I Scored with Space Invaders!! Good Atari Story Inside

[Blackjack]

I just thought I'd share a slightly funny story...........

 

When I was 14 yrs old (I think) a local department store named Air Way (later renamed to Hills) had an Atari Space Invaders contest. I still remember they had about 6 machines set up in a back room. I went in with my Dad, signed my name and took my machine. You had to play with it set on game #3 (moving shields). The person who signed me in hit the reset button and off I went. I can't remember my score but it was pretty good. We had to wait 'til a certain time when the contest was over to go back and check, and when we did..... I came in 2nd!!!!

 

With my victory came a $40 gift certificate with which I bought "Night Driver" and some slot car stuff, and they gave me Yellow Tshirt with Red Space Invaders on it that had the caption "I scored with Space Invaders". Boy was I proud of that shirt. I wore it to school the following monday and all my friends made fun of me

 

So I put my shirt up and never wore it again. Over the years it disappeared. It probably got thrown away or put in a Goodwill bin or something.

 

I wonder if anyone else has one of these shirts or has even seen one. It would be a cool item from my childhood to have again.

 

It's funny, I've noticed the unusually cheesy smile on my face as I've been typing this out. The shirt is gone, so is the department store and my Father as well. All my childhood mementos burned up with my apartment earlier this year. but sitting down with my Atari brings it all back to me sometimes.

 

Just thought I'd share

[Blackjack]

Excuse me.... not moving shields..... zig zag bombs! My memory isn't as sharp as I like to think I guess

[moycon]

Cool story.

That would have been a hella prize when we were that age!!

Any cart in the case! WOOOO!!!

Thanks for sharing.

[D.Yancey]

I love that story!! My Atari brings back all those fond memories also.

 

I entered a Rubic's cube solving contest at JC Penny department store back in the day. I won 1st prize which was a season pass to a local amusement park(my favorite place to play about one million Donkey Kong machines and get my initials on each one!!! ) and a gift certificate which I used to get 2600 Pac-Man which had just been released that week. I still have my cube which falls apart from overuse if you turn it too fast and my original Pac-Man cart!

[Philflound]

It's always fun to have fond memories of Atari. Usually, that's always what they are, just memories. It would have been nice that you had the shirt still. I was digging through some old photos of myself because the video guy needs them for our wedding video. I found one that I'll be scanning and posting real soon. I'm sitting in front of the tv with my brother and a sort of former relative through marriage (my aunt divorced the guy, it was his nephew). On the bed looks to be a Sears Asteroids instruction book and on the tv looks to be Dodge 'Em. I'll get the photo up hopefully tonight.

 

Phil

[Laner]

I just thought I'd share a slightly funny story...........

With my victory came a $40 gift certificate with which I bought "Night Driver" and some slot car stuff, and they gave me Yellow Tshirt with Red Space Invaders on it that had the caption "I scored with Space Invaders". Boy was I proud of that shirt. I wore it to school the following monday and all my friends made fun of me  

 

Heh... my brother had a similar experience. Won a local Starfox competition, wore the t-shirt he won to school that next week, and was laughed at by his friends

[D.Yancey]

I just thought I'd share a slightly funny story...........

With my victory came a $40 gift certificate with which I bought "Night Driver" and some slot car stuff, and they gave me Yellow Tshirt with Red Space Invaders on it that had the caption "I scored with Space Invaders". Boy was I proud of that shirt. I wore it to school the following monday and all my friends made fun of me  

 

Heh... my brother had a similar experience. Won a local Starfox competition, wore the t-shirt he won to school that next week, and was laughed at by his friends

 

I had several Activision/Atari shirts. Some of the "Pukes" without Atari laughed at me in the halls, but no physical abuse! I was a pretty big guy for my age. ALL my good friends and pals that had Atari were very interested in the shirts and that made up for any teasing. I wore my shirts until they wore out. I still have some, but they are kind of thin if you know what I mean.

[Bivotar]

That's a cool story.

 

A local department store here in Omaha called Woolco had a Space Invader competition back in the day too! Me and some friends from school entered. We practiced like hell the week before and thought we would for sure win it. Unfortunately we all got our asses handed to us by the winner. I forget what his score was now, but it was nuts.

 

Woolco is long gone now, too.

[D.Yancey]

That's a cool story.  

 

A local department store here in Omaha called Woolco had a Space Invader competition back in the day too!  Me and some friends from school entered.  We practiced like hell the week before and thought we would for sure win it.  Unfortunately we all got our asses handed to us by the winner.  I forget what his score was now, but it was nuts.  

 

Woolco is long gone now, too.

 

Woolco is where I bought my 2600 and several games. I still have several of the original handwritten store receipts. Cool! They had one of the stand alone demo Atari cabinets. I could stay there and play all day.

[sku_u]

Somehow, I ended up with an old Woolco receipt in a collection of games I won off Ebay. I've held onto it because it's interesting.

 

Nice SI story. I wish I had one similar, but I don't.

[Blackjack]

I remember those stores........ Woolworth's Woolco