|
|
Atari 7800 Label Variations
Although the 7800 had a relatively short
lifespan, it generated several different label variations.
| Original
Style |
Not really a label variation, but
a pre-release style. In 1984 Atari had plans of launching
the 7800, with a neat looking silver label and a gridlike pattern.
The picture was in color, and tilted at a 45 degree angle.
After Atari shelved the 7800 this label style was scrapped, but
a few pre-release carts were made (most likely for marketing purposes).
There are very few of these carts in existence, possibly less
than 10. |
|
|
| B&W
Picture |
After Atari scrapped the colorful 1984 labels,
they released the first nine games in this style with the ill-fated
1986 launch of the 7800. The style is very similar to the
1984 label, but everything is grayscale, the grid pattern has been
removed, and the picture is no longer tilted. It's interested
to note that Pole Position II which was also released at this time
had it's own label style which is identical to how it looked in
1984. |
|
|
| Color
Picture - Red Text |
After Atari realized that boring grayscale labels
weren't going to cut it, they grudgingly opted for color labels .
The game picture was colorized, and the Atari 7800 logo and end
label text was written in red. All Red Text releases with
the exception of Choplifter have a small yellow triangle in the
upper right hand corner that says Super Game Cartridge. Atari
used this style for it's second wave of releases in 1987. |
|
|
| Color
Picture - Black Text |
Very similar to the other color label
style, but the Atari 7800 logo and end label text is black instead
of red and the yellow triangle has been removed. Atari used
this style for the rest of the 7800's life. |
|
|
| Pole
Position II |
Very odd label style, the main label
is white with line gray lines (looks like notebook paper), and the
Pole Position II logo in the center and the slogan "High Performance
Racing at it's Best" in a gray box underneath it. The 7800
logo is at the bottom of the cart and looks very different from
the regular logo, and is actually quite similar to the 5200 logo.
The end label is black with white text. It's interesting
to note that other than the copyright date this label is identical
to the 1984 Pole Position label. Only the pack-in version
of PPII has this style, later when Atari sold it separately it came
in a normal Color Picture Style. |
|
|
| Red
End Label |
This label is an anomaly, the main label
looks just like a regular Ballblazer cart, but the end label looks
like a Red Style 2600 label. This variation is a little more
uncommon than the normal Ballblazer cart, and is much easier to
find in PAL format. No one is quite sure why Ballblazer was
released with this style, but it may have been an error at the factory.
Only Ballblazer has been seen with this style. |
Return to The
Label Variations Page
|
