2600 Sprintmaster Cart Too Big For Slot

[bmulligan]

Has anyone else had this problem of a cart being too big to fit into the console slot? I have a Sprintmaster 2600 cart that is a full millimeter larger in width (21.3 compared to 20.3mm) and height and is too tight to fit into my recently acquired Vader console. 

 

I used to have a large collection before selling it in the 2000's, so many carts and consoles have passed through my hands over the years and have never had this happen before. Just curious if anyone else has run into this. Perhaps it's a Vader specific thing or something else. I have no idea as it's the only one I have.  

[StormyWeathers]

i sometimes have this with the taiwanese bootlegs. i use abbrasive to make it fit more but still it is a pain in the a** sometimes to get it fit properly

[+jeremiahjt]

It looks like it may have come apart some.

[BassGuitari]

That's a known idiosyncrasy of Atari Corp. cartridges. They produced thicker cartridge shells than Atari Inc. did, and they used the same one for both 2600 and 7800 games. The Red Label titles and 1986-88 reprints are right at home in 2600jr. and 7800 systems, but a little snug in the previous woodgrain/vader consoles.

[Pitfall Harry]

Thousands of VCS cartridges have passed through my hands over the years, but I have never encountered a problem with one not fitting into the slot.  Maybe I got lucky.

 

You could try opening up the cartridge shell, removing the ROM card, and transplanting it to a different cartridge shell.  If you're careful, you can remove the original label and affix it to your new cartridge too.  Or you could slap a reproduction label on it for little cost. 

 

It may be even cheaper, though, just to buy another Sprintmaster cartridge.  But then, you might run into the same problem if they are all 1 mm wider than other cartridges.  Still, many thousands of people have bought Sprintmaster and got it to fit in their Ataris.  Maybe the problem you have is that your VCS console slot wasn't quite made to specification.

 

Now I have to go find me a pair of calipers and measure my Sprintmaster carts.  I'll get back to you.

 

 

-Ben

[bmulligan]

Thanks for the replies, guys.  At least I know I'm not crazy.  I did take the cart apart just to see if it was misaligned, but it's not.  The board is different shape than a typical 4k cart and doesn't fit in a 'standard' case. 

[Pitfall Harry]

I have only two Sprintmaster cartridges, but both slip easily in and out of the cartridge slot on multiple different Atari 2600 console models.  The labels on both of my games say they were made in Hong Kong.  So now I am wondering whether your game cart was made somewhere else, where quality control was somewhat less carefully monitored than at other production sites.  If there are any other than Hong Kong. 

 

Someone else mentioned that your cartridge appears to be coming apart a little.  I can see a definite gap in the cartridge case along the seam. That little gap may account for some of the width discrepancy you are recording, but not all of it.

 

The calipers do not lie.  You are not crazy.

 

 

-Ben