How often Atari reused their loaner cards ?

[lkermel]

Hi All,

 

I am wondering how often Atari would reuse their EPROM loaner cards. They used to say to return them back to Atari prototype lab, so my guess is that a lot of them got re-used and therefore destroyed.

I'm also asking the question as I just got a Soccer loaner card and the side label was loose. I realised that the original cartridge was in fact a production 'Adventure' cart, so they reused the cartridge case and put a soccer EPROM there and a loaner label on top of the adventure one.

And some of my loaners have at least 2 layers of stickers on the front label. But I never felt courageous enough to remove the first layers as it would certainly ruin my loaners...

 

Does someone know a bit more about loaners and how they were created by atari's proto lab ?...

[Tempest]

Does someone know a bit more about loaners and how they were created by atari's proto lab ?...

 

http://www.atariprotos.com

 

I actually plan to add a page about lab loaners shortly...

 

 

I am wondering how often Atari would reuse their EPROM loaner cards. They used to say to return them back to Atari prototype lab, so my guess is that a lot of them got re-used and therefore destroyed.

 

I have quite a few lab loaners that have multiple labels on them. I would guess that Atari reused them quite a bit.

 

I'm also asking the question as I just got a Soccer loaner card and the side label was loose. I realised that the original cartridge was in fact a production 'Adventure' cart, so they reused the cartridge case and put a soccer EPROM there and a loaner label on top of the adventure one.

 

I have a GCC (blue label) lab loaner where I can see an Air-Sea Battle label underneath. I also have a one where you can see the Combat end label. It wasn't uncommon for Atari to use whatever carts they had on hand.

 

And some of my loaners have at least 2 layers of stickers on the front label. But I never felt courageous enough to remove the first layers as it would certainly ruin my loaners...

 

One thing you can do (if you're courageous enough) is to put a drop of goo-gone on the label and let it soak through. This will turn the label clear so you can see the one underneath until it drys. So far it hasn't damaged any of my labels, but do it at your own risk. I've seen some interesting stuff under those labels...

 

Tempest

[Tsukasa]

I heard of something similar, someone found a sears cart with an atari label under the sears label or vice versa.