1200XL Keyboard sold in RadioShack long ago...

[+kheller2]

Does anyone know this history behind this? My local RS had a few back in the late 80s early 90s and I always wanted to pick up some, especially at $5.

 

For the curious, they looked like this: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Atari-1200XL-Keyboard-Unopened-Radio-Shack-277-1018-Made-by-Mitsumi-/252346669477 (I just so happen to stumble upon this today and reminded me)

[Bryan]

I remember those. Atari must have had a warehouse sale after the 1200 series was cancelled.

[Rybags]

Seller needs a reality check... trying to get almost twice the value of the machine it goes into.

[flashjazzcat]

Guy in Scotland had a dozen of these on eBay a few years back for £15 a pop. Fair price and I bought one. The irony is all these NOS keyboards still malfunction and need Bob's fix as soon as you take them out of the bag.

[BillC]

Does anyone know this history behind this? My local RS had a few back in the late 80s early 90s and I always wanted to pick up some, especially at $5.

 

For the curious, they looked like this: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Atari-1200XL-Keyboard-Unopened-Radio-Shack-277-1018-Made-by-Mitsumi-/252346669477 (I just so happen to stumble upon this today and reminded me)

I picked up a few in the surplus section of an auto & farm machinery dealer at around that time, only $1.50 each. I had only seen pictures of the 1200XL in magazines and didn't get one until about 15 years later, I now have 3.

[bugs]

Guy in Scotland had a dozen of these on eBay a few years back for £15 a pop. Fair price and I bought one. The irony is all these NOS keyboards still malfunction and need Bob's fix as soon as you take them out of the bag.

 

Very true. i just got a brand new 800xl mechanical keyboard from best and 2 keys dont work. 30yr old new old stock.

[Gunstar]

Guy in Scotland had a dozen of these on eBay a few years back for £15 a pop. Fair price and I bought one. The irony is all these NOS keyboards still malfunction and need Bob's fix as soon as you take them out of the bag.

What is Bob's fix? I've had my 1200XL for about a decade now, and I remember when I first got it some keys didn't function, but after a good cleaning, especially the contacts, it's worked fine ever since. I recently pulled my 1200 out of storage, after 2 years and have it running again now, and the keyboard still works fine. My keyboard is a Mitsumi.

Edited April 8, 2016 by Gunstar

[flashjazzcat]

What is Bob's fix?

http://www.retrobits.net/atari/keyboard.shtml

 

I've had my 1200XL for about a decade now, and I remember when I first got it some keys didn't function, but after a good cleaning, especially the contacts, it's worked fine ever since. I recently pulled my 1200 out of storage, after 2 years and have it running again now, and the keyboard still works fine.

This is surprising, since the adhesive used to bond the mylar with the contacts on the PCB goes brittle and ruins the connectivity. Maybe in some cases it holds together OK, but usually the passage of time alone makes it ripe for repair.

[Brentarian]

I bought a NOS sealed on Ebay a few months back and it only cost $25 after shipping. I was thrilled that it worked without issue and didn't have to pull out the circuit pen. It must have been stored in air conditioning or something because it was immaculate. I bought another one a year ago, NOS sealed, and nothing worked (just like Jon describes above). That one must have been stored in an attic or somewhere hot because the mylar disintegrated after getting to it. That one will be repaired soon once I place an order with Best for a new mylar...

 

RadioShack sold them under their Archer brand, Do a search on Ebay for "archer keyboard" and you'll find C64, TI, CoCo, Adam keyboards with similar packaging. It makes you wonder if RadioShack sourced them directly from keyboard manufacturers (like Mitsumi), considering that the computer brand is nowhere to be found on the packaging.

[+mytek]

Who would have thought that you could get Atari keyboards from Radio Shack of all places?!? Certainly not I. As to the comment about buying a comp!ete 1200XL for 1\2 that price ($50), I'd like to know where you shop.

 

- Michael

[Gunstar]

http://www.retrobits.net/atari/keyboard.shtml

 

 

This is surprising, since the adhesive used to bond the mylar with the contacts on the PCB goes brittle and ruins the connectivity. Maybe in some cases it holds together OK, but usually the passage of time alone makes it ripe for repair.

LOL! My mistake, I did do that fix, like over a decade ago, and completely forgot about it until I saw the picture on that link! So I guess this becomes a testimonial that I have not had any trouble of any kind with my 1200XL keyboard since I did this fix, maybe a dozen years ago.

 

Thanks FJC.

[TangentAudio]

I bought a NOS sealed on Ebay a few months back and it only cost $25 after shipping. I was thrilled that it worked without issue and didn't have to pull out the circuit pen. It must have been stored in air conditioning or something because it was immaculate. I bought another one a year ago, NOS sealed, and nothing worked (just like Jon describes above). That one must have been stored in an attic or somewhere hot because the mylar disintegrated after getting to it. That one will be repaired soon once I place an order with Best for a new mylar...

 

RadioShack sold them under their Archer brand, Do a search on Ebay for "archer keyboard" and you'll find C64, TI, CoCo, Adam keyboards with similar packaging. It makes you wonder if RadioShack sourced them directly from keyboard manufacturers (like Mitsumi), considering that the computer brand is nowhere to be found on the packaging.

 

It kills me to remember I bought one of these from my local Radio Shack when I was a kid and had no idea it came from a 1200XL. You'd think the brown and silver would have been a giveaway since I had an 800XL.

[BillC]

I bought a few from the surplus section of a Princess Auto & Farm Machinery store in Grande Prairie Alberta in the late 80's, only $1.49 each.

 

I wasn't certain they were for the 1200XL, but had a suspicion.