Ferris Posted September 23, 2004 Share Posted September 23, 2004 Hey what's up... Just about ready to complete my 5200 collection with new games still shrinkwrapped in the box and a newly refurbished Atari Video Sysytem-X. I was always a 2600/7800 guy but over the past year or two I've really sunk my teeth into the 5200. Great great system, wayy underrated once you move past the controllers. In the process of collecting ive noticed that the early release 5200 boxes from 1982 were alot more metallic than the later versions. My Star Raiders looks almost as if its coated in a metallic silver rubbing or something. I've seen these around from time to time so I know they aren't extreemly rare. However one Atari vendor out there still has some factory returns of these games from back in the day. The games are "new" but the boxes are crushed and many have the tops torn off. Turns out the vendor sells these for around $79.00 each.... does this sound right? I have no problem with a vendor asking a steep price for a collectable item... it's just that I didn't realize these boxed cartridges were THAT rare... as I've said, I've seen them around a bit. Any 5200 guru's want to fill in the blanks? Justin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sku_u Posted September 23, 2004 Share Posted September 23, 2004 However one Atari vendor out there still has some factory returns of these games from back in the day. The games are "new" but the boxes are crushed and many have the tops torn off. Turns out the vendor sells these for around $79.00 each.... does this sound right? I have no problem with a vendor asking a steep price for a collectable item... it's just that I didn't realize these boxed cartridges were THAT rare... as I've said, I've seen them around a bit. Which games are they? $79.00 is ridiculous for a boxed 5200 game unless it's a 6 or up in rarity. If that was the asking price for 12-15 of them, that's a different story. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
video game addict Posted September 23, 2004 Share Posted September 23, 2004 I know I'd pay $79 for a mint K-Razy Shoot-Out. I might go close to that on Beamrider too, if it was truly MINT. Those are not the prices of a sane Atari dealer, not for rejcects. They didn't cost that much new, much less in trashed boxes 20 years later, they'd be lucky to get much over $5-10 out of them, for the bulk of the Atari Silver boxes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Henry Lee Posted September 24, 2004 Share Posted September 24, 2004 Even these beautiful 82 silver boxes are a little rarer to find shrinkwrapped, 79$ is an exaggeration. I remember my father buying StarRaiders at 60$ CND back in 82. Atari got cheaper thru time and the box evision show. For example Gremlins's ugly grey box color and the 7800 black & white instruction and cartridges. Atari got doomed in some way but left treasures of its early days. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ferris Posted September 24, 2004 Author Share Posted September 24, 2004 There were four games purchased at 79.95 each... Star Raiders, Centipede, Dig Dug, and Missile Command. I agree that 79.95 for these is wayyy too much. That was obvious to me from the get-go. But hey that's what the fellow offered the vendor so thats what they went for. However, that's set a new precident for that vendor for the price of those silver boxed games. Thing is...the boxes are crunched and torn up. They were factory returns. If they were clean in the shrinkwrap I wouldn't be so stunned. Not quite as much anyway. I've compiled a list of the "Silver Box" titles... if anyone knows of any others that they can visually confirm please speak up and share it with us. Regards, Justin 5200 SILVER LIST Pac-Man Super Breakout Galaxian Star Raiders Missile Command Space Invaders Asteroids (Prototype Run Printing Only) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Henry Lee Posted September 24, 2004 Share Posted September 24, 2004 I think thats the list alright. A small detail about Pac-Man. The early version box version has a bigger Atari logo and thinner blue line just like the other early bird boxes BUT is printed in regular grey/silver not aluminium silver color just like Centipede early revision. But I am not shure and I don't remember that detail when I was a kid in 82. Have you seen Pac-Man with aliminium like print? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ferris Posted September 24, 2004 Author Share Posted September 24, 2004 This set the standard for all boxes in 1982... Large "Atari" logo print, thin colored line (think E.T. on 2600) and graphic. I always wondered why the Atari Fuji logo was never featured more prominently on the home system packaging. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Henry Lee Posted September 24, 2004 Share Posted September 24, 2004 But these are the prototype prints from the Rev 1 of the Atari 5200 catalogue book. According to the book there should also be an aliminium silver version of Pac-Man. We have to see one to confirm. I wish we can find Asteroids prototype box version and the Pac-Man with the smiling emotion. We may have to dig on an former Atari employee's lost vault. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ferris Posted September 24, 2004 Author Share Posted September 24, 2004 Ya know I just noticed the blue band and text on these original silver boxes was more of a navy blue as opposed to the lighter blues that came later. Weird stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Henry Lee Posted September 24, 2004 Share Posted September 24, 2004 I think there were no precise control of the color at the press (offset) , there probably color diffrences from batch to batch. But one things is for shure the first revision of the system box and the games boxes were darker purplish blue. My Star Raiders box is that color and my Galaxian closer to navy blue. Special Note : My opened Galaxian manual is far from matching its box color probably because of the special glare treatment of the silver box but the later revisions grey boxes a closer match to its manual. Another probable reason that Atari did print gray boxes an lower their production costs. As I said I got my Galaxian box opened, I have to check if the serial match, don't know if we can. Details .. Details Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ferris Posted October 14, 2004 Author Share Posted October 14, 2004 Okay so now that we've been discussing the value of the original Silver boxes I'd like to flip over to the other end of this spectrum... recieved a package yesterday with *every single game* ever made for the 5200 brand new in the box. Absolutely unopened. I've been going thru the process of dismantling the boxes with a heat gun and unfolding them flat and preserving the games, boxes and manuals in sealed sheet protectors. In doing this I realized that almost ALL of my Atari releases for the 5200 are from 1985 and 1986 and are copyright Atari Corp. (Tramiel) not Atari Inc. (Warner) ...I was wondering what the rarity of these cartridges would be in comparison with the common 1982 & 1983 titles. I realize Tramiel was just selling off whatever it was he had left over but you can clearly see that the boxes and labels are different. Some of the fonts are different and the labels are manufactured from a glossy grey paper not an aluminum paper. I hardly ever see anything from 1985 or 1986 for the 5200, let alone Atari. I doubt these are worth much more financially, but it's great to have something no one else seems to have. Justin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sku_u Posted October 14, 2004 Share Posted October 14, 2004 The one that stands out in my mind is the elusive SI no name label. If you have one of those, it's probably pretty rare. I've only seen one. That I traded away some time ago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Henry Lee Posted October 15, 2004 Share Posted October 15, 2004 In doing this I realized that almost ALL of my Atari releases for the 5200 are from 1985 and 1986 and are copyright Atari Corp. (Tramiel) not Atari Inc. (Warner) ...I was wondering what the rarity of these cartridges would be in comparison with the common 1982 & 1983 titles. I realize Tramiel was just selling off whatever it was he had left over but you can clearly see that the boxes and labels are different. Justin I noticed Choplifter, Gremlins where printed in 1986, the top flap is different than the earlier A5200 releases also the printing is lower quality. From 1982-84, where the revision 2 of the Atari's first titles (regular silver boxes) with the addition of the new titles with the new silver 2 box designs. Question : What sparkles my interest is, in your pile, where there 1985-86 print of the first Atari titles? I think, print quality wise, we can devide in three distinct section : The alimunium boxes, the silver boxes and the later grey boxes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ferris Posted October 15, 2004 Author Share Posted October 15, 2004 Question : What sparkles my interest is, in your pile, where there 1985-86 print of the first Atari titles? YES! That's what blows me away. Most real 5200 fans knew that titles like Gremlins and Choplifter were Fall 1984 titles that would have been popular during the "back to school" season and on into the Holidays, but were put off until 1986 once the Tramiels got the company oriented and decided to release the last bit of 5200 titles. However, almost every title I have is from 1986 and there are a few from 1985. It's not just the boxes its the Cartridge labels and the Manuals. I had no idea Atari even released any cartridges in 1985 for anything! I've been an avid Atarian for 20 years and it wasnt until the other day when these arrived that I had ever seen anything "Copyright 1985 Atari Corp." in person. The 1985 titles I have include... - Galaxian - RealSports Soccer - Pac-Man The 1986 titles I have include... - Space Invaders - Dig Dug - Moon Patrol - Choplifter - Centipede - Countermeasure - RealSports Baseball - Star Raiders - Missile Command - Gremlins - Rescue on Fractalus - Ballblazer - Mario Bros - Kangaroo It boggles my mind that Atari Corp under Tramiel would release these titles in 1986 as these were pretty standard titles that were out for the 5200 during its Warner lifespan. Tramiel was such a penny pincher and had no interest in the 5200 let alone the 2600 and 7800. Why and how he did this I have no clue. Now am I just ignorant on the 5200 and didn't realize there was so much 1985/1986 stuff available or are these cartridges truly so much less common than their 1982-1984 counterparts? I've noticed a few interesting little differences on the different cartridges depending on what year they are from. If they are from 1983 or earlier, the overlays are included in a sheet where they need to be "popped out" whereas the 1985 & 1986 titles have them already inserted into the back of the cartridge. (Should have done this on the Jaguar) Another difference can be seen in the two LucasFilm game titles Rescue on Fractalus and Ballblazer. These two (as its well known) come in white boxes (same size as all the others) and include a different style manual. The cartridge label lacks most of the text and the whole thing is just very strage. Like LucasFilm had completed the games and was told by the Tramiels to put it out on their own. The box even says Atari/LucasFilm on the front instead of Atari 5200. I think, print quality wise, we can devide in three distinct section : The alimunium boxes, the silver boxes and the later grey boxes. The later generation cartridge labels and boxes are definately different but I wouldnt say they are poor quality. The 7800 has some black and white labels that just suck. The 5200's last gen labels were still full color and glossy even though they did not look metalic. Still good quality all the way around which is suprising for that time. Justin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Henry Lee Posted October 17, 2004 Share Posted October 17, 2004 Hello Justin, one thing interest me is to see the diffrences (design & print quality box/cart) of lets say Space Invaders 1982 (Not the early Alluminum but the silver with thick blue line) with the 1985-86 version. If you can post pics it will be great, or a text description. I remember in 1985, all the titles vanished from the stores. We got Montezuma for 14$ at that time. Quality during tramiel: About the a7800 b/w labels (sinful). Every Atari product suffered from low quality print and display. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ferris Posted October 17, 2004 Author Share Posted October 17, 2004 I'm about to move in two weeks and I don't have a scanner I can use right at the moment but I will definately get some scans for you. When I say that the labels are "different but not poor quality" I say this relitave to the 2600 and 7800 under Tramiel ownership. The Tramiels were known to re-release Atari titles in super-cheap packaging including black and white boxes and labels printed in greyscale. Some 2600 titles such as RealSports Volleyball or early titles such as Air-Sea Battle were released in 1988 with greyscale boxes to cut costs. Many common 7800 titles were released with greyscale label printing on a cheap silverish sticker. This is exactly what comes to mind when I think "cheap packaging releases". Most of these releases occoured between 1985 to 1988 with almost NOTHING being sent out in 1985 - late summer 1986. The Tramiels saw no market in the game industry and were hesitant to get back into the game and thus cut back costs wherever they could. Problem is, Atari was pure imagination, and deleting the wonderful colors and the brilliant packaging really took away from the imagination of Atari. It really bothered me then and it still does to this day. Okay SO.... you want to know what's the difference with these 5200 "cheap label" titles as opposed to the others right? Well... On most standard 5200 cartridges, the labels consist of full-color printing on a foil aluminum background. This is similar to the 1982-1984 2600 label variants. When the Tramiels cut back on costs, many of the silver 2600 labels looked cheap like if you took an eraser to it for a minute the label would turn papery and just flake right off. These 5200 labels are not like that. While the first 5200 labels were made of an aluminum foil, these new Tramiel labels were clearly made of some kind of paper stock stickers. The 2600 labels just looked "grey" however these 5200 labels have a painted silver background as if they took a silver paint pen and colored everything in really nice. It's definately not aluminum but it sure looks good. Then, everything is still printed in full color as it was before. However unlike the cheap 2600 labels ive seen (and ive seen alot) these 5200 labels have a really really nice clearcoat over the label. It almost looks shalacked or something. The clearcoat is fairly thick and quite clear. This is of MUCH higher quality than other cheap 2600 labels. The boxes are made of a similar stock. That's about the best way I can explain it. Any more questions, I'd be happy to help. Justin 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Henry Lee Posted October 18, 2004 Share Posted October 18, 2004 The Tramiels saw no market in the game industry and were hesitant to get back into the game and thus cut back costs wherever they could. Problem is, Atari was pure imagination, and deleting the wonderful colors and the brilliant packaging really took away from the imagination of Atari. It really bothered me then and it still does to this day. Justin When a new single minded businessman takes over the business whitout having a history in it or being part of the labor, he brings something new without really knowing what was really Atari all about. And the 7800 project is the one who suffered the most. Good work on revamping the 7800. Don't know if you are still doing it. its the only way of dealing with things that should of been done in a certain way. And about the A5200 I like the idea of noting small details Greets, Henry Lee Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ferris Posted October 18, 2004 Author Share Posted October 18, 2004 Henry - Well In Jack's defense he DID start Commodore and purchased Atari with the intent of saving the corporation via computer sales. He did give us the XE and ST line, not to mention the Falcon, Jaguar and Lynx. But you're right. He didn't share the 7800 vision until Nintendo opened the market back up. Nintendo had that same colorful imagination at the time that Atari once had ten years prior. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bryan Posted October 18, 2004 Share Posted October 18, 2004 Did anyone notice (or already point out) that the Pac-Man box art is different than the released art in that picture? -Bry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ferris Posted October 18, 2004 Author Share Posted October 18, 2004 Yep! Pac-Man looks more like a Puck than a Sphere and he's got this goofyass smile going on. BTW, who owns the original Asteroids prototype cartridge with silver label and everything? I know one has been found (the one for the promo shots in the catalogues, etc) and I have seen it myself so I know its out there... but I believe there is only one. Any idea who'se that is?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Henry Lee Posted October 18, 2004 Share Posted October 18, 2004 Ferris, I found this on the web : http://www.cyberroach.com/cyromag/six/cge993p.htm Would it be nice to release 1982 version of asteroids. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ferris Posted October 18, 2004 Author Share Posted October 18, 2004 Yes thats exactly the cartridge I was speaking of. That picture was taken the same day as the joystick pictures I sent. The 1982 version of 5200 Asteroids was indeed released as a reproduction cartridge right here at AtariAge by George Reese. It's been available until just recently when Albert pulled all of the reproductions to avoid conflict with Infogrames. Asteroids is also available on the 5200 multicarts. It plays decently but the analog joystick really ruins the play value of the game. This is why there was a prototype "Asteroids Controller" built which was found right along with that very same Asteroids cartridge. That's what this big silver box is in the picture you just posted, that's the controller they made so you could actually play the game. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Henry Lee Posted October 19, 2004 Share Posted October 19, 2004 I saw the sticks on the other post, I actually thought it was yours, because you told me that you had a VSX. About Asteroids, I love the 1982 art. Its one of Atari's top ones. Would love to see it rereleased if we don't find one day 100s of boxes sealed away someplace. [day dreaming] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ferris Posted October 19, 2004 Author Share Posted October 19, 2004 Lol I wished for that ever since I was a kid and saw the VSX for the first time and brought home my very first 5200. But hey sometimes dreams come true. I did produce a reproduction label for 5200 Asteroids that remaind faithful to it's original design however it wasnt quite so aluminum. I'll mail one off to you one day if you ever end up with an Asteroids reproduction. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Henry Lee Posted October 19, 2004 Share Posted October 19, 2004 BTW, you know that we can use the screen-printing technique with real silver color (CMYK+silver), we won't get the exact offset quality but very close colorwise and much cheaper. If we get real nostalgic and have nothing to do... You actually saw VSX in as a kid? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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