Ringing In Atari's 40th with a Pong Pickup

Samuel-IGN

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I pursued a Craigslist post this week and tracked down an amazing Pong machine with a great story -- and picked up up yesterday evening, Atari's 40th anniversary. The owner went to Atari's warehouse in 1972/3 and bought this machine to reverse engineer and create a clone. The clone is unlisted on KLOV, but he said they sold 6 machines. More on that later...

The machine was kept in working order by the owner in his home, though did a short stint at a minigolf course later (where it made no money).

It's it nearly perfect cosmetic shape, with slight edge wear being the only issue. It was working in videos he sent me recently, but now it is displaying a bright line (it still plays). I haven't got to the bottom of the problem yet, but would be interested in advice form Pong owners. It's a pretty simple setup though: game board, TV, bread pan...

The icing on the already awesome cake is that the fellow's partner has a working version of the pong clone he wants to get rid of, too. For free. So more on that soon I hope!

I plan on researching this story a bit more, maybe for an article. Check out the pics though, it's a peach.

Atari Pong, Serial no. KKK 018.
 

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Nice score! What a cool thing to pick up on the 40th anniversary of Atari. There is something so cool about the minimalist design of that cabinet that I really dig too.
 
That's lucky! Perfect timing too. Hope to see a follow up with a clone cab.

I celebrated by buying a boxed Super Pong console. Plays like heaven. Got the A/C Adapter, an RCA to RF adapter that eliminates the RF box and everything...

It gets depressing if you don't have a second player though. Then you can try playing ambidextrously. What better way to see which side of your brain is better??
 
Congratulations, I am so very jealous of you. Pong is something I've always wanted and to come across something like that is extraordinary.
 
Glad to share the story with everyone. Weekend plans include hooking up a Super Pong TV console to the TV to troubleshoot. Heck, maybe I should hook up the VideoMusic and stare at some black and white psychedelic patterns!

Looking forward to getting some pictures and info on the clone this weekend. I hope it's a creative knockoff -- fingers crossed for a Rebound-style plastic monster.
 
...ok, I'll say it...

Cool story bro!


Nice pickup, congrats.

I'll have a similar story by the end of next month too...can't wait.

Tom
 
World, meet Rally, by Pacific Circuit Systems (PCS) -- Santa Clara, California, 1973

Look familiar?

That's awesome. Looks in great shape, too.

I *think* I've seen that machine in a picture book of video games before...
 
Probably only 6 made because the clones were coming out of the woodwork and they couldn't compete on price with the bigger players. Heck, i have a 4 player Pong clone that Williams put out only a fart and a sneeze after the original Pong machine was released.

Btw, anyone want a 4 player Williams Pong clone? I don't really think my game room is large enough to feature such a title. It would better fit with a collection of 40+ machines.
 
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