JayAre

Hizzy, I have some more pictures of the Family Vacation, and I went through them all, and I'm attaching pictures where we can match up more teams with their respective colors. So here we have The Kiwis. By the way, I love this picture. It tells a whole story. Check out the guy at the bottom, just sitting there, watching everyone else work. I guess he was supervising. And then, his teammate on the top-left (in the glasses), looking over at him, thinking "You lazy, son of a....." Hizzy, you were right, The Bananas can be be seen here in yellowish shirts. Now, there are several teams in this picture, but I can't make out any additional team names that we haven't already I believe that's The Pineapples there on the left The Kumquats. I think this was Dan Kitchen's team. In my original post, there's a picture of Dan with a shirt that might be this same color And I'm guessing these could be either the papayas or the mangos

That's a great idea, Wiz. There are so many promo items scattered throughout different threads. It'd be nice to have everything in one location.

That's right, Hizzy. The Figs and Cashews were two of the teams in the Beach Olympiad. One of the pics that I posted shows a scoreboard with all 12 of the teams that participated. Across the top of the scoreboard, you'll see six columns. Each column represents an event in the olympiad. And the entire competition took place over the course of two days (Saturday, June 26 & Sunday, June 27; from 2P.M.-5P.M. each day). Each day, six events took place, for a total of 12 events over the two days. I've listed 11 different events in my initial post, but beach volleyball took place both days. I asked the former Activision employee if she remembers which team won the competition, but she doesn't recall. She does remember that the Cashews won the sandcastle building competition, with that awesome Activision logo that you'll see in one of the pictures. By the way, David Crane was a member of the Cashews. I hope I didn't bore you guys with all this information.

I can see how you would think that about the coasters; they're in absolutely pristine condition. The Activision employee kept everything in immaculate shape. But yeah, everything is from 1981-1983. She was explaining to me how, when Activision would release a game, the company would give every employee a copy of the game, along with whatever promotional item(s) was associated with it. The employees would usually show up to work in the morning and would find these cool gifts on their desks. From everything she's told me, it really was an awesome place at which to work.

It's been my pleasure, CVGA. I'm glad that you've enjoyed everything.

I totally agree with you, Rom Collector. Especially for items like these, which are fairly scarce, it would be ideal for them to end up in a museum one day, for everyone to enjoy.

Good question, JHD. Well, I just contacted the former employee (from whom I got all these items), and she told me that every employee received one of these engraved paper weights.

My favorites are those coasters and that OINK! pen.

I'm posting pictures of these Activision promo items, because I had never seen them before, and I don't see any online pics of them either. Enjoy! STAMPEDE leather coasters GRAND PRIX racing jacket (front) GRAND PRIX racing jacket (back) Activision pens Activision coffee mugs Activision bumper stickers TENNIS jacket (front) TENNIS jacket (back) PLAQUE ATTACK pencil eraser Activision paper weight, with Barnstorming and Grand Prix images. These were given to employees; employee name is engraved on top (which I've covered). The top of the paper weight also has the Activision logo, but it's difficult to see, because of the reflection TENNIS towel DECATHLON jogging suit (front of jacket) DECATHLON jogging suit (back of jacket) DECATHLON jogging suit (pants) OINK! promo pen

Hey, Draw, thanks for the kind words. I'm glad that everyone's been enjoying the pictures. Like you said, it's incredible to be able to see these pics after all these years. When I first saw them, I was completely blown away. Here's a thread from a while back with some more info. on the event, in case you or anyone else is interested.

Blazer, that's awesome. Thanks so much for the information.

You're welcome. Yeah, that's what it looks like - that the controllers came in their own box.

Bill, I don't know if this answers your questions, but here goes. I'm attaching a scan from the book titled Classic 80s Home Video Games by Robert P. Wicker and Jason W. Brassard. As you can see, for the Race big box, a complete set (fourth bullet point) would include the hang tab outer box and the gatefold cartridge box. And under the controller (third bullet point), it looks like it came in a "standard box". Hope this helps, at least partially.

Just noticed something. In the picture where David Crane is receiving an award, there's a FREEWAY cart (or the image of one) on the plaque. Although the label color is different. Maybe it was an award for sales associated with the game.

Well, here's a rebate coupon from the U.S. with several games, and Empire is one of them. I hope this answers your question.

The former Actimite (as Activision employees called themselves) from whom I got the pictures told me that she still might have her "Family Vacation" and "Beach Olympiad" t-shirts. She's looking for them. If she finds them, I'll be sure to post pictures. Fingers crossed...

You're welcome, guys.

You're very welcome, Rom. My pleasure. Glad you liked them.

And to think those pictures are almost 40 years old.

In 1982, Activision took all of its employees (and a guest) on an all-expenses paid 4-day vacation to Maui, to celebrate the company's success. The event was called the Activision Family Vacation. I was able to acquire pictures from the event and would like to share them with all of you. You'll see the guests wearing "Beach Olympiad" t-shirts. This was a competition comprised of the following events: sandcastle building, lei relay, canoe race, balloon walk, swimming relay, beach volleyball, sack race, egg toss, hula hoop, tug-o-war & pool volleyball. There were 12 teams made up of 18 to 20 participants each. Every team was named after a fruit or nut, to go with the tropical theme. I'm sure you guys will recognize the game designers in the pictures, but I'll point them out, just in case. Other activities included: a golf tournament, tennis tournament, snorkeling, surfing & horseback riding. Enjoy the pictures! Garry Kitchen Guests stayed at the Kapalua Bay Hotel Dan Kitchen, sporting a Chopper Command promotional cap The winning entry in the sandcastle building contest Alan Miller Carol Shaw David Crane, Bob Whitehead and Steve Cartwright David Crane and Jim Levy

I'm glad you enjoyed the information. I'd love to see what that helicopter looked like, with a retrofitted TV screen and 2600 console. I imagine it was all set up in the cockpit, and the competitors were able to sit in the pilot's chair to play the game. That must have been a pretty awesome experience.

I found the attached article on video game contests in a 1982 issue of a kids' magazine called SuperMag. The article mentions contests for two 2600 games: Chopper Command and Ice Hockey. In case the text is too small to read, here's the information: "Activision held their Chopper Command Challenge in a helicopter!" "Activision's Ice Hockey finals featured New York Rangers' star Ron Duguay. The challengers, who had to be 15 years old or under, played the pros to win the Activision Cup and $500." I looked online for info. on these two contests, but I couldn't find anything on the Chopper Command Challenge. There were a few articles regarding the Ice Hockey contest; I'm attaching one of those, along with a pic of Bryan Trottier during the contest.

CVGA, I think you're right. I just measured my Bill Madlock bat, and it's 29". I went on eBay searching for these Atari bats, and saw another Bill Madlock bat at 30.75". There was a Joe Morgan at 28", a Jack Clark at 27" and this Darrell Evans one at 28". According to a baseball website, in the modern era, the shortest MLB bat was used by Tony Gwynn at 32.25", with the longest being used by Babe Ruth and Joe DiMaggio at 36". The most popular size being 34". So, these are definitely not regulation-sized bats. Maybe they were made in assorted sizes, like you suggested.

Good observations. I hadn't noticed that.

Beautiful picture. Hadn't noticed this before, but there are three different bat lengths. Could it be that they were made according to the bat lengths that these players used during their careers? If so, that's pretty nice attention to detail. Congrats on the collection, Wiz.