What the Heck is This?

[Cebus Capucinis]

I keep lucking out with the Goodwill purchases. Today I got my hands on an Atari 400 bundle. This makes my Atari 8bit line complete except for 800Xl,600Xl, & 65XE. I have the 400, 800, 1200XL & 130XE! Nice!

...anyway, here's the beauty:

 

 

I also got an Rana 1000 disk drive, an Indus GT disk drive (it even still has that working car-window pop-up space age plastic part!) and dust covers, but what's supercool about this:

 

 

What the friggin' heck? A gigantic suitcase for my Atari 400 computer! It's from 'The Casemaker' and is called 'The Micro Case' (even though there's nothing micro about it)....copyright NINETEEN SEVENTY FIVE? What what? No way that's authentic. It's got the foam cut out so you can store the computer and everything, and the case has that cool Fuji logo on the side....

 

Anybody know anything about this strange thing? Did someone have a crazy Atari art project or something and decided to mess with me by sewing up a suitcase 4 years before the 400 came out?

Edited December 8, 2009 by CebusCapucinis

[+Stephen]

Cool - that's as old as I am. Looks to be in better shape too ):

 

Stephen Anderson

[Cebus Capucinis]

If it's legitimate, that is. I don't think it is. Something tells me it's fake!...unless you're faking your age too

[+Stephen]

If it's legitimate, that is. I don't think it is. Something tells me it's fake!...unless you're faking your age too

Haven't had to lie about that yet, but haven't had any offers from super hot young chicks either.

 

Stephen Anderson

[BigO]

That's a trademark registration that I'd guess refers to the product name or brand name, not the specific Atari 400 case.

Edited December 8, 2009 by BigO

[Cebus Capucinis]

So maybe 'the micro case' was the style of suitcase that was made in 1975 and someone had this custom made from the company for an Atari 400 computer sometime in between 1975 and now....nifty!

[Tezz]

It's a good haul of stuff. The case looks home made to me, the Fuji is a bit wonky and out of proportion. Still an interesting find.

[horseboy]

So maybe 'the micro case' was the style of suitcase that was made in 1975 and someone had this custom made from the company for an Atari 400 computer sometime in between 1975 and now....nifty!

 

No, the name Micro Case was probably registered in 1975. Then when the 400 came out they made a custom case for it.

[FastRobPlus]

You can tell it's a one-size-fits-all Microcomputers type of setup by the different inserts. I agree with the others that it was prob. a design they used for lots of Micros but this example was the Atari customized version.

 

So cool!

[Tezz]

So maybe 'the micro case' was the style of suitcase that was made in 1975 and someone had this custom made from the company for an Atari 400 computer sometime in between 1975 and now....nifty!

It's interesting that someone went to the trouble of having an existing case adapted and customised to carry the stuff around. Where I grew up you'd want to hide what you were carrying rather than advertise it to make sure that you still owned it by time you got to the end of the street.

[Cebus Capucinis]

So maybe 'the micro case' was the style of suitcase that was made in 1975 and someone had this custom made from the company for an Atari 400 computer sometime in between 1975 and now....nifty!

 

No, the name Micro Case was probably registered in 1975. Then when the 400 came out they made a custom case for it.

 

So exactly what I said in different words?

 

This and the now-framed 520ST design schematics I found in the last box shipped to me has really got me thinking the next thing I buy will probably end up not working and will explode because I've pressed my luck so much!

Edited December 8, 2009 by CebusCapucinis

[BigO]

Here's a reference to an 800 in a case by the same name/maker:

http://www.computerhistory.org/collections/accession/102681040

[Cebus Capucinis]

Here's a reference to an 800 in a case by the same name/maker:

http://www.computerhistory.org/collections/accession/102681040

 

....so maybe I got something that belongs in a museum or someone's million-dollar collection? :o :o

 

Don't I wish.

[Curt Vendel]

I have an ad someplace for that case, it's legit, but the date tag is odd.

 

 

Curt

[Cebus Capucinis]

That's what threw me off first, too, but I'm thinking it's like horseboy said: the copyright is for the case itself rather than this particular iteration of it.

[phaxda]

That case is all kinds of awesome, wherever it came from! WOW, what a super find.

[+therealbountybob]

Is it just me or is 'the casemaker' logo giving the bird

[Heaven/TQA]

So maybe 'the micro case' was the style of suitcase that was made in 1975 and someone had this custom made from the company for an Atari 400 computer sometime in between 1975 and now....nifty!

It's interesting that someone went to the trouble of having an existing case adapted and customised to carry the stuff around. Where I grew up you'd want to hide what you were carrying rather than advertise it to make sure that you still owned it by time you got to the end of the street.

 

that is one cultural difference between US & Europe... We hide what we have while the US are "YEAH! LOOOK! I AM KING OF THE WOOORLD"...

[Rhod]

since I discovered, I seek a. lucky guy

 

http://rhodblog.wordpress.com/2009/08/23/atari-800-travel-bag/

[Thorsten Günther]

So maybe 'the micro case' was the style of suitcase that was made in 1975 and someone had this custom made from the company for an Atari 400 computer sometime in between 1975 and now....nifty!

It's interesting that someone went to the trouble of having an existing case adapted and customised to carry the stuff around. Where I grew up you'd want to hide what you were carrying rather than advertise it to make sure that you still owned it by time you got to the end of the street.

 

that is one cultural difference between US & Europe... We hide what we have while the US are "YEAH! LOOOK! I AM KING OF THE WOOORLD"...

 

Man, do I hate this scene. OK, the entire movie sucks, but this scene is exceptional and has rightfully been parodied a lot.

 

 

Thorsten

[Thorsten Günther]

Is it just me or is 'the casemaker' logo giving the bird

Fer sure not. It sure looks upside-down to me, though.

 

 

Thorsten

[sloopy]

i remember the Micro Case, advertised in a few mags... they were generic cases you modified for your specific machine at first then later had ones for specific machines, i had one for the Mac 128/512, was decent quality... is the atari logo made of the same material as the rest of it? nice find on the indus, i always wanted one of those...

 

sloopy.