PICS of Activision promotional items

[PICS of Activision promotional items]

What a cool t-shirt.  Can you guys spot all the Activision games referenced in the shirt?

 

[PICS of Activision promotional items]

Never seen this one before...

 

[Star Raiders - McDonald's scratch off game]

10 hours ago, cvga said:

They have those same scratch offs for Missile Command, Asteroids and I think Centipede.

You're right, CVGA.  I've seen scratch-offs for Star Raiders, Missile Command, Asteroids and Centipede.

 

[1982 Activision Family Vacation]

I just received this vintage photo album which was made to commemorate Activision's 1982 Family Vacation to Maui.  I'm sure many of you remember these vintage photo albums.

 

It's impressive how much merchandise Activision produced in the early 80s.  For this event alone, the company had the following items made:  golf towel, sunglass case, photo album, t-shirts, banners, visor, beach towel.  And I'm guessing there were other items as well.

 

 

[PICS of Activision promotional items]

1 hour ago, sramirez2008 said:

Lol! Wouldn't fly today.

Yep.  If you put "gaping holes" in Google Images, it's not exactly what Jim Levy and the boys envisioned.

[PICS of Activision promotional items]

Just updating the thread with another cool Activision button.

 

Anyone else think that the Gaping Holes tagline is rather, um, suggestive?

 

[PICS of Activision promotional items]

Just added this button to the ole collection; I had never seen it before.  Got it from a seller in the U.K., so maybe it was never available in the U.S.

 

[PICS of Activision promotional items]

41 minutes ago, jahfish said:

here's some more ... 

Jahfish, that was awesome!  Fantastic items.  Thanks so much for sharing these.

[Lenticular sticker COLLECTION]

1 hour ago, cvga said:

Cool sticker. I'm glad you got it!

Thanks, CVGA.  I appreciate that.

[Lenticular sticker COLLECTION]

Just picked up this lenticular sticker.  I don't think it's from the series of stickers in this thread, but it's an interesting item, nonetheless.

 

[Interesting Activision contests from 1982]

I came across this picture in an Activision publication from the U.K.  It's a picture from Activision's 1982 ICE HOCKEY tournament.

 

That's Ron Duguay (aka Jon Bon Jovi) of the New York Rangers playing against one of the contestants.  We can see Jim Levy in the background.

 

There's even a "referee" presiding over the action.  I wonder if that was an actual NHL ref.

 

[1983 RealSports Major League Baseball Schedule]

1 hour ago, cvga said:

Yeah, even growing up in the midwest, I was surprised that there weren't any MLB teams in Florida given its population, spring training home for most teams back then and the popularity of baseball in Caribbean in general. Hard to believe the Braves were the only team around and that they were in the National League West with the Reds while the Cubs and Cardinals were in the East lol.

You're right.  It's interesting the way the divisions were aligned back then.

 

8 hours ago, ledzep said:

Is it possible for you to scan the full page for the Dodgers/Padres example?  My brother would love that.

Here's the scan you requested, Zep.

 

If anyone would like to see the complete scan of any other schedules, just let me know.

 

 

 

 

[1983 RealSports Major League Baseball Schedule]

9 hours ago, cvga said:

That's really interesting. I wonder why they paired Seattle and Atlanta also. I guess there weren't enough National League teams in the Northwest. I also noticed that there was another version with Baltimore and Atlanta paired together. Maybe Atlanta was a popular choice due to all their games being broadcast on TBS.

CVGA, you bring up a good point.  I just noticed that the Braves appeared a total of three times in these schedules - more than any other team.  Like you said, probably due to the team's popularity, from its games being broadcast nationwide on TBS.  And also that it was pretty much the only MLB team in the southeast in 1983.

 

Weren't the Braves known as America's Team back then?  Although I think the Cowboys laid claim to the name first.

[1983 RealSports Major League Baseball Schedule]

An issue of the Inside Atari newsletter (which was distributed to Atari retailers) indicates that this 1983 RealSports MLB schedule was included as a centerfold insert in the following magazines:  Sports Illustrated (4/25/83) and SPORT Magazine (June 83).  With this info., I was able to track down the schedules for all the MLB teams in 1983, with the exception of the Expos & Blue Jays.  Maybe Canada was excluded from this promotion.

 

As I mentioned in my original post, for the most part, it seems that Atari paired up teams that were in proximity to each other, in order to cover multiple markets with just one schedule.  The most glaring exception to this is the pairing of the Mariners & Braves; I don't know if you could have chosen two teams that were farther apart.

 

The first 4 scans below are an example of a complete insert (for the teams representing the great state of Ohio).  For the remaining schedules, I scanned just the portion which indicates the team(s), followed by a scan of the back of the insert, which lists Atari retailers in those areas, including neighboring states.  You guys might want to take a look at the ones that correspond to where you grew up, as you may recognize some of those retailers.

 

By the way, if anyone has any other schedules not shown here (i.e. with different team combinations or the Canadian teams), please let me know, as I'd like to know if I'm missing any.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[PICS of Activision promotional items]

Here's a Seaquest promo card.  It's the size of a postcard.

 

 

[ATARI COMPANY STORE PRICE GUIDE FEB/82 COOL AND STRANGE ITEMS]

26 minutes ago, sramirez2008 said:

I love this stuff. Thanks for researching and posting👍

I’m sure someone ordered that “69” jersey. I would like to see the Asteroids t-shirt. That’s my favorite coin-op.

My pleasure.  In that same newsletter, there's an Asteroids t-shirt.  Might be the one that they're referring to.

 

[ATARI COMPANY STORE PRICE GUIDE FEB/82 COOL AND STRANGE ITEMS]

Well, I was wrong about the Portfolio in my last post.  In the AtariAge newsletter (which was the official publication of the Atari Game Club, before it became the AtariAge magazine), there's a picture of the actual Portfolio.  There's also a pair of sunglasses, which might be the Glasses that are being referred to in the price guide.

 

 

[ATARI COMPANY STORE PRICE GUIDE FEB/82 COOL AND STRANGE ITEMS]

18 minutes ago, gorfulator said:

OK AA community keep it coming! 

Not sure, but this one might be the Portfolio.

 

 

[ATARI COMPANY STORE PRICE GUIDE FEB/82 COOL AND STRANGE ITEMS]

23 hours ago, gorfulator said:

Love to see a pic of all these items! 

I'm attaching pics of some items which might be the ones listed in the price guide, but I'm not sure.  On each picture, I've put the name of the item, as it appears in the guide.

 

Back Packs-Adult (Canvas)

 

 

Duffel Bag (Canvas)

 

Tennis Bag (Vinyl)

 

Clock (Wood-Laser engraved)

 

Solid Brass Buckle

[PICTURES of Activision's 1982 Family Vacation to Maui]

15 hours ago, Machine said:

So I finally ordered a few Tshirts based on this thread! They are not nearly as cool as the originals, but they are something I can wear and not feel bad about doing it!

They look fantastic.  Great job!

[Columbia Video Game Club Magazine (Do you have any?)]

RT, I have issues 1 through 7 (excluding 2), along with the paperwork that came with these mailings.  As you may remember, with these clubs, you would receive a card that you had to return indicating whether or not you wanted the Selection of the Month.  I have the card stub for some of these issues, which indicates the due date by which you had to return the card.  Knowing these due dates will give you an approximate date of when the issues were distributed.  Maybe that information might help you in some way.  Here are the details:

 

Issue #1 - I don't have the card stub for this issue

Issue #2 - I don't have this issue

Issue #3 - 7/11/1983

Issue #4 - I don't have the card stub for this issue

Issue #5 - 10/3/1983

Issue #6 - 11/14/1983

Issue #7 - 12/26/1983

[Columbia Video Game Club Magazine (Do you have any?)]

7 hours ago, Atari_Bill said:

I didn’t realize that #1 wasn’t available.  I have a copy of that as well as a few others.  

Bill, by chance, would you happen to have issue no. 2, or any others beyond no. 7?  If you do, it would be great if you could upload images, as they might contain the info. that Random Terrain is looking for.  In this thread, we've covered 1 through 7, with the exception of 2.  Although I don't know if any issues existed beyond 7.  Thanks.

[Columbia Video Game Club Magazine (Do you have any?)]

On 3/30/2018 at 11:27 PM, Random Terrain said:

Digitpress.com has issues 4 through 7:

digitpress.com/archives/columbiahouse/index.htm

 

But does anyone have any more or are there others online that I haven't been able to find so far? I ask because AtariAge says that Bumper Bash, Gas Hog, and Mangia were sold by Columbia House and so far I only see these Spectravision/Spectravideo games:

Mangia and Nexar in number 4.

Planet Patrol, Master Builder and Nexar in number 5.

Planet Patrol in number 6.

Master Builder in number 7.

 

I'd like to see the ones that included Bumper Bash and Gas Hog. (I'd like to see every Columbia Video Game Club Magazine that sold Atari 2600 games if I could, but those two would be a good start.)

Here are the scans for issues no. 1 and 3 (under the name CBS Video Game Club, which is what the club was originally called).  Unfortunately, Bumper Bash and Gas Hog don't appear.  But at least we have images of these issues now, as I don't believe these had surfaced online until now.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Who's logo is this?]

On 9/28/2020 at 1:39 AM, Jorbus said:

So I recently acquired a case for 2600 cartridges with this little logo on it and no other info about who released it except this tiny logo sticker (about the size of a US postage stamp) on the dust cover. Anyone have any idea who manufactured this thing?

 

The logo belongs to ALS Industries Inc.  ALS was the company that manufactured both the Atari Game Center and Sears Tele-Games Center.

 

[Sears flyer]

Especially that Atari Corp. was known to do stuff like this.  Like when they used black tape to cover up the incorrect controller info. on the carts.  And I've seen plenty of Atari Corp. boxes & manuals that indicate that they were printed/made in Taiwan, Hong Kong or China.  I was just reading online that Atari Corp. discontinued ATARI SERVICE at some point after they took over, so it makes sense that they would cover that up.  So, yeah, this looks like it might be an Atari Corp. job.