1930 replies to this topic

[Rom Hunter]

"Hold your controller with the red button to your lower left toward your television Screen."

Eh...

[Carey85]

I think the April Fool's joke should be shipping this box in a bubble mailer when the auction is over .

[tkarner]

Men-A-Vision? Rainbow logo? Big pink letters on the side?

Looks so Village People to me. (Not that there's anything wrong with that)

[PingvinBlueJeans]

Philflound, on Wed Mar 31, 2010 1:19 AM, said:

PS: What I don't like about the box is that the Men-A-Vision company name has a registered trademark ® at the end of it at the top of the box, but does not have it when it's mentioned on the bottom or the back. Also, if the company was registered, would there be proof of it somewhere in the government records?

That alone doesn't mean anything.  Various companies claimed trademarks and such that they never actually filed locally or nationally.  I highly doubt anyone would attempt to obtain a copyright/trademark on a pirate hack of a game.

crunchysuperman, on Wed Mar 31, 2010 8:05 AM, said:

If men-a-vision was based in LA and had the box printed in Taiwan, then we have to assume that the owners of the company really are that bad with the English language.  The manufacturer would have printed the box as designed by the customer (men-a-vision).

The game clearly came from a Hong Kong or Taiwan-based operation, like all the other pirate junk...hence the poor language.  The L.A. thing means very little.  Panda Video Games gave an address in Charlotte, NC on the back of their game boxes.  No legitimate corporation/LLC/business entity called Panda Video Games ever existed (per corporate records of the state of North Carolina).  So that was either a bogus name for something else, or they were operating completely illegally.  Same thing with Men-A-Vision...no records whatsoever (I've looked).

It certainly makes sense that both Men-A-Vision and Panda were operating under the radar, since hacking/pirating of games isn't exactly legal.  

Albert, on Wed Mar 31, 2010 8:18 AM, said:

It's good to be skeptical.  I'm reserving judgment until I have an opportunity to inspect the box firsthand.  It'll be fairly obvious if this is a "one-off" box that was made recently.  Also, if there is more detail in the artwork on the box (likely since it's much larger than the label), someone would have had to basically recreate that artwork from scratch if they wanted to make a fake box.  It does also appear to be a die-cut box (as opposed to hand cut).  If the box was offset printed (on top of everything else), someone would have gone through a lot of trouble to produce this single box.

Indeed...and the market of potential customers for Air Raid repro boxes is not very large.

[Albert]

I had a chance to meet Tanner this morning and take a good look at the Air Raid box and cartridge.  After doing so, I'm of the opinion this is a legitimate box and that someone is going to be adding a thus far one-of-a-kind box to their collection soon.  As valuable as such a box is, it seems unlikely that someone would be able to produce a box of this nature so convincingly without spending a good amount of time and money in doing so.

Everything about the box seems authentic to me, from the chipboard paper stock used, the offset printing, the die-cut nature of the box, the aging of the box interior, the insert with the plastic tray perfectly sized to the cartridge, the horrible typesetting (which would be a lot of work to reproduce digitally!), the "Tuesday the wear of the box, and more.  Also, the artwork on the front of the box certainly was not "blown up" from a label scan--as I stated earlier, it would have had to been redrawn from scratch to match the label artwork if this was a fake.  

If I had this in my collection I would not doubt its authenticity.  

I took quite a few pictures and even some video, which I will post later (I will not be home until later this evening).  

..Al

[Rick Weis]

I think I must be dreaming!      I hope this is not a April Fools joke for Sooooooo many reasons!

Rick

[Cebus Capucinis]

VERY COOL! VERY VERY COOL!

[Charles Nilsen]

In all seriousness, someone should make a high-quality repo of this box. Be a nice piece of shelf candy for collectors, even those without the cartridge. I would imagine something like this could be pulled together fairly inexpensively and make a bit of extra cash for the owner(s).

[nevets260]

Tanman, on Tue Mar 30, 2010 8:59 PM, said:

As you guys have been reading over the past week and a half, I have been going through and unpacking all my old game systems and computers. Well tonight, in one of the last boxes, I found all my 2600 cart boxes including the Air Raid box. I was incorrect about there not being any writing on the box. As you can see below there is a lot. I believe that I was remembering the cardboard and plastic sleeve that holds the cart inside the box.

As I have been saying I am new to the whole eBay thing but here is what I plan to do. I am going to take the auction down and relist it very soon. Maybe as early as tomorrow night. Please provide me as much advice as you guys can because I know that having the box takes this to a whole new level. You guys have been great over the past many days and your help is very much appreciated.

Thanks!

Here you go!

Holy Fuck Dude!!!!!! This is gonna put the game way out of my price range shit.  I wish I could piss excellence

[Zach]

It's an April Fool's "joke", unless the OP explicitly states otherwise.

[Trade-N-Games]

I dont know what to say other than we are all part of this neat Atari history with this games box. My guess is this will go to someone we dont really know from the community. The price will put it out of all of our hands. My guess is some comic collector with more money than we can dream about will "invest". If it only reaches Statium events price maybe it could stay. However I think the value on this will blow all our minds. It seems very real and if Albert says its good we dont have anything to worry about other than more fake boxes for sale soon.

[Tanman]

Ok.... It is not a joke. Issue resolved.

Zach, on Wed Mar 31, 2010 11:37 AM, said:

It's an April Fool's "joke", unless the OP explicitly states otherwise.

[Thomas Jentzsch]

Canon PowerShot SD790 IS

Hmm...

[DickNixonArisen]

heh.. the game is barely playable, but the box actually looks pretty nice. I kinda wish it WAS a joke for some reason. This would have to be the rarest non-unique (like the swordquest golden chalice) atari item around, right?

[Zach]

Tanman, on Wed Mar 31, 2010 11:41 AM, said:

Ok.... It is not a joke. Issue resolved.

Zach, on Wed Mar 31, 2010 11:37 AM, said:

It's an April Fool's "joke", unless the OP explicitly states otherwise.

Yay! Congratulations on your find, Tanman. It's like a modest lottery win. And it's great for the community to finally find out that a box exists, and the the game really is called Air Raid.

[Philflound]

Wear on corners and sides of boxes can be reproduced. In fact, watching Antiques Roadshow often, both US and British versions, there are times when even the "experts" have been fooled by fakes, and have actually admitted to purchasing fakes. Knowledge is power, but not foolproof.

If it's real, I hope Wonder gets it for his museum project. It's the only place it should be. If more are found, that would be great. I always say there are treasures to be found in the wild, even with Ebay, the internet and the exposure vintage video games get now. There are plenty of "moms" out there in their 60s and older whose children moved away, or heaven forbid, passed away, who don't use a computer. Heck, my mom just started using facebook and she's about to turn 61. We used to joke that she couldn't use a VCR.

I find stuff all the time. In fact, this past Saturday I found a woman selling stickers from the early 1980s for 50 cents a pack. In there were 2 Donkey Kong ripoffs. I say ripoffs because there was no licensing info or dates, but the quality of the characters were superb. She told me she has more stickers at home. I may try and buy her out of everything for even a cheaper price per piece.

In the mid-1990s, I had an opportunity to purchase a vast collection of stuff that was from the 1960s and 1970s. This would have made me a millionaire in the long run, and I kick myself for not doing it. But this was a time pre-Ebay, I would've needed a VAST storage facility, and the money wasn't right there. But I did pick up some 1964 coloring books for 50 cents each from her and recently just sold one for $50. So I still believe stuff is out there and it's just a matter of time another Air Raid box surfaces, especially if this is real. The publicity may entice people to start digging.

Phil

[Mirage]

Mr. Galaxian, on Wed Mar 31, 2010 6:00 AM, said:

Mirage, on Wed Mar 31, 2010 3:58 AM, said:

So, it really is called "Air Raid"? [...]

No Terry Rutt stated in some article that this was what the name is. [...]

Okay, thanks. I missed that.

This is pretty exciting, whether it's real or not. This morning I was leaning toward thinking it was fake, but after reading everything else, I'm strongly leaning toward thinking this is real. Fun to see what this goes for.

[White Knight]

Albert, on Wed Mar 31, 2010 7:15 AM, said:

crunchysuperman, on Wed Mar 31, 2010 7:06 AM, said:

Too many things about that box scream "FAKE" to me.

Care to elaborate?

..Al

Every collector knows Men-A-Vision supposedly made only one game, Air Raid. Right on the box it says "Debut" game by Men-A-Vision. That screams overt to me, like an over-done hoax. I hope I'm wrong, I really do.

[Shawn Sr.]

Dear God I hope this is real.

[Mirage]

The big question then is... what is the April Fool's joke this year. See, that's the one thing making me suspicious of this. But then there's the real ebay auction on the cart. Aye caramba!

[PingvinBlueJeans]

White Knight, on Wed Mar 31, 2010 12:20 PM, said:

Every collector knows Men-A-Vision supposedly made only one game, Air Raid. Right on the box it says "Debut" game by Men-A-Vision. That screams overt to me, like an over-done hoax. I hope I'm wrong, I really do.

What does that matter?  As if any company actually planned to make only one game.    

[White Knight]

PingvinBlueJeans, on Wed Mar 31, 2010 12:26 PM, said:

White Knight, on Wed Mar 31, 2010 12:20 PM, said:

Every collector knows Men-A-Vision supposedly made only one game, Air Raid. Right on the box it says "Debut" game by Men-A-Vision. That screams overt to me, like an over-done hoax. I hope I'm wrong, I really do.

What does that matter?  As if any company actually planned to make only one game.    

It matters because no company ever says "debut" game. Since we all know it was their first (and supposedly last) game, it sounds a bit overt. For example, like hoping a person sees it and says "Wow, it even says debut, so it must be legit!" Like I said, I could be wrong and hope I am.

[Cebus Capucinis]

Time will tell and we shall see! I am going to reserve judgment. I think it is cool that Al can back it up and I trust his judgment! I just don't want to say with finality one way or the other because I'm a chicken.

[Mad Hatter]

Funny that it mentions Manhatten on the back of the box.  I was recently thinking that the two tall thin buildings in the drawing were a crude depiction of the World Trade Center.  Not sure if any of the other buildings in the drawing bear similarity to actual buildings in Manhatten.  I'm also surprised by the "1982" date.  Great stuff though!

Edited by Mad Hatter, Wed Mar 31, 2010 12:45 PM.

[PingvinBlueJeans]

White Knight, on Wed Mar 31, 2010 12:37 PM, said:

It matters because no company ever says "debut" game. Since we all know it was their first (and supposedly last) game, it sounds a bit overt. For example, like hoping a person sees it and says "Wow, it even says debut, so it must be legit!" Like I said, I could be wrong and hope I am.

No, it really doesn't matter.  Overanalysis of the specific language used on the box is a straw man argument at best (and a complete red herring at worst).  It's neither here nor there....the text is hardly the issue here.

If you want to make a case for a hoax, focus logically on the things that are incredibly hard to fake...

How did the purported faker get flawless artwork to use for the box when every Air Raid label I've ever seen has various degrees of dark mottling from adhesive bleedthrough?  How did they blow up the image from the cart label, yet get no resulting distortion in the box image?