Musicland 1983 Photo - 2600, Intellivision, Vectrex on store shelves

[williamc]

Just something to share... I picked up this original photo of games for sale at Musicland, probably taken for a newspaper, dated Jun. 24, 1983.  It's a trip to see what games were on store shelves at that time.  [Photo credit: Steve Zaffarano]

 

 

High-res scan here

 

Parts of the photo are overexposed so it's hard to make out everything on the shelves, but I gave it a shot.

 

To the left of the Atari TV display are shelves of various components like the Grabber plastic joystick-topper knobs.  I think I see some extension cables and TV/Game switchboxes too.

 

 

The middle shelves (between the two TV screens) contain mostly 2600 games and joysticks, with the bottom shelf containing various boxed consoles.

 

• Top shelf: Joystick (Pointmaster?), River Raid, Pitfall, Vanguard? (on sale!), another joystick, Phoenix?, another joystick, unidentified Coleco game
• 2nd shelf: Defender, Demons to Diamonds, Dodge 'Em, Coleco game (maybe Mouse Trap?), unidentified, Carnival, Space Attack?, Frogger?, Star Wars: Jedi Arena, Kaboom!, Othello, unknown (obscured by screen)
• 3rd shelf: Laser Blast, Missile Command?, Venture, Megamania, Maze Craze, Checkers, unidentified, Amidar, Night Driver, unidentified Coleco game, Barnstorming, Asteroids
• 4th shelf: Reactor, Spider Fighter (marked NEW), Berzerk, unidentified, Star Wars: Empire Strikes Back, unidentified Atari(?) game, Space Invaders, Stampede, unidentified Activision(?) game, Swordquest Earthworld?, unidentified Atari(?) game
• 5th shelf: Ms. Pac Man, Bowling, Warlords, E.T., Gorf, Wizard of Wor, Tron Deadly Discs?, Astroblast?
• 6th shelf: Atlantis, Cosmic Ark, Demon Attack, Dragonfire, Fire Fighter, Riddle of the Sphinx, Star Voyager, unidentified Imagic game, Trick Shot, Boxed Driving controller, Boxed 2600 power supply
• Bottom shelf: ColecoVision console, Intellivision II console, Atari VCS console (with a partly torn off Megamania sticker on it), ColecoVision box of some kind (maybe for controller or peripheral?), Boxed Vectrex console on floor in front

 

Looks like a Megamania bumper sticker on the VCS box maybe?

 

To the right of the "Intellivision" display are shelves of Intellivision and Vectrex games.

 

• Top shelf: unidentified, Astrosmash, Beauty and the Beast, unidentified, Donkey Kong
• 2nd shelf: Dragonfire, Frogger, unidentified, Lock 'n Chase, Night Stalker
• 3rd shelf: NFL Football, Pitfall!, PGA Golf, Space Armada, Space Hawk?
• 4th shelf: Lady Bug, Mouse Trap, Venture
• 5th shelf: Space Battle, Star Strike, Triple Action, utopia, Venture
• 6th Shelf (Intellivoice games): B-17 Bomber, Tron Solar Sailer, Bomb Squad
• 7th Shelf (Vectrex games): Berzerk, Rip Off, Star Trek
• 8th Shelf (Vectrex games): Solar Quest, Cosmic Chasm

Now, the displays themselves.  The Atari display is a 4-switch unit playing Activision Checkers.  I'm having a hard time identifying the joysticks attached to the console.  One looks like it could be a Pointmaster but the other is strange.  I thought it might be a CX40 with a Grabber ball, but the stick itself looks too narrow.  Any ideas?

 

 

On the 2600 table are also two contest standee displays.  One is the Centipede Bug-Off Contest.  The second is for something called Race-For-Riches that seems to be tied into Activision's Enduro. 

 

 

 

I recognize the "99 Days of Racing" poster included in the Enduro display, because coincidentally, I came across one of these a few months ago.  I have since traded it, but here's a pic I still have.

 

 

The items on the Intellivision display table are easier to make out... although it seems to actually be the ColecoVision DK on screen. The table has a ColecoVision console, Inty II, a boxed Intellivoice, a boxed ColecoVision Expansion Module #1 and a Vectrex console.

 

I never had a Musicland in my area back in the day but it's still a treat to see a pic like this.

 

 

Edited September 27, 2020 by williamc