A few questions regarding Air Raid

[lazzeri]

Gentlemen,

 

Me and a bunch of friends were discussing the recent Boxed Air Raid extravaganza and there´s a few question that neither one of us (nor google / AA) could answer and I was wondering if any of the pros in here could enlight us.

 

Since that´s the first box ever seen and no manual has ever surfaced, how the heck the name AIR RAID (or its manufacturer MEN-A-VISION) was found? Is there any printed catalog / magazine ad / magazine review regarding it? I mean, there´s no logo in the cart or in-game, so how did you guys found out that it was called like that?

 

Secondly, how did you guys knew it was officially distributed (even poorly) in US? It seems that its scanlines are not 100% NTSC-compatible so how did you know for sure it was not a pirated / "chinese ripoff" of some sort that were never officially sold in US?

 

Thank you for any help on it.

 

Regards,

Lazzeri

Edited April 18, 2010 by lazzeri

[Rev]

the 'box' is a publicity stunt

[accousticguitar]

Secondly, how did you guys knew it was officially distributed (even poorly) in US? It seems that its scanlines are not 100% NTSC-compatible so how did you know for sure it was not a pirated / "chinese ripoff" of some sort that were never officially sold in US?

We didn't, until the guy with the molds showed up.

[Dino]

The name Men-a-vision appears on the screen when you play the game . As for the name Air Raid, a member here had met an owner of the game a long time ago. that owner claimed he had the box and that the game's name was Air Raid. there was a lot of speculation about whether the box really did exist for a very long time, because the owner disappered without ever providing pictures of the box. but Tanman's box now proves that the game really is called Air Raid. so tanman's box is actually the second one in existence.

 

As for whether the game was officially released in the US, nobody really knows, but it is unlikely that it was officially released in the US, as the coding is a hack of another game. Whilst hacks and pirates have been sold outside of the US in bulk, they were never sold within the US due to US corporation's aggressiveness in defending their copyrights. Also, given the language on the box it is clear that a taiwanese company wsa behind the game, and there is no evidence of the taiwanese ever officially releasing games in the US other than those that they actually developed, such as Condor Attack and Karate.

[+jeremiahjt]

I thought the first mention of the name Air Raid came from an 2600 Connection issue from '92 or something like that.

[Herbarius]

Sometimes information like this is passed on from one person to the other, until the origin of the information is unclear and so the accuracy of that information becomes doubtful - but that doesn't mean it can't be accurate afterall.

The appearance of the box now finally confirmed the title.

As Dino already said, yeah the name "MEN-A-VISION" appears on screen.

 

 

Yeah, some people still doubt the box is authentic; just like some people doubt the 1969 moon landing was real.

[AtariLeaf]

Sometimes information like this is passed on from one person to the other, until the origin of the information is unclear and so the accuracy of that information becomes doubtful - but that doesn't mean it can't be accurate afterall.

The appearance of the box now finally confirmed the title.

As Dino already said, yeah the name "MEN-A-VISION" appears on screen.

 

 

Yeah, some people still doubt the box is authentic; just like some people doubt the 1969 moon landing was real.

 

Oh come on, you can see the wires

[Godzilla]

the air raid box has wires?

[Dino]

Yeah, some people still doubt the box is authentic; just like some people doubt the 1969 moon landing was real.

 

I thought it was proven beyond doubt that the landing was fake

[krawhitham]

Anybody else find it odd that a chain like Tuesday Mornings would sell a hacked 2600 game? and then only sell what at most 13 of them?

 

Have you people ever been to Tuesday Mornings they buy close out stock in bulk so they can discount it, why have so few Air Raid games showed up?

 

How many Tuesday Morning were around in 1982?

[Skylark68]

Anybody else find it odd that a chain like Tuesday Mornings would sell a hacked 2600 game? and then only sell what at most 13 of them?

 

Have you people ever been to Tuesday Mornings they buy close out stock in bulk so they can discount it, why have so few Air Raid games showed up?

 

How many Tuesday Morning were around in 1982?

 

Maybe one location got about 13 or so of them back in the day from some odd lot of stuff some company rep brought back from Taiwan...

[Chris Leach]

This email has been sent to Tuesdaymornings.....

 

Men-A-Vision product?

Tuesday, April 20, 2010 2:41 PM

From: "Chris Leach" leachc@ymail.com

To: custserv@tuesdaymorning.com

 

Do you have record of how many of a certain product produced by a company called Men-A-Vision, you may have had on hand in your stores in 1982? Even if it is not 100% accurate could you approximate how tuesdaymorning came to aquire and possibly how many were acquired of a said product? Thank you for your time,Chris from Michigan

 

 

Hopefully they reply with some numbers..

[Chris Leach]

Here is a reply,

Of course I had expected something of the sort! What is wrong with these people?

 

Chris, we have no records of a company called Men-A-Vision. We do not have access to electronic records of orders available from 1982. There is no way in which I can obtain this information for you.

 

 

Debi D. Slaver

 

Customer Service Manager

 

Tuesday Morning, Inc.

 

debis@tuesdaymorning.com

 

1-800-457-0099, ext 7888

 

Direct 972-934-7250, Fax 972-788-5211

 

 

just thought I would share

[Zap!]

I thought the first mention of the name Air Raid came from an 2600 Connection issue from '92 or something like that.

 

In the letters to the editor in issue #8, no mention of the name was made. Here is the letter:

 

[lazzeri]

I thought the first mention of the name Air Raid came from an 2600 Connection issue from '92 or something like that.

 

In the letters to the editor in issue #8, no mention of the name was made. Here is the letter:

 

 

Whoa, wait a minute: "A box that opens like a book"? That´s completely different from the auctioned box, isn´t it?

[Zap!]

I thought the first mention of the name Air Raid came from an 2600 Connection issue from '92 or something like that.

 

In the letters to the editor in issue #8, no mention of the name was made. Here is the letter:

 

 

Whoa, wait a minute: "A box that opens like a book"? That´s completely different from the auctioned box, isn´t it?

 

Yes it is, which is why I don't think of myself as a "conspiracy nut" for asking questions, but some will dismiss it like it's nothing.

[Dino]

I thought the first mention of the name Air Raid came from an 2600 Connection issue from '92 or something like that.

 

In the letters to the editor in issue #8, no mention of the name was made. Here is the letter:

 

 

Whoa, wait a minute: "A box that opens like a book"? That´s completely different from the auctioned box, isn´t it?

 

Yes it is, which is why I don't think of myself as a "conspiracy nut" for asking questions, but some will dismiss it like it's nothing.

People's memories aren't always the best, so maybe this guy remembered it opening like a book, but it didnt. Tanner was certain the box had no writing on it (or at least very little), but it proved different once he found the box...

[Zap!]

I thought the first mention of the name Air Raid came from an 2600 Connection issue from '92 or something like that.

 

In the letters to the editor in issue #8, no mention of the name was made. Here is the letter:

 

 

Whoa, wait a minute: "A box that opens like a book"? That´s completely different from the auctioned box, isn´t it?

 

Yes it is, which is why I don't think of myself as a "conspiracy nut" for asking questions, but some will dismiss it like it's nothing.

People's memories aren't always the best, so maybe this guy remembered it opening like a book, but it didnt. Tanner was certain the box had no writing on it (or at least very little), but it proved different once he found the box...

 

Tanner was remembering back years and years ago. This guy was remembering back to possibly within a week (it's very likely he wrote the letter to the 2600 Connection right after he saw Air Raid in the store). I don't see how it's possible to confuse something as distinct as a box that opens like a book (like Odyssey 2 carts came in).

 

Now, I'm not saying I think Tanner's box was faked, there are just questions and no one should jump to 100% conclusions either way. Is it possible there was a variation?

[Dino]

I thought the first mention of the name Air Raid came from an 2600 Connection issue from '92 or something like that.

 

In the letters to the editor in issue #8, no mention of the name was made. Here is the letter:

 

 

Whoa, wait a minute: "A box that opens like a book"? That´s completely different from the auctioned box, isn´t it?

 

Yes it is, which is why I don't think of myself as a "conspiracy nut" for asking questions, but some will dismiss it like it's nothing.

People's memories aren't always the best, so maybe this guy remembered it opening like a book, but it didnt. Tanner was certain the box had no writing on it (or at least very little), but it proved different once he found the box...

 

Tanner was remembering back years and years ago. This guy was remembering back to possibly within a week (it's very likely he wrote the letter to the 2600 Connection right after he saw Air Raid in the store). I don't see how it's possible to confuse something as distinct as a box that opens like a book (like Odyssey 2 carts came in).

 

Now, I'm not saying I think Tanner's box was faked, there are just questions and no one should jump to 100% conclusions either way. Is it possible there was a variation?

He didn't say that he just saw it. we have all assumed he just saw it and wrote in, but if you read what he wrote, he is not clear. Maybe he remembered back to seeing the box 10 years earlier (remember the article was published 10 years after air raids release). If he had remembered seeing the cart earlier and wrote in to get an idea for how rare it was, then maybe after 10 years he had forgotten the precise nature of the box.

 

But there is a second, more plausible explanation, and that is that there are indeed 2 Air raid boxes. I know, it doesn't make logical sense to have 2 boxes for such a small production run, but maybe they got sample boxes of a gatefold type box and a regular box, and went with the cheaper, regular box but still sold copies in the gatefold samples they were given. Look at other Taiwan releases, specifically Bitcorp and you will see that they released their games firstly under the Puzzy brand and then Bitcorp. The Puzzys are holy grails (in some cases only 1 box per title is known to exist and i believe there are some boxes that have yet to be discovered) but the bitcorps are a little more common. It does not make sense that they sold so few games under the Puzzy brand before switching to Bitcorp, and maybe the Puzzy boxes and carts were just samples and they changed the name over to Bitcorp for the release, but sold the few puzzy boxes in amongst the Bitcorps.

[ThelonelyAlien]

Not to sound stupid but where did the name men-a-vision come from?

[Zap!]

Not to sound stupid but where did the name men-a-vision come from?

 

There were several "A-Vision's" back then. Must have been an 80's thing.

[Miss 2600]

 

 

Tanner was remembering back years and years ago. This guy was remembering back to possibly within a week (it's very likely he wrote the letter to the 2600 Connection right after he saw Air Raid in the store). I don't see how it's possible to confuse something as distinct as a box that opens like a book (like Odyssey 2 carts came in).

 

Now, I'm not saying I think Tanner's box was faked, there are just questions and no one should jump to 100% conclusions either way. Is it possible there was a variation?

He didn't say that he just saw it. we have all assumed he just saw it and wrote in, but if you read what he wrote, he is not clear. Maybe he remembered back to seeing the box 10 years earlier (remember the article was published 10 years after air raids release). If he had remembered seeing the cart earlier and wrote in to get an idea for how rare it was, then maybe after 10 years he had forgotten the precise nature of the box.

 

 

Th letter, at first, sounds like he saw the game a long time ago: "there was a cartridge from a company called..." As he's describing it though, the wording sounds like it could have been fairly recent (would those game still be in stores in 1992?).

 

The response, though, sounds like it was recent. He writes "snatch it up if you can" and to send a photocopy. Obviously, if he saw the game 10 years earlier, that would probably not be possible. I'm wondering if the letter was edited for print. Maybe there was more to the letter that stated where and when he saw the cartridge--information that was used in the response.

[Shantai]

Here's my take on the whole Air Raid fiasco.

 

I will not side with the "It's Fake" nor the "It's Real!" people. I will remain neutral on this.

 

 

The Men-A-Vision name: Most likely taken due to success of ActiVision, IntelliVision and ColecoVision., as those names usually led to GOOD sales. (regardless of what was inside)

 

The Flip or book style box: Let's say that the AR box is indeed real. Who's to say a later (1983?) generic rerelease of the remaining copies weren't shipped in these flip boxes? (supposedly 30 or 60 roms made?)

 

The Tuesday Morning issue: I would not be the least bit surprised TM did indeed sell Air Raid, as they may have gotten one case or a few left over from warehouses cleaning stock SIGHT unseen. (Or the game's reseller (importer) was somehow connected with family or friends of TM) Any of these is a realistic possibility.

 

 

In the end Air Raid real or fake, may indeed give a major boost to video game collecting. Good or bad, we have yet to know.

 

Unless a proof or other record can be shown of an ad or line art for Men-A-Vision and Air Raid can be found, we have to take things as they are atm.

Edited April 21, 2010 by Shantai

[Herbarius]

 

 

Tanner was remembering back years and years ago. This guy was remembering back to possibly within a week (it's very likely he wrote the letter to the 2600 Connection right after he saw Air Raid in the store). I don't see how it's possible to confuse something as distinct as a box that opens like a book (like Odyssey 2 carts came in).

 

Now, I'm not saying I think Tanner's box was faked, there are just questions and no one should jump to 100% conclusions either way. Is it possible there was a variation?

He didn't say that he just saw it. we have all assumed he just saw it and wrote in, but if you read what he wrote, he is not clear. Maybe he remembered back to seeing the box 10 years earlier (remember the article was published 10 years after air raids release). If he had remembered seeing the cart earlier and wrote in to get an idea for how rare it was, then maybe after 10 years he had forgotten the precise nature of the box.

 

 

Th letter, at first, sounds like he saw the game a long time ago: "there was a cartridge from a company called..." As he's describing it though, the wording sounds like it could have been fairly recent (would those game still be in stores in 1992?).

 

The response, though, sounds like it was recent. He writes "snatch it up if you can" and to send a photocopy. Obviously, if he saw the game 10 years earlier, that would probably not be possible. I'm wondering if the letter was edited for print. Maybe there was more to the letter that stated where and when he saw the cartridge--information that was used in the response.

 

Or maybe he DID see it in 1992 and the story just put it into some different box because all they had was a loose cartridge and they didn't want to sell it like this, but they had some, neutral, box lying around which the cart happened to fit in

 

Of course that's pure speculation. Human memory is an unreliable thing (in fact, much more unreliable than widely believed, look around for some studies on the subject), so I'd favor the "he didn't remember it properly" theory over this. But this is just to show you there are so many possibilities to explain the story in that letter, and it's quite impossible to ever find out the truth.

[Zap!]

Or maybe he DID see it in 1992 and the story just put it into some different box because all they had was a loose cartridge and they didn't want to sell it like this, but they had some, neutral, box lying around which the cart happened to fit in

 

Of course that's pure speculation. Human memory is an unreliable thing (in fact, much more unreliable than widely believed, look around for some studies on the subject), so I'd favor the "he didn't remember it properly" theory over this. But this is just to show you there are so many possibilities to explain the story in that letter, and it's quite impossible to ever find out the truth.

 

Impossible, because the word "Men-A-Vision" is not on the cartridge. What he saw had to be a box with "Men-A-Vision" on it. I also don't think he would say something as distinct as "opens like a book" because where would that come from? I make no claims of being any kind of expert on clues, but I was a PI for a while and that letter looks like what he described was recent and correct.