Opening Parker Brothers Cartridge

[jlmanager]

Hello all! I picked up a copy of Super Cobra about a month ago, popped it in and...nothing. Theres a rattling sound that wasnt there when I bought it, so Im guessing something has broken loose.

 

I was going to open it up and see if I could fix it, but couldnt find any obvious methods of opening it up, and no real help online.

 

Any suggestions? Its a Parker Brothers cartridge.

[jaybird3rd]

Welcome to AtariAge!

 

Parker Brothers cartridges are sealed shut—by ultrasonic welding, if I remember correctly—so unfortunately, there's no easy to open them without breaking them.

[ledzep]

Welcome to AtariAge!

 

Parker Brothers cartridges are sealed shut—by ultrasonic welding, if I remember correctly—so unfortunately, there's no easy to open them without breaking them.

 

Have there ever been attempts to reproduce those cartridge shells? I was thinking that the 2 halves could be glued together or a mod for a screw-together version but it would still look like a Parker Brothers cart. Have there been repros of other carts, like Activision, Sega?

[jaybird3rd]

Have there ever been attempts to reproduce those cartridge shells? I was thinking that the 2 halves could be glued together or a mod for a screw-together version but it would still look like a Parker Brothers cart. Have there been repros of other carts, like Activision, Sega?

Not to my knowledge. We've seen reproduction 2600 shells of various kinds, but if I'm not mistaken, no reproduction 5200 shells have ever been made (with the possible exception of 3D-printed one-offs). The 5200 homebrew games that have been made so far have all been built with recycled Atari shells.

[CPUWIZ]

Not to my knowledge. We've seen reproduction 2600 shells of various kinds, but if I'm not mistaken, no reproduction 5200 shells have ever been made (with the possible exception of 3D-printed one-offs). The 5200 homebrew games that have been made so far have all been built with recycled Atari shells.

 

The 5200 games from the store, use newly produced shells.

[jaybird3rd]

The 5200 games from the store, use newly produced shells.

Wow! In that case, I'm happy to have been wrong (or at least out of date); last I heard, there were plans to produce new shells someday, but it hadn't yet happened. I guess that means I need to buy more 5200 games!

[ledzep]

Not to my knowledge. We've seen reproduction 2600 shells of various kinds, but if I'm not mistaken, no reproduction 5200 shells have ever been made (with the possible exception of 3D-printed one-offs). The 5200 homebrew games that have been made so far have all been built with recycled Atari shells.

 

I wonder if, in regards to the non-Atari shells, it's because they all seem to be glued together? I just looked at a 5200 Activision "Zone Ranger" cart, also seems glued/welded together (no screws). I suppose someone would have to design a mod so that the shell could be screwed together yet still hold the circuit board in correctly and probably nobody's in the mood to deal with that (I assume the circuit boards are different shapes from Atari's, too). And it wouldn't be "authentic" compared to originals. Too bad, I'd love to get the AtariAge "Zaxxon" in a Sega-shape shell (I have the original boxed game already), it would open up a lot of cool designs for homebrew 5200 games packaging.

[Shawn]

I've used razor blades in the past to open many carts that are glued\welded together. As long as you stay exactly on the seam you can take them apart and get them back together with minimal to no cosmetic damage.

[CPUWIZ]

I've used razor blades in the past to open many carts that are glued\welded together. As long as you stay exactly on the seam you can take them apart and get them back together with minimal to no cosmetic damage.

 

Heat gun and a wooden mallet, with a layer of protection, so not to scratch the plastic.