Rare Atari prototype sells for $3,000

A lucky shopper stumbled on a super-rare console while at a thrift store over the weekend and turned it around for a huge profit on Monday.

Redditor L064N said they happened upon an incredibly rare Atari 2700 at a thrift store in California on Friday, purchasing it for $30 just before the store closed after doing a cursory search online about the 2700. The console sold on eBay Monday for $3,000.

The Atari 2700 is a prototype console that never made it to full production. It's basically an Atari 2600 with better, wireless controllers, according to the Atari Museum, plus a sleeker design that doesn't include wood paneling.

The console that L064N found didn't come with the wireless controllers, unfortunately, but the console could still be powered on. Despite the lack of controllers, a buyer was still willing to pay a pretty penny for the system.

A $2,970 profit on one system isn't too bad but, if the console came with controllers, they might've been able to sell it for $5,000, they said.

Those controllers are the reason the console never made it to full production, according to the Atari Museum. They communicated with the console via radio waves, which could be picked up up to 1,000 feet away. That meant one wireless Atari 2700 controller could interfere with multiple consoles in a 1,000-foot radius. Nobody wants their neighbor inputting commands on their console while they're playing.