1977 Sears Tele-Games commercial
Finally getting around to this cool vintage Sears video I found back in August on YouTube. This is a TV spot for the Sears Tele-Games line of video game cartridge consoles. It was pretty much a straight Atari 2600 clone (which was a big part of my own life in those days). Here's the uploader's description:
"Sears used to sell everything under their own brand name, so that meant some companies made their items with the Sears name on them instead of their own. Such was the case with the Atari Video Computer System (2600) introduced in 1977--Sears sold it under the name Sears Video Arcade.They later sold the Intellivision system under the name Sears Super Video Arcade since it was a more advanced system. By the time Colecovision and the Atari 5200 came out, Sears decided it was cooler to sell everything by its proper name."
That is one very cool video clip!
ReplyDeleteThat brings back memories. We used to look down on the Sears knockoffs (ha ha!). And wow, 150 games, and only 10 minutes to be bored of most of them ;)
ReplyDeleteScott
This clip is also available on GoogleVideo with a download option for those that like to watch it on their iPods or PSP's.
ReplyDeleteBIGMallrat said...
That brings back memories. We used to look down on the Sears knockoffs (ha ha!). And wow, 150 games, and only 10 minutes to be bored of most of them ;)
Scott
Still, it was the Atari VCS pretty much. Being reminded both Sears and Montgomery Wards did the same deal in selling products under their brand names and all that. I miss those days so much. :-(
The Sears-brand cartridges didn't fit as well in the Atari (2600?) as other brands. Least I'd SWEAR they didn't.
ReplyDeleteWould you believe, I still have a Montgomery Ward's brand wall heater? Anytime someone new sees it, they have a story (Mongy Wards, etc.)
Scott
My dad got our 2600 from K-Mart! Does anyone else remember seeing the in-store display where you could select different games? It was like an entertainment center where a TV sat in the middle and it had actual arcade buttons to select the game you wanted to play and a display case below that kept the actual boxed games (which was locked of course). I believe it had like a 3 minute timer so kids wouldn't play on it all day.
ReplyDeleteWhat was really insane was that the price for a 2600 game back then i.e., Asteriods, Pac-Man etc., cost around $40/$50!!!! The same as a new X-Box game does today! What a rip..
BIGMallrat said...
ReplyDeleteThe Sears-brand cartridges didn't fit as well in the Atari (2600?) as other brands. Least I'd SWEAR they didn't.
Can't remember if they did in mine or not, but I usually used the old VCS console as opposed to the slimmed-down 2600 model that came years after.
Would you believe, I still have a Montgomery Ward's brand wall heater? Anytime someone new sees it, they have a story (Mongy Wards, etc.)
Scott
I probably still have a few of those relics left in my house too.
Liked noticing some of the LPs in my mom's collection still having the shrinkwrap on them with stickers from stores like Kresge's and other defunct chains mentioned.
rob said...
My dad got our 2600 from K-Mart! Does anyone else remember seeing the in-store display where you could select different games? It was like an entertainment center where a TV sat in the middle and it had actual arcade buttons to select the game you wanted to play and a display case below that kept the actual boxed games (which was locked of course). I believe it had like a 3 minute timer so kids wouldn't play on it all day.
Don't remember seeing that at Kmart's myself, but I can remember stores like Hudson's having game systems out without a timer whatsoever.
What was really insane was that the price for a 2600 game back then i.e., Asteriods, Pac-Man etc., cost around $40/$50!!!! The same as a new X-Box game does today! What a rip..
The same could be said for the NES games when they were that price too. It's been the same thing for nearly 20-30 years now.
I spent many an hour playing on our Atari 2600. I don't know where our parents got it. But the commercials from the 70-80's are really cool. Great site.
ReplyDeleteCora said...
ReplyDeleteVideogame prices always seem to have been the same, regardless of the system. And of course, this was cutting edge in 1977, just as XBox and PS2 are today.
We have to remember that. Back then it was just impressive for our parents and grandparents to see that they could play with a dot or a line on the TV screen in their own living room, and it was still state-of-the-art by 1977 standards when compared to where video games have gone since then.
The Sears cartridges absolutely didn't fit as well in the (swanky faux-wood) Atari 2600 console as the Atari branded cartridges did. We used to SLAM those suckers in there.
ReplyDeleteSay what you will about video game prices not changing over the years, video game STURDINESS certainly has. You could never treat a PS2 or XBox DVD disc as harshly as we treated those Atari cartridges. I distinctly remember building towers out of them and kicking them over.
I still have my Atari 7800, and all my games, most of which are 2600 games, several of which are Sears Tele-Games brand. I can't find the right kind of cable to connect it to a modern TV, but if I ever do, I sure will.