27 replies to this topic

[MattG/Snyper2099]

I know it's not Atari protos but thought it was still worth posting. Lady Bug (x2), DK Jr., Zaxxon (x2), and Space Panic (x2) for Colecovision.

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[NESaholic]

Nice haul man, congrats. How much did you pay if i may ask? Any differences?

[BuddyBuddies]

where did you find those at? NICE!

[else]

I don't know that those are necessarily protos. Somebody else can confirm, but I believe Coleco used EPROMs in many of their production games....

[retroillucid]

else, on Wed Oct 29, 2008 8:32 AM, said:

I don't know that those are necessarily protos. Somebody else can confirm, but I believe Coleco used EPROMs in many of their production games....

Yep... I have already open a tons of these... very common...
they're all final version

[mumbai]

retroillucid, on Wed Oct 29, 2008 6:05 PM, said:

else, on Wed Oct 29, 2008 8:32 AM, said:

I don't know that those are necessarily protos. Somebody else can confirm, but I believe Coleco used EPROMs in many of their production games....

Yep... I have already open a tons of these... very common...
they're all final version

Ditto the above sentiment. I've oodles of boards similar to those shown in terms of construction and labeling that are simply pulls from retail cartridges.

[Gorf]

Hopefully you did not pay too much for them. That would suck otherwise.

[MattG/Snyper2099]

No, I didn't pay much for them. I am aware that these were used in production carts but some of them have hand written labels. Now I've opened quite a few Atari and a few Colecovision carts and I've never seen a hand written label inside one. I've never seen a DK jr. for Colecovision with EPROMS in it either.

I realize they are not protos, I was unaware that they were so common.

[schuwalker]

Kind of off topic but did anybody ever find the spectar, sword and the scorcerer, destruction derby, and the other ones in the catalog?

[else]

Not much in the way of Coleco protos for the Colecovision have ever surfaced. There is a "Tunnels and Trolls" proto was found, but all it does is loop on the startup screeen -- it's not playable. "Video Hustler" is a proto that has been found -- it's a pool game. Cartridge-based versions of Super Donkey Kong and Super Donkey Kong Jr have been found -- these were used by Coleco to demo the Adam computer before it was ready. There's probably one or two that I'm missing, but in general that's about it. I don't think any of the games featured in the catalog (that I used to drool over -- especially that skiing game) have ever been found....

The lack of protos makes me think that Coleco didn't have much in the pipe for the Colecovision at the time it died; that they had moved almost all of their focus to the Adam at the end....

Edited by else, Mon Dec 8, 2008 3:02 PM.

[schuwalker]

I always thought that Sword and the Sorcerer look cool.

[mumbai]

else, on Mon Dec 8, 2008 3:48 PM, said:

Not much in the way of Coleco protos for the Colecovision have ever surfaced.

I'm not certain that's entirely true.

I know Atari2600.com once had a pair of protos for what eventually mutated into Destructor. One was dubbed "Derby" and I forget what the other one was. No idea offhand who obtained those items in the end, though they stuck around his store for at least a year. From what I recall, those weren't the only protos for the system that have passed through Joe's hands. I'm also pretty sure that Will Berdan had collected a few protos on his own, but I'm not sure how active he is as a collector these days. There's one person who claims to possess a proto for He-Man, though it's more than a bit dubious.

Then there are the protos that became CGE releases later on: Dig Dug, Joust, and Pac-Man from Atarisoft, Lord of the Dungeon, and Power Lords. One would probably have to ask Sean Kelly who actually holds the original boards, though. There was one potential proto that sold on eBay a number of years back ... Smurf Workout or something (the name escapes me) ... I lost track of whatever became of that title, or whether it turned out to be just a marketing mock-up for a trade show. Those (trade show or demo carts) have circulated now and again.

What could best be termed in-house "loaner" or "lab" carts for the ColecoVision do turn up from time to time. I've had a few of those. Never bothered to dump and check the programs against production builds.

And then there are all the unreleased to market (to my knowledge) titles that eColeco used to stock: MASH, Fall Guy, Yolks on You, etc.

Guess it all depends on where one draws the line on what a prototype is, or what volume is used for comparison to determine few or many, but there are a number of titles for the ColecoVision that weren't officially published that either clearly or likely originated from unreleased materials.

[else]

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I'm not certain that's entirely true.

That's why I explicitly said "COLECO" protos for the Colecovision. I was responding to the question about protos of games that were featured in the COLECO catalog. I'm aware that many protos made by other companies for the Colecovision have been found, but that wasn't the question (at least as I understood it). Most of the games you list fall in to this category.

Wasn't aware that a Destruction Derby proto had been found -- has it been dumped? Still though, I think my answer was accurate -- like I said, I was probably was probably missing one or two from my list, but in general not much from COLECO has ever been found....

Edited by else, Wed Dec 10, 2008 9:11 AM.

[PingvinBlueJeans]

mumbai, on Wed Dec 10, 2008 1:26 AM, said:

There's one person who claims to possess a proto for He-Man, though it's more than a bit dubious.

I don't know who the "dubious claim" comes from, but the Blue Sky Rangers have He-Man and will not release it due to 'legal issues'. It exists...they've shown it at CGE if I'm not mistaken.

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There was one potential proto that sold on eBay a number of years back ... Smurf Workout or something (the name escapes me) ... I lost track of whatever became of that title, or whether it turned out to be just a marketing mock-up for a trade show. Those (trade show or demo carts) have circulated now and again.

I believe it was a CES demo of Cabbage Patch Kids Workout, and Will Berdan claims to own it. He has not released it, which is his standard practice. He has Power Grabber by Sydney as well, and perhaps a few others.

else, on Wed Dec 10, 2008 10:06 AM, said:

That's why I explicitly said "COLECO" protos for the Colecovision. I was responding to the question about protos of games that were featured in the COLECO catalog. I'm aware that many protos made by other companies for the Colecovision have been found, but that wasn't the question (at least as I understood it). Most of the games you list fall in to this category.

Most of the unreleased games in the Coleco catalog you refer to never existed as anything more than a concept.

[retroillucid]

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I believe it was a CES demo of Cabbage Patch Kids Workout, and Will Berdan claims to own it. He has not released it, which is his standard practice. He has Power Grabber by Sydney as well, and perhaps a few others.

He could AT LEAST post some pics/screens of them...
I hate this practice

[mumbai]

PingvinBlueJeans, on Wed Dec 10, 2008 12:04 PM, said:

mumbai, on Wed Dec 10, 2008 1:26 AM, said:

There's one person who claims to possess a proto for He-Man, though it's more than a bit dubious.

I don't know who the "dubious claim" comes from, but the Blue Sky Rangers have He-Man and will not release it due to 'legal issues'. It exists...they've shown it at CGE if I'm not mistaken.

I was referring to someone else.

PingvinBlueJeans, on Wed Dec 10, 2008 12:04 PM, said:

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There was one potential proto that sold on eBay a number of years back ... Smurf Workout or something (the name escapes me) ...

I believe it was a CES demo of Cabbage Patch Kids Workout, and Will Berdan claims to own it. He has not released it, which is his standard practice.

That sounds about right, as I recall Will obtained the cart in question from the person who had first grabbed it off eBay.

[mumbai]

else, on Wed Dec 10, 2008 10:06 AM, said:

Wasn't aware that a Destruction Derby proto had been found -- has it been dumped?

You'd have to ask that of whomever bought the pair off Joe. I doubt it.

else, on Wed Dec 10, 2008 10:06 AM, said:

In general not much from COLECO has ever been found.

Given the number of first-party employee/lab/loaner carts and boards seen floating about relative to third-party materials, this is likely bound to be proven false in time. Not that one should expect to find much of anything beyond unreleased code to already published games from Coleco Inc.

[mumbai]

retroillucid, on Wed Dec 10, 2008 12:22 PM, said:

He could AT LEAST post some pics/screens of them...
I hate this practice

Why? Because it prevents you from misleading and gouging the uninformed of eBay through sale of reproductions?

[else]

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Given the number of first-party employee/lab/loaner carts and boards seen floating about relative to third-party materials, this is likely bound to be proven false in time

What makes you so confident? And where can I find some of these employee/lab/loaner carts that are just "floating about" as you say?

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Because it prevents you from misleading and gouging the uninformed of eBay through sale of reproductions?

Wow, that's a really strong accusation of someone just asking for a screenshot. Ouch!!!

Edited by else, Wed Dec 10, 2008 1:01 PM.

[Vectorman]

schuwalker, on Mon Dec 8, 2008 10:34 PM, said:

I always thought that Sword and the Sorcerer look cool.

Download and run the cartridge ROM for the demo cart called 'ADAM'S Jukebox'. It's program that has a 2 screen menu of Colecovision/ADAM game titles that you can select from and it just plays the music. One of the games music in the program is 'Sword and the Sorcerer'. Music is typically the LAST thing you would do when making a game, not the first. Makes you wonder how much work was done on this game if they already had the music completed.

[Vectorman]

mumbai, on Wed Dec 10, 2008 1:21 PM, said:

else, on Wed Dec 10, 2008 10:06 AM, said:

Wasn't aware that a Destruction Derby proto had been found -- has it been dumped?

You'd have to ask that of whomever bought the pair off Joe. I doubt it.

Destruction Derby protos were never found. That was just the early WIP name for what became 'Destructor'.

[mumbai]

Vectorman, on Wed Dec 10, 2008 1:53 PM, said:

mumbai, on Wed Dec 10, 2008 1:21 PM, said:

else, on Wed Dec 10, 2008 10:06 AM, said:

Wasn't aware that a Destruction Derby proto had been found -- has it been dumped?

You'd have to ask that of whomever bought the pair off Joe. I doubt it.

Destruction Derby protos were never found. That was just the early WIP name for what became 'Destructor'.

As was stated upthread, no?

[PingvinBlueJeans]

Vectorman, on Wed Dec 10, 2008 1:50 PM, said:

Download and run the cartridge ROM for the demo cart called 'ADAM'S Jukebox'. It's program that has a 2 screen menu of Colecovision/ADAM game titles that you can select from and it just plays the music. One of the games music in the program is 'Sword and the Sorcerer'. Music is typically the LAST thing you would do when making a game, not the first. Makes you wonder how much work was done on this game if they already had the music completed.

All that was apparently completed was a graphic demo, which was discovered among the rather large batch of Coleco EPROMs found earlier this year.

http://www.atariage....howtopic=124577

[mumbai]

else, on Wed Dec 10, 2008 1:50 PM, said:

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Given the number of first-party employee/lab/loaner carts and boards seen floating about relative to third-party materials, this is likely bound to be proven false in time

What makes you so confident? And where can I find some of these employee/lab/loaner carts that are just "floating about" as you say?

I have a few on hand, somewhere around here in storage. I've traded a number of others out in the past, mostly overseas. I've certainly witnessed more than a handful trade on eBay over the past decade -- I couldn't tell you who ended up with what, though I recall a few did find their way to W. Berdan. Atari2600.com has had a few in the past.

I'm not saying they're common, but the ones I've handled and seen in the possession of others have been primarily first-party and not third-party titles. There's definitely the likelihood of misprediction based on the small sample size, to that I can admit. By "floating about", I mean catch-as-catch-can. There has never seemed to be much of an organized interest or effort in obtaining or cataloguing pre-production materials for the platform. Unless I'm mistaken ... and I'm more than willing to admit I am.

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Because it prevents you from misleading and gouging the uninformed of eBay through sale of reproductions?

Wow, that's a really strong accusation of someone just asking for a screenshot. Ouch!!!

Yes, it is, isn't it? Though I was responding to the stated distaste for not releasing the ROMs, and not the appended mention of screenshots. Don't misunderstand.

[mumbai]

else, on Wed Dec 10, 2008 1:50 PM, said:

[W]here can I find some of these employee/lab/loaner carts that are just "floating about" as you say?

One further note: Here was the most recent lead for such on eBay, though given the auction resolution, I suspect someone made a side-deal with the auctioneer. Could turn out to be nothing given the sketchy details, but if not, I'm sure the guilty party will be crowing about it or offering these items in trade sooner or later. Most likely just illicit employee duplicates or pre-fab samples.