2600 dates of manufacture

[Room 34]

I've recently taken the plunge and opened up my 2600s. (I learned that this is much easier to do on a 4-switch than a 6-switch, and that putting a 6-switch back together is nearly impossible, at least for my coordination-challenged hands and brain.)

 

Anyway, I found, in all 3 of my systems (a 6-switch Sears, 4-switch woodgrain and Darth Vader), a little piece of paper taped onto the shielding box. On all of them the adhesive on the tape was completely disintegrated, so I took them off before closing up the consoles.

 

Each piece of paper is stamped with what I presume is the date of manufacture. The 6-switch was stamped 14 MAR 1981 (my 7th birthday, incidentally). The 4-switch woody (my original system from 1982) was stamped 7 JAN 1982. Now when I get to the Darth Vader is where it gets confusing.

 

Both of my other systems were manufactured by Dimerico (sp?) but the Vader was made by a different company (starts with a K -- I can't remember the exact name now).

 

The paper on the Vader was stamped 72 . 10 . 28 which has me somewhat baffled. I am guessing this is some kind of code where the numbers are backwards, which would lead to a date of January 27, 1982. But that can't be right because I am fairly certain the Vader units were not made until much later in 1982. So is it October 27, 1982?