Launch titles and their boxes

[+jeremiahjt]

As I get close to finishing off the Lynx retail set, the idea of collecting variations pops up.  Usually I do not worry about variations except for the 2600, because it is fun, or if the number of variations is really small.  Fortunately for the Lynx you only have to worry about six games when collecting box, manual, or cartridge variations unless you get into the later stuff.  Or if you want to get into the overseas stuff, blister packs or Japanese releases, or the number of languages on the manual.  I do not worry about either of those things.

 

I would like to get the large and small versions of the manuals and all the cartridge variations of each game, but honestly those are not that big of a deal to me.  The different boxes are more interesting to me.  Partly because I may display them one day, however unlikely.

 

Since the boxes are what interest me most I was trying to figure out the availability of each box type to know which to keep an eye out for or to grab first just to finish off the retail set without variations.  The three box variations are of course the large box, the small box with the gray strip on the right, and the small box with no strip and the full picture front.  As far as I know Gauntlet only had the full picture front and California Games only had the small box with the gray strip.  Now I believe California Games did have a large box release in Japan and there is a Telegames box variation for California Games, but I am not worried about either of those.

 

For Gates of Zendocon, Chip's Challenge, Blue Lighting, and Electrocop I believe the small box with the full picture front is the hardest to find for each and the small box with the strip on the right is the easiest to find for each one too.  For Gates of Zendocon, Blue Lightning, and Electrocop I believe the large box is in the middle for all three.  This does bring up an interesting point as to why there was no large box release for Chip's Challenge.  I can only surmise that it went into production after the other three and after the decision was made to shrink the boxes.

 

Does anybody disagree about the order for the boxes in regards to rarity or availability?  Has anybody ever seen evidence for the other boxes for Chip's Challenge, California Games, or Gauntlet: The Third Encounter?

 

Since I still needed a box for Blue Lightning for the retail set, I recently bought a copy of the small box with the full picture front since I think that is the hardest to find.  I still need a Gates of Zendocon box too, I am looking out for a good full picture front on that one too.

 

Before anybody corrects me about Gauntlet not being a launch title, I know it is not one, but I lumped it in here since it has the cartridge variations.

[WesleyrpgAust]

It would do my head in trying to find every variation for all the early titles.

 

I was a young-UN when the Lynx first came out, and i'm sure most of the titles mentioned came in Big boxes, but it's been SO long i can't remember for certain.

 

My recent 'new' purchases of Chips Challenge, Blue Lightning, Gauntlet, Electrocop, and California Games are all small boxes and are the same sizes as the other lynx games.

 

My recent purchase of Gates of Zendocon is a significantly larger box than the others.

 

Might try and source a Gates of Zendocon in a regular sized box so it matches the rest of my titles.

 

I've never seen a Gates of Zendocon without the stripe down the side so i'd assume that is the RARE one?

 

I also have three Lynx titles in a strange blister type material. (Ms Pacman, Paperboy and Tournament Cyberball)

Edited December 26, 2022 by WesleyrpgAust

[PFG 9000]

I always assumed California Games was way more common in the big box format than the small box, at least in the USA.  I have zero evidence for this, but when I was trying to complete my CIB set, I wanted a small box Cali Games to go along with the rest of my collection.  And the small box variant was hard as hell to find, while the big box seemed prevalent.  I can't believe the big box was JP exclusive.  But again, this is just my assumption.

[+jeremiahjt]

1 hour ago, PFG 9000 said:

I always assumed California Games was way more common in the big box format than the small box, at least in the USA.  I have zero evidence for this, but when I was trying to complete my CIB set, I wanted a small box Cali Games to go along with the rest of my collection.  And the small box variant was hard as hell to find, while the big box seemed prevalent.  I can't believe the big box was JP exclusive.  But again, this is just my assumption.

Do you mean a large box that looks like the smaller box with the gray strip on the right?  I do not think I have ever seen a large California Games box like that.  I guess it is possible I saw one and did not realize the size.  I am pretty sure there was never a large box like that though.

[T.A.P.]

I thought California games didn't have a big box because it was the original pack-in game.

 

It took me ages just to find a small box for my copy and even then it's in rough shape, and the manual is one of those dreadful-looking big ones that Atari folded in half to fit in the smaller box.

 

I've seen pictures of a smaller California Games manual, but from what I've heard, those were only released overseas, so my 'American' set isn't technically complete if I had that instead of a big manual apparently.

[macsessed]

On 12/26/2022 at 5:25 AM, jeremiahjt said:

Now I believe California Games did have a large box release in Japan and there is a Telegames box variation for California Games, but I am not worried about either of those.

The Japanese version does have a bigger box, but it's a different size and design than the other big box games. I've never seen or heard about a Telegames box variant of California Games. I think I have most of the variants, and I'd say the small box full picture versions are the least common. 

There's also a Japanese version of Klax in the small box size with different artwork on the front.

[+jeremiahjt]

3 hours ago, macsessed said:

I've never seen or heard about a Telegames box variant of California Games.

It looks exactly the same as the regular version, except on the back instead of saying "Printed in USA" and "Made in China" it says "Printed in UK" and "Made in UK" since Telegames is a UK company.

Edited December 29, 2022 by jeremiahjt
spelling

[macsessed]

4 hours ago, jeremiahjt said:

It looks exactly the same as the regular version, except on the back instead of saying "Printed in USA" and "Made in China" it says "Printed in UK" and "Made in UK" since Telegames is a UK company.

Interesting, where did you hear about that version? It seems odd to me that Telegames UK would have ever been involved with a variant of that particular game (apart from distribution). It also seems strange that they would go to the trouble of printing boxes with such a minor change. I'm a UK based collector, and if there are copies out there I'd like to try and find one

[macsessed]

Oh, and case you wasn't aware, Atari Gamer has a useful database of all the known box types: https://atarigamer.com/lynx/games?z=1

[macsessed]

17 minutes ago, macsessed said:

if there are copies out there I'd like to try and find one

It looks like I found one eBay - it does say indeed say "Printed in UK" and "Made in UK". I'd still like to find out if it was indeed printed by Telegames or Epyx.