Atari Touch me Serials

[Blackened]

New poster here, and as a kid growing up in the 70's and 80's with an Atari 2600 and 5200 I'm happy I found these forums! I didn't see anywhere else to put this here so hopefully I'm in the right place:

 

As a kid I had an Atari Touch me. For the uninitiated it was a 1974 arcade game before the desktop "Simon" was released in 1978 which coincidentally was the same year Atari released the handheld touch me.

 

Recently the nostalgia bug got a hold of me and I looked them up on eBay. I found several non working, a few working and even fewer in good shape. Decided to watch one and got an offer from the seller for $29.74 so I though WTH and bought it. When it arrived, I found something odd about it:

 

 

the device is pretty mint for being 40+years old and note the serial number.

 

I don't want to get ahead of myself here, but does this seem odd to anyone else? I know back in the 80's a lot of smaller companies were fast and loose with keeping accurate serials but I looked at other Touch Me Serials and they are all different and much higher.

 

 

 

 

My knee-jerk reaction was that someone forged it, but for what? It's not like (Monetarily) these are worth much.

 

Anyway, if anyone knows anything about the way Atari might have serialized things it would be really cool to know. If it actually IS the first one produced well then... neat-o.

Edited February 8 by Blackened

[mutterminder]

Wow, that does seem to be in really good shape.  If that is also really serial number one, you really lucked out. Does it function? It does seem unlikely that this is some sort of reproduction, however many of the early hand held games, have had modern re-releases so it is possible, though I've not heard of this particular one getting that treatment.

[jhd]

Are there any ICs inside?

 

If the case can be (carefully) opened without doing any damage, one could check the date codes. This would answer if it was an original or a reproduction. 

[mutterminder]

After carefully examining the pictures, it seems to me that the details are too accurate to be a reproduction.  It's not like these are selling for hundreds of dollars. They're going for $30 or less, there would be no financial incentive to make such an accurate counterfeit. I think it's the real deal.

[Giles N]

Balls of Steel with official Touch Me-controllers…

 

… like beat that anyone…

[Giles N]

(Sorry couldn’t help it… - ok. Yes, strictly I could, but couldn’t anyway.)

[+cvga]

That's an awesome find. I can't imagine the odds of getting serial number 1 and having it in that perfect condition. Congrats!!

[Blackened]

On 2/9/2024 at 9:02 AM, mutterminder said:

Wow, that does seem to be in really good shape.  If that is also really serial number one, you really lucked out. Does it function? It does seem unlikely that this is some sort of reproduction, however many of the early hand held games, have had modern re-releases so it is possible, though I've not heard of this particular one getting that treatment.

Sorry for the slow reply here guys. Been wrapping up a few projects around the house.

 

Yes, it works perfectly. I can't imagine them bothering to make reproductions. Simon (I'll correct my original post here - Simon came out in 77, Touch me released in 78) crushed it in terms of sales. Heck, they are still selling those today!

On 2/9/2024 at 2:32 PM, jhd said:

Are there any ICs inside?

 

If the case can be (carefully) opened without doing any damage, one could check the date codes. This would answer if it was an original or a reproduction. 

I don't want to risk damaging the case. it seems the tab that held the bottom closed is loose. I don't want to risk breaking others. I found a video of a guy swapping out the red LED's for color coded ones and I didn't see anything on the boards that would ID the dates.
 

 

On 2/10/2024 at 11:29 AM, mutterminder said:

After carefully examining the pictures, it seems to me that the details are too accurate to be a reproduction.  It's not like these are selling for hundreds of dollars. They're going for $30 or less, there would be no financial incentive to make such an accurate counterfeit. I think it's the real deal.

Exactly what I was thinking as well. What would be the point?

 

On 2/12/2024 at 11:12 PM, cvga said:

That's an awesome find. I can't imagine the odds of getting serial number 1 and having it in that perfect condition. Congrats!!

Thanks man. It is a total random and bizarre thing to come across. I showed it to a buddy of mine I grew up with and he immediately burst out laughing. He couldn't believe I found another one. He then dug out a photo album  showed my a picture from when I was like 10 or 11 years old holding my original Touch me. Given the color of my cheeks I have to assume it was winter and probably the year I got it.

[+cvga]

30 minutes ago, Blackened said:

Thanks man. It is a total random and bizarre thing to come across. I showed it to a buddy of mine I grew up with and he immediately burst out laughing. He couldn't believe I found another one. He then dug out a photo album  showed my a picture from when I was like 10 or 11 years old holding my original Touch me. Given the color of my cheeks I have to assume it was winter and probably the year I got it.

That's incredible that he had this picture! You deserve to be the person who found the #1 serial number  Super cool and thanks for sharing.

[Blackened]

I realize this is OT.... I have an 4 switch 2600 sitting next to me and need some help troubleshooting it. Can anyone tell me where I can post about it? I looked in the 2600 forum but didn't see anyplace specific for troubleshooting. I know... damn noobs. 😄

 

It's getting power all the way through the cap and regulator and the switch seems to work fine. I just can't seem to get an image on the TV...

Edited February 25 by Blackened