differnet lables on Cartages

[m-crew]

Quick question to the Intellivision gurus.. What the difference in the white label and coloured label on the cartages and is the difference on the Hong Kong and US printed on the cartages of the same game.

thanks

[freewheel]

Coloured labels were the original releases. White labels came later in the Intellivision's life, after Mattel sold the rights to INTV Corp (made up of former Mattel employees). They cheaped out on labels. Manuals, too - you can find black & white manuals later on, some so cheap that they're basically photocopies. The boxes also moved from gatefolds to cheaper top-opening. Not all of these changes coincided with the Mattel-INTV Corp change, but it's pretty close.

 

The games are exactly the same, as far as I know. While there were minor ROM updates, I believe all of them happened during the original "coloured label" era.

 

I've found the INTV Corp stuff ridiculously common here in Canada. Like 25% of the INTV games I see. We musta got dumped on in the later years.

[+JasonlikesINTV]

Regarding Hong Kong vs USA, there really isn't much difference. Early USA (Mattel era) games and a majority of the Hong Kong (Mattel era) gatefold game boxes had cartridge retention systems that utilized a white plastic (polystyrene?) tray that sat in a cut-out portion of the cardboard box. It added some integrity to the box, but also sometimes left an imprint on the back of more worn boxes. Later USA gatefold game boxes just used the existing cardboard to make a slot for the cart to sit in. Typically the box, manual, and cart label were all manufactured in the same country (either HK or USA), however most (not all) overlays were produced in the USA.

 

For the most part there's no difference worth worrying about. Purists (like me) can't stand having a Hong Kong manual mismatched with a USA box. Same with carts. Additionally, someone on this forum somehow convinced me that my collection would be better with all USA games (when applicable - some games never had a USA version...or did they?). Other even crazier folks decide to try to collect BOTH USA and Hong Kong versions....and so on.

 

The purist in me also can't stand mismatched box heights for displayed games. The boxes for the later white labeled games are shorter than the Mattel gatefold boxes. Some of the colors are off as well (seriously...light blue Space titles? WTF, Intellivision Inc? )

 

That's my two cents. Watch out for the rabbit hole

Edited December 31, 2014 by JasonlikesINTV

[m-crew]

Thanks for the info, very interesting , good to know ... Sometimes a falling into a rabbit hole is a good thing.. lol

[+cmart604]

Additionally, someone on this forum somehow convinced me that my collection would be better with all USA games (when applicable - some games never had a USA version...or did they?). Other even crazier folks decide to try to collect BOTH USA and Hong Kong versions....and so on.

 

[+JasonlikesINTV]

I just realized that the title of this thread is just about cartridge labels. Sorry for the long answer

[+cmart604]

I just realized that the title of this thread is just about cartridge labels. Sorry for the long answer

Awesome as always.

[+intvsteve]

Those light blue Space Network boxes from Intellivision Inc. always bothered me, too.