Promo atari 5200?

[vectrex9599]

When I bought my 5200 several years ago I noticed on the bottom the words "for promotional use only not for resale" was burnt into the plastic. I've seen atari 2600s that have this but never an atari 5200 with it, the only other one that I've seen online was a post on this forum in 2004 however that one was boxed and mine isn't. Does anyone have any info on it reguarding the rarity and possible value thanks!

Edited August 15, 2015 by vectrex9599

[+MrFish]

 

 

[Andromeda Stardust]

You also have a very low serial number!

 

Until we assess it's actual value, you might want to consider getting a second console as your daily player.

[vectrex9599]

Yeah as soon as I saw that on the bottom I went out a bought a second 5200

[+DamonicFury]

I remember seeing a 5200 set up in a store (JC Penny perhaps?) back in the day for customers to play. Perhaps this one was a demo unit like that.

[Nutsy Doodleheimer]

Must be one of the early made 2 port models. Didn't they come out in 1983?

[Andromeda Stardust]

Must be one of the early made 2 port models. Didn't they come out in 1983?

There is what I assume is a 1984 date stamp on it. "EP-084."

Edited August 16, 2015 by stardust4ever

[atari-dna]

Interesting stuff

I have a unit (4port) with a lower serial number from 1983 I guess they reset the counters once the year changed?

[Andromeda Stardust]

We still don't know what the number on the right means. My guess that EP-084 was some sort of time stamp it obviously moot now since yours says SV-023.

Edited August 19, 2015 by stardust4ever

[hookem]

In the 5200 serial number thread, it's been discussed, and I do think that is indeed a date code:

 

EP = El Paso, SV = Sunnyvale, AT = Atari Taiwan.

 

First 2 digits of the number is the week, and last digit is the year.

 

So EP-084 is manufactured in El Paso the 8th week of 1984.

 

You'll most often see 3 or 4 as the last digit, but there are some with 2 and a high week number.

Edited August 19, 2015 by hookem

[atari-dna]

In the 5200 serial number thread, it's been discussed, and I do think that is indeed a date code:

 

EP = El Paso, SV = Sunnyvale, AT = Atari Taiwan.

 

First 2 digits of the number is the week, and last digit is the year.

 

So EP-084 is manufactured in El Paso the 8th week of 1984.

 

You'll most often see 3 or 4 as the last digit, but there are some with 2 and a high week number.

I agree, and this is why I think the counts were reset when the years changed, these two units have very close serials but are a year apart and one is a 4-port. They must have dialed back to the starting point when entering a new calendar year

[Andromeda Stardust]

Well according to the serial numbers, Atari barely sold 100 consoles over a years time. Tthat can't be right.

[hookem]

Well according to the serial numbers, Atari barely sold 100 consoles over a years time. Tthat can't be right.

Not necessarily, since each factory would need to have an independent count. There is no way they could know what the production number was on at one factory when they were cranking them out at another. So EP's number would be completely independent of SV, or AT for that matter. At least that's what I assume.

 

I guess they *could* keep track of the total production number if the factories ran at independent time shifts, and passed along the last number at the end of each shift. But that seems unlikely,

Edited August 20, 2015 by hookem

[hookem]

Posted the serial #s of my two 5200s on the serial number thread.. they are very close in number, but different factories, proving I think that each factory had it's own independent count. Of course the real proof would be to find identical #s with a different factory/date code.

 

http://atariage.com/forums/topic/171005-5200-serial-number-thread/?p=3304147

 

And with the EP-084 serial number posted by the OP, I'd say that the "yearly reset" of the numbers also must be true.

 

We could probably even figure out when production ramped up or down at each factory... or phased out as Atari was dying. This is fun!

Edited August 20, 2015 by hookem

[atari-dna]

Posted the serial #s of my two 5200s on the serial number thread.. they are very close in number, but different factories, proving I think that each factory had it's own independent count. Of course the real proof would be to find identical #s with a different factory/date code.

 

http://atariage.com/forums/topic/171005-5200-serial-number-thread/?p=3304147

 

And with the EP-084 serial number posted by the OP, I'd say that the "yearly reset" of the numbers also must be true.

 

We could probably even figure out when production ramped up or down at each factory... or phased out as Atari was dying. This is fun!

I agree, and this is the guess I'm making as well, there were resets each calendar year. Each production facility probably ran independently (why would 3 plants coordinate serial numbers? What a hassle) so each facility's count was likely independent of the others. With date codes added there would always be a unique number without repeats. This seems logical, for Atari could track the unit production numbers year to year and know which plants produced X number of consoles.

This explains why some numbers are very close, but have different date codes, the counters were simply reset in January. Their fiscal years were probably aligned with the calendar year.

[atari-dna]

Not necessarily, since each factory would need to have an independent count. There is no way they could know what the production number was on at one factory when they were cranking them out at another. So EP's number would be completely independent of SV, or AT for that matter. At least that's what I assume.

 

I guess they *could* keep track of the total production number if the factories ran at independent time shifts, and passed along the last number at the end of each shift. But that seems unlikely,

I think they certainly could have been sophisticated enough to track numbers across plants, but it does seem like an unnecessary complication, and more costly.

It would be definitive to see a repeated serial number with a different date/plant code, but I'm fairly certain this is unlikely as evidenced by some very close numbers with different plant codes.

Edited August 21, 2015 by atari-dna

[vectrex9599]

If anyone would like to own it I'm open to offers