Why is the Machine Language Monitor cartridge so expensive?

[garry68]

Just something I've noticed when looking at ebay lately...

Most other Commodore cartradges seem to be fairly cheep to reasonably priced, but the VIC-20 Machine Language Monitor cartridge always seems to go for what seams like silly high prices. I recently bid on one which was sitting at around 10 to 11 pounds until the end then it shot up at the lat second (as everything on ebay normally doe nowadays) to 30 something pounds. Not just that but the same cart was then almost immediately relisted for 65 pounds.

Is this cartridge seen as rare or something? They don't appear to be particularly rare, just expensive! I had one that I gave away back in the day, as I didn't really do much with it at the time. Now that I'm starting to program for the VIC again I thought it would be interesting to get this again just to see what' happening when testing things out on the origonal VIC hardware. It isn't a if it' something a lot of people are going to use nowadays ether!?

[srowe]

It's probably less common here than the Super Expander and Programmers Aid, I've noticed the prices of CBM stuff on eBay in the UK have shot up significantly in the last few years. It's a little counter intuitive, there's more items being listed (as people clean out Gandad's attic) but they're going for more.

[garry68]

I have noticed that alot, if not all, of the high priced items appear to be continually re-listed though, and nobody is actually buying them.
So, is it another case of people trying to sell high because they see stupid high prices on ebay, but nobody is actually buying them. Looks like the person who bought the one I was following was a 'flipper' who possibly saw the other high listings and thought they could turn it over for that price... If they can it won't be to me, what they bought it for was way too much IMO.

Ah well, probably just stick to writing, compiling and testing on the PC for VIC stuff just now then.



Unless anyone has one to trade or sell for a resonable price!?

[srowe]

Ah well, probably just stick to writing, compiling and testing on the PC for VIC stuff just now then.

Using a PC makes for a much simpler life, proper editor, revision control, emulator means you can focus on getting on with coding.

Unless anyone has one to trade or sell for a resonable price!?

You can always burn a copy of the image from Zimmers to an EPROM yourself. Or perhaps you'd be interested in Mike's project

http://www.sleepingelephant.com/ipw-web ... =11&t=9325

[chysn]

It's weird, it used to be Super Expanders going for sky-high prices, and now Super Expander and VICmon have sort of switched places for some reason. If you set a saved search on ebay, you'll probably get notified of a reasonably-priced one at some point.

But also consider that working with VICmon is a terrible experience. I'd humbly (but, as the author, with great bias) consider that you get wAxpander instead. It's the best native assembler ever released for the VIC-20. It does what VICmon does, and more, but it doesn't fight against you. The wAx assembler itself is open-source (https://github.com/Chysn/VIC20-wAx2/tree/main/vic), but it's available for purchase with +27K of expansion RAM (https://www.etsy.com/listing/1184250481). You can also get it with a 90-page printed manual (https://www.etsy.com/listing/1171784258).

For more info, see the online documentation wiki (https://github.com/Chysn/VIC20-wAx2/wiki)

[garry68]

Thyanks, defenetly some things to look into there.

[srowe]

Reasonably priced, just listed

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/194892031174 ... Sw6jJiIzyX

[Mike]

Reasonably priced, just listed [...]

For the record, this one went for 33 UKP plus 13.76 UKP P&P plus 10.64 UKP import charges (or their equivalent in EUR), to Germany. That's 57.4 UKP in total, or 68.59 EUR at today's exchange rate. Very much in line with the complaint in the OP.

At least another happy customer for my VICMON primer thread.

[AndyH]

But also consider that working with VICmon is a terrible experience. I'd humbly (but, as the author, with great bias) consider that you get wAxpander instead. It's the best native assembler ever released for the VIC-20. It does what VICmon does, and more, but it doesn't fight against you.

I can second that, wAx is a really cool cartridge and makes developing on the machine directly a very pleasurable experience.

[Bradeep]

It's weird, it used to be Super Expanders going for sky-high prices, and now Super Expander and VICmon have sort of switched places for some reason. If you set a saved search on ebay, you'll probably get notified of a reasonably-priced one at some point.

But also consider that working with VICmon is a terrible experience. I'd humbly (but, as the author, with great bias) consider that you get wAxpander instead. It's the best native assembler ever released for the VIC-20. It does what VICmon does, and more, but it doesn't fight against you. The wAx assembler itself is open-source (https://github.com/Chysn/VIC20-wAx2/tree/main/vic), but it's available for purchase with +27K of expansion RAM (https://www.etsy.com/listing/1184250481). You can also get it with a 90-page printed manual (https://www.etsy.com/listing/1171784258).

For more info, see the online documentation wiki (https://github.com/Chysn/VIC20-wAx2/wiki)

Been lurking for a long time, but registered to say I just purchased the wAx2 specifically to do some game development on my VIC-20.

I downloaded the CRT file from github to play around with it until the physical cart arrives, but VICE doesn't seem to attach it properly...

[chysn]

Been lurking for a long time, but registered to say I just purchased the wAx2 specifically to do some game development on my VIC-20.

I downloaded the CRT file from github to play around with it until the physical cart arrives, but VICE doesn't seem to attach it properly...

Thanks for the purchase!

I thought I had that CRT file working. I'll make sure it is, and that the right version is in the repo. BRB...

Update: Since this is probably off-topic for this particular thread, let me direct you here viewtopic.php?f=2&t=10317

The short story is that the CRT file in the repo is working with VICE xvic 3.6.1. Just add a post to the topic above, describing your process, and we'll work through it.

[garry68]

I just noticed this old thread after coming across a listing for Machine language monitor is now going for over b£100 at least, but even stupider a Stonechip Vixen VIC 20 Switchable 16K Ram Expansion Cartridge is going for £170...
Why are people paying that price for these things that are completely obsolete.
Are non-games cartridges also considered high value 'collectables' why?

Sorry, I just don't get it. Who has nostalga for a RAM pack!?

[tokra]

Why are people paying that price for these things that are completely obsolete.

Are you sure these are the prices these items have actually sold for? Or just some seller feeling lucky searching for someone who will pay this? To get a realistic sense of an item's worth I always use the EBay "Advanced search"-feature where you can search for completed and sold listings and see what items actually go for.

[chysn]

If you think the VIC-1213 is bad, don't even get me started on the price of vintage 6502 dead-tree books!

Fortunately, I got most of my collection (cartridges AND books) before the crazy kicked in.

[AndyH]

If you're looking on ebay there's a good chance you are looking at the infamous dj esk listings. Everything they sell is put up at ridiculous prices. Often they put it in a sandwich bag as if that makes it rarer. They must get some success to keep doing it, fools and their money and all that.

The book situation is getting a little dry here in the UK. I picked up some bargains on ebay including one I'd never thought I'd see, but recently the pickings have been slim and with high prices.