kyle Posted February 24, 2007 Share Posted February 24, 2007 At first Kool-Aid Man was only available by mail order. But then later it was released in stores. But what if it were never released in stores? Most mail order games are incredibly rare. But being this game is actually a lot of fun to play and Kool-Aid Man is such a popular comercial icon I think it would have become one of the most sought after games for collectors. But being it was released in stores and sold reasonably well it's just a fun but common game. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vic George 2K3 Posted February 24, 2007 Share Posted February 24, 2007 I never saw Kool-Aid Man until my sister Vicky had it on an Atari 2600 she and her first husband used to own. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crazy Climber Posted February 24, 2007 Share Posted February 24, 2007 It was thought of as rare for awhile back in the day. My friend down the block had it and used to brag about how you had to "know someone" to get one. Then one day the IGA grocery store (yes I said Grocery store) got about 500 copys of it for $3.99 each. Wasn't that rare anymore 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mindcircus Posted February 24, 2007 Share Posted February 24, 2007 OHHHHH YEAHHHHH! I remember reading old Marvel comics as a kid and they used to advertise the hell out of this game. I think it had the back page ad for 4-5 months in a row in some series. No surprise it sold so well 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shadow460 Posted February 24, 2007 Share Posted February 24, 2007 I played it right after it came out. A friend of my dad's got it through the mail, then loaned it to us after a while. It was the only cart the was played the couple of days we had it. I never knew it had been released in stores until now. I was under the assumption that word of mouth and Kool-Aid's popularity back in the day had sold enough copies to make it common now. Guess I learn something new each day! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crazy Climber Posted February 25, 2007 Share Posted February 25, 2007 I never knew it had been released in stores until now. I think it was kind of a late release "get rid of all this extra stock now!!" kind of thing. They probably never planned on it. When I saw it I would guess it was around 84 or 85 and they had a TON of them for cheap. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HP Atari King of Michigan Posted February 25, 2007 Share Posted February 25, 2007 If it never came out in stores, it'd probably be as rare as Magicard. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+atari2600land Posted February 25, 2007 Share Posted February 25, 2007 Even I have one. I cheated, though, because I got it off the internet. I like the drink better than the game, though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kyle Posted February 25, 2007 Author Share Posted February 25, 2007 No way! The game is much better than the drink! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+remowilliams Posted February 25, 2007 Share Posted February 25, 2007 If it never came out in stores, it'd probably be as rare as Magicard. Heh, that'd be something - I got mine free as a kid through through the UPC send in promotion. Still have it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Godzilla Posted February 25, 2007 Share Posted February 25, 2007 I still want one that was 'mail order only' is there any way to tell? If so, I'd bet that it would have a lot more value to it... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crazy Climber Posted February 25, 2007 Share Posted February 25, 2007 If it never came out in stores, it'd probably be as rare as Magicard. Probably more like Tooth Protectors or Chuckwagon. I think Magicard is ultra rare since it was a programming tool so most people (including myself) had no interest in it back then or now for that matter. The advertising was much better for KAM as well, you never saw Magicard ads in comic books 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crazy Climber Posted February 25, 2007 Share Posted February 25, 2007 I still want one that was 'mail order only' is there any way to tell? If so, I'd bet that it would have a lot more value to it... Yes, you can tell by the shipping box it came in. I beeleive the fifth ghost had an extra one for sale at one time...not sure if he still does Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deteacher Posted February 28, 2007 Share Posted February 28, 2007 I got mine through the mail order promotion. I think you had to collect something like 150 Kool Aid Points. Each packet was 1 point, as far as I can remember. It took us for freaking EVER to collect those things, but it was a sweet (no pun intended) day when we got our KAM in the mail. We played the hell out of that game. Still one of my favorites today. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PressureCooker2600 Posted February 28, 2007 Share Posted February 28, 2007 Game sure is hard as hell though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
homerwannabee Posted February 28, 2007 Share Posted February 28, 2007 If it never came out in stores, it'd probably be as rare as Magicard. Probably more like Tooth Protectors or Chuckwagon. I think Magicard is ultra rare since it was a programming tool so most people (including myself) had no interest in it back then or now for that matter. The advertising was much better for KAM as well, you never saw Magicard ads in comic books I would say it would even be more common than that. I would put the rarity at that of Crazy Climber or video cube. Kool Aid is pretty populor now and back then so I am sure a lot of kids knew about the mail order thing. In fact I think I have vague memories of this being advertised on a kool aid comercial back in the day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CHIP72 Posted March 1, 2007 Share Posted March 1, 2007 (edited) My family drank a lot of Kool-Aid back in the day, and my parents were compulsive about saving the points on products, so we easily had enough points to get the game for free when the promotion was first announced. I think it took something like 4-6 months for Mattel (or the Kool-Aid company - don't remember who we had to contact) to send us the game; I think we sent away for the game in mid-1983 and didn't get until late 1983 or something like that. What a strange but cool game; I always liked that game. It was kind of amusing to see your guy bounce around all over the screen when the game was over. Edited March 1, 2007 by CHIP72 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Eyeball Mural Posted June 1, 2014 Share Posted June 1, 2014 I was a compulsive collector of many things when I was a youngster. One of those things was empty Kool-Aid packets. I kept them in a neat stack, rubber-banded, in a quiet corner of the kitchen, and instructed my mother to always add empty packets to my hoard. This drove her a bit nuts and she often encouraged me to trash my collection. I always told her that I might use them for something someday. Imagine her chagrin and my pride when the Kool-Aid Man cartridge promotion was announced! A few minutes with scissors and a jaunt to the post office and I was all set! I received my game and enjoyed it very much, but it did take a few months to reach me. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ranthulfr Posted June 2, 2014 Share Posted June 2, 2014 It woulda been nice if they changed flavors for the store release. Like the mail order Kool-Aid Man was Cherry (red) so in the later release he could've been Grape (purple). Or even Lemonade. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
godzillajoe Posted June 2, 2014 Share Posted June 2, 2014 I remember the comic book ads and we bought Kool-Aid so I ended up with the cart. Not having a dog, never knew about Chuck Wagon And I never knew about Tooth Protectors else I would have had mom buy what toothpaste sponsored that one just to get it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atarilovesyou Posted June 2, 2014 Share Posted June 2, 2014 OOOOOOOOOOH YEAAAAAAAAAAAAH! (crashes through wall closest to you) *sorry guys Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tremoloman2006 Posted June 9, 2014 Share Posted June 9, 2014 I got mine through mail order. You needed to collect so many Kool-Aid points. My buddy and I did a sneaky thing: We went to the convenience store in my neighborhood each day and one of us would buy something at the register. While that person talked to the cashier and was distracted, we peeled the points/proof of purchase off of one of the large cans which had 15 points if I remember correctly. We did this for 2 or 3 weeks until we got enough points to order the game through the mail. I'm sure at one point they looked at all their cans and wondered why they were all torn in the same spot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+save2600 Posted June 9, 2014 Share Posted June 9, 2014 ^ Now that's funny! We were big consumers of Kool-Aid BITD, so was easy for us to save up the points legitimately. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atarilovesyou Posted June 10, 2014 Share Posted June 10, 2014 I've always followed this advice: don't drink the Kool Aid Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bennybingo Posted June 10, 2014 Share Posted June 10, 2014 I've always followed this advice: don't drink the Kool Aid Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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