Player One Podcast

Here’s the second pair of Atari pencils that 11-year-old Phil bought in 1986, and 35-year-old Phil is still hanging onto in 2010.

Series 1: Centipede

The cabinet art for Atari’s 1980 game, Centipede (as seen to the left), was some of the coolest artwork in the arcades at the time. Sadly, that trippy arthropod didn’t earn a pencil appearance. Instead, the art depicted here was lifted from the box art for the Atari 5200 and 7800 version of the game.

Still, a Hobbit-ish kid armed with a magic wand going up against a cartoony-looking centipede is pretty rad. Green, of course, is the obvious color choice here. I’ve held on to three of these pencils over the years.

Series 1: Haunted House

This is the first pencil that we’re looking at to be based on a console exclusive title and not an arcade game. Haunted House was released in 1981 for the Atari 2600, and the pencil artwork, not surprisingly, is taken from the game’s box art. In the game, the player is exploring a darkened haunted house, and only the walls and the main character’s eyes can be seen in the blackness. To find items, you must light a match that only burns for a short time. I know the game has its fans, but honestly, I could never get into it back in the day. And I played through the 2600 version of E.T., for crying out loud.

With its cool black color and cooler spooky design, this was a popular pencil among my classmates. I only have one in my collection. Does that mean it’s rare? Eh, probably not. I’ll just chalk it up to luck of the draw.

(Game screens taken from The International Arcade Museum and AtariAge)

Previous Entries:
Atari Pencils – Series 1, Part 1

Phil Theobald Atari Pencils, Video Games Atari, collectible, memorabilia, pencil, video game