: I also checked Craigslist, and another site. The name of said site escapes me at the moment.

[bombatomba]

Hm.  There are a few that are hovering around $35 or so.  There are a number to choose from, enough so that if you miss out on the first few (and the others who loose out snap them up at higher prices) there will be plenty left.  You'll pay higher counting shipping, but it may be better than a local gaming shop (some dink at a flea market around here will price up to 80% higher than ebay).  Have you tried looking for a trade from someone at RFG?

[ReddMcKnight]

I actually do have something posted in the Sales part of the Forums, but I doubt it'll go anywhere.

[bombatomba]

$50 isn't too much to ask for a 5200 with games, you think?  Granted, this question is coming from a person (me) who can't afford to buy $7 Xbox games...

[ReddMcKnight]

That's actually a very good price, but I STILL can't afford it. I'd need to sell some stuff or trade for it.

[bombatomba]

I can dig it, Redd.  I was burning to get an Xbox and had no green, so I traded a PC with Razor and now I'm happy.  He has a ton of saves left on the system.  I kind of feel like a pervert looking through them, though.  I wonder if BMX XXX is on there...

[gamer2112]

to answer your question... 5200s are expensive because you are looking for a working one. Honestly, I believe 99% of them out there have some sort of problem. I bought mine new and it had problems after a couple weeks. Working ones should be expensive because of supply and demand. Mine is a 4-port. Not sure if they improved them with the 2 port models.

[Razor Knuckles]

I can dig it, Redd.  I was burning to get an Xbox and had no green, so I traded a PC with Razor and now I'm happy.  He has a ton of saves left on the system.  I kind of feel like a pervert looking through them, though.  I wonder if BMX XXX is on there...

Trading is fun! BMX XXX should be on there... I think. I own that game and HATE it. Probably didn't play it long enough to warrant saving it. If I even played it on one of those two X-Boxes. I wonder what the latest save is on those two X-Boxes? And no your not a pervert, I'd do it too.

[slackur]

'Round these parts of PA, USA, yer average price of a 5200 w/ a loose game or two is probably around $50, at a guess.  I think the lowest I've personally seen is about $40 in rough shape. 

Part of the price on these is that your average 2600 or even 7800 can still be found at an occasional yard sale on the cheap.  5200s, not so much, at least not in my experience.

As a footnote, make sure you get worthwhile controllers (silly things are notoriously problematic and a pain to fix) and some models use a bizarre ac power through the rf-box combo for setting up.  I haven't seen such a method in any other system, though I think only older 5200s use it.

And for my two haypennies, one of the really nifty games for the system is Space Dungeon, a twin-stick shooter arcade port that's a lot of fun and was never ported to any other system (until the PSP Taitio Powered Up compilation, of all things, and not even on the console variants!)  Should be pretty cheap, as are most 5200 carts.

[Duke.Togo]

If you can grab the Sinistar port that they sell/sold over on Atari Age I'd recommend it. Great port.

The 4 port 5200's were the ones with the wonky power supply through the RF connector. The two port models fixed that problem. I think the issue is that it was unpopular when it was out, and most folks around that time seemed more keen on the Colecovision before everything crashed.

[ReddMcKnight]

I actually managed to get a 2-Port Model from a good friend of mine. He was selling it in his store for 65 Bucks, but he traded it to me instead, for just a few NES Games and a PS1 Longbox Game. He gave me 7 Games with it and a Trak-Ball Controller. He didn't have any Normal Joysticks or the Power Supply, so I got a Power Supply from a trade over on AtariAge, and I'm gonna order one of those Rebuilt Joysticks on eBay soon. I tried (several times) to tell him that I thought I was getting the better end of the deal, but he still traded it to me. He said it was missing the "cover" or something, but he said it wouldn't effect my gameplay experience at all.

[img width=700 height=525]http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a136/DarkTheThief/100_1683.jpg[/img]

[Shadow Kisuragi]

Yeah, it's missing the back cover where you store the controller (or beer).
Trackball controller? Nice.

FWIW, try putting an Xbox on top of a 5200 and comparing the size. The 5200 is a little wider.

[ApolloBoy]

I think the overall rarity of the 5200 may have something to do with it. It was only produced for three years (1982-1984) and was only released in the US. I think Atari only sold about a million 5200s from 1982 to about 1987 (Atari Corp. sold NOS systems for a few years) whereas millions of 2600s were sold over many years. Getting one with working controllers would set you back a bit too. The console itself is very reliable but the controllers usually need to be rebuilt in order to get them working again; even NIB controllers tend to have problems!