My wife found this box online on a craigslist type posting site for 15 bucks. The colors and switches are as I remember them from my childhood, but I don't remember being able to see the green of the actual circuitry behind the game slot, and it seems super light, so I am not sure if it is an original 2600 or a repro.
Also, these games seem super common, but the shape of the Riddle of the Sphinx cart is not like anything I have seen before. The blue cases were with four of the games and from somewhere that used to rent out these games just a few blocks from where I grew up. The cases seem to be modified VHS tape cases fixed to hold Atari carts. Not sure how rare or hard to find the manuals and warranty cards for 2600 stuff are to find, but they were included in pretty good shape, and I couldn't be happier about that.
[img width=328 height=550]http://i105.photobucket.com/albums/m232/Scott_Breaze/WP_20140605_042_zps89e3c0c4.jpg?t=1402036536[/img]
[img width=550 height=328]http://i105.photobucket.com/albums/m232/Scott_Breaze/WP_20140605_045_zps40345d6e.jpg?t=1402036663[/img]
[img width=550 height=328]http://i105.photobucket.com/albums/m232/Scott_Breaze/WP_20140605_048_zps3e72e17c.jpg?t=1402036713[/img]
[img width=550 height=328]http://i105.photobucket.com/albums/m232/Scott_Breaze/WP_20140605_049_zpsf0222b69.jpg?t=1402036759[/img]
[img width=550 height=328]http://i105.photobucket.com/albums/m232/Scott_Breaze/WP_20140605_050_zps677b28de.jpg?t=1402036802[/img]
[img width=550 height=328]http://i105.photobucket.com/albums/m232/Scott_Breaze/WP_20140605_054_zps9501c2eb.jpg?t=1402036833[/img]
[img width=550 height=328]http://i105.photobucket.com/albums/m232/Scott_Breaze/WP_20140605_055_zps84a3a592.jpg?t=1402036866[/img]
[img width=550 height=328]http://i105.photobucket.com/albums/m232/Scott_Breaze/WP_20140605_056_zps6527865b.jpg?t=1402036894[/img]
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Nothing super rare here, but this is a great grab at $15. The system is legitimate and is called a light 4-switch. The earlier Ataris were heavier and some had 6 switches on the front panel. The other two difficulty switches on yours have been changed to dip switches and on on the backside of the front panel. The red controller is by Wico and is a fairly common 3rd party model. Your games are all common, including Riddle of the Spinx. IMagic is the developer and they made really good titles for the 2600. The coolest thing you have there are those cases. I don't even recall 2600 games ever being rented. System can fetch about $30+ with hook ups and controllers, Wico $7-$10, and the games about $1-$2 each. Considering what you paid you did well, and you can't put a price on owning a really classic video game system.
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I would be very happy to find a 2600 for $15, with the games and plenty of controllers. The Wico stick was a nice improvement on the original joystick, if for no other reason than the increased durability. You have some good games to get you started.
The Swordquest series has an interesting story behind it:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swordquest
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@singlebanana: I am happy to hear that it is worth more than I paid for it, and like you said, it is nice to finally own an older system. The 2600, Commodore VIC-20, Saturn, and Turbographix 16 are the only systems I played growing up that I don't own now, so it is nice to get closer to having all the systems I had as a kid. I always knew manuals for games that came in cardboard are harder to find too, so I am glad to have some older ones of those. The catalogs are pretty sweet too.
Were there a lot of carts shaped like the riddle of the sphinx? I only ever remember playing the black, boxy types as a kid.
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All, or nearly all, of the Imagic games were shaped like that. They were a pretty big 3rd party developer so there are a fair number of games from them. Their carts look similar on other platforms too, such as Intellivision and Odyssey^2.
Atari was so huge back then, they simply put out way more games than even the biggest 3rd party developers, which is why Atari carts are more recognizable.
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