Coleco commercials from the '80s

[smurfswacker]

I don't think Coleco went broke because of the scholarships...at $500 per scholarship they were only out 2500 bucks for all the Coleco Adams sold.

[lotherius]

Hey! Where's MY scholarship??!! My parents bought an ADAM during that time period!

[snakes3425]

Buying a Colecovision and a game cartridge to get a free cabbage patch kid, wonder how many bad the riots were for Colecovision that year were

[THENGAMER64]

the adam may be easy at first but the biggest curve is when it breaks

[ShittyMcshitstain]

@fullflavormenthol Not necessarily true. Money had more value than compared to today's standards. American money has been losing value every year since we adopted the Federal Reserve and dropped the gold standard which back the money at one time. Now money is not backed by anything

As for the issue of expensive computer it was due to the fact that most of the technology was new and not being mass produced like it is now. RAM was horribly expensive due to how it was manufactured.

[WebVMan]

So they're saying girls can't like video games and the Colecovision was so bad, it comes free with a doll.

[VideoGuy84]

@WebVMan In the 80s all video games were marketed towards boys...it wasn't just Coleco.

[WebVMan]

Adam Computer... Apple Computer... What no Eve Computer?

[boiledcrap]

I used to have one, worked great, played my first video game on it. Anyone might know which one it was? Space genre, flying saucers looked like sunny side up eggs, had levels that included a tunnel, a landscape with towers, and a star wars like death star valley with walls....If you know the game let me know, gotta find it again!

[ShittyMcshitstain]

@boiledcrap Buck Rogers: Planet of Zoom

[gregbakerproductions]

@boiledcrap Sounds like Zaxxon...

[potsy5656]

Why would you get an ADAM when you can get an Commodore 64?

[AgaMbadi]

"We're getting you an ADAM!!!"

"Thanks dad, I'll start practicing now for my job as a panhandler."

[Datan0de]

@AgaMbadi That's just not fair! Being an ADAM owner would also help you start learning valuable job skills- like repairing the faulty printer that would take the whole computer down with it, or learning how to reformat disks that had gotten erased because you powered up the machine with the disk in the drive!

[AgaMbadi]

@Datan0de True. True.

[Bittergamer1886]

Too bad the Adam always broke down.

[citizencorps]

When I was in grade school, my friend said he would smoke a cigarette for an Adam.  Now he smokes anyway.

[metallimaniac]

Cabbage Patch???

[ObiWanBillKenobi]

OH MY GOOOOOOOOSH!!! I remember that Cabbage Patch Kid offer!!! That's how we got our first Cabbage Patch Kid! Her name was Cindy Athena! My brother got her, and my dad eventually took me to the store and got me one. His name was Barnaby Evans!

[uhltron]

Ah the 80's , who remembers cocaine? Everyone who was workng in advertising at the time and especially the animators. GOOD TIMES ! :)

[ShittyMcshitstain]

@uhltron Does Crack Count?

[bazfanv2]

Takes minutes to learn. Hours to load

[winerrs]

Where did you get this?

[jvandugan]

Holy shit I had one those ADAM pieces of shit . It came with Buck Rogers on cassette .

[Mindman111]

0:30 I wish I'd be Davy.

[jbanks979]

the early 80's were weird. What's the deal with wanting to turn videogame consoles into computers?

[whattheheck1000]

This was 1984, the mid '80s.

[dogeymon83]

$500. That might buy me one textbook.

[ShittyMcshitstain]

@dogeymon83 You have to remember that $500 had more purchasing power than it would today.

So believe it or not it was quite a bit of money

[snakes3425]

Since Coleco went belly up, I wonder if anyone got that 500 dollar college schollarship

[TheMoogleMaster]

For the time the Adam was the cheapest computer around.... I think, i was born in 87 so i don't remember how much computers costed back then. But the first computer we had was i'm guessing 2000 bucks, this was around 90 or 1991.

[seka1986]

IT COSTED A WHOLE LOT! LOL

[ASD123ME]

i wonder if u could mod a colicovision controller and turn it into a phone

[AgentMidnight]

when you buy coleco vision, you make two kids happy

[themanwiththepan]

$750 for an adam computer? more like 10-100 today

[Mommyfozz]

I'll take an Adam.....Adam Lambert please!

[pickup12]

"Cabbage patch?"

[egantomr]

If they are freely giving away $500 scholarships with every purchase I shutter to think how much the computer was selling for. (Mid 80's..... my guess is between $3000-$4000.)

[gosbong]

I still have my cabbage patch doll that came with the coleco vision. Too the coleco vision didnt last as long.

[walkerctranger]

sending a free cabbage patch kid if you buy a coleco is absolute genius, those things were impossible to find back in the day

[jjobie]

The Coleco Adam was sort of a disaster, wasn't it?

[nebby6]

Yep. They cheaped out at the last minute and replaced the disk drive with a tape drive. That, and they permanently wired the printer to the computer. Yeesh!

[seka1986]

YEESH INDEED!

[daveheel]

as if anyone really used it for something other than games..

[douchebag79]

i did it just for you!!! *wink .....

[DrPhilMusic]

Wow...thats a bad slogan.

does that mean if i buy 2 colecovisions i make 4 kids happy? geez, all i need to buy is one Ps2 and a copy of guitar hero and i could make a whole party of people happy.

[Lumotaku]

these commercials just suck ass they needed a better marketing campaign

[Videogamehistorian00]

To bad the half of the adams were returned defective and the comuter itself was poorly designed

[gamma105]

isn't she that vicky robot from small wonders?!

[wow77777]

that lilttle girl was happy to know i'm sure when coleco vision came out with the cabbage patch video game or 2.

[PlastikBlakLawnJocky]

takes me back

[chuckgan]

Colecovision? Brings back memoeies of wanting one. Still have my Atari 2600 though.

[imperiallion]

lol fuck the 500 dollar scholarship id rather get a 200 buck rebate for buying a ps3 still 400-500$ still. needs to drop and put in more rpgs and 3rd party support.

[snakes3425]

I wounder, did anyone get the 500 Dollar Schollarship, after Coleco went bankrupt.

[Teucizapan1969]

From back in days when computers were actually used for something useful and educational; now it's only for websurfing, gaming, and shopping. LOL!!!!

[thugplaydotcom]

A $500 College Schollarship FREE!

[royal618]

The Poker/Blackjack game that was available for the Coleco Vision used the numeric keypad. That's the only one I personally had.

[snakes3425]

A $500 College Schollarship with every ADAM, no wonder Coleco went bankrupt.

[snakes3425]

This is something that has always bothered me, the Atari 5200, Colecovision and Intellivison had numeric buttons on their controllers, could someone explane to me what those buttons were used for, or were they just decoration

[rifter01]

I owned a colecovision, and I'd played some on Atari 5200 and Intellivision... I think the intellivision used the keypad the most, since I think most games for the Intelliv. came with plastic overlay cards that slipped into the keypad.. On the coleco, only 2 or 3 games really used it.. For instance the Smurf paint and play game allowed for color change and brushes to be chosen.. otherwise for most coleco games, the only button that worked was usually 0, #, and * which paused or reset the game(s)

[snakes3425]

I appreciate it, thanks.

[ShittyMcshitstain]

@rifter01 Don't forget about mousetrap

[snakes3425]

The last two commercials are the same

[pie453]

There is actually a very slight difference, but not that it matters.

[DOTHEKOOPA]

What is it?

What is it?

What is it?

What is it?

What is it?

What is it?

What is it?

[overmind2]

TV not included LOL

[snakes3425]

I remember hearing that there was a design flaw, the ADAM created a surge of electromagnetic energy and if you put a tape in before turning it on it would erase all the data.

[VideoWizard2006]

Let's see, that was Christmas 1984- the latest yet I've seen any sort of video game related commercial on YouTube (prior to NES). Coincidence? I'm thinking that in 1985, people got into these computers and didn't look back. Yes, the market was weaker- much weaker in 1983 and 1984, but at least it still existed...

[WOLF192]

two weeks ago i got a coleco vision for my 15th birthday..

[whattheheck1000]

LOL I got one for my 15th birthday, 5 months ago.

[runforitscooby]

Wow cool video. The Adam computer is what killed Coleco, they were kickin ass with the Colecovision console but they brought the Adam out too late after xmas 83 and the competitors killed them, they lost 80 million bucks but the Cabbage patch dolls got them back in the black up to 1989 when Hasbro bought them out.

[FrakAttack]

Forgot how damn expensive that Adam thing was, especially for a machine that didn't even use floppies.

[fuzzywzhe]

> Forgot how damn expensive that Adam thing

> was, especially for a machine that didn't

> even use floppies.

What are you talking about?  It included a printer, had a cassette drive, and that entire setup cost less than the C=64.

I remember wanting an Adam computer, but I ended up with a C=64 instead.

[FrakAttack]

You were much better off with the 64, but not quite as happy as you would have been if you had an 800XL :P

[fuzzywzhe]

Everybody in my hometown had a C=64, trust me, I wouldn't have been better off. I must have had 150 video games as a kid. Of course, today, I have thousands - 99% of which I've never tried. You have to love emulators.

[FrakAttack]

Tell me about it. Luv teh romz :D

[Lumotaku]

I wander if they ever honored those scholarships lol

[delfmeek]

Great Video Quality. thanks for uploading this.

[farmhandfilms]

Wow, had the coleco, but the adam is beyond me! I thought the commodore or (the other one) were your only choices.

[brighat]

Man, I feel sorry for that family buying the ADAM. The CV was righteous but the ADAM stunk. Apparently, Microsoft must have followed Coleco's example when they designed the Xbox 360. Some ADAM fan club visited Ottawa for their convention this year. Nothing like seeing 20 fat people talking ADAM.

[nitewavs77]

Sure ... fratboy idiots writing nonsense on YouTube.

[plurp7]

so if you keep scoring poorly on your grades, your parents get you a computer?

[atocombabaya]

*shudder* y coleco, y?

[sinistermoon]

Cool!  People should get stuff for buying video games still!

[therealrebelxd]

How clever were those commercials. I loved those days. The Adam. Man, that was like a pc back then

[jsr1978]

I love the old times!!

[lotherius]

Hey! Where was my $500 scholarship? (my parents bought an ADAM during that time period!!!!)

[lado38]

That little early '80s beeyatch!!

[pmgodfrey]

I had one of those also...daisy wheel printer and all.

To the user who posted their weaknesses. Yea!  It was just on the border of needing 3-phase electrical service and it's own pole mounted transformer.

[NinjaGhostScorpion]

This....was....most of my happy childhood.

[DMAGSTER]

There were two different Adam computers. Like to one shown in the ads and also an economy model that required a ColecoVision to be functional. This was made for people that already had a ColecoVision and wanted to upgrade to a home computer. I know this because I found a complete economy model in the city dump last fall. Now I am searching for a good working ColecoVision. Great video!

[ProductionX]

Cool, I hope you can get that sucker to work! I might still have a ColecoVision someplace in my house as well I could probably get to work too!

[trollasaurus]

I had one of them. Damn I'm old!

[VIEWMANCY]

OLD SCHOOL!

[harryplatt]

I'm not 100% sure but I think the little girl over hyped the merits of the Colecovision so that she could get the free Cabage Patch Kid.

What a witch.

[98770]

Since Coleco made the unusual decision of using the printer to supply power to the entire Adam system, if the printer malfunctioned, none of the system worked.

[98770]

Problems

Adam was not without weaknesses:

Adam generated a surge of electromagnetic energy on startup, which would erase the contents of any removable media left in or near the drive. Making this problem worse, some of the Coleco manuals instructed the user to put the tape in the drive before turning the computer on; presumably these were printed before the issue was known.

Initial shipments to customers included a high rate of defective tape drives, some say up to 50%.

[jbl1975]

They gave away Cabbage Patch Kids when they were suddenly overstocked with them. Coleco's problem was they never had supply and demand correct...EVER!

[kikesoft]

"Tv not included" wadafok

[Gamebrain]

Too many technical problems and add that with a crowded personal computer market and thats how it failed

[sil80d]

A free scholarship with an Adam? Must've been invalid after 1989 when Coleco went kaput. I did love ColecoVision,and that was before the NES.

[Aprilgurl27]

Adam?? What a name....

[fixman88]

The Adam had certain problems, like the fact that the power supply was built into the back of the tape drives and had a tendency to completely erase any program tapes you left in it overnight....

[kfdave]

I'd swear the power supply was built into the fine daisy wheel printer,but I digress.Those "data drives" were the bomb,way faster than loading programs by standard cassettes like on my TI-99.Why,using basically a standard cassette tape at high speed,what could possibly go wrong?

[rudedog4]

Funny comments! Everyone had me laughing!

[leslielove]

i what one right noe wait i still have mine :)

[scotland38]

I remember getting a Colecovision game console for Christmas back in 1981 or '82.

[whattheheck1000]

It would've had to be '82, because ColecoVision was not released until August 1982.

[neomrdo]

I'm still waitin gfor my college fund from coleco. I practice my tpying ever day on my adam. I'm 36 years old.

[MarshallSnare]

LMAO!

[Track607]

I am scared...

[videogameknowitall]

Its marketing like that made people move away from video games, notice "It's the smartest gift you can give you family", and notice how the childrens education comes into play. These type of commercials made it that people though if you were buying, or playing a video game that you were doing somthing wrong.

Thank's for posting this, it is a great look into classic video games.

[fragmentunmade]

wow a whole $500 dollars for college! Alright! Now I can afford it!