58 replies to this topic

[Curt Vendel]

I personally really liked the Atari 2600 Coleco cart cases, I could have those done in black, replace the Coleco Logo with Legacy and make them for 2600/7800 pcb's

But if everyone prefers the 7800 non-spring door carts, then I'll go that route, so let me know, I can run these in conjunction with doing the 1200XL top case plastics (yes, that is still on the front burner as the next project)




Curt

Edited by Curt Vendel, Tue Mar 1, 2011 4:17 PM.

[Corby]

Voted for the coleco cases!!!

[raskar42]

xm carts should be blue with a t shaped handle

[mimo]

we need some colour

[TrekMD]

I voted for black CV cases...it would be cool to have the carts be different from the standard carts.

[jaybird3rd]

I'd like to see something a little different than the original Atari shells, to set the new releases apart from the originals, so sure ... go with a Coleco-style shell!

[the.golden.ax]

I'm assuming you already have a mold and that would help the costs greatly, yes? Any chance of doing limited color runs?

AX

[svenski]

Yeah, a different case style would be cool.

[Tubular Gearhead]

I have always liked how sturdy and well made the Coleco carts feel. That definitely gets my vote! Also, different colors would be cool as well if that is possible.

[DracIsBack]

Anyone making new cartridge boards to go in them?

[swlovinist]

It all depends on price. If the price is significantly higher, then I vote for the most economical way that makes sense. It really does not matter to me what the cart looks like, it just matters whats inside that counts. If the game can only be made in limited runs due to special cartridge shells, then I definitely vote for what is easiest to make the largest production runs at the most affordable cost. I bought the XM to play first and to collect second.

[Jay Silverheels]

I still remember loving the "Made in USA" stamped on my Smurf cart, as a kid.

I voted Coleco.

[[d2f]Iggy*SJB]

I voted for Coleco style as well. However, like some of the people above, I think a different colour would be great. I'm thinking either a light blue or red. Black would blend in with other carts, even with the Coleco style. To my knowledge, no one ever made blue or red carts, and those would really stand out.

[Allan]

How about a mold for 5200 carts but with an indentation for an end label?

Allan

[nonner242]

[d2f]Iggy*SJB, on Tue Mar 1, 2011 6:42 PM, said:

I voted for Coleco style as well. However, like some of the people above, I think a different colour would be great. I'm thinking either a light blue or red. Black would blend in with other carts, even with the Coleco style. To my knowledge, no one ever made blue or red carts, and those would really stand out.

Coleco with color...Red/Blue/Grey/CLEAR so I can LED light them up!

[the.golden.ax]

nonner242, on Tue Mar 1, 2011 6:51 PM, said:

[d2f]Iggy*SJB, on Tue Mar 1, 2011 6:42 PM, said:

I voted for Coleco style as well. However, like some of the people above, I think a different colour would be great. I'm thinking either a light blue or red. Black would blend in with other carts, even with the Coleco style. To my knowledge, no one ever made blue or red carts, and those would really stand out.

Coleco with color...Red/Blue/Grey/CLEAR so I can LED light them up!

Great minds...

AX

[Mitch]

Curt, you should talk to Joe Grand about the cart shells he prototyped a few years ago. They seemed like a pretty nice design.

Mitch

[toiletunes]

Coleco

[BassGuitari]

I voted black Atari style. Seems more in line with what Atari might have done.

[AtariNerd]

Not sure how practical small runs of particular colors would be.. but Coleco-style in black would be quite nice.

[the.golden.ax]

My argument for a Legacy shell of any kind would be to make it a much more official item. In decades these things will be considered actual releases rather than homebrew/homemade. While there is nothing wrong with homebrew, there is just something cool about something from our community becoming part of gaming history. That AND you won't see 30 people on ePay selling XM knock offs in regular shells.

AX

[Lynxpro]

Dunno. Coleco just doesn't feel authentic.

[Tubular Gearhead]

Something to remember, however- the non-spring Atari Corp. cartridge cases have those horrible slots in the front right under the label (not the screw hole, but the "cartridge prong" mold slots), which has made life read hard on front labels over the years.
That is basically the only reason I voted for the Coleco style cases...

Unless what is being proposed is somehow making the new mold w/o the holes in the front like was discussed in much older threads.

Edited by Tubular Gearhead, Tue Mar 1, 2011 10:21 PM.

[AtariNerd]

Not only no slots in the front, but maybe swap the screw-hole/s to the back, as well? The original design gets the job done, but in a way this is a fantasy project as well. If I was to very modestly redesign the official Atari shell, I might very go about it by slightly thickening the cartridge walls to make them less breakage prone and less cheap feeling, and curving the edges just slightly more to give them a little more strength and to prevent cracking/crushing along the edges. I might also indent the label areas just the slightest bit more to make the labels even more secure, less likely to be accidentally removed.

My ultimate, too expensive, fantasy might be to do the cases in three parts, flipping the screwholes (4) to the back and moving them to the corners, maximizing the potential board area. I'd make the back panel a separate piece held on by those screws, possibly made of metal sheet, with possible etching and painting like the computer carts, but could also be any kind of flat plastic of the right thickness.

Edited by AtariNerd, Tue Mar 1, 2011 11:12 PM.

[PAC-MAN PRIME]

BassGuitari, on Tue Mar 1, 2011 7:53 PM, said:

I voted black Atari style. Seems more in line with what Atari might have done.

Lynxpro, on Tue Mar 1, 2011 9:22 PM, said:

Dunno. Coleco just doesn't feel authentic.

I have to agree here. The Coleco carts are nice. I've always liked them. But of design they are not Atari. So having XM games in Coleco style carts sort of contradicts the whole idea of doing things the way Atari would have done back in the day.

I voted for the 2600/7800 style shells. Since these are going to be new molds, then would it be possible to maybe have the slotted holes under the labels filled?