RickR

Great trade with Malak sent with decorations of the mighty one himself!

He even through in a D&D DVD choose your own adventure thingie that is right up my alley.

Thanks a ton!

Happy Atari Day!  I myself will be playing Colecovision tonight.  Don't worry though...I'll stick to Atarisoft games.

Laddersandcakes - I have three XEGS games for trade in the "For Trade" thread.  Check em out!

Whoa, happy Atari Day, peeps! I really need to get some gear to show the love. I may not own much Atari (yet), but I've been inspired to fire up the XEGS right now. Defender!
 

Well, that was then.  Now, it's... now, again.  Anyway, here's my next piece of evidence to support my theory.  Have a look at this Dig Dug re-release out of my collection, copyright 1986, Atari Corp:
 

 
Before we get back to my theory about Atari Corp not having the original cartridge label designs at their disposal...  holy smokes, look at that text up top!  VIDEO in one font (the original Atari Inc font), GAME CARTRIDGE and the rest in another?  It couldn't be more Atari Corp!      And on top of that, the sideways "5200" in the upper right logo?  It looks completely wrong, and nothing like any other Atari 5200 release I've seen -- it's almost as if it was cut and pasted in randomly.  Even that ATARI text itself is very slightly different -- if nothing else, it's a bit smaller.  Take a look at an older Atari Inc cart that I scanned to see the difference:
 

 
On Joust, the 5200 logo looks like the 5200 logo should, and like it always does.  But on the '86 Dig Dug cartridge?  Not so much.  I scanned both carts at the same resolution, and I cropped identical areas to compare:
 

 
The Dig Dug '86 label features the same outside-the-borders artwork that appears on the old box and manual design, just like the oddball Vanguard cartridge, and just like some Atari 2600 re-release titles I mentioned on page 1 of this thread.  With Dig Dug, the rectangular "artwork area" (i.e. the art minus the title and surrounding blue field) left space for the title to fit on the label, whereas Vanguard's "artwork area" is square -- again, probably the reason they couldn't squeeze the title on there.
 
To my knowledge, none of the other 1986 re-releases have differences like this, and that's where my theory comes up short.  One would expect to see something similar happen with Moon Patrol and Ms. Pac-Man, but they seem to have gotten those right.  In a way, though, that makes these strange cartridges even stranger.  Why was Atari Corp able to get most of their labels looking like the original Atari Inc labels, but not these few?
 
On that note... if anyone ever spots Mario Bros. or Space Invaders for the 5200 with a 1986 copyright on the game label, please let me know!  Those are the two remaining titles where, although Atari Corp boxes exist for them, every time I've seen the boxes they've had the regular old Atari Inc. cartridges inside.

My Closet Clean Out Continues!
Here's a copy of Task Force with its box, no manual. The box is missing the small piece cardboard inside that holds the cartridge near the top, so it falls all the way to the bottom. 

Man, you have a good eye.  I would have never made that connection.

I got the Sega Game Gear "X-Men" game for $2, but am too lazy to snap a picture. 

I can fix that.  I'm not sure what I have to trade that you would want though. 

Man, you have a good eye.  I would have never made that connection.

Sure we know of Jack Black and Phil Hartman in Atari commercials. 
 
It was not long ago I noticed it was Jane Krakowski in THIS commercial for Solar Fox. She has had quite a Stage / Television / Movie career. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jane_Krakowski
 
Heh always thought she was a cutie. Sadly, she IS going the Hollywood way in that she is afraid to grow old gracefully (she is 47 now) but I remember her from way back in this 2600 commercial.
 
 

AtariAge is an invaluable site, but it's far from comprehensive.  Just as one example: the text label for Brain Games was released in at least four different colors, and AtariAge makes no distinction between any of them.  It's a pretty minor difference in the grand scheme of things, of course, but I find it interesting all the same.  FWIW, Atarimania lists the outlaw red text as 1978 and the yellow/gold text as 1979.
 
For the most complete guides to what's out there, check out Atarimania.com and videogamevariations.com (still under construction, but 2600 Atari/Activision/Imagic and a number of other publishers are essentially complete now).

Calculators were their main business for a long time. The very first PET computer used a calculator keyboard.

I salute you Commodore.

Dude, you're getting a Commodore! 

Who else remembers this monumental event?
 

 

 

 
 
More info here:
http://www.theatlantic.com/photo/2015/05/the-eruption-of-mount-st-helens-35-years-ago/393557/
 
 
And here was the view from my front yard...about 70 miles to the south.

 

Pix Axe Pete
UFO
KC Munchkin
Freedom Fighters
Attack of the Timelord

Those are my top 5 with no Voice module.

Pix Axe Pete
UFO
KC Munchkin
Freedom Fighters
Attack of the Timelord

Those are my top 5 with no Voice module.

It is a Virtual Boy kind of day. 

7800 games.
 

Organized?  I consider it more like real-life Tetris. 

Super Thanks to Rows and BB for my latest additions!
Rows also sent a toy football man, which was quickly snatched up by my kids.

More loose 2600 games for trade including some less common titles.
Some labels are in bad shape.
I can take more pictures or price specific titles if needed.

I agree that it's worth owning.
 
But to be honest, there are a LOT of really bad games for the O2.  The library is dominated by really bad versions of games you are familiar with on other systems.  O2 "Alien Invaders - Plus" (a copy of Space Invaders) is laughably bad, for example.  And like Retrogamer mentioned, most games only give you one life, which is really frustrating and weird.  "Demon Attack" is pretty pared down, showing that even Imagic couldn't get much out of the limited hardware.
 
That being said, there are some real gems on the system too.  KC Munchkin is absolutely the best game for the system, and it puts Atari Pac-Man to absolute shame.  And as Rowsdower mentioned, the board games are really interesting and have the coolest packaging.  UFO, Freedom Fighters are other really good games.
 
Now if you can get your hands on "The Voice" module, the system is a MUST own IMO.  "Attack of the Timelord", "Smithereens", "Killer Bees", "KC's Krazy Chase", and even "Type and Tell" are a blast.  The greatest voice module on any classic system. 
 
Given all this, I still think it's a fun system to own.  It looks great, is pretty cheap, and games are easy to find and priced low.  And if you DO decide to buy, there is a multi-cart available that is a great bargain.  http://www.packratvg.com/o2multi.html 

Timelord is just an ok game really.  It's the voice that takes it over the top.  You must complete the next level just to hear the next taunt from the timelord. 

Posting this just for Ballblazer.
 
I have three Outlaw carts (actually 4 -- I also have a Sears "Gunslinger").  But look...all three have different labels.  AtariAge lists the picture label and the red label, but no mention of the yellow.  I'm going to guess red is the oldest just based on the font.