Made in Sunnyvale 4 Switcher?

[BlimpPixel]

I'm sure this has been discussed at length, so my apologies for that but it's not an easy thing to search for.

 

After doing some reading, I was under the impression that other than the original "heavy sixer" units, the 2600 was largely built in Taiwan and if not, Hong Kong. I pulled out my "spare" console, a 4 switcher, and was surprised to look under it and see that it was made in Sunnyvale. My luck usually works in the way that I happen to have the most common, least interesting example of something. Has my luck changed here, or is this a lot more common than I thought? Pics:

 

 

 

Thanks for any input, as always!

Edited December 15, 2015 by BlimpPixel

[Nutsy Doodleheimer]

Early production run Light Sixers were made in Sunnyvale in 1978 before moving overseas to Hong Kong. I know a few 4 switch woodys were manufactured in Sunnyvale, I'm not positive if they might be the promotional ones or standard run of the mill consoles. Yours could also be a reconditioned one from there as well with the orange service sticker underneath the serial number sticker.

[iesposta]

I have heard of this.

First time I've seen one.

I got myself a light Sixer to A/V mod, and it turned out to be a Sunyvale Light Sixer.

 

I personally would call it an interesting variation, and not a valuable rare collectible.

The most desired will always be original 1977, 1978 made Atari VCS items.

Atari did seem to mix and match things up.

 

The chrome switches that don't tarnish were used on the Not For Resale store display 4-switch units, however I own and have seen one other Factory Reconditioned Light Six Switch with chrome switches, and one Factory Reconditioned 6 Switch with the normal aluminum switches.

Just one example of mixing things up.

[SSG]

It's always a possibility that it could of been a repair. I have a Sears Light sixer that was repaired and is a frankenstein type console.

[BigO]

I have or had a Sunnyvale 4 switch console.
They're out there, but I don't personally know the story behind their existence.

 

Do a search for sunnyvale "4 switch" in the forums here and you'll see several posts about them.

 

Google search because I couldn't get a link to work for an internal search:

https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=sunnyvale%20%224%20switch%22

 

 

[Edit]: I guess this is where I mentioned mine. I had forgotten that it came with a story:

http://atariage.com/forums/topic/118479-abandoned-on-my-doorstep/

Edited December 15, 2015 by BigO

[Mockduck]

Interesting, I saw one of these on Craigslist the other day and wondered the same thing.

[bradhig]

I have one that is a rebuilt heavy or light sixer into a four switch model.

[phattyboombatty]

The "Sunnyvale Four" is well documented here at AtariAge. I've had one or two myself. I know there are several longer discussions about them from recent years... There's one here, here, here, here, and here. Also, within this last thread, there are a few threads linked to it about the origins of the Sunnyvale Fours.

 

It's likely that Atari, being headquartered in the USA and with their own facilities to tool the dies, created an initial run, and then shipped the molds to Taiwan. This of course is just a guess, but it makes sense to me, since they had made both Heavy and Light Sixers in the USA prior to the Fours.

[zylon]

I've only got one, but I have seen more of them in the past. Most are hybrids of parts and have very early board revisions in them. Mine is a Rev. 5 for instance. I've also run into the promotional units with and without chrome switches. Those all seem to be later board productions than the others.

One thing with Atari in general is always remember to never use "always" or "never". things that should not be have a funny way of showing up all the time.

[BlimpPixel]

Thanks for the links. Seems like all we can do is speculate. I'll have to pull it out of the box again and see if I can identify it as a light sixer bottom, and maybe I'll even feel like taking it apart to see the Rev number on the board.

 

I've been searching ebay tirelessly lately and even since this post I have seen a couple Sunnyvale 4 switchers. Like anything, it's worth only what someone will pay. In this example, I think they would only be worth more than any other 4 switcher if a serious collector decided he had to have one.

 

I've seen even more Sunnyvale L6ers.

[BlimpPixel]

Okay, here's some fun and interesting story, at least for me. Sorry for the long read but if you're into this stuff you may find it interesting.

 

"My" Atari is the one that has been in our family since new, circa 1981 or so. My spare was given to me by uncle much more recently. The label on mine is gone but it's still there on my uncle's, which is the Sunnyvale four switcher discussed above. After reading through the mentioned threads I took a look and noticed that it does indeed have a light sixer base, as indicated namely by the channel select switch and blank-out plastic glued to where the controllers used to go. Now even though my 2600 is missing the label, they both have the same orange Super Service sticker on the bottom, and I got curious. I flipped mine over and sure enough it, too, has a light sixer bottom.

 

On a hunch, I called my dad and asked if he and my uncle had bought their Ataris together. They hadn't, but I wasn't far off, as it turns out they were given to them both by my grandma for Christmas. I therefore think it's safe to say that they are both Sunnyvale four switchers, and more interesting still, they are more or less siblings! I'll see if there's any chance my grandma remembers where she bought them, or if she ordered them from somewhere.

 

It's a bummer that the sticker on mine is gone and we'll never know just how close the serial numbers are, but they're bound to be pretty tight.

 

Okay, so for future reference, here's the boring stuff. I took them both apart and they have identical markings everywhere. The boards are marked Rev 12 1980. The top plastic is marked Rev 5. There are a handful of other markings, shown in the attached photos, that are also identical. Inside each was taped a piece of receipt paper with a number on it. I have never had an Atari open before so I don't know if that's normal or not. They seem to have the usual aluminum switches but definitely yellower accents instead of the usual orange. Something else they have in common appears to be that the labels didn't stick very well, as mine is missing and the others is coming off pretty good. Coincidentally, in another thread I was asking about the speaker holes in the top of the consoles. It has come to my attention that four switchers generally don't seem to have them, at least the ones I've seen don't. Both of these do, however. Something else they share with their six switch ancestors? Inside, you can still see the oval shape of where they filled in the location of the first and sixth switch (but maybe that's normal?).

 

I was expecting the board to be marked Rev 5 as mentioned in another thread but that wasn't the case. But this has the "regular" style of SN sticker as opposed to the style that looks like it was printed out that zylon shared above. As I'm sure you can tell, it is silver, not white.

 

As to the question of are they Factory Reconditioned or Promotional, my dad says they are not. I don't remember ever seeing the box in my life, but my dad was saying just the other day that it's been in the basement for years until "the flood" happened a little while back. I showed him the pictures of the promo and recon boxes and he's sure it was the standard box and that my grandma bought them brand new.

 

So that's that. Pretty neat to have sibling 2600s.

 

Shown are pictures of just the one unit. I have pics of the other but they are identical. Both "receipts" from inside are shown, however.

 

[bradhig]

I just checked my refurbished 4 switcher and it too came from Sunnyvale ,CA. It looks like it started it's life as a light sixer.

[MaximRecoil]

I have one of these. The bottom half of the shell isn't actually a standard light sixer part, but rather, it is a unique hybrid design which technically could be used for either a 4- or 6-switch model, though I don't know if they were ever used for any 6-switch models. Here's a thread I made about it. If anyone wants to see if their light sixer has one of these weird 4/6 hybrid shell bottoms, just look for a hole in it which you won't find in a standard light sixer shell bottom, and to further confirm it, take it apart and look for the posts inside (I point out the hole and posts in one of the pictures I posted in the thread I linked to).

[bradhig]

my 4 switcher is a rev 8.

[BlimpPixel]

Curiouser and curiouser.

 

Here's a theory that I didn't see before.

 

They made the heavy sixer in Sunnyvale and the early light sixers as well. When they started making the four switcher there, it wasn't so much about using up the old stock of bottoms as it was not retooling there equipment which was sitting around still set up to make the light six molds. They just needed to add one or two small revisions. Just a theory.

 

Not that I'm an expert, but browsing the subject here and from the very few I've seen pop up on ebay, all Sunnyvale 4 switchers have the red service sticker. I can't think if I've seen any that weren't made in Sunnyvale that do, but I could just be having a brain fart.

[BlimpPixel]

Okay, nevermind on that last part. I was paying attention and some non-USA units do have the red service sticker.

[BlimpPixel]

The plot thickens.

 

Here's a beautiful, practically NOS made in Sunnyvale 4 switcher. On one hand, we can see that it isn't a promo or refurb. On the other, you'll see that the light sixer bottom has disappeared and there's no red service label. Interesting. This is a later serial number than mine, 7k versus 10k.

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-1980-ATARI-VCS-2600-Sunnyvale-CA-US-Console-System-LOT-Complete-Original-BOX-/311514606104?hash=item4887b7aa18:g:H-oAAOSwHPlWgwrn

[BlimpPixel]

Now that I've posted that, I did some brief searching and see at least two other Sunnyvale 4 switchers without the light sixer bottoms listed currently. Curious that all my research here has pointed to them always having the L6 bottom and now I see three that don't. As was said above, never say "always."

[Skwrl63]

On 12/30/2015 at 9:06 AM, BlimpPixel said:

Now that I've posted that, I did some brief searching and see at least two other Sunnyvale 4 switchers without the light sixer bottoms listed currently. Curious that all my research here has pointed to them always having the L6 bottom and now I see three that don't. As was said above, never say "always."

To make things more confusing.... I have 2 Sunnyvale 4 switchers. Both have the standard 4 switch bases. Both also have the 3 digit hot stamps above the label. One has a service label and one doesn't.

 

They both have different color variation bezel faceplates. The one with the darker orange color bezel border has orange characters (letters) for the switches. The lighter colored one has yellow characters for the switches.

[Matt hawk]

I hope that someone sees this and actually message me back because I found one complete in the box and it’s actually a little more interesting and I don’t know who to talk to!!!! Thanks.   Matt!

[djsky717]

Here's my Sunnyvale 4-Switch Woody with yellow characters, a metallic serial sticker showing SN#866422, a hot stamp of "191", and a red service label.

 

The board shows Revision 8 and Atari logo with "Innovative Leisure" (the logo and slogan were used only in the early revisions and then disappeared). Not sure about Revision 9 thru 11, but I believe by Revision 12 and up they were made in Taiwan based on looking at several other 4 switch consoles in my collection.

 

Here's another Sunnyvale 4-Switch (not mine) with Revision 5 board and datestamp showing 6th week of 1980 on a sticker placed on the RF Modulator: https://www.ebay.com/itm/ATARI-VCS-CX-2600A-1980-Sunnyvale-CA-4-Switch-Console-System-ONLY-Low-Serial/311785574462?hash=item4897de503e:g:rLIAAOSwo4pYhNT2

[Avenger75]

I have  also a 4 switcher woody model  built in Sunnyvale, with a white sticker, and the yellow bezel border.

It's a Secam unit CX-2600 S, and it has also the 3 digit number stamped on the back .

First I think it was rare, but it seems to be the contrary for secam woody unit, as after a few research on ebay or in retrogaming shop, I have found 3 others Secam CX 2600-S  4 switcher woody model made also in Sunnyvale.

I think that the first CX 2600 version done for Secam standard  and shipped to Europe were made in Sunnyvale and were woody.

 

 

[Electric-Dreams]

French Atari 2600 owner here      

On 9/16/2020 at 10:23 PM, Avenger75 said:

I have  also a 4 switcher woody model  built in Sunnyvale, with a white sticker, and the yellow bezel border.

It's a Secam unit CX-2600 S, and it has also the 3 digit number stamped on the back .

First I think it was rare, but it seems to be the contrary for secam woody unit, as after a few research on ebay or in retrogaming shop, I have found 3 others Secam CX 2600-S  4 switcher woody model made also in Sunnyvale.

I think that the first CX 2600 version done for Secam standard  and shipped to Europe were made in Sunnyvale and were woody.

 

 

French Atari 2600 owner here

I confirm. My woody CX-2600 S was built in Sunnyvale too. That's not the case of later Secam models like CX-2600 AS (Ireland) and CX-2600 GP (Taiwan).

[Jonny swanny]

I suppose I’ll fan the flame a little bit. I’ve got a heat stamped (071), silver labeled (serial number 328603), orange service labeled, L6 conversion Sunnyvale Four switch with light yellow trim. I got it in a lot of four atari systems. When going through it I found a Sunnyvale CA sticker that had fallen off (same 328603). There was also a L6 which the sticker had fallen off of, so I figured it went there. But after taking another look, I realized that the sticker residue on the L6 conversion four switch (which I had previously noted as such and was going to keep) matches the folds found on the loose sticker. A Sunnyvale four switch it is!

[Skwrl63]

On 9/15/2020 at 6:20 PM, djsky717 said:

Here's my Sunnyvale 4-Switch Woody with yellow characters, a metallic serial sticker showing SN#866422, a hot stamp of "191", and a red service label.

 

The board shows Revision 8 and Atari logo with "Innovative Leisure" (the logo and slogan were used only in the early revisions and then disappeared). Not sure about Revision 9 thru 11, but I believe by Revision 12 and up they were made in Taiwan based on looking at several other 4 switch consoles in my collection.

 

Here's another Sunnyvale 4-Switch (not mine) with Revision 5 board and datestamp showing 6th week of 1980 on a sticker placed on the RF Modulator: https://www.ebay.com/itm/ATARI-VCS-CX-2600A-1980-Sunnyvale-CA-4-Switch-Console-System-ONLY-Low-Serial/311785574462?hash=item4897de503e:g:rLIAAOSwo4pYhNT2

The heat stamps appears to say "191". Heat stamps are read "WWY" so that means it was made the 19th week of 1981

Edited October 18, 2022 by Skwrl63
Correct a Typo