What is this website?
This is kind of a return to how the internet used to be, if you ask me: it's a niche-interest site where I post things that I think are kinda interesting and/or informative, and you read them, and maybe you enjoy them, too. Doesn't that sound nice? No algorithm, no clickbait, no attention-seeking... and you get it all for free. No ads, no corporate sponsors/ownership, nothing generative or artificial. Nostalgia can be corrosive in certain ways, no doubt, but when you look around at the majority of today's internet, why wouldn't you want to go back to how it used to be?
What will I find on theAtari.spot?
Most of what ends up here will be me highlighting unique and unusual items in my collection. I focus almost exclusively on the Atari VCS/2600, and that's largely what you'll see reflected in this site's blog posts. I also collect for the Atari 5200, but considering that it didn't make nearly the same kind of global impact, there just isn't as much out there to find. I have a Vectrex, too, but I don't collect for it. Above all else, I seek out things that aren't the usual fare. I like variants, I like international releases, I like what I can't find in my local game store or at a local flea market or yard sale. My desire is to show you things you haven't seen before!
What's your Atari Story?
I grew up in the 1980s with an Atari 5200 at home, an Atari 2600 at my grandparents’ place just two walkable city blocks from home, and a reasonably-sized collection for each system thanks to mid-to-late 80s bargain bin buys (plus many birthday gifts and gifts from Santa Claus through the early 1990s). I somehow didn’t own another game console until the PS3 — and it wasn’t for any lack of begging! My brother and I became Macintosh gamers after our Atari era, and then later became PC gamers. Regardless, the Atari consoles both saw use long after friends and family had moved on to bigger and better systems. But classic games have always been in my life: Pac-Man was one of my earliest fascinations as a young kid, and video/computer games have been a part of my life from the start.
What's your collecting story?
I’ve collected a wide variety of things over the years. Music, fossils, uranium glass, sports cards… The list goes on. Interests come and go, and this one did too — I didn’t really get back into Atari (unfortunately!) until the early to mid 2010s, long after Atari games could be had for pennies on the dollar, and long after things like NAVA and the Classic Gaming Expos of yesteryear. These days, I collect almost exclusively for the Atari 2600 and Atari 5200. I dabbled in Atari 7800 collecting for a bit, but ended up selling it all — the system and games just do not interest me. It wasn't for lack of trying.
Most specifically, I like finding weird and unknown things from the collecting fringes, both figurative and literal. Some of this focus comes from already having collected much of the common stuff, but a greater part of it is that finding enjoyment in the unusual and unexpected is just my nature, I think.
So, wait, back up a moment... a website? In 2026? Really?
Yes.
Really?
My opinion: social media is poisonous, and forums often ain’t much better. The internet was built on websites, and I miss them. So I get to run the show here, and the content here is for me. If you learn something or enjoy yourself during your visit, hey, awesome. But this site is mainly for me and for the sake of documenting the information herein, and I suppose secondarily for those who can appreciate well researched info, minimal speculation, and stated citations when possible... none of which has to be abbreviated for attention economy reasons, or to fit within arbitrarily limited character spaces.
Are you affiliated with Atari?
Absolutely not. Just another enthusiast site. Wish there were more of them! Or, you know, websites in general!
Do you have a want list? A trade list?
Sorta, and kinda. I’m always willing to listen to offers of oddball Atari things, and I do have a small stash of things (some weird, some valuable, some both) to offer in trade. What exactly I’m looking for, no, I’m not generally going to share. Honestly, some of what I’m most hoping to acquire, nobody else even knows exists yet.
So, how can I contact you?
Email a____s___@gmail.com if you have any info to share, items to offer in trade, or corrections to something published here (and for that, you best come at me with receipts!) — I will respond if/when I’m able.
Yes, I’m banking on you being able to figure out what goes in the blank spaces. :)