43 replies to this topic

[OldAtarian]

I saw two of these on ebay recently and both are going for a lot even though one of them is torn up all to hell. Why was DK released in a box? Didn't they come packed without a box with every Colecovision?

[Tempest]

Yep. My guess is that it was either a replacement for people who lost theirs or that for a time the Colecovision was sold without it. I can't think of any other reason why they would make a boxed version.

Tempest

[Crapahute]

Talking about Donkey Kong box, I would like to know wether someone has ever seen this box :



The picture was taken from a CBS brochure but I do not know if it has existed.

[chrisbid]

perhaps a limited boxed run of DK was published to sell to Adam buyers?

[NIAD]

chrisbid, on Thu Dec 2, 2010 1:54 PM, said:

perhaps a limited boxed run of DK was published to sell to Adam buyers?

No, the US version of the Donkey Kong box was made long before the ADAM ever was released and in fact the only reason to buy the DK cart if you only owned the ADAM was for collection purposes as you could buy Super Donkey Kong on Data Pack for the ADAM.

The DK box was mainly made for advertising purposes, trade shows and probably in hindsight, someone at Coleco knew or had an idea that it could become a hot item. Also, one of Daniel B.'s videos show Arnold Greenberg in a picture with the DK box.

Not exactly sure, probably need someone like Ole to chime in, but weren't some ColecoVisions sold in Europe with an alternative game and therefore the need for a DK box as well... sort of like the Exp Mod #2 and Roller Controller (in Europe) offering different included games and that's why there is a Slither and Turbo box?

Edited by NIAD, Thu Dec 2, 2010 5:36 PM.

[Yurkie]

NIAD, on Thu Dec 2, 2010 5:35 PM, said:

chrisbid, on Thu Dec 2, 2010 1:54 PM, said:

perhaps a limited boxed run of DK was published to sell to Adam buyers?

No, the US version of the Donkey Kong box was made long before the ADAM ever was released and in fact the only reason to buy the DK cart if you only owned the ADAM was for collection purposes as you could buy Super Donkey Kong on Data Pack for the ADAM.

The DK box was mainly made for advertising purposes, trade shows and probably in hindsight, someone at Coleco knew or had an idea that it could become a hot item. Also, one of Daniel B.'s videos show Arnold Greenberg in a picture with the DK box.

Not exactly sure, probably need someone like Ole to chime in, but weren't some ColecoVisions sold in Europe with an alternative game and therefore the need for a DK box as well... sort of like the Exp Mod #2 and Roller Controller (in Europe) offering different included games and that's why there is a Slither and Turbo box?

I don't think there are any Turbo or Slither boxes. J-F did make some mock-ups of what they might have looked like.

[NIAD]

Yurkie, on Thu Dec 2, 2010 5:59 PM, said:

I don't think there are any Turbo or Slither boxes. J-F did make some mock-ups of what they might have looked like.

Re. Turbo, you're right about J-F and the reproduction box, but I recall a picture my former boss took from Summer CES '83 (me thinks, maybe '84) that had a Turbo box. I jumped all over him when I saw it because I thought it was Super Turbo for the ADAM. As he explained, it was just a display box. The jury is out on Slither as the Roller Controller was definetly sold elsewhere (Europe/CBS ??) with Victory included, which means that a Slither box would have had to exist.

I double checked ColecoVision.dk and he states that his came with Victory (but does not state if it was bought in a box that way from a store or secondhand). I read one other place (and I can't remember where now ) about the Roll. Cont. being packaged with Victory (maybe even a special package with Slither also, or just Victory in it's own box tossed in)... probably because of how bad the game was and they figured they dump'em with the Roll. Cont. and make the easier sale of Slither.

Can anyone help with confirmation even though I know it's been discussed previously?

Edited by NIAD, Thu Dec 2, 2010 7:21 PM.

[coleconut]

Crapahute, on Thu Dec 2, 2010 1:37 PM, said:

Talking about Donkey Kong box, I would like to know wether someone has ever seen this box :



The picture was taken from a CBS brochure but I do not know if it has existed.

Yes it exists, and pops up fairly regularly on European Ebays, no special rarity to this one, pretty common.

[coleconut]

NIAD, on Thu Dec 2, 2010 5:35 PM, said:

Not exactly sure, probably need someone like Ole to chime in, but weren't some ColecoVisions sold in Europe with an alternative game and therefore the need for a DK box as well... sort of like the Exp Mod #2 and Roller Controller (in Europe) offering different included games and that's why there is a Slither and Turbo box?

See previous reply, the European variety of the DK box is different. So I infer that the English (shall we say "American") boxed DK which is rare was not made to satisfy any demand outside of N. America.

[Crazy Climber]

OldAtarian, on Thu Dec 2, 2010 7:50 AM, said:

Why was DK released in a box?

Same reason they made more Atari 2600 Pac Man cartridges than actual systems, in case you lost it

[Crapahute]

Quote

weren't some ColecoVisions sold in Europe with an alternative game

I'm not sure if it was in Europe, but I heard of a version sold with Mouse Trap instead of DK.


The common European box for DK is this one :

which is different from the one I showed :

I also look for any proof of existence of the one showed on the left on this picture (still from a brochure) :



This one is my graal

[coleconut]

Crapahute, on Fri Dec 3, 2010 1:33 AM, said:

[The common European box for DK is this one :
which is different from the one I showed :

I stand corrected!

[NIAD]

Crapahute, on Fri Dec 3, 2010 1:33 AM, said:

Quote

weren't some ColecoVisions sold in Europe with an alternative game

I'm not sure if it was in Europe, but I heard of a version sold with Mouse Trap instead of DK.


The common European box for DK is this one :

which is different from the one I showed :

I also look for any proof of existence of the one showed on the left on this picture (still from a brochure) :



This one is my graal

Your holy grail of DK boxes would be the German release version, correct. I saw the Intellivision box in a picture on eBay Germany and if memory serves me right, the seller listed the cart for CBS ColecoVision. The box clearly used dark blue and said Intellivision.

Edited by NIAD, Fri Dec 3, 2010 5:57 PM.

[Pixelboy]

Speaking of Donkey Kong boxes, has anyone ever seen this one before? It's the first time I've seen it.

eBay Auction -- Item Number: 290506980748

[NIAD]

Pixelboy, on Fri Dec 3, 2010 6:56 PM, said:

Speaking of Donkey Kong boxes, has anyone ever seen this one before? It's the first time I've seen it.

eBay Auction -- Item Number: 290506980748

Must have been a good time to be an artist for a game company back in the 80's, what with all the box variations!

[OldAtarian]

NIAD, on Fri Dec 3, 2010 5:56 PM, said:

Crapahute, on Fri Dec 3, 2010 1:33 AM, said:

Quote

weren't some ColecoVisions sold in Europe with an alternative game

I'm not sure if it was in Europe, but I heard of a version sold with Mouse Trap instead of DK.


The common European box for DK is this one :

which is different from the one I showed :

I also look for any proof of existence of the one showed on the left on this picture (still from a brochure) :



This one is my graal

Your holy grail of DK boxes would be the German release version, correct. I saw the Intellivision box in a picture on eBay Germany and if memory serves me right, the seller listed the cart for CBS ColecoVision. The box clearly used dark blue and said Intellivision.

Why would the German version have French text on the front?

[OldAtarian]

Pixelboy, on Fri Dec 3, 2010 6:56 PM, said:

Speaking of Donkey Kong boxes, has anyone ever seen this one before? It's the first time I've seen it.

eBay Auction -- Item Number: 290506980748

That's a UK box.

[Crapahute]

I've got the blue one which is for Intellivision, and the red one which is for Atari. I am looking for the grey one (for colecovision) which I never saw.

[ten-four]

Crapahute, on Sat Dec 4, 2010 2:12 AM, said:

I've got the blue one which is for Intellivision, and the red one which is for Atari. I am looking for the grey one (for colecovision) which I never saw.

Hi Crapahute

I can't help with the Donkey Kong box you are looking for.
I have only the image itself from the same brochure as you.

But the picture you have with the 3 versions of the Donkey Kong for ColecoVision, Atari and Intellivision is not the image I have in my big brochure.
You have 3 boxes, while I instead have 3 cartridges.

Note: On the picture with the 3 cartridges, it is a U.S. cartridge with a U.K. label.

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[Murph74]

OldAtarian, on Fri Dec 3, 2010 7:48 PM, said:

Why would the German version have French text on the front?

There's a German version of the same box, although I agree-- the one pictured is the French version.

Also Crapahute, I think the first cartoony DK box you showed (with a smiling kong) looks like an Austalian version I bought a couple years back that never arrived in the mail.

[Crapahute]

ten-four, on Sat Dec 4, 2010 10:15 AM, said:

Crapahute, on Sat Dec 4, 2010 2:12 AM, said:

I've got the blue one which is for Intellivision, and the red one which is for Atari. I am looking for the grey one (for colecovision) which I never saw.

Hi Crapahute

I can't help with the Donkey Kong box you are looking for.
I have only the image itself from the same brochure as you.

But the picture you have with the 3 versions of the Donkey Kong for ColecoVision, Atari and Intellivision is not the image I have in my big brochure.
You have 3 boxes, while I instead have 3 cartridges.

Note: On the picture with the 3 cartridges, it is a U.S. cartridge with a U.K. label.

The photo I gave previously is from a brochure of 1984.

Here is what I've got from another brochure of 1983 :



In this case, it is a US cartridge...

[tz101]

By the thread title I thought it may have been a bad knockoff of Mike Tyson's Punchout...

[OldAtarian]

Crazy Climber, on Thu Dec 2, 2010 10:51 PM, said:

OldAtarian, on Thu Dec 2, 2010 7:50 AM, said:

Why was DK released in a box?

Same reason they made more Atari 2600 Pac Man cartridges than actual systems, in case you lost it

If you lost it, would you really replace it? Seriously?

[OldAtarian]

Crapahute, on Sat Dec 4, 2010 1:45 PM, said:

ten-four, on Sat Dec 4, 2010 10:15 AM, said:

Crapahute, on Sat Dec 4, 2010 2:12 AM, said:

I've got the blue one which is for Intellivision, and the red one which is for Atari. I am looking for the grey one (for colecovision) which I never saw.

Hi Crapahute

I can't help with the Donkey Kong box you are looking for.
I have only the image itself from the same brochure as you.

But the picture you have with the 3 versions of the Donkey Kong for ColecoVision, Atari and Intellivision is not the image I have in my big brochure.
You have 3 boxes, while I instead have 3 cartridges.

Note: On the picture with the 3 cartridges, it is a U.S. cartridge with a U.K. label.

The photo I gave previously is from a brochure of 1984.

Here is what I've got from another brochure of 1983 :



In this case, it is a US cartridge...

But it's not a US box. That's a UK box. Here's the US box

Edited by OldAtarian, Sun Dec 5, 2010 8:36 PM.

[ozma wars]

In Europe ( Germany, Italy and France for sure ) Colecovision was sold with MOUSE TRAP cart, so to oblige us to buy DK separately.
Max