5200 Serial Number Thread?

[atari-dna]

Almost the rest of the 5200 lineup, need to get 1 more photo into the lineup. Two other consoles don't have serial stickers remaining, both just normal 2 ports.

 

AT 193 0026168 4-port Matte finish

 

AT 303 0059096 2-port

 

AT 333 0332471 2-port

 

AT*223 0257318 4-port matte

 

AT*303 0238502 4-port matte

 

 

[phattyboombatty]

Then the EP units and the AT last. Is AT for Atari Tipperary? I know they had a plant in Ireland, though it could be Taiwan as well.

 

 

I'm fairly confident that AT = Atari Taiwan, as every Atari unit I've owned that has "AT" in the serial has also said "Made in Taiwan" somewhere else on the packaging/shell/motherboard.

[atari-dna]

 

I'm fairly confident that AT = Atari Taiwan, as every Atari unit I've owned that has "AT" in the serial has also said "Made in Taiwan" somewhere else on the packaging/shell/motherboard.

Agree. I've never noticed any disclaimers for "Made In Ireland" on any of the home consumer stuff either

[vectrex9599]

serial number on my 2 port promo unit is 1,759

[atari-dna]

So far I have the lowest serial recorded, 0001677

[Nutsy Doodleheimer]

Here is my 4 port model serial number.

#0508874 SV-492

 

[hookem]

Here are my two 5200s:

 

This one is a Taiwan 4 port

 

And here is an El Paso 2 port, built just 4 weeks later (if we're interpreting the codes right)..

 

Also with the closeness of the serial numbers, I'd say this is probably proof that each factory had their own independent count.

[coachbrj]

Both are 4 ports.

[hookem]

Both are 4 ports.IMG_20150823_1629472_rewind.jpgIMG_20150823_1631054_rewind.jpg

 

Both these serial numbers challenge some of the assumptions we've made so far on decoding the serial numbers.

 

If we assume the XX-NNN part of the serial number is FACTORYCODE-WEEKYEAR, and the other number is the "line count", then your El Paso 4-port built in the 9th week of '83 (EP-093) has a higher line count than my El Paso 2-port built the 23rd week of '83 (EP-233). It's also got a different font and the "No." prefix at the front. Did they reset the count and change the font on the serial #s as they went from 4-port to 2-port, in the same year?

 

And your Sunnyvale unit - again, with the assumptions we've made so far - was produced in the 46th week of '82, and has a line count of what looks like in the 38000. Yet 3 weeks later, Retrogamer's 4-port SV unit has a number of 508874 (way too far ahead to be a unit count) and the factory code appears on the right while your unit has it on the left (and without hyphen maybe).

 

So I guess our (or at least my) assumptions may be wrong at this point...

 

OK so new working theory: On many of these labels, the 6-digit or 7-digit number seems to be printed at a different time (even different font) than the factory/week code. On the Taiwan ones, the "AT" letters even seem to be printed as part of the label itself, and not stamped on there later. So perhaps each factory just had rolls and rolls of these stickers, with a unique number (and in the case of the Taiwan ones, the letters AT) pre-printed on them. The only thing that was actually stamped as the unit came off the assembly line was factory-week/yr code. On the made-in-Taiwan ones, there was only one factory code "AT" - so they included that on the pre-printed labels, and they only stamped the week/yr code. And perhaps they pulled out the rolls of pre-printed numbered labels somewhat at random, so they weren't always in sequential order.

 

That's a lot of speculation, I know. Just a theory I'm floating out there. Perhaps I'm just completely off base, or maybe there were mass counterfeits (not unheard of with manufacturing outsource to Taiwan at the time).

 

Anyone have any other guesses?

Edited August 24, 2015 by hookem

[phattyboombatty]

can anyone tell me anything about mine? sticker says "Atari Corp." and the SN# is "A14162161786"... its a 4 port that I think was modified by Atari to add a power connection to the back of the unit..... im so happy ! dont have to mess around with that damn switch box!

I also have a 5200 4-port from Atari Corp. It is lighter and the plastic feels cheaper than the ones from Atari, Inc. there's no power mod on this one, but there is an extra hole with the square symbol next to the channel 23 switch.

 

It's interesting, because the 7800 units from Atari, Inc. are generally more valued for their older design and manufacture under Atari, Inc. I had never seen a 5200 unit from Atari Corp. until recently.

[zylon]

I also have a 5200 4-port from Atari Corp. It is lighter and the plastic feels cheaper than the ones from Atari, Inc. there's no power mod on this one, but there is an extra hole with the square symbol next to the channel 23 switch.

 

It's interesting, because the 7800 units from Atari, Inc. are generally more valued for their older design and manufacture under Atari, Inc. I had never seen a 5200 unit from Atari Corp. until recently.

 

That's one of the "last ditch" models made from leftover parts.

[0078265317]

http://mvvg.blogspot.com/2015/09/atari-serial-numbers_4.html?m=1

[nathantw]

I purchased my Atari unit back when it first came out. I paid full price for it, which was $250 during that time ($618 in today's money). I expected big things from the unit and I especially liked the way PacMan looked and moved vs what I saw with the 2600 version.

The serial number is 0183196 SV-462.

[Ballblaɀer]

I created a spreadsheet listing as many 5200 serial numbers as I could find here on AtariAge, then filled in gaps using serial numbers pulled from eBay, Goodwill, etc. You can view it on Google Docs.

 

Included are my two 4-ports: my original from when I grew up (an El Paso model) as well as the oldest 5200 I've found so far (0000616 SV-342). I'd be interested to know how many were made in the first production week/run, and if any have a factory/date code older than SV-342.

 

Some inferences from the spreadsheet:

- SV-XXX stickers with six-digit serial numbers instead of the usual seven seem to indicate a re-sticker job by Atari after service/modding.

- Somewhere in the neighborhood of 150,000 - 175,000 units were manufactured prior to the initial public sale.

- Sunnyvale reset serial numbers in calendar year 1983.

- El Paso reset serial numbers when switching production to the 2-port model, somewhere around EP-213 (~ May 1983)

- The serial numbering seems mostly straightforward except for a a few odd places (Atari Taiwan seems to switch briefly back to the lower serials used prior to asterisk models at around AT 303, for example)

- Atari Corp appears to have used Atari Inc stickers during 1985 before switching over to Atari Corp stickers.

- Stickers with "Atari Corporation" and/or with serial numbers higher than ~2160000 *may* be 4-port units with Atari power mods (i.e. no switchbox needed). Hopefully more examples turn up.

[AusMatari]

0011614 sv-372

[+sramirez2008]

Picked up my first 5200 last night and promptly broke the tabs on the joystick cover. Checked the Best Electronics website and they are sold out of the covers ...

 

...Page 158 5200 Smoke colored Flip Lid cover CO18952 Sold Out!

 

 

Any ideas on a replacement cover? Not sure I could/should try to glue back the tabs.

 

[+sramirez2008]

Just received a 4-port. Verified that everything is working. The system is going to need a cleaning, before I put it into my rotation.

 

[+lawdawg710]

Mine

[Yellow355F1]

Figure I will throw my 3 on here.

 

 

Unknown if it is working, do have the RF/power box.

 

 

Only dead console in my collection it, and the 4 port worked, but that was over 20 years ago. This one fries power adapters.

 

 

Fully functional system bought from a forum member.

[Lendorien]

I created a spreadsheet listing as many 5200 serial numbers as I could find here on AtariAge, then filled in gaps using serial numbers pulled from eBay, Goodwill, etc. You can view it on Google Docs.

 

Included are my two 4-ports: my original from when I grew up (an El Paso model) as well as the oldest 5200 I've found so far (0000616 SV-342). I'd be interested to know how many were made in the first production week/run, and if any have a factory/date code older than SV-342.

 

Some inferences from the spreadsheet:

 

- SV-XXX stickers with six-digit serial numbers instead of the usual seven seem to indicate a re-sticker job by Atari after service/modding.

- Somewhere in the neighborhood of 150,000 - 175,000 units were manufactured prior to the initial public sale.

- Sunnyvale reset serial numbers in calendar year 1983.

- El Paso reset serial numbers when switching production to the 2-port model, somewhere around EP-213 (~ May 1983)

- The serial numbering seems mostly straightforward except for a a few odd places (Atari Taiwan seems to switch briefly back to the lower serials used prior to asterisk models at around AT 303, for example)

- Atari Corp appears to have used Atari Inc stickers during 1985 before switching over to Atari Corp stickers.

- Stickers with "Atari Corporation" and/or with serial numbers higher than ~2160000 *may* be 4-port units with Atari power mods (i.e. no switchbox needed). Hopefully more examples turn up.

 

That spreadsheet is awesome! It's a fantastic bit of research. Way to go on doing it!

 

You should start a new serial # thread to supercede this one and ask Al to give you editing rights to it ao the first post can contain the insights and discoveries found so far. It would be great to have a Serial thread stickied too. That way people don't have to dig through pages of serial Number photos to find the meat of what we're finding out through sharing these numbers. I started to do this (based on the 7800 thread) and got a pretty big list together before I got to your post. Haha.

 

I am willing to do it and maintain the post if you're not up for it.

Edited March 30, 2016 by Lendorien

[Lendorien]

My Serial Number for my 2 port is AT 333 0312020.

[Ballblaɀer]

 

That spreadsheet is awesome! It's a fantastic bit of research. Way to go on doing it!

 

You should start a new serial # thread to supercede this one and ask Al to give you editing rights to it ao the first post can contain the insights and discoveries found so far. It would be great to have a Serial thread stickied too. That way people don't have to dig through pages of serial Number photos to find the meat of what we're finding out through sharing these numbers. I started to do this (based on the 7800 thread) and got a pretty big list together before I got to your post. Haha.

 

I am willing to do it and maintain the post if you're not up for it.

 

I'm totally up to maintaining it -- sorry that you had to wade through other pages before getting to my spreadsheet! I've just added your 2-port.

 

I think a stickied thread might be warranted here, yeah. I'll light the Al-signal shortly to get his opinion/approval.

[+lawdawg710]

I forgot to add, mine is a 4 port!

[Lynxpro]

From my recollection, Atari Corp was modding leftover 4-ports so they could sell off the leftover inventory and preemptively cut down on support costs like from owners complaining about the 4-port switch box sparking. It's been years since I've viewed the ads but Atari Corp was selling packaged deals on 5200s, accessories, and games and then selling them via their print ads in the Atari Explorer magazine in early 1986. It was all about making quick cash to get the ST going and paying down the debt to Warner. It was funny to hear Jerry Jessop tell the story - in person and in the podcast interview - of him often stopping by Atari Corp and buying up dead 1050 disk drives on the cheap [from Gary Tramiel if I recall], fixing them, and selling them to Atari users group members. What a way to contract out the refurbishing duties.

[MEtalGuy66]

Mine is a 4 port.

 

S/N: 0202662 SV-472