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EdgeOfPortal
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Posts posted by EdgeOfPortal
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Thank you @Intymike and @cmart604 for the Radofin photos! We now have photos for all Radofin variants, even if not all are complete. Logo and Advanced Dungeons and Dragons are incomplete, and need an upgrade.
5 hours ago, Intymike said:16k Memory
My copy of Mattel 16k Memory also includes this special notice.
I replaced my Mattel photo with this one as well. Mine also has the special notice now that I checked, I must've forgotten to include it in the photo.
One concern I have is that many of the Mattel titles originally came packaged with catalogs in them, but that would be difficult to confirm which catalogs were included with which game unless we started opening sealed copies of Mattel variants. -
11 minutes ago, Albert said:
Done, you can now edit those two posts indefinitely.
..Al
Thank you!
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Hi, I'd like to request to have edit permissions on the first two posts of the following thread. It is a reference post, so I need to be able to update it with new information at any point. Thank you!
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https://www.ebay.com/itm/234930355390
Here's a nice Radofin variant of Astrosmash for the Aquarius. Can't tell if it has controller overlays, they could be under the cart.
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I'm doing some research for future posts on the thread mentioned in the previous reply. If anyone owns Radofin variants of Aquarius cartridges, could you please check what Quality Check number is shown on the blue sticker on the back of the cart shell? Note that I am not looking for the QC numbers associated with Radofin-exclusives such as Melody Chase and Space Speller. I've made a form for this purpose:
https://forms.gle/63xWERuexZNWNbc38
This data will go towards improving our knowledge of Radofin variants, and will eventually be used in a future post on that thread. Thank you!
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I'm doing some research for future posts here. If anyone owns Radofin variants of Aquarius cartridges, could you please check what Quality Check number is shown on the blue sticker on the back of the cart shell? Note that I am not looking for the QC numbers associated with Radofin-exclusives such as Melody Chase and Space Speller. I've made a form for this purpose:
https://forms.gle/63xWERuexZNWNbc38
This data will go towards improving our knowledge of Radofin variants, and will eventually be used in a future post on this thread. Thank you!
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A new topic has been created to document the contents of Aquarius cartridges and their variants.
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This post is intended to accompany the Aquarius Collecting List post, which can be found here:
https://forums.atariage.com/topic/301304-aquarius-aquarius-collecting-list/
I've wanted to create a post like this for a long time now, but I wanted to wait until I had fully completed my Aquarius set (all boxes, all overlays, all manuals, all carts). As of this month (March 2023), I have successfully done that!
The goal of this post is to document the contents of each Aquarius cartridge with photos, determine the differences between each variant, and provide a reference for future collectors. A common topic in the Aquarius community that I have noticed is the exact contents of the later releases. They are extremely hard to come by, are often missing overlays, and the manuals provide incorrect information, and so until now the exact contents have not been documented. I have been lucky enough to acquire every overlay with each of my carts, so this post will fix that issue.Secondly, I would like to document Aquarius variants. Aquarius titles typically had at minimum two variants: a Mattel release and a Radofin release. Radofin releases were produced after Mattel sold the Aquarius' rights back to Radofin, and were produced in smaller quantities and are much more common in Europe than North America. They can be identified by the removal of Mattel branding from the packaging and in many cases the addition of 1 or more languages other than English to the packaging. There are more variants for some titles, such as Finnish language manuals.
In the future, I will make another post similar to this one covering hardware and their variations, and possibly one for cassettes as well.
Here we go! This post will document 21/20 of the Aquarius library, or in other words the full set as well as the store demonstration cart.
4K Memory:
Total Contents of Mattel Variant: Box, Plastic Tray, Cartridge.
Total Contents of Radofin Variant: Box, Plastic Tray, Cartridge, Manual.
Only the Radofin version contains a manual, and this has been verified with sealed copies of 4K memory.
Differences between Radofin and Mattel Variants: Removal of Mattel branding, addition of several languages, addition of a paper manual.
16K Memory:
Total Contents of Mattel Variant: Box, Plastic Tray, Cartridge, Special Notice
Total Contents of Radofin Variant: Box, Plastic Tray, Cartridge, Manual.
Only the Radofin version contains a manual, and this has been verified with sealed copies of 16K memory.
Differences between Radofin and Mattel Variants: Removal of Mattel branding, addition of several languages, addition of a paper manual.
Photos Credit of @Intymike
32K Memory
No Mattel variant was released.
Total Contents of Radofin Variant: Box, Oversized Plastic Tray, Cartridge, Manual.
Modem
No Radofin variant has been found.
Total Contents of Mattel Variant: Box, Cardboard Tray, Cartridge, Cassette Tape, Manual and brochures/catalogs.
FileForm
Total Contents of Mattel Variant: Box, Cardboard Tray, Cartridge, Manual, Left + Right KB Overlays.
Total Contents of Radofin Variant: Box, Cardboard Tray, Cartridge, Manual, Left + Right KB Overlays.
Differences between Radofin and Mattel Variants: Removal of Mattel branding, addition of several languages, manual binding is no longer spiral.
FinForm
Total Contents of Mattel Variant: Box, Cardboard Tray, Cartridge, Manual, Left + Right KB Overlays.
Total Contents of Radofin Variant: Box, Cardboard Tray, Cartridge, Manual, Left + Right KB Overlays.
Differences between Radofin and Mattel Variants: Removal of Mattel branding, addition of several languages, manual binding is no longer spiral. Note that the Radofin version of this title still uses a Mattel Electronics branded manual. This is not a mistake, as I have confirmed this with 3 copies of the Radofin variant.
Logo
Total Contents of Mattel Variant: Box, Cardboard Tray, Cartridge, Manual, Left + Right KB Overlays.
Total Contents of Radofin Variant: Box, Cardboard Tray, Cartridge, Manual, Left + Right KB Overlays.
Differences between Radofin and Mattel Variants: Removal of Mattel branding
Photo of Radofin Variant Credit of @cmart604. Radofin Variant Photo is incomplete, and needs an upgrade.
Extended Microsoft Basic
No Mattel variant was released.
Total Contents of Radofin Variant: Box, Cardboard Tray, Cartridge, Manual, Left + Right KB Overlays.
*This example is in bad condition, if you have a better condition example, please post a picture.
Advanced Dungeons & Dragons: Treasure of Tarmin
Total Contents of Mattel Variant: Box, Plastic Tray, Cartridge, Manual, Left + Right KB Overlays, 2 Controller Overlays.
Total Contents of Radofin Variant: Box, Plastic Tray, Cartridge, Manual, Left + Right KB Overlays, 2 Controller Overlays.
Differences between Radofin and Mattel Variants: Removal of Mattel branding
Photo of Radofin Variant Credit of @cmart604. Radofin Variant Photo is missing manual, and needs an upgrade.
Astrosmash
Total Contents of Mattel Variant: Box, Plastic Tray, Cartridge, Manual, Left + Right KB Overlays, 2 Controller Overlays.
Total Contents of Radofin Variant: Box, Plastic Tray, Cartridge, Manual, Left + Right KB Overlays, 2 Controller Overlays.
Differences between Radofin and Mattel Variants: Removal of Mattel branding, addition of several languages.
Biorhythms
Total Contents of Mattel Variant: Box, Plastic Tray, Cartridge, Manual.
Total Contents of Radofin Variant: Box, Plastic Tray, Cartridge, Manual.
Differences between Radofin and Mattel Variants: Removal of Mattel branding, addition of several languages.
Note that this is the only software release that does not contain any overlays at all.
BurgerTime
Total Contents of Mattel Variant: Box, Plastic Tray, Cartridge, Manual, Left + Right KB Overlays, 2 Controller Overlays.
Total Contents of Radofin Variant: Box, Plastic Tray, Cartridge, Manual, Left + Right KB Overlays, 2 Controller Overlays.
Differences between Radofin and Mattel Variants: Removal of Mattel branding, copyright information on cartridge is blue instead of white.
Nightstalker
Total Contents of Mattel Variant: Box, Plastic Tray, Cartridge, Manual, Left + Right KB Overlays, 2 Controller Overlays.
Total Contents of Radofin Variant: Box, Plastic Tray, Cartridge, Manual, Left + Right KB Overlays, 2 Controller Overlays.
Differences between Radofin and Mattel Variants: Removal of Mattel branding
Photo of Radofin Variant Credit of @Intymike
Snafu
Total Contents of Mattel Variant: Box, Plastic Tray, Cartridge, Manual, Left + Right KB Overlays, 2 Controller Overlays.
Total Contents of Radofin Variant: Box, Plastic Tray, Cartridge, Manual, Left + Right KB Overlays, 2 Controller Overlays.
Differences between Radofin and Mattel Variants: Removal of Mattel branding
Photo of Radofin Variant Credit of @Intymike
Tron: Deadly Discs
Total Contents of Mattel Variant: Box, Plastic Tray, Cartridge, Manual, Left + Right KB Overlays, 2 Controller Overlays.
Total Contents of Radofin Variant: Box, Plastic Tray, Cartridge, Manual, Left + Right KB Overlays, 2 Controller Overlays.
Differences between Radofin and Mattel Variants: Removal of Mattel branding, addition of several languages to packaging.
Photo of Radofin Variant Credit of @Intymike
Utopia
Total Contents of Mattel Variant: Box, Plastic Tray, Cartridge, Manual, Left + Right KB Overlays, 2 Controller Overlays.
Total Contents of Radofin Variant: Box, Plastic Tray, Cartridge, Manual, Left + Right KB Overlays, 2 Controller Overlays.
Differences between Radofin and Mattel Variants: Removal of Mattel branding
Photo of Radofin Variant Credit of @Intymike
Melody Chase
No Mattel variant was released.
Total Contents of Radofin Variant: Box, Plastic Tray, Cartridge, Manual, Left + Right KB Overlays, 2 Controller Overlays.
Chess
No Mattel variant was released.
Total Contents of Radofin Variant: Box, Plastic Tray, Cartridge, Manual, Left + Right KB Overlays.
Note that this is the only game that does not include controller overlays. This has been verified with multiple copies, and the manual does not state that controller overlays are included.
It is likely that a variant of Chess exists that has a small label with the title in the corner of the box's front, instead of a full color box art. Also note that the box art for Chess and Zero-In read "Cartridge Instructions". This is an example of Radofin's poor QA towards the end of the system's life cycle.
Zero-In
No Mattel variant was released.
Total Contents of Radofin Variant: Box, Plastic Tray, Cartridge, Manual, Left + Right KB Overlays, 2 Controller Overlays.
Note that although this game's manual states only one controller overlay is included, there are actually two in a complete copy. This is an example of Radofin's poor QA towards the end of the system's life cycle.
Unfortunately for variant collectors, Zero-In does have a variant. Instead of a full color box art, it only has a small printed label with the game's title in the corner. The two variants are pictured on the right. Also note that the box art for Chess and Zero-In read "Cartridge Instructions". This is another example of Radofin's poor QA towards the end of the system's life cycle.
Space Speller
No Mattel variant was released.
Total Contents of Radofin Variant: Box, Plastic Tray, Cartridge, Manual, Left + Right KB Overlays, 2 Controller Overlays.
Note that although this game's manual states only one controller overlay is included, there are actually two in a complete copy. This is an example of Radofin's poor QA towards the end of the system's life cycle.
Store Demonstration Cartridge (NOT REQUIRED FOR FULL SET)
It is unknown if there are variants, and since this is the only known boxed copy, it is possible there are inserts missing. This cartridge is not required for a full Aquarius set since it was not available commercially, and is only included here for reference.
Total Contents: Box, Plastic Tray, Cartridge.
That's all!
If anyone can provide photos for the missing Radofin variants, that would be greatly appreciated, and I will add them to the main post. If additional variants are discovered, they can be posted here and added to the main post.
I hope this serves as a helpful reference for both future and veteran collectors for the Aquarius. It will be linked to from the Aquarius Collecting List thread, which is pinned in the Intellivision/Aquarius subforum.
Thank you for reading through this behemoth of a post.
More discussion for the Aquarius can be found at the discord server, here:
We are always happy to welcome new members!
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21 minutes ago, vintagegamecrazy said:
Do you have pictures of the cartridge and what's included? I might be interested.
Sent you a DM. Thanks!
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Excellent trade with @sixersfan105! Hope to have more in the future. Traded a very rare Aquarius item and some Dreamcast items for Philips CDI software. Professional and quick to communicate with, packs items extremely well, ships quickly. A pleasure to deal with overall. Thanks!
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2 hours ago, JasonlikesINTV said:
These are so easy to reglue and I'm sure many have been reglued and sold as "sealed" over the years. I'm guessing half the ones on eBay. I'll always take mint opened items over sealed, especially if paying a premium. YMMV.
Sealed items have always been actually a negative for me, especially with vintage systems. As you said they are incredibly hard to verify, especially since systems and games had many different forms of ‘seals’ and ‘brand new condition’. If it’s mint but opened I get to pay less, know that what I’m getting is real and not fake (assuming you know it isn’t a repro anyway), and I’ll actually have access to the item’s contents.
There’s just benefits all the way down in my opinion to buying excellent condition used instead of new. I always felt as though there wasn’t really a reason to buy new if you were buying it for the hobby rather than the item’s value.
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5 minutes ago, Atari_Bill said:
Regarding q3, these are the French Canadian variations. Instead of creating an entirely new box, they put them in a sleeve. Intellivision did something very similar. I don’t know if every title was made with this or not, but I do know the sleeves are very hard to find. I have maybe 4 of them and that’s all I’ve ever had the opportunity to buy over 30+ years.
So what about examples like this one, then? They have the plastic European cases, but are labeled as Odyssey 2 and appear to have both French and English.
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Up for trade is an authentic Aquarius Extended Basic cartridge. I’m looking for a CIB copy of Power Lords for the Magnavox Odyssey 2, but will also consider other rarities.
The Extended Basic is mostly complete. It comes with the cartridge, manual, and overlays, but is missing the box. I also have other more common AQ duplicates for offer.
Also willing to pay cash instead for the Power Lords.
Let me know if interested. Thanks!-
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Hey, everyone!
I've just finished the very difficult Aquarius CIB set after a period of a few years where I collected almost nothing but for that system, and now I want to get back into some of the other systems I used to collect for. The Odyssey 2 is near the top of that list, but I'm a bit confused about a few things looking into it. I haven't been paying attention to this community for a long time now, so if some of these questions are particularly stupid, I apologize.
My goals for this system are to finish a US CIB set, get the Parker Brothers titles CIB, and get the Brazilian exclusives. I'm toying with the Canadian variants as well, but primarily the US games.
1. Is the O2 completely region-free in the Americas? I know that many of the European Videopac titles don't work on US systems, but is that also completely true for the Brazilian titles? From what I gather, the Parker Brothers games at least work in the US.
2. Is there a definitive list of Brazilian exclusives? I've seen the wonderful database at the-nextlevel.com, but it doesn't seem to have a list of solely the Brazilian exclusives. It looks like at the very least, from what I can tell, Clay Pigeon, Comando Noturno, and Super Bee are Brazil only. I can't tell if there are others.
3. As for the Canadian variants, do all games come in these types of boxes?:
The Canadian versions seem uncommon on eBay, and the ones I do see sometimes are in the European style plastic cases, or don't have their box at all.
4. Is the homebrew list on the-nextlevel considered the definitive list, or is there a more accurate one?
5. Are there more hardware variations than just the units with detachable controllers? By this, I mean variations in the hardware itself that affect usage, not label or box variations.
6. Lastly, is videopac.nl still the forum to go to? Have new discussion boards or discord server(s) popped up since I left?
I'm looking forward to getting back into this wonderful community and collection! Hopefully these questions aren't too bad.
P.S. If anyone has some of those O2 rarities such as the Brazilian titles, Parker Brothers, or Power Lords, I have very rare Aquarius items I can trade for them!
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28 minutes ago, cmart604 said:
Congrats! My Zero In is loose but for me I suspect that will be my complete collection unless I get lucky on a boxed one.
Thanks! I’ll DM you, we can talk about that.
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Well, everyone, I’ve done it. I don’t think I have been more excited for a package in a long, long time.
Caught this on eBay Italy right as it went up, still paid a fortune though. Space Speller was in my opinion the most difficult cart to obtain, as in 7 years this was the second copy I saw come up. It’s 100% complete, and working.
The entire, 20(+1) commercial cart library of the Mattel/Radofin Aquarius. That was painful. All of these are CIB with the exception of Melody Chase which is missing its controller overlays (will buy if you have them).
The (+1) refers to the store demonstration cart, which is the blank white box next to Melody Chase.
Anyway, I need to take a break and hunt for a less excruciatingly difficult system. Think I’ll finish up my Odyssey 2 set next.
I still want things like a complete Add-On cassette set, and Arabic Editor, as well as AQII and Quick Disk Drive, but as far as I’m concerned with the exception of the last three Add-On tapes I need, those are out of reach.
Still will be maintaining and working on Aquarius related community projects here, but as for the collection? I think it’s as complete as it really can be.
I got a lot of help with this from you all on AA, so the last words about the Aquarius set I want to say are thank you. I couldn’t have gotten this 3rd (?) ever complete AQ set without you all.
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3 minutes ago, mr_me said:
The Aquarius software developed at Mattel Electronics went to Radofin back in 1983.
Well... nothing like being linked back to your own forum post to answer a question you're asking lol. That's embarrassing, I guess I did know at some point...
Still, Radofin/Fobel were dissolved iirc... so I wonder who bought up their remains. That IP would've gotten transferred to an unknown company.-
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Do we know the status of the rights for Aquarius software? I assume it also is owned by Intellivision Entertainment?
Or is it all owned by whatever corporation absorbed Radofin?
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2 minutes ago, Intymike said:
It’s a different model number. Maybe it’s from another hardware.
Interesting, I just checked the list, and none of the hardware logged uses that 4106 model number. I wonder what it belongs to?
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Bump! The serial number database and form are open and accepting submissions! Every serial number we collect helps identify patterns in the Aquarius’s lifespan. Submit your hardware and Radofin carts today!
Additionally, the discord server is always open to new members.
Database Sheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1suxtWmP6a0InPC74ZCPC7keyDvXlE88b70H_0DTbg1o/edit?usp=sharing
Database Form:
https://forms.gle/BExXHTuuybzYpTY58
Discord:
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Bump!
The Aquarius serial number database is active and awaiting submissions!
Form: https://forms.gle/BExXHTuuybzYpTY58
Sheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1suxtWmP6a0InPC74ZCPC7keyDvXlE88b70H_0DTbg1o/edit?usp=sharing
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https://www.ebay.com/itm/255981974122
Any idea about the second sticker on the bottom of this Aquarius unit? I don’t think any of my systems have that.
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[AQUARIUS] Documenting the Contents of All Aquarius Cartridges and Variants
in Intellivision / Aquarius
Posted
Added! Radofin variant photos are now complete for all titles except Logo. I don't believe there was a Radofin Modem?
I will also add any other variants, should new ones be discovered.