Ballblaɀer Posted July 26, 2018 Share Posted July 26, 2018 (edited) I grew up in the 1980s having an Atari 5200 at home, while my grandparents had a 2600 at their place just a few blocks away. So I suppose it's not too weird that those are the only two systems for which I collect today. (I added a Vectrex because I think they're incredibly cool, but I'm satisfied to use a VecFlash with it and not worry about collecting the library of games. That said, I'm always looking for loose overlays -- drop me a line if you have any to trade or sell!) If you'd like to follow my growing Atari collection bit by bit and post by post you should follow me over on Twitter, but I thought I'd make a thread here to post some of the more interesting and unique things I've picked up over the years. Let's start it off with the highlight of my collection: the 1978 Atari Inc. Flag Capture picture label cart! To my knowledge, only three of these are known to exist in collectors' hands right now. There's also the accompanying color international manual -- I've never seen another one of these (if you have one, please make it known!): How is it possible that more of these haven't turned up? Either the manuals OR the cartridges, I mean. Honestly, any theories would be welcome. Another crazy rare cart: the weird-lookin' Atari Corp. PAL picture label Pengo! I'm a sucker for collecting all the odd Atari Corp. variants, and this one was top of my list. Gotta love the random Cooper Black font sneaking its way on there. I'm one last title away from having every Atari Monaco (New Zealand) variant that I've hoped to collect. My favorite? The super bizarre gray-label Air-Sea Battle, with unique cartoon-y artwork. My theory about this: new artwork was commissioned to be used in place of the original ASB artwork, which was a little too WWII Pacific Theater-centric for Japan's tastes, as Atari was getting set to release the game in Japan for the launch of the Atari 2800. This same artwork is used on the Atari 2800 box for the game. (And, I mean, the original artwork does kinda resemble a Japanese flag...) I don't typically collect boxed games, but I couldn't pass on this silver box Dodge 'Em, also from New Zealand. The text label styled label that came with it is also unlike any other title, New Zealand-made or otherwise. International manuals are a big favorite of mine since they were often the only thing that differentiated international releases from a "normal" USA release. The most unusual one I've found is this Danish manual, from an Atari licensee called DanHope a/s. If anyone knows more about this Danish distributor (or has other examples of manuals) please let me know, as the internet has so-far come up empty when it comes to additional info, or even a mention of the company's name. More international manuals, these being Swedish-language manuals from licensed Atari distributors Cherry and Alga(vision): I just think these are super cool. Last item for now -- the only gray box Street Racer I've ever seen, except... strangely, it was cut down to fit in an Australian clamshell-style case. Just... really weird, and exactly the kind of weird that made it such an exciting find for me. [Edit: a second, intact gray Street Racer box has since surfaced.] Lots more to come as I get around to posting it, but feel free to check out my Twitter feed for over a year's worth of collection posts! Edited September 15, 2018 by Ballblaɀer 9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ballblaɀer Posted August 6, 2018 Author Share Posted August 6, 2018 A few more highlights: Super-Ray, in the "Home Vision style". Same game as Home Vision's Sky Alien. To my knowledge this is the only one of these known, so I'm interested to hear if you have one! The super cool SilverStar 2600 clone from New Zealand, with 64 games built in. Looks more like an answering machine, no? A rough draft manual for Atari 5200 soccer, with mainly minor revisions, but it also shows that the part number for Soccer was once 5218. Let's finish off the post with another unique silver box title from New Zealand. Man, I love these! 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dillweed Posted August 13, 2018 Share Posted August 13, 2018 I want that Flag Capture. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
high voltage Posted August 13, 2018 Share Posted August 13, 2018 I want that SilverStar, awesome Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+sramirez2008 Posted August 13, 2018 Share Posted August 13, 2018 Really...really like the Super-Ray artwork. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ballblaɀer Posted August 21, 2018 Author Share Posted August 21, 2018 Some more unusual stuff! A pre-production/review copy of Star Voyager, which includes a smooth-shelled Imagic cart and rough draft instructions: Same thing, for Trick Shot: Two 2600 cartridges manufactured in Thailand: My Atari 2800, which I still feel is the most beautiful gaming console that Atari ever made: And one of my 2800 game boxes, to finish this post off! 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ballblaɀer Posted August 21, 2018 Author Share Posted August 21, 2018 Really...really like the Super-Ray artwork. Me too. I've tried to figure out where the Home Vision Style artwork was "borrowed" from, but with no luck so far. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ballblaɀer Posted August 21, 2018 Author Share Posted August 21, 2018 I want that SilverStar, awesome I think 2600 clone systems are cool in general, but this one is unlike any others I've seen! A few more photos I took are over on Twitter if you're interested. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BassGuitari Posted August 29, 2018 Share Posted August 29, 2018 That's some pretty wacky stuff you've got there! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keatah Posted September 9, 2018 Share Posted September 9, 2018 I wonder if that silverstar console could be roughly modded to accept standard cartridges, at least electrically, not necessarily cosmetically? And if so, would it support ALL controllers like the original VCS could? Are the necessary signals and connections in-place? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ballblaɀer Posted May 5, 2019 Author Share Posted May 5, 2019 Long time no post! I've gotta try to post more regularly. Here's some more uncommon and unusual stuff. I believe this Othello cart was likely manufactured by Atari México, and is thus an "official" release. Why do I think it's official? There's the end label, which looks super similar to an official Atari picture label end label (the vast majority of pirate and bootleg cartridge makers made their labels look nothing like the "real" thing). Also, there's the existence of this other Othello cart (which I tried to purchase, to no avail). It appears to be the same green labeled cart... but with an Atari Corp label over top of the main label! Here are two carts from Hin Seng, Atari's licensed distributor licensed distributor for a brief time in Singapore. I'm still hoping to find another Hin Seng cart -- one with a different label style (it says Hin Seng / Planetary Headquarters right on it). Last item for now, the Bit Corp 8-in-1 NTSC cart! I recently dumped this; the ROMs will be in the v16 collection from Atarimania, or you can go get them from the forum thread now. I actually have an extra one of these; contact me if you're interested in trading/buying. These are pretty dang tough to find, it seems... I'm all about collecting international 2600 stuff! Definitely PM me if you have anything you'd like to trade/sell (especially trade). Tops on my want-list right now are carts from Turkey and Argentina. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ballblaɀer Posted February 7, 2020 Author Share Posted February 7, 2020 Posting more regularly = more than once a year, I guess! ? Some more weird and wonderful stuff: A boxed 2600 title from a publisher not yet documented anywhere, to my knowledge -- "Supermax". Okay! Kill, snick ball and you scores. An incredible red 2600 clone from Taiwan, apparently known as "Invincible". A sharp-looking two-color Spanish-language manual/supplement from Atari Mexico. Hand-reproduced Vanguard art, perhaps? I've never seen one of these *not* from New Zealand -- a white 5x7 manual for 3D Tic-Tac-Toe. Some unusual carts that came my way from Indonesia. I legit think that these *may* all be from a licensed distributor, even taking into consideration the pirate-y aspects about them (e.g. the repeated part numbers). The beautiful R320 cart from Bit Corporation, which was a pack-in with their Creator 30 console. I have one of these available for trade/sale. Some more unusual carts from Taiwan, plus a copy of Time Warp that appears to be from Funvision, but oddly there doesn't seem to be a Funvision ROM contained within. Last but obviously not least... probably the coolest thing I'll ever have in my collection. If you follow me on Twitter you'll have seen all of this (and lots more!) already, but I've been urged to post more here, so... here ya go. ? 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ballblaɀer Posted October 15, 2020 Author Share Posted October 15, 2020 Been far too long since I've added to my collection thread, and I've added some fairly heavy hitters to the fold in recent months. First off... maybe the rarest of all the new additions, a Home Vision cart (white shell) Racing Car. I believe this is the third one known to exist... as far as I know, @Marco and @Rick Weis each have/had one, and that's it. If I'm wrong, let me know! Next up, a fairly decent-looking copy of Off Your Rocker! I've definitely seen worse labels. Does anyone else have one with a numbered sticker on the back? Maybe it means nothing... Now, two ridiculously hard-to-find Brazilian brands... first up, a BEAUTIFUL River Raid, by Splice Vision. Love these oversize carts!!! Huge thanks to @lazzeri for help with this one, as well as... ...a Tarântula cart from Video Grow! I legit wondered if I'd EVER get my hands on one of these. Pretty nice condition, too! Here are a handful of cartridges that came to me from Thailand. I love the label-maker end labels on many of them -- you tend to only see those on cartridges that originate there. Love that the 2-in-1 cart by "Galaxy" uses artwork from もえろツインビー シナモン博士を救え! (TwinBee 2, released in the USA as Stinger). Also... BOOM. ? Finally... two Diagnostic cartridges (with legit, unique Atari ROMs inside), plus one "kluge" cart (a test cart with a PCB and no ROM). These are originals from Atari, and *not* what are effectively reproductions that were sold by Best Electronics. HSW told me that Jan Boehm could possibly know whose handwriting is on all of these carts -- because it's all the same writing (i.e. even on the carts in other people's collections). If anyone knows how to get in touch with Jan, I'd definitely like to ask! Lots more big discoveries coming... soon? 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rom Hunter Posted October 19, 2020 Share Posted October 19, 2020 On 10/15/2020 at 2:40 AM, Ballblaɀer said: Here are a handful of cartridges that came to me from Thailand. I love the label-maker end labels on many of them -- you tend to only see those on cartridges that originate there. Love that the 2-in-1 cart by "Galaxy" uses artwork from もえろツインビー シナモン博士を救え! (TwinBee 2, released in the USA as Stinger). Also... BOOM. ? Nice! Which game is on the Carbomb cart? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ballblaɀer Posted October 20, 2020 Author Share Posted October 20, 2020 17 hours ago, Rom Hunter said: Nice! Which game is on the Carbomb cart? Carbomb = Bank Heist (PAL) I've got another load coming from Thailand as we speak. Exciting times. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ballblaɀer Posted October 20, 2020 Author Share Posted October 20, 2020 I just realized that I never posted my first ever Activision patch! Thanks, @Machine -- I'm super proud to be a "Dragster Hackster". 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Machine Posted October 20, 2020 Share Posted October 20, 2020 You earned it the old fashion way.....you cheated like everyone else! ? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ballblaɀer Posted October 25, 2020 Author Share Posted October 25, 2020 More carts just in from Thailand. There's a couple I can't get to work yet. Need to give them a better cleaning and try again! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rom Hunter Posted October 28, 2020 Share Posted October 28, 2020 Nice! Which game is Invader - 2? And which game is on the Jo Jo cart? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ballblaɀer Posted October 28, 2020 Author Share Posted October 28, 2020 "Invader - 2" is World End (with Home Vision copyright) The Jo Jo cart contains Battlezone. The label-less "Activision" cart contains Ms. Pac-Man. I haven't been able to get the "Galaxian" cart to work, yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Union NJ Posted October 30, 2020 Share Posted October 30, 2020 Well Off your Rocker seems to be a prototype game.. http://www.atariprotos.com/2600/software/offyourrocker/offyourrocker.htm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ballblaɀer Posted March 14, 2021 Author Share Posted March 14, 2021 (edited) The 2800 / Television Computer System / Computer Video Game, made by 大雅電子有限公司 (Dar Yar Electronics Co., Ltd) of Taiwan. It's PAL-D format, so it was almost certainly made for the Chinese mainland. Edit: to be clear, this is an Atari 2600 clone. In addition to the shell, it seems to use a repurposed Famiclone motherboard. The Rockwell-made chips have date codes that indicate that this had to have been made in very late 1988 or later. And if all that wasn't enough... the box was designed to imitate a Famicom box, too! Edited March 14, 2021 by Ballblaɀer Not a Famiclone! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+groundtrooper Posted March 14, 2021 Share Posted March 14, 2021 This is the craziest cool thing I have ever seen. Congrats!! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ballblaɀer Posted March 20, 2021 Author Share Posted March 20, 2021 On 3/14/2021 at 2:25 PM, groundtrooper said: This is the craziest cool thing I have ever seen. Congrats!! Thanks, it's a highlight of my collection for sure. More exciting things to share soon... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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