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Mattel Baseball and Football I "Reconditioned"

 
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Singer
Coleco Pac Man


Joined: 06 May 2014
Last Visit: 25 Jul 2021
Posts: 39
Location: Medford, Oregon, USA

PostPosted: Tue May 06, 2014 7:25 pm    Post subject: Mattel Baseball and Football I "Reconditioned" Reply with quote

I had Mattel's Baseball and Football I as a kid, early '80s. I just dug them up at Mom's house some 30 years later, they play like new and I remembered exactly how to play them!

My copy of Baseball has the box with it. Interestingly, both the box and instructions inside have a logo stating "Reconditioned" which is not a sticker added on, it's part of the artwork. I assume at some point Mattel rounded up some dead copies of the game, repaired them, and then sold as such? The game itself carries no mention of it.

My Football I does not have the box or manual. Curiously, on the back side near the battery door there is an R in a circle that looks like it's been stamped or branded into the plastic. Is this also supposed to be a symbol for "Reconditioned?" Or just something that someone decided to do sometime in the last 30 years?
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Singer
Coleco Pac Man


Joined: 06 May 2014
Last Visit: 25 Jul 2021
Posts: 39
Location: Medford, Oregon, USA

PostPosted: Tue May 06, 2014 7:28 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I see a similar box for Football I here on the site.



Still not sure what the R stamp is for.
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Rik
Site Admin


Joined: 07 Oct 2005
Last Visit: 25 Mar 2024
Posts: 1932
Location: California

PostPosted: Wed May 07, 2014 12:12 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

The R stamp is also likely for Reconditioned... All Reconditioned games should probably have that on them, but they may have missed some. Prevents people from returning the game as a new one (which probably cost more).

I'm not sure how much work they would put into actually repairing games, but any open-box game returned from a store would likely be tested, resealed in a 'reconditioned' box and resold at a slightly lower price.

Game still do this today (I think it's called 'Factory Refurbishing' now), I see PS3s and Xbox 360s forsale in stores marked 'refurbished', etc. It just means it was returned to them for some reason, and they tested it and sent it back out for sale again. They just can't call it 'new' since it was opened by someone at one point.
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Singer
Coleco Pac Man


Joined: 06 May 2014
Last Visit: 25 Jul 2021
Posts: 39
Location: Medford, Oregon, USA

PostPosted: Thu May 08, 2014 7:47 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

That makes sense.
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