Pickups and Donations: A Big Retro Gaming Haul

I had not done a pickups and donations video for ages, and with the house mid-renovation things had ended up in boxes everywhere. So this is a single camera catch-up to say thank you to everyone who has sent me something, plus a few things I bought because I cannot help myself. If I have missed you out, it is the boxes, not ingratitude. This video was sponsored by PCBWay.

A Sharp Twin Famicom from Chrissy

Over a year in the making: patron Chrissy sent me a Sharp Twin Famicom, already taken apart with all the screws in the box. It needs a drive belt change and realignment. When I pointed out I had no game for it, Chrissy bought me one on that lovely little disk media too.

Sharp Twin Famicom console donated to Mark Fixes Stuff, waiting for a drive belt change — The Twin Famicom from Chrissy, ready for a new belt

Atari 2600 carts and a Neo Geo Pocket Color refurb

An eBay lot of Atari 2600 cartridges for £34 delivered worked out at about 70p a cart. I bought it for Crystal Castles (I love the label) and Centipede, and it also had Asteroids, Phoenix, Wizard of Wor, Yars’ Revenge, Missile Command, Mario Bros. and a couple of Real Sports titles.

After a Neo Geo Pocket rescue with Neil on RMC failed because of battery leakage, I bought a scuffed but working Neo Geo Pocket Color. It is getting an IPS screen kit with a glass cover from AliExpress, a new case, and a NeoPocket GameDrive SD flash cart supplied by RetroHQ.

Neo Geo Pocket Color with an IPS screen replacement kit ready for a refurb — The Neo Geo Pocket Color and its IPS screen kit

Mod kits, a Dreamcast board and 3D printers

I also picked up an orphaned NTSC Japanese Dreamcast motherboard for £18 to fill the empty shell left over from the heavily modded Dreamcast I built with Neil. Alan Powell of DI Retro sent a whole set of console mod kits, including 50/60Hz switches for the Saturn, Master System and SNES. Elegoo sent a Mars 2 Pro resin printer and resin, and I bought a Mercury Plus wash and cure station myself. My only previous 3D printer, a tiny £26 toy, nosedived into the bed after one print. Neil (not that Neil) donated a Longer Orange 10 resin printer too. I also announced a new year-long channel sponsor: Altium.

Spectrum +2s, a BBC Micro and ColecoVision

Ian Metcalf donated a black Amstrad-era Spectrum 128K +2, and then Retro Robins sent another, so I went from none to two in one go. Robins also sent a Harlequin 128 kit and ByteDelight’s ZX Diag Cart kit to build, plus a 3D printed owl called Frederick. From Jason Fenton I bought a BBC Micro with what looks like an SD card solution and Wordwise Plus, and he included a 128K toastrack that went wrong during a recap for me to sort out.

BBC Micro computer bought from Jason Fenton in need of a clean — The BBC Micro from Jason, in need of some TLC

For the 7800 I found a sealed Food Fight and a copy of Ballblazer to test POKEY sound balance. For the ColecoVision, a boxed Mr. Do! and a boxed Expansion Module #1, which plays Atari 2600 carts and looks mint.

Boxed ColecoVision Expansion Module 1 for playing Atari 2600 cartridges — ColecoVision Expansion Module #1, boxed

Amiga 600, Game Gear screens and one dud

Karl (Bitter Blitter) donated a working Amiga 600, which is getting a Gotek running FlashFloppy with an on-screen display add-on. Ben and Claire (BennVenn) sent IPS screens for the Game Gear, a ROM dumper and a Game Boy Advance flash cart. The disappointment was a My Arcade Burger Time micro player for £14.99: it lights up and does nothing else.

See the Atari 7800 composite mod I mention, the BBC Micro power supply repair and the Amiga A600 chip RAM expansion build.