Atari VCS clone came home after 30 years

[TCH]

While our family is a Commodore family - Dad's first computer was a C64, i wrote my first program on his C128, my first own homecomputer is an Amiga 500+ - but my first own machine - shared with my little brother - was an Atari VCS clone in 1991. It came with a cartridge with some games (i only remember Slot Racers, Tank Plus and Outlaw) and two poorly constructed joysticks which were broken immediately and we had to use QuickShots instead. Unfortunately one day the cartridge has given it's soul back to it's manufactors, so the machine has left home and the brazilian NES clone, SuperCom 72 came instead.

While we managed to get back most of our retromachines in these decades (my brother found our C64 around Szeged, a city nearly 200km away from us, i found his A1200 at a local "Amiga-killer" and we "bought" back our C128 for a webshop; now only the family's first Amiga is missing but we are on it's tracks), but we had no hope for this one, as we thought that it was taken back to the shop where it must have been thrown out as unrepairable and obsolete.
 

However, we were wrong.
 

It turned out that even with the cartridge dead, the machine itself contained games too (we were like 3 and 5 years old, we have never removed it) and Dad did not gave it back to the shop, but sold to another family. (It was a misunderstanding, only the new console came from the shop.) And my brother accidentally ran into this family a year ago because some kind of purchase. They mistook him for our father and after clarifying that he is his son, they told him that they have bought a "game machine" from Dad, but they have no idea where it is.
A year has passed and my brother - out of pure coincidence - ran into their FB want-ad of an Atari VCS clone. He contacted them and asked if it is the same machine and it was: they bought it from our father roughly 30 years ago, without a cartridge and joysticks (broken joysticks as it actually turned out). Everything was in it's place in the story and the setup.
 

So as unbelievable it is, my first machine ever has returned after 30 years. They always say, it's a small world, well sometimes it really is.
 

Here is the console:
 

 

The box:
 

 

While the story was that they got it without joysticks and Dad told them where to get new ones, the shop only had QuickShots and similar joysticks and these are "factory" joysticks and they are as broken as ours was:
 

 

We got a supply with it, but it gives 15V with all voltage settings, i dared not to use it:
 

 

Fortunately it's cable was detachable so i could plug it into my supply. Also fortunately, my Sony Trinitron has RF, so i could use it. (Originally it was used with a Videoton.)

I have found 131 games in it. Unfortunately neither Slot Racers or Tank Plus (our favorites) are in the machine. It has Outlaw, but my brother hated that, he always lost in that game. But there is Berzerker (which i do not remember if we had in the cartridge):
 

 

I think i should write some kind of conclusion here, but i could not come up with anything, so that's it.

[Thomas Jentzsch]

I remember these joysticks from other clones (Rambo). 

Edited March 20, 2021 by Thomas Jentzsch

[Wizzard]

I had almost the same console with almost the same games, but just 128 games (no Outlaw), I wonder how they put 131 games inside. In fact, this was the reason I am interested in Atari, cause this was my only "Atari" in 90s.

[DeafAtariFromKansas]

How can Atari 2600 handle enough power to run this, only 300ma.. it would be least 600 or more milliamps, just wondering...

[GENZZA]

I wish the chinese or taiwanese were still makig this specific type of joystick even though they were notorious for breaking.That looks like my first atari too and I know it was clone but also is the main reason I still by homebriew Atari 2600 games.

Mine had a white box with arabic simbols and english letters saing 2600 TV Compatible, 128 built in games even though it was claiming they were 444 on the front of the console.

Edited March 21, 2021 by GENZZA

[TCH]

19 hours ago, Wizzard said:

I had almost the same console with almost the same games, but just 128 games (no Outlaw), I wonder how they put 131 games inside. In fact, this was the reason I am interested in Atari, cause this was my only "Atari" in 90s.

Nohow, i made three mistake (repetition) when i made the list; the console gives the games in random order and this list enlists several games with multiple occurrences, but different titles, so i've found three games twice. I was curious too, how can it be 131, but eliminated the redundant entries only today.
 

18 hours ago, DeafAtariFromKansas said:

How can Atari 2600 handle enough power to run this, only 300ma.. it would be least 600 or more milliamps, just wondering...

I did not use the console with this supply at all. It gives 15V in all settings, it must be faulty.
 

[TCH]

trapperkeeper asked for the bottom of the machine and for other sides of the box.