Cut $100: The Wish Book's Video-Game Aisle, 1983

A box in the catalogue’s index, headed “Be Sure to see these great toys you’ve read about or seen on TV,” sends readers to “ATARI, COLECO, MATTEL Video Games… 596–611.” Wish Book 1983, p. 326. Those pages run from the Atari 2600 to the ColecoVision. Read straight through, they feel less like a toy section than a price war in print. Printed page numbers run two ahead of the scan: printed p. 596 is scan page 594. This Story cites printed pages.

Two big names, one rebate

The section opens under the headline “TWO BIG NAMES.” The Atari 2600 VCS “comes complete with two self-centering joysticks, plus BOTH game cartridges shown above,” and those are Tank Plus and Pac-Man. The price is shown twice: “$89.99 full price | $59.99 after rebate,” with a “$30 REBATE from Atari.” The copy promises that it “plays the world’s largest cartridge library.” Below it, a panel headed “Our newest 2600 VCS Compatible Cartridges” lists fourteen titles from Atari, Parker Brothers, Coleco, Imagic, Activision and Mattel Electronics, priced from $27.99 to $34.99. Among them are Kangaroo, Q*bert, Donkey Kong Jr., Popeye, G.I. Joe and Star Wars: Return of the Jedi. Wish Book 1983, p. 596.

Sears Wish Book 1983 page 596: Atari 2600 system and cartridges with a $30 rebate offer. 1983 Sears Christmas Wish Book, Sears, Roebuck and Co., 1983 · p. 596 (scan 594).

The facing page is headed “PLAY THE SAME GAMES.” It offers a cheaper box that plays them: the Coleco Gemini, “New at Sears!”, at $59.99, “complete with 2 combination joystick/paddle controls plus BOTH game cartridges shown above,” Mouse Trap and Donkey Kong. It is pitched to “choose your action from the world’s largest cartridge library… plays any Atari® 2600 compatible cartridge.” Wish Book 1983, p. 597.

The same page shows what a 1983 kid could bolt onto a 2600:

• Gemini Sound I, a voice add-on listed with a Smurf voice cartridge ($69.99);
• the “Flight Commander” machine-gun controller and the “Cosmic Commander” cockpit controller ($39.99 each);
• a Wico Track Ball ($49.99);
• a row of joysticks from Wico, Suncom and others.

Sears Wish Book 1983 page 597: Coleco Gemini console listed at $59.99 with Mouse Trap and Donkey Kong. 1983 Sears Christmas Wish Book, Sears, Roebuck and Co., 1983 · p. 597 (scan 595).

Its banner line is “When you add more control you get an even more exciting game.” Wish Book 1983, p. 597.

The next four pages are wall-to-wall cartridges “for Atari 2600 / Gemini by Coleco” and for Sears’ own “Video Arcade I and II.” One spread is headlined “Cut $10 to $29.” Wish Book 1983, pp. 598–601.

“The keyboard is the key”

The middle of the section shows what the rest of the industry was betting on. Odyssey 2 gets the tagline “The keyboard is the key.” The console, with its “49-character membrane keyboard,” is marked “Cut $100”: “Was $149.99; Now $49.99.” Its Voice Module is “Cut $30”: “Was $79.99; Now $49.99.” A “WISH BOOK VALUE” stamp sits on the photo, and both listings carry the note “Reduced from 1982 Wish Book, p. 641.” Wish Book 1983, p. 602.

Sears Wish Book 1983 page 602: Odyssey 2 console with ‘Cut $100’ price flag. 1983 Sears Christmas Wish Book, Sears, Roebuck and Co., 1983 · p. 602 (scan 600).

Two pages later, Mattel takes the idea all the way. The Intellivision spread is headlined “Now you can make it smarter, more programmable and musically inclined,” at “Your Choice $99.99.” It offers three pieces at $99.99 each:

Sears Wish Book 1983 page 604: Mattel Intellivision and add-on listings. 1983 Sears Christmas Wish Book, Sears, Roebuck and Co., 1983 · p. 604 (scan 602).

• the Intellivision II Master Component, which includes the Burger Time cartridge;
• a Computer Adapter/Typewriter Keyboard, which “expands the memory and sound capabilities,” has “2K RAM (expandable to 16K RAM)” and has “BASIC computer language… built right in”;
• a Music Synthesizer, which lets you “play 6-note polyphonic chords on a 49-key, full-size keyboard!”

A 16K RAM Memory Expander adds $79.99. The copy also notes that the add-ons attach “whether you own Intellivision I or II or Sears Super Video Arcade.” Wish Book 1983, p. 604.

Sears Wish Book 1983 page 605: ‘1/2 Price’ Intellivoice and cartridge page with Dec. 31, 1983 order deadline. 1983 Sears Christmas Wish Book, Sears, Roebuck and Co., 1983 · p. 605 (scan 603).

The facing page is headlined “1/2 Price.” Intellivoice “with your choice of 2 cartridges,” the talking cartridges, is listed at “Only $39.98.” Rows of boxed cartridges sit at “Your Choice” prices of $19.99, $17.49, $14.99 and $12.49. Across the bottom runs “HURRY… LAST DATE TO ORDER THESE PRODUCTS IS DEC. 31, 1983.” Wish Book 1983, p. 605.

The screen in the box

Vectrex doesn’t need a TV at all, and the copy makes that its whole argument: “Most home video game systems are only as good as the TV they’re hooked up to. Vectrex has no such limitations since it’s completely self-contained… requires no hook-up to anything but an electrical outlet.” The details:

• a “Built-in 9-in. diagonal screen uses the same display technology as some coin-arcade games,” “including 3-D rotation and zooming”;
• the fast-paced game Mine Storm, “built directly into console”;
• a “detachable control panel” that “slides under screen for easy storage.”

The price is “Cut $100”: “Was $199.99; Now $99.99.” It, too, was “Reduced from 1982 Wish Book, p. 637.” Eleven cartridges at $32.99 or $37.99 each “include color overlay to customize the screen.” They include Fortress of Narzod, Spike, Web Wars, Hyperchase, Scramble, Berzerk and a Star Trek game. Wish Book 1983, p. 603.

The SuperSystem

The Atari 5200 gets two pages. “Still setting new standards in video arcade gaming,” the headline says, with “Save a total of $80: Cut $50 plus a $30 rebate from Atari.” The console has “16K RAM (random access memory)” and comes with Super Breakout. Its listing gives “Full Price $149.99” and notes it “Was $199.99 in 1983 Spring Big Book.” The controllers promise “armchair control of starts and resets, even a midgame pause.” The copy calls it “the SuperSystem, the limousine of home video games.” Extras include a Trak-Ball Controller at $89.99 and a “New at Sears!” Command Control Deluxe Joystick, “the first adjustable joystick,” at $34.99. Wish Book 1983, p. 606.

Sears Wish Book 1983 page 606: Atari 5200 SuperSystem listing. 1983 Sears Christmas Wish Book, Sears, Roebuck and Co., 1983 · p. 606 (scan 604).

Coleco closes the section

The last four pages belong to ColecoVision. The console, marked “Cut $40,” has Donkey Kong included and is “capable of high-resolution graphics.” Its listing reads “Was $199.99; $159.99,” and it too was “Reduced from our 1983 Spring Big Book.” Wish Book 1983, p. 611.

Sears Wish Book 1983 pages 610–611: ColecoVision console, expansion modules and controllers. 1983 Sears Christmas Wish Book, Sears, Roebuck and Co., 1983 · pp. 610–611 (scans 608–609).

Then come the add-ons, with Coleco’s own answer to the 2600 problem first. The Atari 2600 Compatible Module ($59.99) lets owners “choose your action from the world’s largest combined cartridge library!” After it:

• a Roller Controller with Slither ($79.99), pitched as “Lightning-fast control, just like the arcades”;
• a Driving Module with Turbo ($79.99), with an “arcade-style steering wheel and foot-operated accelerator”;
• Super Action hand-grip controllers with Baseball ($79.99).

Wish Book 1983, p. 610. Two full pages of ColecoVision cartridges include Mr. Do!, Zaxxon ($49.99), Venture, Lady Bug, Pepper II and Smurf Action, most at $34.99. Wish Book 1983, pp. 609–610.

What the pages say, and don’t

Laid end to end, the markdowns are hard to miss. Two systems are “Cut $100” (Odyssey 2 and Vectrex), the 5200 saves “$80,” the ColecoVision is “Cut $40,” the 2600 carries a $30 rebate, and a whole page is “1/2 Price.” Two of those cuts are measured against the 1982 Wish Book and two against the 1983 Spring catalogue, so Sears was comparing itself to its own earlier books. Meanwhile, keyboards, synthesizers, voice modules and RAM were on offer for three different systems, and Coleco was offering two separate ways to play Atari’s library on a machine that wasn’t an Atari.

The catalogue never says why prices fell, and this Story won’t claim it either. What it does preserve is a precise snapshot of one retailer’s Christmas 1983: who was in, what each system was listed at, and what each was promising to become.