Free JCPenney Pac-Man T-shirt! Just add time machine.

[+Random Terrain]

1982y_04m_08d Madison Wisconsin State Journal Thursday, April 8, 1982, Madison, Wisconsin
(JCPenney Pac-Man T-shirt newspaper ad with list of games and prices.)



1982y_04m_18d Sandusky Sunday Register Sunday, April 18, 1982, Sandusky, Ohio
(JCPenney Pac-Man T-shirt newspaper ad with double maze on page.)

[TrekMD]

Wait, let me get my flying DeLorean and I'll be right back!

[Flojomojo]

1982 --> 2019

134.88 355.25

34.95. 92.05

Expensive Crazy expensive

[+frankodragon]

[+cvga]

I love looking at this stuff. Interesting that JC Penney was selling it for $34.95 in Madison but $37.95 in Sandusky.

[Rom Hunter]

http://www.atarimania.com/goodies/hi_res/pac_man_t_shirt_v2.jpg

[Zwackery]

1982 --> 2019

134.88 355.25

34.95. 92.05

Expensive Crazy expensive

 

Average US salary in April 1982 = $7.77/hour

Adjust for inflation to February 2019 = $21.49/hour

 

A $34.95 game in April 1982 on average hourly wage would take about 4.5 hours to earn.

$92.05 in February 2019 dollars on an average hourly wage would take about 4.3 hours to earn.

 

But we know that new console games are around the $60 price point, and with the current hourly wage about $23.12/hour, a video game for a current buyer only takes about 2.6 hours to earn.

 

My point is, you can adjust things for inflation, but the context of hourly wage (and other data) needs to be there to get a better picture of the analysis. And mine is by no means exhaustive or definitive, just throwing another layer of data out there.

[Flojomojo]

I'm no economist but I'm pretty sure the inflation calculator I used is based on the Consumer Price Index, which takes cost of living as a factor.

 

The CPI frequently is called a cost-of-living index, but it differs in important ways from a complete cost-of-living measure. We use a cost-of-living framework in making practical decisions about questions that arise in constructing the CPI. A cost-of-living index is a conceptual measurement goal, however, and not a straightforward alternative to the CPI. A cost-of-living index would measure changes over time in the amount that consumers need to spend to reach a certain utility level or standard of living. Both the CPI and a cost-of-living index would reflect changes in the prices of goods and services, such as food and clothing that are directly purchased in the marketplace; but a complete cost-of-living index would go beyond this role to also take into account changes in other governmental or environmental factors that affect consumers' well-being. It is very difficult to determine the proper treatment of public goods, such as safety and education, and other broad concerns, such as health, water quality, and crime, that would constitute a complete cost-of-living framework. Since the CPI does not attempt to quantify all the factors that affect the cost-of-living, it is sometimes termed a conditional cost-of-living index.

 

I can't say whether comparing average salaries on top of that helps or hurts the overall accuracy, but I know this with certainty: when I was 12 years old in 1982, all of this was pure unobtanium for me, and even now, as a relatively comfortable adult, I'd think twice before blowing that kind of money on these early games.

[+atari2600land]

I have a button pin that says "Pac Man is coming to J.C. Penney". I got it at a flea market.

[Rom Hunter]

I have a button pin that says "Pac Man is coming to J.C. Penney". I got it at a flea market.

Would love to see a picture of this one.

 

[+atari2600land]

OK, here.