Sears Exclusives... RE-Imagined!

[+bfstats]

Suppose, during the tenure of Sears contract with Atari, they had not insisted on having Atari grant them permission to release titles exclusively under the Sears Brand. After decades of collecting Atari 2600 games - and ignoring Sears titles except for the exclusives - I have found myself wondering if Atari would have released these three titles regardless. Maybe, maybe not.

 

But since The Wall is intended to represent Atari Revisionist History, I act on the assumption that EVERYTHING would have eventually seen the light of day. AND, since Sears, Zellers, and Telegames brands fail to meet the criteria for my Rules of Inclusion, I had to find an acceptable way to present Steeplechase, Stellar Track, and Submarine Commander on The Wall. Behold...

 

 

 

 

 

The idea for this had been stewing in me ever since I bought these games in the early '80's. They became reality this month thanks to my stepdaughter, Molly, who did the precision Photoshop work, and Old Buddy Marc Oberhauser, who did the ever-so-professional printing.

 

You can see other examples of Molly's art here...

 

http://www.mollyblosse.com/

...and...

https://www.etsy.com/shop/blosseDesigns/items

 

...and Marc's work here...

 

http://freelancer-games.com/index-us.php

...and of course...

http://atariage.com/forums/user/36-marc-oberhaeuser/

 

 

I am so happy about this becoming "real" that I felt compelled to share with the community. Plus it is important that I express publicly my pride in Molly and my respect for Marc, as well as my appreciation for their caring contributions. To both of you, I am VERY grateful!

 

Also, a THANK YOU to Albert for maintaining this great Forum through which ALL of us can share.

 

By the way, the colors I chose for each box were based strictly on the symmetry needed for my fourth version of The Wall. The styles chosen were based on the box designs Atari was using when they were released by Sears. I'll be sharing The Wall with the community as well when it is further along. Still too many holes. Anyone interested in doing original art for vaporware titles is encouraged to apply within.

[Atari_Bill]

Nice. Those are very sharp.

[+save2600]

Sweet! Are you making these available for others to purchase by chance?

[Keatah]

Ahh the old Blue & Tan.

Edited October 23, 2017 by Keatah

[Tempest]

There is actual Atari version artwork for those. I saw them in the Art of Atari book.

[hizzy]

Looks great!

[+bfstats]

Thanks for the kind comments.

 

 

Are you making these available for others to purchase by chance?

 

Marc says he will add them to his shop. Please contact him for orders, and thank you for asking. Hadn't considered others may like these enough to buy them.

 

 

There is actual Atari version artwork for those. I saw them in the Art of Atari book.

 

Good catch. I had seen it all in Tim's book but chose to use the existing box art instead. You'll note the "book version" art shows jockeys and neck-and-neck horse racing, which is not exactly what Steeplechase is about. My wife owned horses and I deferred to her on this, wisely I think. Also in the book, Stellar Track used art from the 8-bit version of Star Raiders; not usable here. Also also, as much as I liked the Submarine Commander art in the book, the existing box art better depicted the true game play, in my opinion.

 

All these decisions were judgment calls on my part. It had not occurred to me I might be sharing the final products until I had them in my hands, since this was merely a self-fulfilling project.

 

Still, all comments are welcome. I enjoy the community interaction evoked by fresh ideas.

[Arenafoot]

Thanks for the kind comments.

Marc says he will add them to his shop. Please contact him for orders, and thank you for asking. Hadn't considered others may like these enough to buy them.

FYI - the first link for each person does not work (in the first post).

[+bfstats]

FYI - the first link for each person does not work (in the first post).

 

Fixed. Thanks for the heads up!