Amiga 500 Plus Computer System Review - Cartoon Classics

I relive my first Amiga experience by unboxing and setting up the Commodore Amiga 500 Plus Cartoon Classics pack!
My retro gaming podcast: theretrohour.com
My Facebook: / danwooduk
My Twitter: / danwood_uk
My Website: kookytech.net

[@smiljanicn]

Man, you recreated my own first Amiga experience ever! My father brought me one from Thessaloniki, Greece after 2 years of beginning.I had Atari XEGS and C64 before. I remember, way before mobile phones, he called on the land line to say that seller was tried to pursue him to buy me 386dx! My old man is a truck driver, btw, didn't have a clue about computers. "No way, i sad. Amigaaaaaaaaa, dad, please". Still is here in my loft. Amiga 500+, yeeees! My kids are playing with it today.

[@SabretoothBarnacle]

I saved up for 2 years mowing lawns and collecting Birthday money... finally -2 years after seeing an A500 playing Shadow of the Beast at a show - I could afford an A500 Plus Cartoon Classics pack... My parents dropped me off at school and I had to sit in lessons all day hoping they'd been able to pick one up at Evesham Micros... the final bell rang... I ran out of school to our car... my mum looked forlorn, they were sold out :( Saddened I opened the boot to throw my school bag in... as I shut the boot down with anger I caught the glimpse of a red box out of the corner of my eye. I grabbed the boot and opened it once again... there to my absolute delight was a Cartoon Classics box... Practical joke aside I was a very happy 12 year old!

[@andycraig7734]

Sabretooth Barnacle Dayum. Cruel parents. ha

[@GadgetUK164]

Funny how Shadow of the Beast had that affect isn't it lol! That was precisely one of the reasons I wanted an A500! Had an A500 on the bench in the workshop, had Shadow of the Beast on the drive, when I got it working again - I instantly wanted an A500 lol

[@SabretoothBarnacle]

Still remember seeing the Beast for the first time at that show.. it had quite an impact on someone who owned a Spectrum at the time... Also recall that I used to then hang out in Dixons / Tandy's each Saturday afternoon drooling over the object of my desire. #simpletimes

[@DolganoFF]

Good parenting!

[@darrenc2721]

i spent an entire months wages on getting this pack for Christmas. My parents said I couldnt open it till Christmas Day, but I paid for most of it haha, so Christmas eve I had probably the most fun ever booting these games up!.

[@ModernVintageGamer]

great memories and amazing that Amiga Format bundled a special edition mag with the system. It really showed how close Commodore UK were with the print media at the time. great video!

[@Tech-geeky]

be better if i could grab a copy of it.. I can't find it anywhere, not even on EAB FTP.... Plz scan and upload.. Internet Archive would be a good choice.

[@Tech-geeky]

I think had mostly all issues of AF, as well as other mags..Every time i see Amiga hardware/ARIII and/or physical mags/floppy disks, my eyes go all giddy... I just keep thinking of getting them, but i have them in digital forms today on USB drive in 2020.... even so, it's just not the same as "holding one' Perhaps that's just me though... In such situations what would you guys do? I'm seriously torn between.. kinda like a gate between worlds, and i'm in limbo. May even be a good topic :)

[@gothakane]

Oh my God basically exactly the same situation as me!! Christmas morning 1991, I got an Amiga 500 plus with Bart Simpson vs the Space Mutants!! (which was a bloody tough game!) It brought back a ton of memories to see that box opened again. Probably my favourite Christmas of all time. One of the most personally nostalgic videos to me you've done, cheers mate!

[@d2factotum]

My first Amiga was the Cartoon Classics pack as well, but because I bought it from Silica Systems I got Photon Paint 2 and some other stuff with it as well. Never really liked the Simpsons game, but lost *hours* to Lemmings...however, I'm pretty sure mine was a basic A500 with Workbench 1.3, because I don't remember using 2.0 until I had an A1200.

[@AE-dt4we]

I got a 2nd hand Atari St, wanted an Amiga as it was on Noels House Party.

[@Tech-geeky]

Bart vs the Space Mutants,,, soo tough i have not completed i yet even in 2020.. lol I know their are walk-though's and stuff on the internet, so that's no excuse regardless of game, but some people just like to play how they should be played :)

[@360Fov]

@@d2factotum omg Silica Systems!! I remember seeing their listings in Amiga Format magazine. I was like 7 years old or so, but I loved Amiga Format!! Amiga Planet too. Getting demos on cover discs was awesome. I'd go and stand in front of the magazines in Morrisons and hope my mum or dad would say the magic words "go on pick up a magazine" 🥰

[@per-henrikpersson1884]

What an absolutely heart warming story Dan. I almost cried. Because also of the fact that I have a son a couple of year older than you but he was better of because he had an father that was an engineer in electronics (and that father was ofcourse the same man that is writing this😁). My first home computer was an ZX 81 and later I baught Spectrum and Amiga 500,Amiga 500 Plus and Amiga 1200 and extra motherboards and a tower and an accelerator card for Amiga 1200. So from the day one in his life he was surounded by several computers and he started his software career by programming for the Spectrum when he was 9 or 10 years old. He is born 1980. And he was the one that made me took up my sleeping videogame hobby and made me buy an PS 3 by showing me a trailer for Red Dead Redemption! So I believe that I totally understands you. My tower Amiga 1200 still resides in my bedroom and still works perfectly and I have one comodore colour display still working and one Philips Amiga Display and one old analog PC display connected to my Amiga. And Amikit and Amiga Forever premium edition with Amiga OS 4.1Final Edition installed in my PC. Now I plan to buy a card to my loved Amiga so I can connect wirelessly to my wireless network so I my PS my Amiga My Playstation my television and my cellphone can all use my broadband. And I have installed Amikit and Amiga Forever on my cellphone just to irritate my friends and show them a cellphone they never had seen - the Good Old Days are here. So keep on your exelent work with those wonderfull videos you share with us!

[@per-henrikpersson1884]

Thanks Dan. 😁😀😁

[@JoanneUkEng]

I had the very same Cartoon Classics.. thank you for a lovely walk down memory lane x

[@WoldsEndPhotography]

I used to run a public domain library. When the A500 plus came out I had to test all the programs for compatibility with the new machine. Watching your videos takes me back.

[@fyldefactory]

My cousin got the plus after me, i took all my games over that Christmas for him to rifle through and there were a few that wouldn't load. I can't remember which now.

[@DennisRamberg]

It's crazy how easily I can relate to your stories. They definitely capture a time when home computing was filled with wonders. The Amiga was definitely a machine from the future in the eyes of a kid. I remember seeing Shadow of the Beast for the first time at a neighbors house (a middle-aged guy that worked for an IT-company), and I was completely blown away. At that time I was in pretty much in the same spot as you Dan, thinking that we couldn't afford expensive computers like that. (and it would practically take years for me to save up my allowance in order to get one of these). But then the Christmas of 1990s changed my life forever when I got an A500. :D Thanks a lot for bringing back good ol' memories.

[@Ichinin]

Lovely to be able to reminisce through eBay :o) Had a similar experience, in the late 80s we were poor and i hardly ever could get more than €10 a month to buy candy, a magazine and some tapes (gee, i wonder what i would use those for), and an Amiga 500 was out of question for me so i had to stick with my Commodore 64 that i got 2 years after everyone else (i did make the best out of my unexpanded Vic 20). One day i came home from school, my dad told me he had an announcement. He told me that he bought a lottery ticket... the next day i had a kickstart 1.2 Amiga 500 with 512k expansion that i bought for €800 (Yes, Sweden was expensive). Would never have been possible without a large portion of luck. I guess it was a well made investment on his part, during my later years working as a IT-security guy i made a decent income and made sure my parents had large flat screen TVs, microwave ovens, blenders, dvd players - whatever they wanted. Felt good to be able to repay them later on in life. I wonder where i would have been today if my father never had purchased that lottery ticket... the Amiga opened me up to real operating systems, graphics, PC Emulation, CShell/GNU utils from Aminet which made me happy when Linux came out and i moved from programming in C64 basic to procedure oriented Amos.

[@Tech-geeky]

eBay saved my butt... more than once ..

[@Tech-geeky]

I *still* reminisce though eBay

[@UpTheAnte1987]

Loved hearing your story about how you got your Amiga back in 1991!

[@ukzoinks]

My first Amiga experience too. I got the Cartoon Classics, which had the surprise addition of the 500plus even though the standard 500 is shown on the box. Still using it today with the recent addition of the Vampire 500 V2+ The 500 plus came out of nowhere - it was a couple of months after I got the Amiga, that the Magazines caught up and started reporting it's existence.

[@graemee7292]

Yes, same here. Just started working, my first big buy. I do remember me and my younger brother being stuck on an early level of The Simpons, drove us mad. Pre internet help vids: gave up and loaded PGA Golf, good times.

[@RMCRetro]

Lovely memories. My first Amiga wasn't a pack but had Eliminator and PowerPlay thrown in, but of course making a computer swear with "Say" (as you showed) was the best game of all for a kid :D

[@dantootill]

Ha ha. You could alter the speed and pitch, like it was stoned and on helium at the same time. "Iiiiiiiiiiiii-aaaaaaaaaaaam-aaaaaaaaaaaa-twaaaaaaaaaaaat..."

[@clarenceboddicker6679]

I can't remember the name of my first Amiga's pack but it included the games Batman The Movie, Interceptor, New Zealand Story and Deluxe Paint 2. My parents bought it for me in 1989. In 1991 I also owned the Amiga 500+ Cartoon Pack that is featured in this video.

[@serjoka]

What a beautiful story, thanks for sharing your experience. I remember I had to struggle a lot before getting a second hand Amiga 500 coming from a Commodore Vic 20 and a C64 after (always second hands, hard to find in Italy and very expensive). I will never forget the joy of going to see it and then bringing it home. I was kind of a nerd by that time (10 years old) and I wasn’t looking for any console but something I could write my own code. I spent days writing hundreds of code lines. Today I’m a software engineer and I’ve never been so grateful to Commodore for shaping my entire career path so heavily. Love and respect for Commodore. ❤️

[@LeeOades]

Awesome video Dan! I had a similar Christmas morning experience with the Atari 800 in 1983 I think. I still remember being blown away by the games then compared to my Dad's DEC terminal! Thanks for taking the time and effort to record this.

[@mrjayce691]

That was fun! I was among the thousands who were surprised by the Cartoon Classics pack that Christmas. I was graduating from a ZX Spectrum +1 (which I got for free), so I'm with you all the way in that sense of awe that came with opening that amazing piece of gear Christmas morning. I don't remember the Amiga Format magezine though, although I must have had it. My pathway to all things Amiga was Amiga Power, which was tbh just an extension of the Your Sinclair journalism... but man... great childhood memories... thanks for the trip!

[@JimmyRetro]

I had this pack in the early 90s and stupidly sold it at a car boot sale for £15... it was absolutely mint too! Captain Planet was awesome, hard game though!

[@danieljones127]

That was the same pack I had for Christmas!! Loved it. I played captain planet for hours! Great memories! Great video!!

[@one_b]

Love watching your Amiga videos! Funny that this comes up just a few weeks after I got an A500 Plus from Goodwill to act as a donor for my rev. 5 A500. (I had attempted the 40 salon cream treatment on the keys. It worked wonders on my Dad's A1200 keys but the same process murdered my 500's keys leaving them badly bleached to near white, warped, and brittle. I did the replacement keys with 20 salon developer clear and a small amount of Oxyclean and NO added heat this time and they came out looking like new. It takes a few days but it is much easier to monitor the progress.) The reassembled rev 5 now has a Vampire 500 V2+, CF card, a Gotek mounted in place of the stock floppy, and GVP Impact Series II SCSI sidecar controller with 8megs more of ram. So much fun to relive the memories and have the speed and convenience of modern storage. I opened the A501 from the Goodwill donor to remove the battery which thankfully hadn't leaked too badly. Some minor surface damage but the card works if I ever need another to replace the 4meg expansion my original still has

[@andycraig7734]

Joshua Dolan I can never find computers at Goodwill in Georgia. Goofball employees are cherry picking. What state are you in, to be so lucky?

[@goldengamer9045]

I never had a amiga 500 by the time 1991 came around Xmas time,I was 20 years of age I wanted a Commodore 64 back in the early 1980s but I ended up with a Commodore 16 instead as my parents couldn't afford a more expensive computer back then It was only when I was older,I save up and brought myself a dell gaming computer Thanks for sharing your Christmas 1991 memories with us Dan,it's greatly appreciated by me so thank you Best regards Tony

[@RediscoveringRetro]

Our first Amiga as well!! Never had anything before that. I was around 10 and the whole family sat up to like 2am playing Lemmings.

[@Tech-geeky]

Everyone likes blowing up those little buggers lol

[@chrisandrews8357]

Great video, can remember the excitement of getting the Desktop Dynamite pack in 93/94. Played Championship Manager 93 so much it stopped working. Great days.

[@JaymzCampbell]

I wanted this so badly as a kid but had to make do with a Commodore 64 until I could afford to buy myself a PC. To this day seeing that box triggers childlike wonder.

[@Ouch.]

I'm slightly older than you and had a Spectrum as a kid. I then went to an AMSTRAD 6128 with a dedicated colour monitor. I went out to work and remember buying my Amiga 500 with the Commodore 1084 monitor. Later I had an extra 2 external floppy drioves and the Ram pack underneath. It was an excellent machine and I had hundreds of games for it! Can't remember when I sold it but it went for a song! Happy days!

[@nickscott9129]

Great story Dan and also my first Amiga pack. I do remember buying either the December or January edition of Amiga Shopper where it mentioned about the Cartoon Classics pack and the hushed launch of the A500+. Due to stock shortages they sneaked 500+ machines out in Christmas 1991 without informing the retailers to also ensure that existing 500's didn't remain unsold as the retail price was the same. You clearly won the lottery that Christmas by having the newer machine, although with minor backward compatibility issues not everyone warmed to the plus. I did not get mine until April 1992, by then A500+ was commonplace. As an existing C64 owner in my haste to get it all connected up with the A520 RF modulator I put the Bart Simpson game in to eagerly watch the 'video' sequence only to be mortified there was no sound. Gutted that I had a 'faulty' Amiga I phoned the store I bought it from only to be questioned whether I had used the Y phono plug :-\ Lovely machine the A500+ and a great and popular bundle, I would say both the Cartoon Classics and Batman bundles were two of the most popular of the A500 era.

[@Buck3366]

Sounds similar to my experience mate. As a kid I played my Dads friends C64. It was magical. I never thought my parents would get me one but I had a surprise not long after being given my own second hand C64. I was overjoyed with my couple of games it came with.A day or so later the postman came with a parcel. Dad told me to open it. FULL of games from his friend :) I nearly cried . Fast forward a few years and Dad got an Amiga for me with 1 game. Got home so excited and he put a hold-all next to me while playing . Inside- a stack of games he bought while abroad. Oh the fun times lol

[@ChrisPerver]

Still remember my friend Francis down the street, when he got his Amiga 500 Cartoon Classics. Before that he had a 48k Spectrum and I had an Amstrad CPC 464. I couldn't believe the graphics, you could hardly see the pixels. And the colours. I was blown away. I ended up getting a 500+ a year or so later, then a 1200, then a 3000. Those were simpler days... when computers didn't rule our lives, and were something you just turned on to play a game or two on now and then.

[@princedizzy3506]

Got the same cartoon classics pack as a joint xmas present for me and my brother, coming from a speccy the amiga blew my mind. Excellent vid, good memorie.

[@willrobinson7599]

Dan u do fantastic job reminding us how great the amiga was..I waslucky to work in small independent computer retailer in the early 90s.was blown away by the amiga and I within weeks of starting a brought one and had to pay £20 per week from my wages. So many happy memories. We sold hundreds of the cartoon classics and the batman pack as well

[@artstatedigital]

Hi Dan. The 'King Tutankhamun' picture was drawn by Avril Harrison. Avril also drew the well known 'VENUS' image and worked on The Secret of Monkey Island.

[@JimmiG84]

It must have been so exciting to get this in 1991 as a kid. I got a C64 around 1991, which was the first computer I ever had. Then I got the A1200 around late '93/early '94. I was actually expecting an A500, but my parents surprised me with a second-hand A1200. Going from any 8-bit machine to an Amiga was amazing. The leap in graphics and sound capability was so huge. Of course by 1994 there were much more capable PC's available, but I was blissfully unaware and so happy with my Amiga for 3 years or so...

[@Seventeen_Seconds]

Wow I remember unwrapping this same model at Christmas when I was 14 years old. I’ve had countless computers and consoles over the past 20 years or so but there’s something special about the Amiga 👌🏻

[@rockb]

I love your Amiga christmas story. I came from a C16 and got my first Amiga in 1991 too, and it was a 500+, too 😀

[@asbocazbo]

I got my Amiga 500+ the same Xmas. My mum won a £1000 at the local club playing Open The Box i asked her if she won she'd get me one so had her over a barrel. Review sums it up, brought back memories. I had that exact pack and it all still works today.

[@stevee6305]

Great video Dan and loving the channel. My Amiga experience started with a copy of Amiga Action months before. I'd previously wanted a C64 but this beast of a machine would be unbelievable to have and indeed, I did get it - under the proviso of using it to do homework ;) Having the Bat Pack was amazing and the feeling of that era was amazing.

[@Amiga1200Mark]

Great video Dan. That same morning i was unboxing my Atari STe Turbo pack. Id had a c64 for 10 months prior to that and a c16plus 4 for years prior to that. I did finally upgrade to the Amiga for xmas in 93. But 2 things stick out ... i probably had the best gaming days of my life with my STe, but seeing the A500 for the first time at a mates house at xmas 1990 changed everything for a happy plus4 owner like me. Great times.

[@user-gl3uq1wn3u]

I watch this nostalgia hit every Christmas.

[@andrewuk184]

This pack was my first computer experience. Was 7 years old. When we got it home, I was soooo excited. Amazing time!

[@mcbpete]

This was *exactly* the same model that was my introduction to the Amiga, and like you got it on exactly the same day: 25th December 1991. I've ADF files of all these supplied titles along with the Amiga Power & Amiga Computing coverdisks released that Christmas and occasionally have a nostalgia Amiga day by playing them all again!

[@TMxtt]

That Chelsea player in the Commodore gear is Kerry Dixon (in case anyone was wondering)

[@andyhello23]

Plus Tony Dorigo, lol There was two chelsea players in those ads.

[@alansouthall8221]

My favourite Christmas present was this pack. Love this vid

[@ultimatopology2075]

Hi Dan. My first Amiga was an A1000 which I received in 1986. I later added an external A1010 drive, Timesaver, Digi-View and Perfect Sound. Played plenty of games, Dpaint and Hex editing. I also ordered something like a PAL JR expansion box but it never arrived in the mail! (I'm in Tasmania, Australia) I later sold it all in the early '90's. Recently I've started collecting. I bought a A500 plus Cartoon Classics bundle from the UK. I've had to replace the mobo, the modulator and mouse. I've also added the missing games and a 1MB mem board.(Quite an expensive exercise). I also have an A3000 (Picasso II, BigRam+, Shapeshifter), an A1200 (DKB RTC + 1202 8MB, 8GB CF WHDload) and a CDTV (9MB, SCSI Jazz 1GB drive) and other retro computers - Atari ST, Amstrad, Spectrum etc. . Great to see the video on the Cartoon Classics, you're genuine! Love your videos. Thanks.

[@hardwatergaming7965]

I already had my 500 when this was released but I remember a bunch of my friends had this pack! Brought back loads of memories!

[@lactobacillusprime]

These themed Amiga boxes / packs are simply amazing.

[@andycraig7734]

With 1MB of RAM when new... Nice! It took me ages to figure out why my A500 wouldn't load Ghosts & Goblins. Then I got my hands on a 512K upgrade. Now I can enjoy getting trounced by the computer in this rather difficult game. Good times! LOL

[@poulgadving7628]

Now i want my Amiga back. I just loved Cannon Fodder, Another World.. And Home Alone, yeah but i was 12 :) Thanks for making such great videos Dan!

[@leemason5653]

P G Oh man! CANNON FODDER!! That takes me back.

[@rickrudge9349]

That brought back a lot of fond memories, Dan. Thanks for sharing. 💾

[@tommyontrip]

I loved the Amiga back in the day. DPaint was my favorite time-waster too, and actually it ended up with me working in the graphic arts industry for quite a while. I was adamant never to join with the evil enemy PC and Windows so I have stuck with Apple ever since Commodore going bankrupt. Great video and fun memories! Especially the bit with kicking the PSU off in the middle of programming or GFX work resulted in a good chuckle.

[@sdyates2001]

Reminds me of my story. I had finally saved enough to get a C64C with Geos, but my dream was about getting an Amiga. The Amiga 1000 was just not affordable. But then I read about two new Amigas in Compute. They would be ready for the Christmas season and there would be plenty of opportunities to buy one at the World of Commodore in Toronto that year. I got my father to drive me there and quickly went from booth to booth looking for the best price. The place was huge. There was so much to see, but my first focus was on getting the Amiga 500. I ended up getting an A500 with the 1084 and an extra 512 KB of RAM. But there was no Commodore gift shop in my package.

[@gamesessions]

Wonderful video - and so much nostalgia. Really love your presentation and sharing all your memories, really adds a great personal touch to your videos and also a few bits I can relate to too. I also remember getting up early to watch Top Banana - thought I was the only one who remembered that :) keep up the great work - looking forward to watching through more of your videos :)

[@otakujhp]

My first Amiga experience was the CD32, which I acquired after the death of Commodore, sadly. My first Amiga computer experience was actually this year because I found a mint condition Escom A1200HD. It's a lovely system, but I'd really like to add a Vampire v4, when/if I can get my hands on one.

[@adrianarnott3814]

Cartoon Classic Christmas morning! I excitedly told my dad how great the graphics were, to this day he randomly shouts out to me “great graphics”!

[@dave4shmups]

Wonderful video on the Amiga 500 Plus and the Cartoon Classics Pack Dan! In the late 1980s, my Dad brought home a Macintosh 512K, and I played some great game on that-Beyond Dark Castle was an amazing action adventure game. My Dad had a woman from the company he worked for at the time come and teach my older brother and I how to use the Mac and when I asked her what the best system for graphics was she said "Amiga" without any hesitation.

[@Dmrdecs]

Time to get my desktop dynamite pack down over the weekend! Great video btw. Brought back lots of memories.

[@paultaylor8548]

Great story Dan. I myself got the pack the year before ‘flight of fancy’ pack with Escape from the planet of the robot monsters, rainbow islands. I just remember that Christmas me praying to baby Jesus and Santa for a spectrum +3 and my parents ( Santa ) got me the Amiga. My life changed forever. Great vid.

[@mattcarrproject]

Brought a tear to my eye! I got one the same Xmas and could not get my Dad off Lemmings on Xmas Day! Such fond memories of that machine.

[@PooperScooperTrooper]

I had a similar experience, just a few years before and with the Atari ST. Having a mouse, proper keyboard and a GUI was just so damn cool back then!

[@vxrdrummer]

I got this on Xmas day 1991 as well. I have the video of it being opened, set up and played for the first time. Then my uncle playing Wrestlemania on boxing day. What an experience.

[@pshemsky]

Thanks for video Dan! It was great trip down to one of yours memory lanes :)

[@garycox3209]

Man my memories of getting my first amiga ( Silica Shop ! ) .. It arrived by courier and I was home from school for lunch and I had to call my mum and say I simply can't go to school this afternoon. I will not concentrate. I remember it vividly. I spent the night playing Marble Madness and Defender of the crown until I passed out. Funny thing. My modulator was faulty from the start ! Silica shop actually said they would send me a replacement and well they sent another Amiga ! :) Firepower is still my favourite 2 player game. Loved hearing your story.

[@brianhoskins1979]

My first AMIGA was a 500+ as well, although I didn't get a proper pack. I had someone's 2nd hand setup. But in some ways that was better because my setup was literally loaded with games (most of them copies) and I remember going through the floppies in genuine awe. My parents had a touring Caravan and we went away for the New Year. I remember being gutted! I took the Workbench manuals with me and read them cover to cover. It was the first time I'd experienced a proper graphical OS and I was very excited. I was very homesick and I remember getting a row for being grumpy on the New Year holiday. But all I wanted was to get back home so I could play with my AMIGA.

[@annekariceisnice]

Great video Dan, like so many others in the comments this was the exact same Amiga pack I received on Christmas Day. Thanks for uploading!

[@naviamiga]

So many great memories playing this pack round at my friends house.

[@TallysVids]

I can remember fitting in my 500 Plus, an anti click device from a place called Power Computing. It plugged into the back of the floppy drive (where the cable connected) and the cable then connected into the anti click device. Other things I can remember getting from Power Computing were a single enclosure that had twin floppy drives in it. A Kickstart switcher which didn't have the usual dangle wire and switch, but instead it had a feature built into it where you held down four keys (can't remember the keys now) for a few seconds, and you then heard a beep comping from the Kickstart switcher to tell you that you were switched over to the other Kickstart chip/rom. I can remember some of the older games would not play on the 500 Plus, hence the reason for the Kickstart switcher. I can always remember Power Computing had a really good name for themselves when it came to quality and also for been able to get unique stuff that you didn't really see elsewhere. Happy days in computing 😀.

[@Quareat]

I also got this pack for Christmas 1991 and utterly loved it. great memories here even though I sucked at all the bundled games.

[@edtheluck]

Man, I still remember the day I went with my parents to pick this up from the John Lewis (Heelas as it was then) collection depot, must've been mid 1991. I had sold my CPC6128 to help fund it and getting home and unboxing it just like this was one of the greatest days ever. Miss that machine to bits. Thanks for the trip down memory lane Dan.

[@MrSEA-ok2ll]

Dan, you were one responsible kid back in the day. In 1991 you were hoping for a highly outdated C64, but still satisfied if your parents could not afford one? You had a very mature and impressive attitude as a kid. No kidding your parents were more than happy to save up for your first Amiga.

[@gman6055]

I cannot believe the condition of that, absolutely amazing!!

[@Tech-geeky]

Dan looks like he always shows of the best... For once, just once, i'd like to see something terrible... opps..

[@draba-pl1yg]

That is amazing story and photo, I just bought exactly the same pack as yours thanks.

[@iandavidson99]

Wonderful Christmas story/memories!

[@thatman84]

Sent you a PM Dan, what a great video. Most entertaining media I have watched for a little while.

[@ArcadeMusicTribute]

AW YES! I'm always nuts over Amiga videos! You got that one correct, sir! :D

[@richardhaiku]

That was great thanks Dan, brought back so many memories. I'd totally forgotten the pack came with Captain Planet which was more fun than I thought it was going to be and such great music. I remember making an animated candle flame in DPaint and the Dragonlance logo, pixel by pixel which took ages but was very satisfying.

[@swoodhall]

Great video, so many memories.. it all started for me with a A500 Flight of Fantasy Pack. In the time that followed I had a A600 then the A1200. Then on to PCs with a few playstations inbetween.

[@lifeschool]

Hey man ultra cool! Cartoon Classics felt like the most memorable pack, thanks to that TV advert. I couldnt help feeling proud to be an Amiga owner when that advert hit the screens. It felt like Commodore had finally gone mainstream, and had actually spent money (!) to promote the Amiga in the UK - so all us Amiga fans could say to 386 owners "see, I told you, the Amiga is Huge!". For me this pack brings back memories of the peak of Amiga, and at the helm of course, David Pleasance - who was just starting to appear on the scene in magazines. I dont think I ever played Bart Simpson for more than a few seconds. It felt like a Nintendo game, where you have to work out puzzles and stuff. I've never worked out how to play it, even after watching the AVGN videos, but I'd rather play Turrican 2. Lemmings is a Classic which every Amiga owner played, so even thought the game was designed for the EGA PC and ported to Amiga, we felt the game had the charm which seemed to sum up the scene in a nutshell - and adopted it as ours. Ahh Workbench. It was the same feeling of wonder we all felt looking at the icons, and there's not much difference between the WB1.3 I started with, except for the background being blue. The basic tools seemed a bit useless, and nobody used them apart from the Preferences, but it seemed like we had something as good as the Mac, albeit in a lower resolution, and a similar grey colour scheme. I never heard this was based on the NExTSTEP OS before. WB2.0 came out in June 1990 with the A3000, while NExTSTEP arrived in Sept 1989, so its not surprising the new Amiga features were a little limited at this stage. NExTSTEP was actually light years ahead of WB in every detail, and as a true 'drag and drop' GUI (inspired by Xerox Smalltalk), it worked much like phones and pads do today. I guess WB 4.0 finally gave us those features, but its been so long, I cant remember. If you ever find a spare A500/+ I'd love to own one myself. It would help my channel enormously. :)

[@Classicgamer73]

I loved my plus 3 Spectrum till about 91, then got the Amiga 500 and went halfies with my brother. All I remember about it was Wow!!. It was bloody amazing. Every game I played looked and sounded class.We bulit up great selection of games for it too. Still have it, but unfortunately it doesn't work anymore due to being in my mothers loft for yrs. But my Speccy is still going strong today so not all is lost!!

[@jonjohnson2844]

This is pretty much the same story as me with the original 500, I’d asked for one but I grew up in a pretty modest, perhaps even poor, northern household. I opened my presents and then some time later another present was revealed...it was an Amiga 500 and a dot matrix printer, I was in absolute shock, I never imagined it would be affordable for my family at the time. I have it all on some VHS tapes, keep meaning to buy a second hand video player and have a look, assuming they still work.

[@Gooberslot]

My Amiga box was even bigger. I just measured it and it's 35 inches long. I'm jealous of all the awesome documentation yours came with. Looks like they treated the UK buyers a lot nicer.

[@irrealepappa10]

Same year, (I was 8) I got a used C64 from my parents, it was my neighbor friend's computer. I was in love with that computer, so when he got the AMIGA 500 he sold the C64 to me! I remember it was a little difficult because a good part of the warez I got with it was in English, a mysterious language to me at the time. Good old memories!

[@oldstylegaming]

My first (real ..not second hand) computer was the C64 Hollywood Pack i loved that system...but then when my mates got an Amiga i was green with envy ....my parents never did get me one, in fact i bought one shortly after getting my first job in 1996..... bit late i know but ive still got it and play it regularly so i got my monies worth.....have i still got my PS1 that i bought the same year....no...and that says something about how good the Amiga was/is . Great video mate, wish i had your presentation skills and confidence in front of the camera

[@360Fov]

Goddddd almighty the nostalgia that comes from seeing that Amiga 500 Plus box. I'm 36 now; never had SNES or Megadrive, always Amiga incarnations - even a CD32 instead of Playstation. Getting an Amiga 500 Plus instead of C64 must have been AMAZING. Our Amiga came from Rumbelows I believe.

[@vittekantilles4178]

Omg that Commodore Merch... How I'd love to have even one item from it!

[@AmirKhan-qx2lr]

This was first Amiga, so many fond memories!

[@shockedthemonkey]

I got the same Cartoon Classics pack that year. Honestly to this day I’ve never had a better present. I remember just watching the animated intro to Bart vs the Space mutants and being amazed.

[@BrooksterMax]

shockedthemonkey yup same, I jumped from the Spectrum to the Cartoon Classics A500+. The speed of disk loading was epic, like lightning compared to tapes. Loved Bart intro but the game was rock hard. Lemmings was awesome and loved Captain Planet music.

[@interghost]

I was an Atari ST owner, but a couple of mates owned Amiga's... and yes remember playing all those games. Good video mate :)

[@iainmclaughlan1557]

My Dad bought my siblings and I this Cartoon Classics pack for Christmas 1991. I still use my Amiga A600 which I have set up and use regularly.

[@cybermaxpower]

i had the A500+ Cartoon Classics pack too

[@darrenc2721]

I had the same pack, I bought mine the day before Christmas Eve with my first months wages. My parents would not let me open it till Christmas Day. I then reminded them that I paid for it haha. So Christmas Eve was a joy! I still have my Amiga and around 300 games to this day. I came from a Amstrad 464 - c64 + disk drive straight to Amiga 5+ I spent a lot of time on Deluxe paint, but memory was always the issue when animating. (till you got the ol cheese wedge).

[@mikep2099]

Until I came across this video, I had forgotten the Cartoon Classics pack. It must have been January 1992 that my brother and I clubbed our Christmas money together to buy this. Such great memories. Scary to think this was 28 years ago!!

[@SelfIndulgentGamer]

That is a lovely collection. When I got my batman amiga I wasn't lucky enough to get all the packaging etc with it. Truly stunning :)

[@crt82]

I am loving these videos.

[@ReckonerVR]

This was the bundle I received as well! I envy you for finding one is such good condition. Absolutely loved my Amiga, and this bundle had some great software (not so much in retrospect, but I couldn't get enough Captain Planet back in the day). I actually picked up the original software in boxes off eBay a few years ago to relive those memories. I'd love to find some mint condition boxes, but they were very flimsy!!

[@andrewfrost8866]

Wow! This brought back some fond memories.

[@Argooh]

There it is... thats the one I had. The music in the Captain Planet game is still burned into my skull. Love it.

[@georgehuszka6856]

My first amiga was an a600 with 80MB conner HDD :). It was really cool. We had two mouse and played The Settlers together against the "CPU". Our monitor was halfed vertically to separate each others gui for the game.

[@energylab227]

I got the same pack as a kid. The Captain Planet game was hard as shit. The intro to the Bart Simpson game blew me away.

[@goingfinn]

I remember having the choice between the "Flight of Fantasy" or "Screen Gems" pack back in 1991 I think it was. Went with the Screen Gems pack in the end and what a machine! It was such a huge jump from my Plus4 at the time. It wasnt the 500+ like yours but it eventually had various expansions connected. I also remember Amiga Format and I'd look forward to the goodies and demo's that the magazine came with. Happy days.

[@pkaulf]

Another one here who got this on Christmas day 1991, and Bart vs the Space Mutants was also the very first disk we popped in. Don't think I stopped grinning all day. Ours was bought from Gordon Harwood's and it included a pack with another 10 games - so I was spoiled for choice over the holidays. The thing that made me happiest though, was Deluxe Paint III. I was a budding animator at the time and before I got the Amiga, all I could do was cover the corners of every single one of my school jotters with flickbook animations (like in the DPaint manual). I did of course love the games I'd played on friends' Amigas, but I was absolutely desperate for one so I could make animations. I still remember the first little doodles I did with it - unfortunately I wasn't able to save them because I hadn't worked out how to format a blank disk first! There was nothing else quite like the Amiga at that time for artists and creators, it's probably responsible for starting so many careers.

[@skilgannon1971]

How cool Dan, really enjoyed this :) Hope you're well mate!

[@PassiveSmoking]

I got an A500Plus Cartoon Classics pack for Christmas too! And my first computer was also a Plus/4! (My second was a Spectrum +3, which I owned between the Plus/4 and Amiga)

[@lw8276]

its crazy you mention the guy that made the music for captain planet. i remember hunting them down online years back and emailed them regarding the music trying to source an mp3 of it and he replied he couldn't remember making it. i was amazed haha 🤩