BSA Starfire Posted March 22, 2013 Share Posted March 22, 2013 I've been a stop start collector of 2600 since the mid 1990's so have seen a lot of Atari carts and packaging etc over the years. Well OK I have recently been gathering a set of CCW games for a friend's little girl to play, she visits a lot and I remember my son loving them back when he was the right age. Anyhow, I recieved a new sealed PAL copy of Oscar's Trash Race from eBay today. the game was shrinkwrapped, and dusty as you would expect from a 1983 release. first thing that i noticed as odd was the language on the rear of box is all English, the other PAL CCW games all have multi Euro languages on rear of packaging. Next point is the tiny sticker covering Made in USA that states Made in Taiwan. On opening the box I also had trouble breaking the glue seal on the box flap, this is usually 3 small spots on '83 releases, on this box the glue was a huge smear right across the flap, splitting this left a lot of damage to flaps. The manual is also odd for a PAL release, the language is all English instead of the multi language as normal, also the paper is completely different to any Atari game I have seen before, not shiny but a matt waxed finish on fairly decent grade paper. The Manual also has the tiny Made in Taiwan sticker on the back covering the old made in USA. The cart itself is clearly new, the Pins have no scratches from use so I don't belive this is a repro, a "P" sticker is affixed to the rear of the cart. On testing the cart it is definetly PAL, the colours are all correct for a start. I believe Oscar's is the rarest of the PAL CCW games, Big Bird & Cookie are very common, Alpha Beam a little more unusual, certainly no NIB around anymore. Was there some disparity with the relaease of the four CCW games? The Oscar I have seems almost a patch up of parts rather than a full supported release(NTSC box, pal cart, manual, very weird? The Overlay is a standard USA printed example BTW. Any thoughts or am I just bored and a little anal today? Best, Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rom Hunter Posted March 23, 2013 Share Posted March 23, 2013 (edited) Interesting information, Chris. This could explain why I'm still missing PAL scans in our database. Is your box identical to the scans on this page? http://www.atarimani...-race_7759.html Would very much like to have scans of your cart and box. Edited March 23, 2013 by Rom Hunter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BSA Starfire Posted March 23, 2013 Author Share Posted March 23, 2013 Hi Rom, long time no speak! Sadly this is the best I can do today, crappy iPhone 3gs pics, will try and get some scans sorted next week. However it looks just the same as your scans on mania via the above link. Best, Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rom Hunter Posted March 23, 2013 Share Posted March 23, 2013 Ah, it's the 1986 label. Could you please help me: In the text underneath the Made in Taiwan sticker on the back of the box: what copyright date is displayed? 1983? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BSA Starfire Posted March 23, 2013 Author Share Posted March 23, 2013 Yes 1983 on back of box, didn't notice the 1986 on cart. I had no idea they re-issued the CCW games, does a PAL '83 version actually exist? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rom Hunter Posted March 23, 2013 Share Posted March 23, 2013 I'm starting to wonder now. The US Oscar wasn't really known in Europe, so it could be that it was never released in PAL in 1983. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BSA Starfire Posted March 23, 2013 Author Share Posted March 23, 2013 Well I have the full set of CCW games boxed complete in PAL format. Oscar is unlike all the others, we have the following differences: Box, made in Taiwan sticker, red bottom flap with barcode. Only English on rear description. Manual, matt, waxed paper, and only English language, Made in Taiwan sticker. Cart, 1986 copyright, no "P" on end label but on sticker on reverse of cart. Overlay also carries 1986 copyright & made in Taiwan. Big Bird & Cookie monster are very common new and sealed on UK eBay, Alpha Beam less so, Oscar however seems very uncommon. Perhaps only had a limited release in '86? All the others are 83 copyright that I own. Well interesting. Best, Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BSA Starfire Posted March 23, 2013 Author Share Posted March 23, 2013 Rom, just had another look on atarimania, all the overlay's you have for oscar are made in Taiwan, did a "made in USA" copy not exist?(all my other CCW PAL games have made in USA overlays). Was Oscar's the last release of the CCW games? That may explain things(Fast change to cheaper manufacturing facilities), although clearly it did have boxes and manuals printed in USA originally hence "Taiwan" stickers on my 86 release. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
high voltage Posted March 23, 2013 Share Posted March 23, 2013 (edited) So maybe a UK release, not a European release (I still believe Dolphin had a UK-only release). When I visited the Atari UK warehouse in Slough I'm pretty sure they had lots of Atari stuff in USA style boxes, but at the time (early 90s) you just didn't wonder about it (I did see a PAL 5200, which Daryl Still showed me personally) Edited March 23, 2013 by high voltage Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
high voltage Posted March 23, 2013 Share Posted March 23, 2013 Wow, mine's the same UK PAL cart as Starfire's, in a USA (made in Taiwan sticker) 1983 box. I didn't want to open mine as it was sealed (but not s/w), but I noticed that mine was half open at the bottom, so I used a Stanley knife to open it further. Managed to get the cart out via the bottom flap, cart date 1986, P label on the back. Cool Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BSA Starfire Posted March 23, 2013 Author Share Posted March 23, 2013 Wow, mine's the same UK PAL cart as Starfire's, in a USA (made in Taiwan sticker) 1983 box. I didn't want to open mine as it was sealed (but not s/w), but I noticed that mine was half open at the bottom, so I used a Stanley knife to open it further. Managed to get the cart out via the bottom flap, cart date 1986, P label on the back. Cool Ah the plot thickens! Does yours have the waxy paper manual & Taiwan overlay too? best, Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
high voltage Posted March 23, 2013 Share Posted March 23, 2013 Yes to both Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BSA Starfire Posted March 23, 2013 Author Share Posted March 23, 2013 http://www.atariage.com/forums/topic/206624-my-vcs-collection-of-completed-companies-for-vcs-the-not-so-complete/ Looking at your collection here it is very clear that oscar stands out from the other CCW games too. Be interesting if anyone has a complete '83 release of Oscar in PAL format. Fantastic collection BTW, love the compumate's particularly, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
high voltage Posted March 23, 2013 Share Posted March 23, 2013 thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pis Posted March 26, 2013 Share Posted March 26, 2013 Ah the plot thickens! Does yours have the waxy paper manual & Taiwan overlay too? best, Chris My copy also. I have never seen a PAL oscar cart with 83 on it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andre81 Posted March 26, 2013 Share Posted March 26, 2013 Rom, just had another look on atarimania, all the overlay's you have for oscar are made in Taiwan, did a "made in USA" copy not exist?(all my other CCW PAL games have made in USA overlays). Was Oscar's the last release of the CCW games? That may explain things(Fast change to cheaper manufacturing facilities), although clearly it did have boxes and manuals printed in USA originally hence "Taiwan" stickers on my 86 release. I already sent Rom a message, the box and overlay on his site are from the PAL release and not NTSC (http://www.atarimania.com/game-atari-2600-vcs-oscar-s-trash-race_7759.html) The 1983 NTSC release has a "Kids controller" sticker on the box and also has 1983 overlays. My guess is that Oscars Trash Race was the last CCW release and became a victim of the video game crash. There was only a limited release in the US and no release in Europe. Atari Corp inherited a large stock of Oscar boxes and dumped them in PAL land. I guess many collectors actually have a PAL copy in their collection and think they have the NTSC release. It's only a legit NTSC release if it has the "Kids controller" sticker on the front and no "MADE IN TAIWAN" sticker on the back. And the overlays are 1983 and not 1986. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andre81 Posted March 26, 2013 Share Posted March 26, 2013 AtariAge has it wrong as well: http://atariage.com/software_page.html?SoftwareLabelID=333 Oscars Trash Race (NTSC) is also not a R4, I'd say it's at least R8. The original Atari Inc. releases also have a silver Atari security sticker on top of the box. The Atari Corp. releases don't have this sticker anymore. Summary: Oscars Trash Race (NTSC) - "Kids controller" sticker on front - Atari security sticker on top - Made in USA, no "MADE IN TAIWAN" sticker - 1983 overlays Oscars Trash Race (PAL) - No "Kids controller" sticker on front - No Atari security sticker on top - "MADE IN TAIWAN" sticker - 1986 overlays 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rom Hunter Posted March 26, 2013 Share Posted March 26, 2013 Ok, I'm going to correct this asap. Thanks for the info. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pis Posted March 26, 2013 Share Posted March 26, 2013 Good guess Andre. As good as it gets! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
high voltage Posted March 26, 2013 Share Posted March 26, 2013 (edited) I thought for years I had the NTSC version doh. That just shows, you should always open sealed games (people in US might have a sealed NTSC Mangia with a PAL cart inside) Is the Oscar PAL version more rare than the NTSC version? Edited March 26, 2013 by high voltage Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andre81 Posted March 26, 2013 Share Posted March 26, 2013 I thought for years I had the NTSC version doh. That just shows, you should always open sealed games (people in US might have a sealed NTSC Mangia with a PAL cart inside) Is the Oscar PAL version more rare than the NTSC version? No, PAL is not that rare because there is still some unsold old stock. eBay Auction -- Item Number: 390317931933 But you don't see any used copies in the wild which is rather odd. It seems like it was never actually sold back then. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pis Posted March 26, 2013 Share Posted March 26, 2013 All copys of oscar i have ever seen has been NIB. Andre got some good theories here. These are like the bit-corp ree-releses. I´ve never seen one used. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andre81 Posted March 26, 2013 Share Posted March 26, 2013 (edited) I have another interesting box in my collection. Snoopy and the Red Baron with the same "MADE IN TAIWAN" sticker. Does anyone else have this box as well? Edited March 26, 2013 by Andre81 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andre81 Posted March 27, 2013 Share Posted March 27, 2013 My guess is that Oscars Trash Race was the last CCW release and became a victim of the video game crash. I think this assumption can be considered confirmed. This ad says that the other CCW titles are "available now" and that Oscar's Trash Race will be available in February 1984. http://www.atarimania.com/pubs/hi_res/atari_smash_hits_the_atari_sesame_street_library_ad_atari_2600_2.jpg "high voltage" has also checked the production date on the bottom flap of the box and it is indeed 2/1984. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoulBlazer Posted March 27, 2013 Share Posted March 27, 2013 I have another interesting box in my collection. Snoopy and the Red Baron with the same "MADE IN TAIWAN" sticker. Does anyone else have this box as well? Wow, they actually released that game in Germany? I admit, I'm a bit surprised. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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