Jump to content
IGNORED

Actual 400/800 launch day in stores?


Recommended Posts

1 hour ago, Greg2600 said:

I don't think "launch days" were a thing back then. 

But we know that the VCS was released on September 11, 1977. Why is this so much more of a mystery? You'd think that we'd at least know the week when units first started to appear in stores in the US. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

7 hours ago, davidcalgary29 said:

But we know that the VCS was released on September 11, 1977. Why is this so much more of a mystery? You'd think that we'd at least know the week when units first started to appear in stores in the US. 

If you read Curt’s book and listen to a lot of the ANTIC Podcast interviews from folks who were working at Atari in those days, there wasn’t a “launch day” even for the VCS. Stuff was announced at trade shows or via literature. It was shipped out ad hoc to wholesalers and retailers as it was available, and those people advertised it for end-user sale on their own schedules. Local stores ran much of their own advertising, even for big chains like KMart and Sears, and put merchandise on sale as it arrived, not in coordination with some coordinated national marketing plan.

 

In the case of the 400/800, the information from the above sources indicates that Atari hand-assembled and packed a few hundred machines in late 1979 to meet the deadlines to get photographs done and have those machines “in the warehouse” so they could be included in Christmas catalogs for places like Sears and J.C. Penney, but as soon as those catalogs went to print, most of them were recalled to fix production issues, do more testing, etc. Actual sales didn’t really occur on any kind of scale until the early months on 1980. 


But there was no one “launch day.”

 

EDIT: This ANTIC Podcast interview with Jerry Jessop is great - he talks about some of this stuff specifically.  

Edited by DrVenkman
add interview link
  • Like 6
Link to comment
Share on other sites

7 hours ago, DrVenkman said:

If you read Curt’s book and listen to a lot of the ANTIC Podcast interviews from folks who were working at Atari in those days, there wasn’t a “launch day” even for the VCS. Stuff was announced at trade shows or via literature. It was shipped out ad hoc to wholesalers and retailers as it was available, and those people advertised it for end-user sale on their own schedules. Local stores ran much of their own advertising, even for big chains like KMart and Sears, and put merchandise on sale as it arrived, not in coordination with some coordinated national marketing plan.

 

In the case of the 400/800, the information from the above sources indicates that Atari hand-assembled and packed a few hundred machines in late 1979 to meet the deadlines to get photographs done and have those machines “in the warehouse” so they could be included in Christmas catalogs for places like Sears and J.C. Penney, but as soon as those catalogs went to print, most of them were recalled to fix production issues, do more testing, etc. Actual sales didn’t really occur on any kind of scale until the early months on 1980. 


But there was no one “launch day.”

 

EDIT: This ANTIC Podcast interview with Jerry Jessop is great - he talks about some of this stuff specifically.  

Pretty much what I meant, but your post is much more informative.  Ha ha!  And yes, Jerry is a legend. 

 

Back then I'd have my mom or grandmother call the toy stores or whatever asking if they got such and such in yet.  Sort of like my father did for new VHS rentals.  Besides most of us had to "wait" for the holidays to get big gifts like say a computer or new console. 

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, Greg2600 said:

Pretty much what I meant, but your post is much more informative.  Ha ha!  And yes, Jerry is a legend. 

 

Back then I'd have my mom or grandmother call the toy stores or whatever asking if they got such and such in yet.  Sort of like my father did for new VHS rentals.  Besides most of us had to "wait" for the holidays to get big gifts like say a computer or new console. 

Yeah..I remember that as well.  We all new that one kid or friend who got every new toy/game/console/computer the moment it came out on any random Wednesday..but for the vast majority of us, time was marked waiting for the birthday or Christmas to get a gift or item we wanted 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...