Atari $2 Refund Check

[JayAre]

I'm attaching pics of the envelope, letter and check relating to Atari's $2 refund promotion, circa 1980.  Does anyone remember the details of this refund, and what item you needed to buy to receive it?  And also if anyone knows how Atari made customers aware of the promotion?  Initially I thought you would receive the check for buying certain games, but since the letter states that it's a "Video Computer System Refund Check", I'm thinking it might have been for having bought the console.  Maybe there was a form included with the rest of the paperwork when you would buy the VCS.  Although $2 seems kind of low for a rebate, considering how much the VCS went for back then.

 

Any information would be greatly appreciated.

 

 

 

[+davidcalgary29]

I think you should try to cash it at the bank. And stop off at a local dealer on the way so you can check the serial numbers on the cheque and enter into the Atari Personal Computer Sweepstakes!

[JayAre]

Will do.  Been meaning to get my hands on one of those fancy, new personal computers everyone's talking about.

 

I might already be a winner! 

[awhite2600]

41 minutes ago, JayAre said:

Been meaning to get my hands on one of those fancy, new personal computers everyone's talking about.

 

I was in a local computer store one day in the late '80s.  Some redneck looking guy walks in and says to a salesman, "I'm interested in buying one of those new HOME computers."  I kept my mouth shut and walked away, controlling my laughter.

[Albert]

Maybe you could use it towards the new Atari VCS?

 

 ..Al

[Nukey Shay]

Check was only good until June 30,1980.  Wouldn't surprise me if Atari sent them out on June 29.

[+Karl G]

I bet you could get a few bucks for it on Ebay, though.   

[Albert]

1 hour ago, Karl G said:

I bet you could get a few bucks for it on Ebay, though.   

Certainly, it is a very cool item, especially with the postmarked envelope and accompanying letter.  From the letter, it looks like you had to use it at an authorized Atari dealer, who could then deposit the check into their own account after the sale.  The amount of $2 does seem low, and that would be worth about $6 today. Still not a ton of money, but it's a nice discount nonetheless. 

 

 ..Al

[+Psionic]

I would assume you received it when you purchased a new VCS and would then cash it when purchasing games but who knows.  I found a reference to it in a dealer ad from May 1980.

https://www.newspapers.com/image/335458802/
 

 

[+wongojack]

"Swords and Dragons?" 

 

Maybe a clever way to avoid saying "Dungeons and Dragons?"

[Atari_Bill]

So you’re the one that got that on eBay.  Had it in my watch list and was just going to bid when I noticed it had been ended / sold. Pretty cool item. Enjoy. 

[0078265317]

Neat

[+save2600]

Love it! $2 off a cartridge was decent at the time - remember, candy bars were $.25. 

 

Two years later, Atari's Real Sports Baseball had a similar promotion, where you sent in a coupon...  (coupon image courtesy of Atarimania)

 

 

[onemoretime]

Looks to be that the check states that it s for registering a VCS.

[JayAre]

6 hours ago, Atari_Bill said:

So you’re the one that got that on eBay.  Had it in my watch list and was just going to bid when I noticed it had been ended / sold. Pretty cool item. Enjoy. 

Thanks, Bill.

 

7 hours ago, Psionic said:

I would assume you received it when you purchased a new VCS and would then cash it when purchasing games but who knows.  I found a reference to it in a dealer ad from May 1980.
 

Psionic, I really appreciate your taking the time to search for the ad.  That was very cool of you.

[JayAre]

16 hours ago, onemoretime said:

Looks to be that the check states that it s for registering a VCS.

Good eye.  Well, it certainly looks like the check was sent to customers who registered their VCS during that time frame in 1980.  I'm wondering which Warranty Registration Card was used to register the console in 1980, and whether it mentioned the refund or not.

[Philflound]

I don't see the Ebay listing that had this. What did you pay?

[JayAre]

23 minutes ago, Philflound said:

I don't see the Ebay listing that had this. What did you pay?

$45.  I dunno; maybe I overpaid for it.  But I had never seen the check for sale before.  And like Al said, it's a cool item, since it's complete with the envelope and letter.  Chalk this one up as a guilty pleasure I guess.

 

But, yeah, I've noticed that some eBay items don't appear in the "completed listings" section after they're sold.  Not sure why.

[+sramirez2008]

This is a very cool item.  Hard to put a price on, especially with the shape everything is in.  The check and letter look great and the envelope appears to be in pretty good condition overall.   Hard to say that you overpaid. I might have gone that high myself and it doesn’t matter as long as your happy with it.

 

Thanks for sharing.

[+Psionic]

11 minutes ago, JayAre said:

But, yeah, I've noticed that some eBay items don't appear in the "completed listings" section after they're sold.  Not sure why.

Fixed-price listings sold via Best Offer usually do not appear in completed items.

[JayAre]

17 minutes ago, sramirez2008 said:

This is a very cool item.  Hard to put a price on, especially with the shape everything is in.  The check and letter look great and the envelope appears to be in pretty good condition overall.   Hard to say that you overpaid. I might have gone that high myself and it doesn’t matter as long as your happy with it.

 

Thanks for sharing.

I appreciate that.  Makes me feel a little bit better.

 

16 minutes ago, Psionic said:

Fixed-price listings sold via Best Offer usually do not appear in completed items.

Got it.  Thanks.

[Albert]

$45 seems quite reasonable to me for such a unique item in the condition it's in. 

 

 ..Al

[JayAre]

27 minutes ago, Albert said:

$45 seems quite reasonable to me for such a unique item in the condition it's in. 

 

 ..Al

Thanks so much, Al.  I had never seen one of these for sale in all my years of collecting.  Seems like it's kind of hard to come by.

[Philflound]

My guess is that there are many of us out there who would pay that and more. It's one thing to get a rare item that few people have. It's better to get an item probably no one has. My guess is that there are no more than 10 in existence and that may be a generous number. It may not be a game, but I find paper items and books to be very collectible anywhere I go. I work with a guy who has many unique items related to comics, some signed by Stan Lee back while he was alive. You never know the price of items until you throw it up in an auction and watch the collectors fight over it. Great find and I congratulate you for it.

[JayAre]

21 minutes ago, Philflound said:

My guess is that there are many of us out there who would pay that and more. It's one thing to get a rare item that few people have. It's better to get an item probably no one has. My guess is that there are no more than 10 in existence and that may be a generous number. It may not be a game, but I find paper items and books to be very collectible anywhere I go. I work with a guy who has many unique items related to comics, some signed by Stan Lee back while he was alive. You never know the price of items until you throw it up in an auction and watch the collectors fight over it. Great find and I congratulate you for it.

Thanks, man.  Very nice of you to say.

 

You know, I hadn't really thought about this until now, but most of these checks probably got cashed by the customer, and the envelope and letter just thrown away, since there would be no reason to keep them.  So you might be right about how many of these are out there.