It looks good! If I was a fan of the original console, I’m sure I’d love this!

Though I currently have a few bones to pick with the current Atari, so the set doesn’t interest me.

Holding out for a LEGO Tatung Einstein

It's really really well done. However for some reason what I really love are the posters and that minifig. :D

The mini-builds representing the games are impressively underwhelming.

Nice, but it’s no 7800!

This is bang on my era but I was never into computer games at all, despite friends who did have Atari consoles trying to get me hooked. This looks great though but I thought it would be £120 ish looking at the pictures. I would consider a Sinclair Spectrum (the rubber keyed one) though - or even better a C5 model!

I built the mini Atari 2600 and mini C64 that Chris designed (12 studs wide). Very good. This one is excellent, but lots of money. I am currently trying to make a small Dreamcast. That is difficult at a small scale due to the subtle curves.

Next they need to release a Sega Genesis then the trifecta of my younger gaming years will be complete.

I owned one of these as a child.
Instant buy for me. So much nostalgia!

Bad move Lego.
Just sell us stickers alone already

So awesome. Now i need an Amiga as well

@Murdoch17 said:
" @Chapelbuild2017 said:
"What happens if you plug it into the TV from 71374?"

I'm not sure you can out of the box, but I'll bet they'll be people itching to do just that very shortly after release! I'm wondering how the side-scrolling screen feature from Mario will work with the Atari style games. I have faith however: I've seen DuckHunt done up with it's own gun-joystick-thing for the NES set, so anything's possible!"

I guess it should be possible to do a very decent: Defender.

I would somehow be the target market for this (never had one though, I got Colecovision(ADAM), Sega Genesis and then NES) but I'm not a fan of this format. Maybe if they do a 'slim' version: (1) no vignettes, (2) no drawer (there was none on the original), (3) no cartridge rack, (4) a paddle controller, and (5) $100 price.

I remember the Philips Videopac G7000 (Also known as or Magnavox Odyssey 2) , the rival of this machine.

Atari 2600 (known as Atari VCS prior to 1982) was the most popular home console before the 1983-1985 Video Game crash.

The video game console crash was mainly in the US, in Europe, home computer games were more popular until the early 90s.

Home "Computers" like Commodore 64 , started price wars during the early 80s, gaining more popularity and market share since the crash, as well as Nintendo and Sega consoles appearing on the market.

@malkan said:
"Next they need to release a Sega Genesis then the trifecta of my younger gaming years will be complete."

Absolutely, but only if they include the prints/stickers needed to switch out the Genesis branding for the arguably superior Mega Drive branding! :V

I had this one as a kid, my very first console. Nostalgia is not playing at all there and I’m 100% not buying this.

@JayCal said:
"Easiest pass of 2022 thus far for me. Anyway, I understand the enormous succes the NES set had, I really do. This Atari, although quite famous, just isn't the revolutionary console that the NES was. So I'm assuming the production run (and sales) on this will be reduced significantly.

The design is pretty spot on. Great joystick design and the colorful extra's are very needed to set it apart from the bland original design. However... as a graphic designer myself: PLEASE stop using black backdrops for black models guys... The Camaro made that painstakingly clear already."

I am a little surprised they didn’t make a Sega Genesis/Mega Drive. They seem to already be working with Sega with the Sonic set currently released, and that would be an appropriate follow-up to the NES.

The side builds feel totally unnecessary and an excuse to increase the part count and price. I really liked the interactive TV part of the NES set -- without that here it's an easy pass.

Any plans for a brick built Commodore Amiga?

@mhinck said:
"I must have played Adventure for a total of 10,000 hours as a kid. Using the ladder to get to the hidden area. "
Hidden area! Nothing like, you know, a SPOILER ALERT!

I’m kidding ;~P

Really scraping the bottom of the barrel. I'd rather get a real vintage one for half the money if I wanted it as a display piece.

I'm actually really surprised this set is even happening, seeing as this doesn't fall under the Nintendo license. I never figured another old game system would be made that fell outside of that partnership.

Console, carts, and the cart holder looks nice. I'm just outside the age to have grown up with it but they were around when I was young.

Not sold on the side builds. The room diorama looks completely out of place, and the game builds could have stood as their own set. "2D" game screens inside the console or carts, like the level inside the NES, would have been a better thematic fit using fewer parts.

Lego need to learn less is more, and overstuffing sets to reach a price point turns people off.

That said N64, please.

I’m really liking what Lego is doing this year. Numerous sets I like, but this, really? It’s very niche, it’s an ugly console (that had rubbish games and nearly caused the whole videogame market to crash), and, simply, what the point? If I was so enamoured by the thing I’d buy one off eBay and put it on a shelf, not build it out of Lego.

The NES rival, it lacks a TV but then it would be $40 more.

It’s a nice model, but who is clamouring for this? I have to think the crossover between LEGO fans and those with serious nostalgia for the early 80s is very small.

They make this and reject the hundreds of better products (for customers as well as for Lego’s profit) on Lego Ideas….this spells niche…

Impressive, but another pointless dust collector.

@MugenLazlo said:
"Hope we get an XBOX or a PlayStation."

I'd say there's potential.

My Dad had an Atari 2600, and I could never get it working, even with an adapter so that it would work on a modern TV (still around here somewhere, and by modern TV I mean an 18" Symphonic CRT from 2001 or a 12" Sylvania CRT that's like 2 years newer--while we have modern HDTVs, they weren't bought yet when we tested the 2600--and I doubt they'd work on my 24" Samsung or the 52" Hisense).

I think it's well done, but I just don't see the point in these expensive, big sets that are 1/1 examples of an everyday object that can be had on the big auction site for much cheaper.

If LEGO wants to do something truly fresh--build an emulator into one of these. The hardware isn't that expensive.

I spent countless hours playing my Atari as a kid. And they did a great job with this model, but since I recently had to lower my Lego budget (see Newton's third law), I shall have to pass.

Thank goodness my parents’ basement has not been renovated since ‘74, this will blend right in. That “new wave” poster/sticker, takes me back to when being a nerd was actually dangerous to your health lol.

I'm so glad that the Lego marketing team reminded me that this was a "nostalgic" site not once, but twice. Otherwise, I might not have known! /s

This basically is for age 40+ from the get-go. Surely Lego is not thinking about profits from this set. Even in the niche group of 40+, how many would buy a Lego replica of an Atari console. Come on.

@cody6268 said:
"
I think it's well done, but I just don't see the point in these expensive, big sets that are 1/1 examples of an everyday object that can be had on the big auction site for much cheaper. "

That’s fair, but they obviously appeal to *some* folks out there, since they keep doing them. I will say this one does very much appeal to me, albeit partly because of the miniature side builds - both the little game-specific vignettes, and the gamer’s room. I’m kind of amazed so many folks here consider them needless frippery; for me, they hugely increase the set’s appeal. But to each their own…

@cody6268 said:
" If LEGO wants to do something truly fresh--build an emulator into one of these. The hardware isn't that expensive. "

That’s actually not a bad idea at all, but a bit beyond the bounds of the LEGO building system. But perhaps someday they could do some sort of partnership with the folks behind the Raspberry Pi or some such thing…

@ScholtzTKO said:
"It seems really backwards that in a time where many people don't have extra money to spend on toys, Lego keep putting out more and more of these random 200$ + sets. Then you look at the smaller sets which have almost all been priced out of kids affordability lately.... how are they going to move enough products? Not to mention putting price increases on some sets that have been on sale every where for 2 years. Weirdness."

Wouldn’t be surprised if we’re stepping into another Dark Age. I wouldn’t mind if they start making Castle sets again like in the last Dark Age

I never owned a NES so I passed the Lego one. But i spent hours and hours with my brother playing 2600 games. So can't let this one pass :-)

I'm struggling to understand this bit of the description:
"The set also includes three video game cartridges of iconic Atari games in brick format: Asteroids, Adventure and Centipede. The cartridges can be stored in a case and built into mini versions of the games."
It seems to be implying the cartridges and the mini-builds are the same thing, but I don't understand how they could be.

I hope the programmer who single handedly wrote "Adventure", Warren Robinett, earns some royalties for this. It will be very interesting to know if there are any "easter eggs" with this Lego model. I'm not reading the review just in case. There was a previous model that did have a cute easter egg when building. I forgot which set though.

It's nice but overpriced.
I'll get it but not from LEGO. I'll wait for it to be available at the likes of Fnac or Amazon and for them to put it with at least a 20% discount which is the far fairer price for it.

Wow this set looks way better than the NES system. Really like the design with the hidden gamer inside the console. Nice job.

Very similar number of pieces and price to the NES set from a couple years ago but it feels much less substantial.... the little shelf full of cartridges and the corresponding mini builds of the games are fun but it's a seriously underwhelming add-on to the console + controller when you look at what they came up with last time.

Pretty neat but most of the charm of the NES was the impressive features of the TV and its moving level imo. This has less of that kind of neatness sadly (unless there’s something cool going on with the cartridges/dioramas, I didn’t understand that part of the description)

Never had the real thing, though I have played with it a few times. But this is pretty cool! It might look even more convincing than the NES, and I love that you get multiple cartridges. The joystick also looks spot-on, and the pop-up display is a great feature. The side builds are nice too. Not sure if I like it €240 much, but it's cool nonetheless.

Still, I do feel there's a bit of a missed opportunity here: Lego is inherently modular. How cool would it have been if you could get a console, an "empty" TV, and then separate sets with not just the cartridge, but also the "screen" for the TV? Maybe not as elaborate as the Mario game with the NES, but even just a static display would be nice.

@Blondie_Wan said:
"Looking through the comments here, I feel I’m the only one who really loves this, but I absolutely do. The little bedroom build is a wonderful addition, as are the mini-builds representing the classic games. My only issue with it is the number of stickers, but it appears to still also have some excellent printed parts (not the least of them being a minifigure torso with an Atari logo shirt print!).

@parsom said:
"I think they have forgotten one thing - the appeal of the NES set was based on the TV set, not the console itself..."

Oh, hardly. On the contrary, the existence of this set makes it likelier I’d get that one as well, to authentically recreate the experience of connecting multiple consoles to a single TV. I like the NES but hadn’t planned on getting it what with all the other sets I need, but this makes me want that one more, now. I need to get moving…

@mhinck said:
"I must have played Adventure for a total of 10,000 hours as a kid. Using the ladder to get to the hidden area. "

I know! I can’t believe the ultra-classic Adventure is now officially represented in an official LEGO set.

@JayCal said:
"Easiest pass of 2022 thus far for me. Anyway, I understand the enormous succes the NES set had, I really do. This Atari, although quite famous, just isn't the revolutionary console that the NES was. So I'm assuming the production run (and sales) on this will be reduced significantly. "

Indeed, the VCS / 2600 was arguably even more so. The Famicom / NES could be considered part of the legacy of the VCS / 2600; not so the other way around. The NES did sell more units, but the VCS’s sales are frankly more impressive for a system introduced so many years earlier, when videogames as an entire medium were such a nascent form.

@tne328 said:
"Is this really necessary? If nostalgia is powerful enough that 1980s memories drive strong sales and profit, I understand why TLG would keep doing products like these, but when does it become exhausted and wear thin? When we hit "Lego Care Bears"? How about "Lego Calculator Watch"? "

I don’t know, but as someone who is more into videogames than, say, cars, this set is much more interesting to me than all those Technic and Creator Expert sets of Ferraris, Lamborghinis, Ford Mustangs and whatever (even if I still like some of them, like the VWs). Did you complain about nostalgia overload for all such sets based on old cars as well, or only for this one thing you don’t like?

Re: Care Bears, not so long ago I would have said they weren’t really an option anyway since TLG has historically been disinterested in producing sets based on other toy companies’ IP, but with the new Transformers set another long-standing LEGO taboo appears to have fallen. I’m not terribly interested in Care Bears myself, but if and when LEGO ever does sets based on them it won’t bother me. I’ll just not buy them, the same way I do with lots of other things (including even plenty of things I do love but simply can’t afford)."

Agreed! Also, my 6-year-old daughter would line up at the store on Day One if LEGO were to produce a Care Bears theme. And my wife would probably buy some, too! So, yeah, pretty much pick any IP from the '80s and there is a market for it, whether it's the original generation or their kids.

I'm hopeful that there is a planned gift with purchase add on, particularly the dial controller and Super Breakout, the Atari version of Pong!

@Murdoch17 said:
"My dad has one of the real ones.... I'm sure he's going to be over the Moon about this!"
Thanks for making me feel old! =P

Wow! Much better than I imagined, looks really interesting…… but not sure its for me, and yes price is a real barrier in that conversation.

If I had one, I'd stick a Raspberry Pi inside and turn the set into a RetroPi arcade unit with Atari games. Could be fun, and a unique way to bring back the classics! But for $240? No thank you, at that price point, I'd hope it would at least be able to play an Atari game out of the box.

Contrary to many comments above, I love the sidebuilds and wish they were available on their own. I don't have so much nostalgia for this particular machine (though a C64 would be different!) to get and dedicate display space to it, but I'd love to put the cartridges on my office desk.

I'd much rather put £210 towards another, more interesting Lego set.

I don't know if it's a positive or a negative but the combination of price increases and so many large sets makes scratching a set off the WANT list really, really easy.

$240 was what I paid for a pristine used Galaxy Explorer with box and plastic insert from Bricklink. That was worth the money.

If this means we might eventually get a Lego Gamecube, I am all for this.

@MisterBrickster said:
"Can't believe they missed the opportunity to include an ET fig."

I can, since aside from the game notoriously flopping, it would require a separate license from Universal. Something similar is true of the VCS / 2600 games based on Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Star Trek, Marvel, DC, and Sesame Street, among other things, as well as the adaptations of Defender, Berzerk, Frogger, Donkey Kong, Pac-Man, Space Invaders, etc., and even titles originally published for the VCS / 2600 such as Pitfall!, Chopper Command, Starmaster, Demon Attack, Freeway, etc.

The 2600 was before my time so this doesn't interest me. If they did an old computer like the C64 or the original IBM PC I might be interested though...

"View the results"
"click"
"Ouch LEGO"

Great attention to detail here.
Really spot on. Capture’s the look perfectly.
LOVE the side builds and hidden room of the kid.
Price a bit high though.
$200usd would be proper, $220- tops.
Look for a discount to snag this puppy!

Now that I think of it, Ojisan will be VERY upset they didn't do a Sega console.....

Looks fantastic! But...
I can see why the Australian price is never posted on these. At $369.99 it might be just as cheap to search for a real one.

I had one of these. I think we got it December of 82. Maybe 83. So right in the midst of the crash. It lasted a good while, but the joysticks wore out and fell apart. When it was redesigned after the launch of the NES my parents bought another one because it was only $50. That lasted another two years maybe, but we really wanted an NES.

Still, I had fun with the 2600, as limited as it was. I think the crown jewel of the collection was River Raid, though. You could play that game forever.

@TheEpicLuke said:
"A neat part of gaming history replicated in LEGO, but $240? I'm not sure..."

$240 isn't a bad price IMO but it's outside of my buying range, it's kind of funny that they just revealed this since I rewatched Pixels yesterday, there was a whole scene dedicated to Centipede in it.

I don't love the woodgrain look, but the rest is awesome. I loved playing this as a young lad. My older brother had one, so I didn't get into it until late 80s/early 90s, but still enjoyable. I loved River Raid and Keystone Capers!

I won't buy this product, since I have no use for it to sit on a shelf. But the memories are still alive. Maybe I'll send a link to my brother and see what his thoughts are.

100% must-buy for me.

I remember my dad and I playing racket sports for hours on this console - the ping-pong sound as it hit the little blocks resembling the players on each side....man.... I'll just have to put this next the the NES.
Honestly guys - I don't know how to budget for my Lego anymore :-)

I feel that LEGO have lost there way again.

Only one joystick? Bummer

Oof. I’ve got two real ones. One has the woodgrain deco, and the other is solid black. And one of those two is on indefinite loan back to my dad (who did technically pay for both of them).

A console, a cartridge or two, and a joystick was all this set needed, at ~$175. Building out to a given price point is not a welcome trend.

I do like it, but just another dust collector. Not much playability IMO.

save me LEGO money for the castle set :)

@AustinPowers said:
" @dtobin123 said:
"Does anyone else feel that if LEGO released an objectively perfect set that was fairly priced the majority of the Brickset comments would still be overwhelmingly negative?"
Well, let's see.
10497 can truthfully be called what you described, an objectively perfect set that is fairly priced. Now go read the comments on the articles/review for that. Need I say more?
"

I looked at the comments on the Brickset review. The first 14 comments are overwhelmingly positive. "LOVE", "really love", "so excited", "cannot wait", "outstanding reimagination", "excellent set", "amazing", "reasonable price", "greatest Lego set ever made?", "can't wait", "will be liked by a lot", "love", "makes me smile", "spectacular".

Each of these quotes is from a separate comment.

Your have to get to comment 15 where the person thinks the set is too big but wants to see the other builds before a comment that isn't positive.

Dang. This is turning out to be the most expensive cheap Lego year ever... I'm going to have to think hard about what makes the cut this year. And here I thought no UCS TIE Bomber meant I'd be in the clear...

@VaultDweller_197 said:
" @mediAFOL said:
"I know that's not what it is, but the number of yellow castles increases pleasingly: https://brickset.com/sets/tag-Yellow-Castle"

A yellow Castle is a Yellow Castle! It counts"

Agreed!

Hey, @Huw, since I see you added the Yellow Castle tag to this set, any chance of it going on 5529 and 6193 as well? I know the latter in particular struck a number of Castle fans as an intentional tribute to *the* Yellow Castle when it came out…

https://www.ebay.ca/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p2380057.m570.l2632&_nkw=atari+2600&_sacat=139971

I could just get one with real games.... :)

I foresee many people who get this set adding their own MOCed game displays - little vignettes for other VCS classics like Combat, Haunted House, Circus Atari, Defender, Berzerk, Donkey Kong, Frogger, etc., and perhaps even custom stickers for accompanying cartridges.

I might have to do some display vignettes myself - certainly Raiders of the Lost Ark, all those Parker Bros. Star Wars games, and yes, E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial, if nothing else…

Haha wow, the color matching on the cartridge case is gross.

@MisterBrickster said:
"Can't believe they missed the opportunity to include an ET fig."

OMG, if there's a secret ET minifig hidden somewhere in this set, it immediately moves up to the best set ever. lol. That game was so interesting yet frustrating. :o)

This is AMAZING, but how is it not 2600 pieces?!? C’mon, people, that was an easy one!

@monkyby87 said:
" @TheAuk said:
"Serious question - who buys these $200+ static sets? I mean don't get me wrong - very cool builds and if they are what you are into that's awesome.

I mean, if I was REALLY into Atari or NES or Back to the Future then sure, ok, makes sense.

For me as a kid and now, and for my kids, LEGO is about building dynamic little worlds.

I like slowly adding to a City, both little details and new buildings. One kid loves STAR WARS and NEEDS to build a Battle Droid army for some reason, and the other is build a post-apocalyptic Friends world - that's still nice apparently.

I'm NOT casting shade, but rather just feel increasingly that LEGO is focusing on these LEGO models of real things (Adidas shoes?), but dialing in City, Star Wars, and other themes (Friends is doing great on the other hand) that is their core."

At the end of the day, many Lego sets are treated as static sets. A lot of AFOL’s, whom this is arguably designed for, buy and build sets to display on a shelf. I completely understand what you mean, it’s not like a car or spaceship that you can “play” with. But look at the various sitcom sets that have come out. I really don’t think people are doing anything with them other than displaying them as a static thing. Even large city setups that people have are static.

I do think the appeal is less than something that has more playability, but ultimately much of Lego is static. "

Yeah I'd also include Sitcom sets as well like you say.

I went through this some time ago when I bought the Ewok village and Kwik-e-Mart amongst others. Really, really cool sets, and put them on the shelf for a couple of years, but after that I began to think 'now what'. I mean if they added new Simpsons sets every year, or added an Endor set on and off with some regularity, I could slowly build up those worlds.

Anyway, to each their own. I'm not being critical of these sets or those who buy/like them.

The Atari VCS (as it was known in the UK) was a major part of my childhood, as I received one as a child for Christmas 1979, aged 11. Adventure is one of my all-time favourite games, so you can imagine my reaction when it was a major plot point in Ready Player One!

Anyway, this is an almost must-buy. The only aspects putting me off are the apparent number of stickers, the game vignettes as they dont adhere to what the games actually looked like on screen - and there's criminally no Space Invaders (112 variations!) but I can only guess its omission is a licensing issue - and also the price. £210 for a console replica, or wait for another large-scale movie vehicle?

Is there really a demand for a set like this at this price...

Too young to have nostalgic emotions Lego, joke is on you this time! Nice set as a "might get it someday", but due to the price increases this goes to the "skip" list.

I do remember getting this as a kid. Lots of hours playing on it. Good times. This set...not really interested in it. But good for those that do.

@dtobin123 said:
"Does anyone else feel that if LEGO released an objectively perfect set that was fairly priced the majority of the Brickset comments would still be overwhelmingly negative? It didn't always used to be THIS extreme here, what happened?"

They did, and the commentaries were overwhelmingly positive - what do you know; right !? The set is 10497. The look of it is fantastic, all the reviewers are raving about it and the price is extremely reasonable considering what you get and the recent prices hike announced by Lego.

As for this set, I have no real attachment to it or the source material so I cannot really comment aside from saying that there is too much unnecessary side buildings (IMO) - just the console a couple of cartridges, a joystick and a paddle-stick would be sufficient (I guess).

@Aanchir said:
"I love that the cartridges themselves have sort of LEGO-ized cover art!!! Those sorts of graphics are always fun to me whether they're representing classic paintings, movie posters, or in this case, video game cartridge art. And the ship on the Asteroids cover art is even this year's Galaxy Explorer set! That's so fitting — not only does the Galaxy Explorer loosely resemble the wedge-shaped ship on the original Atari 2600 cartridge, but also the original Asteroids arcade machines came out in 1979, just shortly after the debut of the first LEGO Space sets! (The Atari 2600 version of the game was released in 1981, just a few years later)."

So now we see the connection between the Asteroids Easter Egg in 10497 Galaxy Explorer and the Asteroids Cartridge artwork in this set. Well done LEGO; very meta!

This is an awesome set, I think LEGO did a great job representing the Atari VCS. Not sure if they should’ve done a sixer model (I know more people likely owned the four-switch model this set represents), and I do lament the lack of a paddle controller, but it’s awesome none the less.

As a member of the 50+ crowd (the 40+ crowd would more likely have fond memories of the NES), I would love to have this for display, but budget and space constraints prevent it from happening.

Cool.

@AustinPowers said:
"But what made the NES so much better in my eyes was a) the cool TV function (even though the style of the TV looked quite out of place for the time period the NES was around) and b) the effort to make the set as high quality as possible - most of the decorations were prints, only 3 stickers. With this set it seems the other way around. Cheaping out in a big way.
"

I know I replied to this comment already, but just noticed I’d erred; there is indeed at least *one* sticker that doesn’t fit the pattern I describe - the TV screen in the gamer’s room. That could have been a printed tile, and I’d agree it really should have been.

That said, while I might still be off on some of the deco, from examining the pics it appears to me the set contains 13 stickers and 19 printed elements. Those 13 stickers include 9 cartridge labels (3 big front artwork stickers, 3x2 end title stickers - one of each title sticker for the end of the cart, and a duplicate of each for the vignette nameplate). Those cartridge labels recreate the labels of actual Atari VCS cartridges, which are stickers on the original actual items, so I think that’s entirely acceptable. The other four stickers include three representing posters, which of course IRL wouldn’t be stickers but would still be pieces of paper; I’d agree tiles here would be preferable, but for paper items stuck in place on other surfaces I again tend to think stickers are acceptable. The only sticker I consider really unfortunate is the 2x2 tile sticker representing the TV screen and bezel.

The 19 printed elements include three text elements across the top of the console (“POWER / TV TYPE”, “VIDEO COMPUTER SYSTEM”, “GAME SELECT / GAME RESET”), four elements for the text and graphics next to the switches (“ON / OFF”, “COLOR / B•W”, plus two downward-pointing graphic symbols), two Atari logo elements for the right side of the “woodgrain” front panel (one for the three swooshes / stripes / things, one for “ATARI”), four identical curved tiles for the markings on the joystick base, two for the minifigure (head and torso), one for the cat, one for the boombox, one 1x2 tile (VHS tape), and one 1x1 round tile (top of soda can). Five of these - minifigure head, cat, boombox, VHS tape tile, soda can tile - are not exclusive to the set (or not likely to remain exclusive if they presently are). The other fourteen are surely exclusive to the set.

Am I wrong? If not, then this set a) still uses directly-printed elements rather than stickers for *most* of the decorated elements; b) uses what stickers it does use mostly to represent actual stickers; and c) uses all but one of the few remaining stickers to represent other paper items placed on other surfaces, which stickers effectively recreate.

I’m not sure “Cheaping out” is really right.

I wish I had endless space and expense to get sets like these that reminds me the simpler times. Lego is on another level since the Ideas first launched. Even the original sets became instant collectible items.

@Koend1999 said:
" @Loerwyn said:
"I'm struggling to understand this bit of the description:
"The set also includes three video game cartridges of iconic Atari games in brick format: Asteroids, Adventure and Centipede. The cartridges can be stored in a case and built into mini versions of the games."
It seems to be implying the cartridges and the mini-builds are the same thing, but I don't understand how they could be."
I think that is wrong. The LEGO site does not mention that the cartridges can be converted into the minibuilds. The pictures also clearly show both the cartridges and builds in the same photo. The box even shows this.

"

That's what I am thinking too.

While I only ever played Atari once, I do love how there are multiple cartridges. That’s the one thing I feel is missing from the NES, that you only got one cartridge.

It seems like this is probably a one and done set, but I’m still hoping Lego releases game packs with a cartridge and screen for additional games. It would be so much fun to be able to put in Zelda or Metroid. Not to mention, it would be fun to have NES Advantage.

While overall I do like this a lot, the one thing that is bugging me more and more is the orange stripe around the switch panel. The corners shouldn't be right angles. The VCS was distinctive by a lot of strange angles and the fact that this has failed to be captured with the stripe/switch panel stands out like a sore thumb.
A real shame, especially since the angles at the end of the 'woodgrain' panel have been well represented.

@Blondie_Wan: I'd love to be proven wrong once the review is published, but from zooming into the images it looks to me as if ALL the decorations are stickers, except for the Atari logo and font on the front of the console.
Everything else to me looks like it has sticker lines, some quite noticeable, like on those round tiles on the joystick for example.

@Blondie_Wan said:
"Hey, @Huw, since I see you added the Yellow Castle tag to this set, any chance of it going on 5529 and 6193 as well? I know the latter in particular struck a number of Castle fans as an intentional tribute to *the* Yellow Castle when it came out…"

Then there's 1592. Though the yellow castle I'd like to see in the flesh at some point is the one on page 9 of idea book 240.

@AustinPowers said:
" @Blondie_Wan: I'd love to be proven wrong once the review is published, but from zooming into the images it looks to me as if ALL the decorations are stickers, except for the Atari logo and font on the front of the console.
Everything else to me looks like it has sticker lines, some quite noticeable, like on those round tiles on the joystick for example. "

Those really don’t look like it to me. Note official LEGO stickers very seldom go all the way to the edges as so many of these apparently do if they are indeed stickers. Usually there’s a bit of margin around the sticker, and that doesn’t seem to be here on most of the deco’d elements.

And I really doubt the minifigure parts, cat, boombox, and soda can top tile would be stickered at any rate, even if they have on occasion stickered minifigure torsos in the past.

@SDlgo9 said:
" @Blondie_Wan said:
"Hey, @Huw, since I see you added the Yellow Castle tag to this set, any chance of it going on 5529 and 6193 as well? I know the latter in particular struck a number of Castle fans as an intentional tribute to *the* Yellow Castle when it came out…"

Then there's 1592. Though the yellow castle I'd like to see in the flesh at some point is the one on page 9 of idea book 240."

Ooh, yes! Good call! I knew of 1592 but had forgotten.

Oh, but I did miscount, though. Looking again I see the front cartridge labels are each multiple stickers, not just each one big one. One big one for each, comparable to the original actual cartridge label, would have been better. I still think these work, though.

@Koend1999: like I said, I'd love to be proven wrong.
But look at the render of the joystick for example. There is a very clear separate line around the edge of the decoration next to the edge of the part itself. That very much looks like a sticker to me
If it isn't, all the better.

@AustinPowers said:
" @Koend1999: like I said, I'd love to be proven wrong.
But look at the render of the joystick for example. There is a very clear separate line around the edge of the decoration next to the edge of the part itself. That very much looks like a sticker to me
If it isn't, all the better. "

I think that's just reflection off of the part's beveled edge, rather than the ridge of a sticker. Looks like a print to me! :)

Meh, hard pass. For that kind of money, I can get a real working one, or at least a Jr. version, easily. But, I'll just go with an emulator.

Looking at the kid holding a joystick, I realize the joystick base is relatively the size of that from the Atari 2600 Wireless Remote Control Joystick from 1983, than the original wired model. Guess he’s got a prototype!

How much is tax?

@Blondie_Wan said:
"Oh, but I did miscount, though. Looking again I see the front cartridge labels are each multiple stickers, not just each one big one. One big one for each, comparable to the original actual cartridge label, would have been better. I still think these work, though."

Hey, @Blondie_Wan! Just saw your name near mine on the list of "how my collection stacks up against others" - nice collection!

@ForestMenOfEndor said:
" @Blondie_Wan said:
"Oh, but I did miscount, though. Looking again I see the front cartridge labels are each multiple stickers, not just each one big one. One big one for each, comparable to the original actual cartridge label, would have been better. I still think these work, though."

Hey, @Blondie_Wan! Just saw your name near mine on the list of "how my collection stacks up against others" - nice collection!"

Hey, thanks! You, too!

This is super cool! My brother has the NES set and I’m sure he might like this one as well. I probably won’t get this but it sure is pretty sick! I hope Lego eventually makes an N64 or maybe even a Wii. XD