Lego quietly began the process of retiring its Atari 2600 building set late last year. Fast forward to March, and the nostalgic 2,532-piece display model is now sold out at all major retailers except for one. Over at Amazon, you can get the Atari 2600 for its regular $240 MSRP. Like other retailers, Amazon ran out of units last year, but sometimes the retailer randomly restocks retired Lego sets. This is one of those cases.
Considering that the Lego Atari received numerous $50 to $100 discounts throughout its two-plus year lifecycle, the $240 price may sound a bit high. That said, resellers on Amazon and Walmart have recently started listing the retired set for upwards of $300. There’s a chance that $240 will sound like a deal in the coming months.
This is a great set for experienced builders. Once you’ve assembled it, you’ll have a replica console with functioning switches, a brick-built Atari joystick designed to move like the original controller, and even several cartridges to display.
It’s worth pointing out that this is an Atari console in looks only, but the other retro surprise includes a hidden gaming room straight out of the ’80s. This a small diorama and includes small details like a retro landline phone, TV, posters, and a boom box.
The buildable cartridges are also based on real games like Asteroids, Centipede, and Adventure. The cartridges can be stored in a case and built into mini 3D vignette versions of the games. Finally, the console includes a switch to toggle for color or black-and-white television sets.
At the moment, the Atari 2600 is the most affordable of Lego’s retro video game hardware sets. The Nintendo Entertainment System and Pac-Man Arcade kits very rarely budge from their $270 price points–and the NES is often sold out. Lego is adding to its gaming hardware lineup later this year with a building set recreating the original Game Boy. The upcoming Game Boy Lego set is rumored to release in October with a $60 MSRP.
Lego Gaming Hardware Sets
It’s also worth noting that Mega Bloks created an officially licensed Xbox 360 Collector Building Set. The 1,342-piece kit is exclusive to Target.
