Author: Dave Farquhar

Emerson Arcadia 2001: Peak 1982 video game console

Dave Farquhar Retro Gaming
Emerson Arcadia 2001: Peak 1982 video game console

It wasn’t the only console released in 1982. It certainly wasn’t the best console released in 1982 either. But the Emerson Arcadia 2001 wrapped the state of the home video game console industry up into a tight package of a game console and accompanying cartridge library better than any rival on the market. And if you’ve never heard of it, that has something to do with why.

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Marx diesel freight train set 9644

Dave Farquhar Toy trains
Marx diesel freight train set 9644

The Marx diesel freight train set number 9644 was a 1958 electric train set featuring twin diesel locomotives pulling 6-inch freight cars. It’s an attractive set and a very good example of post-war tin lithography, which was becoming something of a lost art at the time. It was technically a Sears exclusive, but Marx sold a very similar 8142 set to other retailers.

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NEC V20 vs Intel 80186

Dave Farquhar Retro Computing
NEC V20 vs Intel 80186

An acquaintance recently asked me what the difference was between the NEC V20 and the Intel 186 and why the NEC V20 makes a better PC clone than an Intel 80186. The V20, after all, was compatible with the Intel 80186, but it makes for a much better PC clone. In this blog post, we will explore the NEC V20 vs Intel 80186.

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HP 200LX and related palmtops

Dave Farquhar Retro Computing
HP 200LX and related palmtops

The HP 200 LX was a successful palmtop computer introduced in 1994. HP continued to sell it through 1999, an unusually long run for a 1990s computer model. In this blog post, we’ll dig into this largely forgotten form factor and why it became such a quiet success.

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Second-generation video game consoles

Dave Farquhar Retro Gaming
Second-generation video game consoles

The second generation of video game consoles dates from approximately 1977 to 1983, or from the Fairchild Channel F to approximately the ColecoVision, although the years of release can vary slightly from country to country. In this blog post, we will explore what makes a game console second generation, along with who won, who lost, and why.

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Interact Home Computer from 1978

Dave Farquhar Retro Computing
Interact Home Computer from 1978

When you think of the Intel 8080 CPU, the computer that springs to mind probably doesn’t look like the Interact. The prebuilt Interact, designed for home use, with an integrated keyboard and tape drive, doesn’t look much like an Altair 8800 or and only superficially resembled even the SOL-20 from earlier in the decade. In this blog post, we’ll explore the Interact, an obscure 1978 computer whose maker went bankrupt after just a year, but the system still found ways to survive into the early 1980s.

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Marx diesel passenger train set 9639

Dave Farquhar Toy trains
Marx diesel passenger train set 9639

The Marx diesel freight train set number 9639/9607/9608 was an electric train set featuring a plastic diesel locomotive pulling 6-inch tin passenger cars. It dates to 1958-1961, showing that even in the 1960s, even though tin lithography was becoming a lost art, it wasn’t dead in the United States just yet.

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486SX vs 486DX: A closer look

Dave Farquhar Retro Computing
486SX vs 486DX: A closer look

When Intel released the 486 CPU in 1989, there was no SX or DX designation on it. But similarly to what they had done with the 386, they followed up with an economy version. And they borrowed the same name designations they’d used on the 386. But the difference between the economy version and the premium version wasn’t the same in the two chip generations. In this blog post, we will explore the 486SX vs 486DX.

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Coleco’s “deliberately bad” Donkey Kong for Atari

Dave Farquhar Retro Gaming
Coleco’s “deliberately bad” Donkey Kong for Atari

If you grew up playing Atari, you probably heard the story. Coleco made a deliberately bad Donkey Kong port for the Atari 2600 so they could sell more Coleco Vision consoles. In this blog post, we’ll explore the two sides of the argument that Coleco tanked its Donkey Kong port to hurt Atari.

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Marx steam freight train set 21336M and 21337M

Dave Farquhar Toy trains
Marx steam freight train set 21336M and 21337M

Marx train set 21336M and 21337M are a pair of similar train sets from 1971 and 1972 sold through Montgomery Ward. Let’s walk through these sets, which featured a 2-4-2 steam locomotive with a slopeback tender pulling three freight cars and a caboose.

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