@matthey

As far as market presence in the US, after the release of the A2000 and the A500, I can't recall seeing any other Amigas in any computer stores.

The game machines made by CBM were really just for the EU market. See for example the Commodore 64 GS.

I suspect that a good reason for that was also some of the limitation that existed in Europe for imports from Japan.

@Nonefornow

Quote:

As far as market presence in the US, after the release of the A2000 and the A500, I can't recall seeing any other Amigas in any computer stores.

That's my recollection as well.

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@bison

Personally i saw the A1200 with PPC accelerator -in- a Commodore store in the U.S. And yes, they were for sale.

#6

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#6 Quote:

Personally i saw the A1200 with PPC accelerator -in- a Commodore store in the U.S. And yes, they were for sale.

There were Commodore stores?

@matthey

Independently owned and operated. They would put up chicken lips signs or Commodore signs on their own.

reddit thread on the topic

The store I frequented actually only carried Commodore Amigas and had 4 or 5 employees well versed on the topic.

#6

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@#6
I wonder if Apple or IBM trademarks on independent stores would have lasted back then. Maybe CBM was so happy to have a U.S. store presence that they ignored the trademark violation or maybe they knew their reputation was so bad in the U.S. that the stores wouldn't last. All the chain stores mentioned that carried Commodore products are no more. Kmart, Sears, Radio Shack, Toys R US, Babbages sold Amiga software (changed name to GameStop). I saw a closeout Amiga 500 and 1084 monitor in a Kmart. I saw another Amiga 500 in a game store in a mall that could have been part of a chain I didn't recognize. That's pretty much it for chain stores and nothing past the Amiga 500 or ECS. I worked for Radio Shack for awhile in the '90s and they only carried PC clones by then. They could not be ordered through their ordering system which allowed to order many things in stores. Although Tandy was a competitor of CBM before selling generic PC compatibles, some stores may have carried CBM 8 bit computers but I doubt they ever had the Amiga available in U.S. stores. I never saw Amigas in Toys R Us so that may have been CBM 8 bit computers too. Kmart and Sears are the only chain stores I know of that I believe carried only Amiga 500s and maybe the CDTV but not for long. Sad.

@matthey

Quote:

I saw another Amiga 500 in a game store in a mall that could have been part of a chain I didn't recognize.

That might have been the chain "Software Etc.", which often had both Amiga 500 and contemporary Apple II GS for sale, along with computer magazines and software for various platforms.

Obviously sales of those computers was secondary to their use as demo machines, but they did sell them as well.

For "big box" Amigas most people will remember B&H Photo, Safe Harbor, Software Hut, and a myriad of others at the time.

#6

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@number6 @matthey

Back in the days I bought most of my Commodore (VIC-20 C64) stuff at Montgomery Ward and Best Electronics.

But I remember of three Independent computer stores that carried C=.

Specifically one on Valley Blvd (behind Cal State University) which carried Amiga computers, but also other PC.

And of course we cannot forget Computer Station in LB, that carried Commodore and Amiga gear until 2017.

But again I do not recall seeing any Amigas after the A500 / A2000.

Although I think that Circuit City may have had the CDTV for sale at some point.

@Nonefornow

Quote:

Nonefornow wrote: @number6 @matthey Back in the days I bought most of my Commodore (VIC-20 C64) stuff at Montgomery Ward and Best Electronics.

It was THAT Montgomery Ward that sit now long defunct even before i moved to the US next to the Walmart in Panorama City? I mean, was that same location?

Last edited by saimon69 on 08-Apr-2022 at 08:31 PM.

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#6 Quote:

That might have been the chain "Software Etc.", which often had both Amiga 500 and contemporary Apple II GS for sale, along with computer magazines and software for various platforms. Obviously sales of those computers was secondary to their use as demo machines, but they did sell them as well.

I believe it was Software Etc. It looks like they merged with Babbages and then went bankrupt. After several changes of ownership, all the stores were renamed to GameStop.

#6 Quote:

For "big box" Amigas most people will remember B&H Photo, Safe Harbor, Software Hut, and a myriad of others at the time.

I ordered from Software Hut several times. These were one location mail order houses as far as I know. There were also a few independent computer stores around. I bought my 3000 from Thoroughbred Computers in Topeka, KS and there was a Systems for Tomorrow retro Atari and Amiga store in the K.C. area in the mid to late '90s. There was also an Amiga repair location in Lenexa, KS until the guy died suddenly as I recall. I thought the big U.S. cities would have a few more shops but maybe not many.

Nonefornow Quote:

Back in the days I bought most of my Commodore (VIC-20 C64) stuff at Montgomery Ward and Best Electronics. But I remember of three Independent computer stores that carried C=. Specifically one on Valley Blvd (behind Cal State University) which carried Amiga computers, but also other PC. And of course we cannot forget Computer Station in LB, that carried Commodore and Amiga gear until 2017. But again I do not recall seeing any Amigas after the A500 / A2000. Although I think that Circuit City may have had the CDTV for sale at some point.

More defunct businesses that carried CBM products and not much that had the Amiga. At least Circuit City was big and widespread and the kind of chain that had coverage like Best Buy, Office Depot, Office Max, Micro Center, CompUSA, Fry's Electronics, etc. Most of them are gone now too. No deals with Blockbuster to rent Amiga games like most popular consoles either but they are now dead too.

The Amiga had this new amazing affordable hardware but minimal software on launch, minimal U.S. sales outlets and minimal U.S. advertising/promotions. It is understandable why it didn't do well here. Most of these problems don't exist today with much of sales and advertising/promos being online. The Raspberry Pi has been much more successful than the Amiga (or even C64) with likely less of what was holding the Amiga back.

C64 17-25 million units sold
Amiga 4-7 million units sold
Raspberry Pi 40-50 million units sold (currently selling more units per year than total Amigas sold)

The big problem for the Amiga now is lack of competitive hardware. The Amiga even has a descent amount of software, especially games, if compatibility can be retained. Raspberry Pi's original target was just 1000 units.

https://www.tomshardware.com/news/raspberry-pi-9th-birthday

Even THEA500 Mini will likely outsell many people's expectations and it could have significantly better value. Retro Games Ltd isn't much bigger than other Amiga micro-businesses.

https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/09745704/filing-history
https://pomanda.com/company/09745704/retro-games-ltd

Retro Games Ltd will likely look at 100,000+ units and think success considering their size. They have achieved a lot with little but what could have been achieved with more? Is it time for the Amiga to get competitive again?

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@matthey

That was a specific question for nonefonow since he lived in the area

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@saimon69

Yes. That's the one. I still have the box with the sticker on it that says MontomeryWard and the price.

I liked that store also because it had its own auto repair shop right in front.

Last edited by Nonefornow on 08-Apr-2022 at 10:18 PM.

I never gave it much thought until now, but a US-based Amiga fan definitely gets extra points.

It was easy being an Amiga fan in Europe and even down here in Australia, but you lot in the US had to work for your fandom. There should be a special merit badge for any US Amigan who actually had an AGA machine, and then an extra badge for those who had a NTSC CD32.

Might not be the right time to bring it up, but I think if the US switched to 220-240V 50Hz AC power, and switched to PAL, and switched to the metric system (while we're at it) then things would've been easier for all concerned. Just sayin'.

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@agami

True, but we got to see, own, use all those big box video gadgets since we mostly were a big box country.

#6

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@number6 @thread

There was an Amiga hardware store in my area as well, but they packed it in in about 1990 or so. I might have seen an A3000 there.

A friend of mine bought his first A1000 at the toy department of Donaldson's department store.

There was a Software Etc. store in a local mall as well, but no Amigas. They sold Packard Bell 8088s.

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I like this idea.
Something like the mini 500 but with 68k in fpga,
Amiga Os clone and graphics at least on ps1 level will be nice.

@agami

Quote:

It was easy being an Amiga fan in Europe and even down here in Australia, but you lot in the US had to work for your fandom. There should be a special merit badge for any US Amigan who actually had an AGA machine, and then an extra badge for those who had a NTSC CD32.

In the US up until middle of 1990, the Amiga was big and a relatively popular system.
The A1000 sold better in the US than anywhere else.

The A2000 was a really prized computer in the Video / TV production business. More so with the Video Toaster.

But few engineering mishaps just turned away a large number of consumers and prospect buyers. Starting when the ECS machines came out, Amiga as a brand was not able to maintain the market position.

@Nonefornow

Let's not forget:

Quote:

The A2500 remained in production after the release of the A3000, primarily because the original Video Toaster will not fit in an unmodified A3000 case.

#6

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@number6

Quote:

number6 wrote: @bison Personally i saw the A1200 with PPC accelerator -in- a Commodore store in the U.S. And yes, they were for sale. #6

The BlizzardPPC came in what… 1998, so that sounds unlikely.

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@kolla

Why unlikely?

The store owner and I even discussed the heat being generated.

Again, these were independent owned and operated stores that did their own signage and made their own decisions on what platforms to carry.
My store was open years after the bankruptcy, if that's what you're getting at?

#6

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