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Post by sj on Nov 24, 2013 11:24:56 GMT -5
 ^ That's very charitable.
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Post by xefned on Nov 24, 2013 16:44:43 GMT -5
+1 This is a remarkably tight community. I'm glad to be a part of it.
Thanks for sharing the dream of playing color Gravitar over breakfast before classes. Who could predict "the crash" at an optimistic 14. How could this wonderful world of videogames do anything but grow?
I was around 13 when the remaining Vectrexes were being liquidated. A mail order company was ditching them in a "special TV offer." Something like Vectrex plus a couple cartridges for $99. + s.h. "Have your credit card ready and call 1-800..." You know those kind of ads.
My cousin and I both had paper routes so I suggested we pool our money and get one. I wrote down the number. But at that age, buying a money order was a daunting concept. I probably could've shipped it C.O.D. which was still a thing back then. But my dad would've kicked my ass if a UPS guy delivered a Vectrex COD.
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Post by VectorX on Nov 24, 2013 17:08:17 GMT -5
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Post by xefned on Nov 24, 2013 18:52:59 GMT -5
It was actually a television ad. I don't remember the details - only that it was impossibly cheap and seemed too good to be true. I don't even remember for sure that it was $99. That just seems like a probably guess. It would be interesting if those ads ever surfaced to see if it was Trident behind them, or some other random liquidator. Amazing that the S&H was $6 back then:  |
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Post by VectorX on Nov 24, 2013 20:05:01 GMT -5
Wow, sounds like a lost Vectrex tv ad Probably some local retailers in your area, or a chain that had stores in only a few states would be my guess. I never saw the *real* Vectrex tv ad, but then it was pulled no thanks to Milton Bradley once they took over distribution of it. |
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Post by xefned on Nov 25, 2013 10:02:01 GMT -5
It wasn't a proper "produced" commercial (featuring people), nor associated with a recognizable local store. It was one of those mail-order-only "K-tel" style ads produced by national fly-by-night companies and placed on non-network affiliate stations at odd hours. So if you were watching say, Elvira at 10:45 pm on Sat. night, on (in my area) channel 4 (not NBC, CBS, or ABC) you'd see those kind of ads with gen-keyed text over a blue background and an address to send a money-order to another state PO box. You know what I'm talking about? Those commercials with an announcers voice urgently telling you to grab a paper and pencil saying things like "If you act now, we'll throw in not one, not two, but THREE GAME CARTRIDGES" [frenzied timbre now:] "Quantities are limited so ACT NOW!."  So yeah, nothing that will ever surface on youtube. |
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Post by VectorX on Nov 25, 2013 10:07:01 GMT -5
It wasn't a proper "produced" commercial (featuring people), nor associated with a recognizable local store. It was one of those mail-order-only 15-second "K-tel" style ads produced by national fly-by-night companies and placed on non-network affiliate stations at odd hours. Oh, thanks. That was confusing with the previous post about it! You know what I'm talking about? Yep, good ol' cheap late night... So yeah, nothing that will ever surface on youtube. It could if someone found it on an old videotape when they're looking through Elvira stuff  |
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Post by xefned on Nov 25, 2013 10:07:18 GMT -5
WHOA, here's a VERY SIMILAR one I found, for Atari cartridges:
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Post by VectorX on Nov 25, 2013 10:10:43 GMT -5
See, it's possible! (C'mon, someone find a Vectrex one on an old videotape now!)
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Post by xefned on Nov 25, 2013 10:13:09 GMT -5
Some of you may remember this one for the Commodore Plus 4:
It's from the same YouTuber. I may write him just to see if there's any chance he has the Vectrex ad somewhere in his archives...
CORRECTION: It's NOT the same YouTuber. They were both in playlist compiled by the same person. So the uploaders were two different people...
Interestingly, the retailer is the same for both the Atari carts, and the Commodore Plus4: Urban General.
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^ That's very charitable.
