As a videogame  historian and webmaster of the well known Pong-Story site, many people have been contacting me to ask about buying a Magnavox Odyssey (the first model, produced between 1972 and 1975).

The problem is, many people still think that their Odyssey dates 1972, either as per 1972 copyright on the box and user manual, or simply because so many web sites have been sharing the same mistakes over the years.

There is a simple way to determine when an Odyssey was heen made using the information shown under the main Odyssey uni and also on the small punched Inspection Card: the model, the serial and the production run. If you are not sure, scan your Inspection Card and email it to me (you can either contact me through eBay or find my email on the bottom of the pages of my Pong-Story site (I can't put my email here as per eBay rules).

Here are the different versions of the Magnavox Odyssey specimens produced and sold in the USA:

• 1972: model 1TL200BLAK and RUN 1.
• 1973-1974: model 1TL200BLAK and RUN 2
• 1974-1975: model 1TL200BK12 and RUN 2 (there is no RUN 1 for this model). 1975 specimens have a Magnavox logo on the front side.
  

If you only have the serial, do not worry. The serials contain 7 or 8 digits. In fact, the 7-digit ones didn't have the first digit printed as it was a zero. To classify the various types of serials, I will put the 0 to avoid confusions.

• 06xxxxxx to 07xxxxxx: model 1TL200BLAK, RUN 1, produced in 1972 only.
• 091xxxxx to 094xxxxx: model 1TL200BLAK, RUN 2, produced in 1973 and 1974.
• 105xxxxx to 119xxxxx: except the very latest specimens of the previous version, those serials are for the second model, 1TL200BK12, RUN 2 produced in 1974 and 1975. 1975 models have a Magnavox logo on the front side.

In addition to the above versions, you may have an Export version, which is an Odyssey manufactured in the USA by Magnavox, and sold abroad. Some of these Export specimens happen to show in the USA.

• The ITT Odyssee, exported in Germany, was made in 1973.
• The Magnavox Odyssey, reduced to 10 games for Export, has a model starting with YE7100. Those were made in late 1974.

If you have any question, do not hesitate to contact me. Be sure to send me a scan of your Inspection Card to make sure that I have all the necessary information.


David Winter