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Giant Label Variation PHOTO Website. Check it out!


Philflound

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Having pics next to each other is not feasible with the majority of variations as some games have too many. For instance, there are 28 variations of Combat cart. Though some may have the same photo, the majority will have differences, and you won't be able to fit probably more than 3-4 photos next to each other. When I first decided to do a photo site, I was supposed to work with someone and they never came through, so I decided to venture on my own.

 

Decided to ask the general populace. Does anyone have an idea on when the original gatefold boxes would have been printed and possibly who the printer was? Since I've yet to see any of them marked as such, was wondering if anyone had any inside knowledge. Since the system was released in 9/77, I can assume the boxes were printed at least 2 months prior for the games. Can anyone confirm this?

 

Phil

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Finished doing all the research I have available to me on the printer dates. Here is a breakdown of what I know and is probably relatively accurate for all the colored boxes from the initial release.

 

Gatefold boxes have no dates on them.

"Game Program" boxes either have no date, or when they do are dated from June, 1978 to August, 1978.

(there is a gap here, no September or October 1978 boxes were printed that I could find so far)

The colored warranty box dates from November, 1978 to January, 1982.

The white colored warranty with copyright outside dates from March, 1981 to May, 1981.

The white colored warranty with copyright inside dates from May, 1981 to October, 1981.

The "ninety day warranty" dates from October, 1981 to June, 1984.

The boxes that didn't fit into any of these categories like Berzerk and Pac-Man date from January, 1982 to June, 1982. Though there is a Pac-Man variation dating August, 1983.

 

I'll be working on the silver, grey, red boxes soon enough. I didn't have enough info on the children's titles. I also won't have enough info on the foreign boxes.

 

I was very thorough with printers too, so each of the sections above have which printers did those box variations. Check out the page on the general Atari variations to see all the info. As I acquire more boxes or get to sort through my own personal collection, some of the dates may change.

 

Phil

Edited by Philflound
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The white colored warranty with copyright outside dates from March, 1981 to May, 1981.

The white colored warranty with copyright inside dates from May, 1981 to October, 1981.

 

This description is really ambiguous. In my sheet I have them as "White box ($40)" and "White box (no prices)"

 

Gatefold

Game Program

Transparent warranty box ($36)

White warranty box ($40)

White warranty box (No prices)

No warranty box / ninety day warranty

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Not sure what you mean by white box $40. The boxes have no prices. The now earlier release from March to May 1981 has ©1981 below the warranty box, printed on the color portion of the box. The copyright inside the white warranty box is inside the warranty box itself on the back and is right above the bottom line.

 

For example, Canyon Bomber has the white warranty box with the copyright 1978 date inside at the bottom. This is variation 1. There is no version with 1981 outside for Canyon Bomber.

 

http://www.videogamevariations.com/AtariCompanies/AtariGames/CanyonBomber/canyonbomberboxes.htm

 

Football variation box 4 on the other hand has the 1981 outside the warranty box at the bottom back. Football does not have a version with copyright inside. At least I haven't found one yet.

 

http://www.videogamevariations.com/AtariCompanies/AtariGames/Football/football_boxes.htm

 

Hope this helps explain what I mean.

 

Phil

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Ahhh. When I decided to take over the list, this was the way the warranty boxes were described. I never thought of describing them by either having prices or not having prices. At least we understand one another now. I revised the description to now include mention of the $36 system repair charge on the color warranty box, $40 repair charge on the white box with © outside and no charge on white box with date on inside. Being more specific will help people understand better and not be confused.

 

Phil

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The repair charges also make the order of the boxes more obvious. It was $36 first, then increased to $40 and then they decided to remove the repair charges from the box.

 

The copyright inside or outside of the box is just a detail, the prices are the reason they've modified the box.

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Ok, did a pretty decent job adding all printers and printing dates to whatever I could. Many multi-foreign language boxes, grey boxes, and red boxes pretty much aren't covered. Also, the silver boxes will need to be updated. If I could ever get my hands on some of the rarer boxes, at least opened, then more info can be input. I'm going to see if I can continue the site instead of updating things. My first "trial" page will be the real test. I'll keep you posted. I will probably work on adding one of the Parker Brothers games I didn't complete. Probably with very few variations so I can see how the page looks without doing much work.

 

Phil

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Ok, as promised, I tried out one of the pages in my new format with Web Expressions. I could not link through the navigation as it seems not to be supported. So where the navigation link at the top is, I left it blank. Therefore, there is a space at the top of the page. I physically just typed the name of the page at the top in bold large letters. I hardlinked the [Home] and [up] links.

 

It seemed to work overall. The only shortcoming is that I need to modify each individual listing as there are some weird breaks or beginning of a new line, though I didn't type anything in for that format. So the page looks nice (I hope to everyone) as I modified everything. This problem takes some time to do as I want it to look perfectly. Anyway, let me know if there are any issues with what you see. I'm using Chrome as my browser.

 

Thanks

 

Phil

 

Spidey is the 1st page in this endeavor. I'll try and finish PB carts by the end of the week.

 

http://www.videogamevariations.com/AtariCompanies/ParkerBrotherGames/spiderman_cartridges.html

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  • 3 weeks later...

Thanks to a purchase I made of some empty boxes, I got more info from boxes I did not have the info for. I also have a few more variations of boxes, which I'll be posting sometime during this week. I'm extremely happy with this buy as it helped me get more information for the site.

 

Phil

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  • 3 weeks later...

Just picked up a couple more purchases and will be acquiring 2 boxes I did not have in my collection. I'll scan some things now and try and post by tomorrow the new scans I promised 2 weeks ago. Now that school is done and I'm unemployed again, I should have a little time on my hands.

 

I was thinking about working on Data Age again. I am curious as to how many of the game boxes have both white letter and black letter variations on the sides of the boxes. So far I've confirmed Airlock, Bugs, and Sssnake. Since there are only 8 games, I'm wondering if all of them have the variation.

 

Warplock I own a white letter version. I had Encounter at L-5, but have no idea where it went. In fact, I think I may have owned 2 copies of the box and I can't find either one. All the other 3 titles I own have black letters on the side, which are Bermuda Triangle, Frankenstein, and Journey Escape.

 

So if anyone can get me the side scan of Encounter at L-5, or if you have the other color from what I just posted of those titles, I would appreciate it. Thanks.

 

Phil

 

EDIT: just posted the 1987 version of Math Gran Prix box and 1987 Air Sea Battle box.

Edited by Philflound
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Noticed you have the Slot Racers PAL (Euro) style blue box on the site. I have been trying to get a nice CIB copy for the last couple of years but never see it pop up (it's always the US brown box with a 'P' sticker). I did see a copy on eBay a year or two back located in Austrailia, but then the box was badly damaged, and it also had quite a high price tag! Any idea if this was a more limited run, or am I just having no luck in my hunt?

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I think many of those boxes that have different colors than the original like the Golf, Video Pinball, Warlords (a bit easier with English and Multi-language), etc. are harder to come by. Overall, many of the foreign boxes are much harder to find than US ones. While doing a search on Slot Racers on Ebay just now, I saw a Slot Racers manual that was only in Dutch. I'd be curious actually to acquire it, but spending $6 for a manual is too much for me to get it from overseas. I wish I could acquire more foreign releases as my site would have much more detailed info. If you took a look, I've been adding information about the printer and the date boxes were printed. My research has clarified much in the order on which boxes have been released except for foreign boxes, since I don't have enough to physically examine.

 

If anyone who has foreign boxes could contribute info from the tiny flaps like the Rev number, the printer, and the date printed, I'd appreciate it. Just contact me and tell me which corresponding listing on the site your box pertains to. I can then add this info to those listings to get a more indepth idea on when these were made.

 

You may want to go here and ask these guys since they are handling PAL releases. They may have some more answers for you than I do. I personally would love to get a copy of the blue box myself.

 

www.atariboxed.com or visit the forum: http://atariage.com/forums/topic/232751-atariboxedcom-rarity-database/and speak to Schitti

 

Phil

Edited by Philflound
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I think many of those boxes that have different colors than the original like the Golf, Video Pinball, Warlords (a bit easier with English and Multi-language), etc. are harder to come by. Overall, many of the foreign boxes are much harder to find than US ones. While doing a search on Slot Racers on Ebay just now, I saw a Slot Racers manual that was only in Dutch. I'd be curious actually to acquire it, but spending $6 for a manual is too much for me to get it from overseas. I wish I could acquire more foreign releases as my site would have much more detailed info. If you took a look, I've been adding information about the printer and the date boxes were printed. My research has clarified much in the order on which boxes have been released except for foreign boxes, since I don't have enough to physically examine.

 

If anyone who has foreign boxes could contribute info from the tiny flaps like the Rev number, the printer, and the date printed, I'd appreciate it. Just contact me and tell me which corresponding listing on the site your box pertains to. I can then add this info to those listings to get a more indepth idea on when these were made.

 

You may want to go here and ask these guys since they are handling PAL releases. They may have some more answers for you than I do. I personally would love to get a copy of the blue box myself.

 

www.atariboxed.com or visit the forum: http://atariage.com/forums/topic/232751-atariboxedcom-rarity-database/and speak to Schitti

 

Phil

 

Cheers for the possible lead, was just curious as this just does not pop up since I started searching. There was another that took me a while to track down, Air Sea Battle, but specifically the Euro multi-language style. All the PAL versions on eBay I saw over the last few years were again the US release box with a 'P' sticker. Finally got one from Germany a few months back (in fair condition). Pretty much everything else on my collection list has just been a case of waiting for a nice CIB to snag.

 

Will have a look to see if there is any info from my collection (around 20 CIB), missing from your DB, however all are just common Atari releases (all original Inc. bar two x red boxes). And if I ever do manage to track a blue box SR down I'll let you know.

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I don't have the Air Sea Battle multi-language box on my site. Can you send me front and back scans of this, or post it here? Also, here is where I'd like to know the tiny flap info too. One more thing, what kind of manual comes with it? I may need info on that. Thanks.

 

Phil

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I don't have the Air Sea Battle multi-language box on my site. Can you send me front and back scans of this, or post it here? Also, here is where I'd like to know the tiny flap info too. One more thing, what kind of manual comes with it? I may need info on that. Thanks.

 

Phil

 

PM sent...

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I posted a new thread about the site and others I feel are important. But all updates that I make, or plan to make, I'll still post here. That being said, here are my short term and long term goals with the site.

 

1.) Will rearrange all the titles for the Atari boxes in printed date order. This should show an accurate listing of boxes and when they were released. In conjunction with this, I will try and acquire more info on printer and dates for the boxes from a source I know to have many boxes. I will personally verify this information, though when I have the few hours it will require I can't say.

2.) While rearranging the box listings, I will also be updating the actual document that lists all the carts, manuals, and boxes. I'd like to get an accurate document available for download in word and pdf for the collectors to use.

3.) Also while rearranging the box listings, I am making a list of boxes I'm missing that should exist due to a cartridge or manual from a later year existing. I will post this list so anyone who owns that particular box and would like to help me can send me a scan and the info I need.

4.) Next will be to finish the rest of the 3rd party companies I'm missing or are incomplete. I'd like to have this done by the end of the summer.

5.) Scanning any documentation like catalogs, warranties, and other paperwork will be next on the list, followed by instruction manuals. I keep putting this off due to the large amount of work involved with the scans of all the pages. This will take an incredible amount of time and so I'm putting this on the back burner until everything else previously listed here is complete. I did a few manual scans (actually completed M Network) in the past couple of years, but this will be a nightmare. What I'll probably do is work on the small 3rd party paperwork first since it will be easiest to do, and then go back to Atari.

 

Besides Atari made games, I've been researching the printer/date on 3rd party boxes. I've begun Activision with everything I own, which isn't too much, and discovered Data Age also has the info. Coleco also has printers and dates, so you'll see that info slowly trickle onto the site as I come across boxes or check my own personal collection. Some companies never had the printer documented on their boxes. Those I have seen no info are CBS, M Network, and Imagic. As I learn/research other companies, you'll see any info I find added to the site.

 

If I add any new additions to the site, I'll let you know. I discovered there was a grey box for Golf and a 5 language box for 3D Tic Tac Toe. Those have already been added.

 

Phil

 

BTW, if anyone sees any mistakes with the site, please let me know. I'm a stickler for having spelling, grammar, and info be accurate and correct.

Edited by Philflound
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Last night I added the brown box version of Battlezone. Just to keep everyone updated.

 

Also, I mentioned I'm putting the box variations in the order in which they were released. If you look at Basketball, you will notice that version 2 with the color background warranty box is dated 6/81 and version 3 with the copyright outside the white background warranty box is 5/81. I am confident that version 2 was released before version 3, though in the one instance I've come across version 2, the date was 6/81. I'm expecting in the future to come across version 2 with an earlier date before 6/81.

 

I've seen with several titles that say an early box printed in 5/79 for instance was reprinted in 3/82 or something later on, sometimes by the same company, sometimes by a different one. So I think I'll run across the Basketball version 2 that fits in with my printer date creation.

 

What I thought about doing is creating some kind of explanation page. If you look at the beginning of the giant variation list document, I explain much of what is going on, but I think it would be helpful if the site itself has the explanation for those who do not want to download or view the giant list.

 

I needed to clarify the whole printer/printer date thing with the boxes. I'll give an explanation here, but will definitely get into more specifics on a site page that I create. So for example, if you see something like:

 

no printer, “Adpak San Francisco” (no date), 7/81; “Bertco Graphics” 7,9/81; “Ivy Hill” 9/81 on tiny flap

 

If this was at the end of the box variation, it would mean there was a box that had no printer, a box that had Adpak San Francisco with no printed date, a box with Adpak with 7/81 printed date, a box with Bertco Graphics that had both July and September blocked out on the tiny flap from 1981 (this is one box, not two), and a box with Ivy Hill with 9/81 printed date.

 

There is also a case where you may see a date 5-6/81. This means both May and June are blocked out on the tiny flap and is also only one box.

 

When I create the explanation page, I will probably give several examples. There is going to be much information to explain with the general format. Anything specific to a company is listed under that company under the link "General ...". The information on this page would be pertaining to more than one company.

 

So, I'll get back with more updates soon.

 

Phil

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Added the back of the Action Pak box, the Back to School Pak box, the Racing Pak box, the Black Jack grey box, and will be adding the white Slot Racers box.

 

Can someone send me scans of the generic game boxes that came in these Paks? I can't seem to find any good scans. Based on the Slot Racers box I own, the box was printed in January 1982.

 

Phil

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After thinking there may be no more Combat box variations, I came up with another one, sort of. I've added box variation #8 and moved #8 to #9. #8 and 9 look identical. For some reason I can't find a difference at all. If you read variation #9, there are 3 different types of small flaps, but I decided to keep these all under the same variation. When I picked up a good 30+ boxes earlier this week, I had another 2 Combats in the batch, one being a gatefold, and the 2nd being what I now call version #8. The difference between #8 and #9 is that the new acquisition has no Rev #, where the other 3 boxes listed under #9 have Rev 2. Also, the new acquisition has a printer on one of the tiny flaps at the TOP of the box with a date of 8/83. The other 3 boxes have no printers. I held the box next to the other 3 and could not come up with any difference. The ® after the game selections on the front of the box are faint, but I can't see a physical difference with any photos or words or such. But since it does not have a Rev and has a printer, I gave it its own variation listing. Maybe one day I can come up with the true reason there is a Rev 2 with this box versus no Rev.

 

Also, when all is said and done going through all my variations and fixing the giant list document (it's outdated by over 2 years), I may list all of the printers that are initials. Maybe someone on here can help me figure out who all these printers are. Bertco, Adpak, Ivy Hill, Shorewood, and Fidelity are all listed by name, but there are many more with just initials. So enjoy the now 14 variations I'm listing for Combat boxes.

 

Phil

 

EDIT: BTW, the cartridge that came with this was the picture label, pink letters with super gloss over both main and end labels (version u) on the website. None of the games I acquired had manuals, so I don't know which one would have come with this.

Edited by Philflound
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