Note: I procrastinated far too long in putting this together - well over a week.  It kind of bums be out since this was something I wanted to do for quite a while now.  Anyway, I've since moved ahead with another "project," which I hope to put in my blog soon.  Until then, this is the last of the "My Hunt of C64" blog entries.

I got a bunch more stuff from ebay, one part being an actual working C64 from an auction where it was listed as "dead."  I was extremely excited, and immediately commenced to playing what games I had (on cartridge and tape, that is).  Shortly after I received a C64 care package from our own Nupoile, then more gaming commenced.  My current favorite controller is the Atari 2600 clone that comes with the Atari Flashback 3.  It's basically a VCS controller with a bit more "give" in the movement, allowing for more gaming with less soreness (something that I've always had trouble with the original VCS joysticks).

From Nupoile:

Epyx Fast Load Cartridge
Radar Rat Race
Kickman
Frog Master
Speed Bingo/Math

From ebay and other sources:
1x Commodore 64 Breadbox (gray function keys)
1x C64 PSU
3x joysticks
1x 300ohm switch box
Tooth Invaders (loose)
Kickman (box and manual only)
Frogger (Parker Brothers, game and box)
Popeye (CIB)
Q Bert (CIB)
Skyfox (CIB)
Curse of the Azure Bonds (CIB)
Flight Simulator II (CIB)
The Captive (CIB)
The Magic Candle (disks only)
Times of Lore (disk only)

Since a good chunk of NA C64 games are on disk, I decided to invest in a working disk drive.  After a bit of patience and research I managed to find someone who had several 1571 disk drives and was willing to return if needed (a requirement) and made the purchase.  Unfortunately over the course of a week I went through this person's stock of disk drives before we discovered that none of them worked.  However, this person was extremely understanding and gave me my money back (though he didn't want the drives back).  Kind of sucky but at least I only lost time.  Also I have some really great cartridge and tape games to jam on (Radar Rat Race and Tooth Invaders are extremely interesting, while I plan on making the music in Forbidden Forest a ringtone on my phone). 

So is this the end of my C64 journey?  The short answer is no.  There are more than a few titles that I would like to get my grubby mitts on (Spare Change, Demon Attack, Blueprint, Jumpman, etc.), but I can say that the kind of mindless buying-spree I was on just recently is officially over.  I have learned a lot of lessons about the C64 and even old computers in general.  But I'm not done.  There are just too many great games on the platform that I want to play.

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