Coleco Donkey Kong STILL IN THE BOX After 40 Years!

[@ericchang3531]

Thanks!

[@GenXGrownUp]

You're very welcome. Thanks for your viewership and your generosity! 🥰

[@sgt7512]

Man, I miss those days of gaming. The table tops were so ahead of the times. Great time to be a kid in the 80s

[@24theMoney]

But realistically, how many people could afford these games back in the day of $3-4 minimum wage?

[@TheMultiGunMan]

Wow! That's VERY cool. I really like that Donkey Kong table top.

[@samhainnc9416]

Always wanted these. But I ended up with the PacMan clam shell version that I was mad that was what I got but ended up playing it for years until it died. One good thing was my best friends father owned an amusement company for jukeboxes, games, pinball, cigarette machines for bars and arcades so he always had arcade games and pinball at his house in his shop. Like a mini arcade. When Pacman full size cabinets came out he saved one just for his kids to use. rotated different games off and on at the house. We would also go on his route now and then and get free credits while he collected and counted quarters.

[@carlosprieto773]

Wow, that brings back memories! My brother and I got Donkey Kong, Pac Man, and Galaga! Great Christmas! Thank you for sharing!

[@GenXGrownUp]

You bet. Thanks for the visit! 😀

[@auburn1999]

Clearly you did a great job raising your daughter! That is an awesome present! Hard to find them in that good of a condition and I can’t remember ever seeing a box for one.

[@smallspacearcade8158]

The My Arcade range is the closest I've gotten in the UK to these devices. Great seeing one up close with a video.

[@BriansManCave]

That is an amazing find! ... It makes sense that not many of the boxes survived! I am sure many kids got these as kids and tossed the box because "why keep it?"

[@philipdefibaugh5683]

I used to play this at a kid's house back in the 80's but never had one. My mother wouldn't buy one for me due to 2 reasons: 1: we could play it for FREE at Play Palace and 2: the price was too expensive. I only got the Coleco Zaxxon Tabletop was because it was only $40 (the rest were between $60-$80). In 1984 I was greatly disappointed, but today I consider it the BEST of the lot with better "graphics", music, gameplay, and size. Sadly I no longer have it. Your daughter is so awesome getting you that tabletop, that must have cost her a fortune!

[@TimothyCollins]

I so so so wanted one of these back in the 80's. This one and Pac man were the ones I wanted. I am totally sure they don't really hold up in terms of gameplay anymore but truth is... they still look really cool.

[@SaintLewisMusic]

I have the old pacman & it was great! I still play it on occasion!

[@grouchydude3448]

I wanted one of these so bad. Never saw them at my local stores, which probably made my mom happy

[@GenXGrownUp]

Haha! She may have come through in advance and hidden them up on the top shelf! 😋

[@zephyrsonzephyrson8618]

Nice. I got table top PacMan for Christmas in 1982 (I think) and it was awesome, for sure. With it, I got C cell batteries that connected to an AC adapter so I played it endlessly. At night, lying in bed, I could still see the screen and the movement of PacMan as well as hearing the sirens, from playing it all that day. That sounds unhealthy when I think of it now but if you played these things long enough, that's what would happen to you. Lol. In those days, I wished for all of the cabinets so I could line them up and pretend I had an arcade but that never happened. Today I have none of these machines and that's okay. Watching this is enough...takes me back, for sure. And it's nice to see the DK version. DK was my favourite game in those early days, even though I was awful at it. I could make it to "the bakery" board but I might have only passed it less than five times. Lol. Why is the bakery board such a rarity? It's way more exciting than the rivet board. That always bothered me.

[@GenXGrownUp]

Firstly, thanks for watching and taking time to comment. I've never heard that screen called "The Bakery," but I know what you mean (I've always heard it called "the Pie Factory"). At any rate, I always found THAT level to be somewhat of a throw-away. In the US arrangement, as you noted, it's late to appear and comes up rarely, and you can often just sprint up the side and end the level.

[@zephyrsonzephyrson8618]

@@GenXGrownUp I guess it is a sprint up but I was pretty young, with very few quarters and so I never had a chance to master it and/or figure that out. In fact the last time I viewed the bakery/pie factory was probably 1984...I was 11! Haha. ...Oh and DK Jr had become my favourite game at this point; I wasn't very good at that either, although probably better at that, than DK. Now that I am thinking about all of this, remember we were just talking about Crazy Kong and that warp trick? Well, since I didn't know that the warp wasn't inclusive to every machine, I would almost always kill my first man, trying to warp, in DK. That's probably another reason why...I virtually always gave myself a disadvantage by trying to master that blasted warp that virtually almost never worked. I knew it was supposed to because I had seen it and I'd done it. Again, I wasn't clear on which machines the trick worked. I always assumed it was all of them. I even tried it on my friend's Colecovision. I can't remember what the outcome of that was. My heart wants to believe it worked but probably not. It haunts me! Haha. Anyways, this channel is a lot of fun! 👍😎

[@GenXGrownUp]

@@zephyrsonzephyrson8618 I also love DK Jr. I guess a lot of people find it to be much harder, because almost every time I am playing and get to Mario's Hideout, someone will say, "Wow, I've never even seen this screen!" 😅

[@zephyrsonzephyrson8618]

@@GenXGrownUp That's weird. Mario's hideout (and I didn't know that's what it was called-I call it the electric board) is one I admire...like the pie factory! Not that I'd want to lose any of the gameplay, but I would sacrifice the rivet board over the pie factory and the keys over Mario's hideout, if I had to cut parts out. I know I'm wrong about this though. I'm ruining the story plot, if there is one. But the electric board is so intense where the keys are pretty simple in a Frogger kind of way. Maybe even more simple? And the rivets, I hate 'em. The pie factory is just so full, busy and confusing to my mind's eye. But I suppose if I mastered it (as I say, I haven't played it in forever) I'd probably feel the same way you do about it. Anyways, I love these games. PacMan! I remember where I was when I saw it for the very first time. I literally asked, "What IS this?" I had been to an arcade before but I had never seen PacMan. So you can imagine what the arcades I had been visiting looked like. They'd basically been pinball, probably paddle type games and was there a racing game that ran on some sort of tape or something? I mean 1979ish. Anyways, it was primitive. Then DK came out which became my favourite but when DK Jr came out, I was blown away again as I was with PacMan. I guess DK Jr had more colour and it was fluid and that electric board felt high tech. ...those sounds. ☺ In the earliest days no games affected me like these three did. But this would change in the not too distant future...

[@marccaselle8108]

This was cool, John. No one when I was a kid had any of these coleco tabletops and this was in the 80s.

[@johnenoch6222]

Yes there will be dinosaurs on the dinosaur tour. Nice job Jon!

[@CallousCoder]

Oh man! I so wanted this one as a kid! I am looking for one for ages but they are rare here in Europe. Even one I can fix up for this channel but so far alas. So extra cool to see it here!

[@GenXGrownUp]

I happen to have a tested & working extra one now...

[@CallousCoder]

​@@GenXGrownUp And an awesome looking one at that! And spare parts ;) Keep it in this state and 40 years from now when you and I are most likely dead, some other person will find it and go like: "This is almost antique!"

[@tree_riot]

I'm sure you can , but know if you could find something to sub for the perma power? That's a killer gift! You should be glad you have such a cool daughter. A much cooler gift instead of a tie or scarf! LOL

[@palmtreeguy4706]

I still have mine from my youth. This and pac man, and zaxxon

[@GenXGrownUp]

Oh, I really envy you that Zaxxon!

[@scottblackadder2910]

I always wanted a tomytronic 3d game but still looking lol

[@sleekflash16]

Woah, nice find! I have Galaxian and the manual in the box. The top of the box is torn off though, lol.

[@RetroGamingNook]

Cool! This is better than the PacMan version. I wanted this soooo bad when it came out. You could get this as an award in one of those fund raiser catalogs for school where you sold lightbulbs or Christmas wrap... stuff like that, but you would have had to sell a thousand dollars in goods... near impossible. I wonder if anyone out there ever got one that way???

[@PhillipBlackburn-ik5bb]

I got one but I smashed it with a hammer when I got drunk one night

[@philipdefibaugh5683]

Those rivets are harder on this game than the arcade. Imagine these oldschool LCDS would later be changed to NES on a Chip for the now defunct Walmart Basic Fun Arcade Classics for half the price.

[@MSMMr1982]

I remember donkey Kong back in the day I love donkey Kong donkey Kong is my favorite arcade game of all time everyone should get a donkey Kong put a raspberry pi in it right Jon your awesome Jon and keep up the good work and you rock 🎸 Jon and stay safe Jon 😄😄😀😀😀😀😄😄😄😀😀😀

[@cryptocoffee13]

I never had one, but played it many times at friends house, same with the Pac-Man and Mrs Pac-Man ones. I loved the Pac-Man ones the most but this one was great too, especially for it's time. To have the box, instructions and the unit being in such good shape is awesome!

[@PresidentCamacho24]

My friends also had these mini Coleco home arcade games. Thanks for helping us relive some memories.

[@GenXGrownUp]

Our pleasure!

[@DeanWinchester69]

Me and my younger brother were lucky enough to each get one these for Christmas 1982. I got Frogger and my brother got Donkey Kong. I remember pleading with my parents for these. They were not cheap at the time, I believe they retailed for $49.99 each. We had to agree with our parents that this would be our only gift to receive on Christmas, and it was so worth it. We were beyond thrilled to have our own personal mini arcade machines.

[@GenXGrownUp]

That's a cool story. 🥰

[@daerth4423]

Wow, this brought back some long lost memories. I can still remember that box coming down the conveyer belt at Service Merchandise. Loved that thing.

[@GenXGrownUp]

Nice memory! I remember a few treasures slowly humming up that belt toward me in the day, too! 😀

[@tom11zz884]

I've always wanted the Galaxian one back in the day. Sadly, my parents couldn't find one or got confused and got me the Galaxian 2 by Entex instead. Turned out to be a great game as well.

[@GenXGrownUp]

I would kill (figuratively) for the Entex Galaxian 2! That one's been on my collector's bucket list for decades ever since I first played a friend's back in the day!

[@thetommygunshow]

I'm sure it was a pretty penny to get it. Good video.

[@mikeburkhart8336]

I remember the ads for those Coleco games,Mr. Arcade would shrink the arcade games down to the Coleco game....I bought the Donkey Kong and the PacMan ones back when they came out in the 1980s.

[@cavalierfan1995]

my friend in school had frogger love playing that during lunch love these old school coleco games

[@InfectiousGroovePodcast]

When these were released, my mind was blown. I sincerely thought they were the end all, be all. "my God, how could they put Donkey Kong in that tiny machine??" is what I thought. When I finally got one, I started to reason with myself that it was much cooler than it actually was lol. Having said that, I would love to get one just to display these days.

[@heatherbrunette2685]

I still have mine and wished i kept the box but i was just a kid back then and didn’t care about that sort of thing. I have the perma battery pack as well for it too. I ended up with the French edition for some reason. Where it says start and jump, thats in French. I live in canada so i guess they sold French editions up here. I assume thats more rare.

[@10yard]

Really happy to see that Coleco DK in such great condition. I would've loved to own one of these as a 9 year old kid back in 1982. The subtle differences in the artwork on the bezel are cute.

[@GenXGrownUp]

You and me both!

[@kenhill3230]

I wanted one of these so bad as a kid, but never had the money. It is definitely playable even though it is closer to the Coleco QB than an arcade port. I am sure I would have spent countless hours on it.

[@BoJangles42]

Man, I wanted one of those so badly when I was a kid. I just bought a Pac-Man one on eBay. Not to play, just to decorate my office. A gift to the 8-year-old boy is was back in '82.

[@GenXGrownUp]

Nice. I hope the 8-year-old in you enjoys it! 😀

[@gregrowe1168]

I had one of these Pac-Man games back then. I played that for years.

[@adm712]

Many people refer to these vintage 80s mini Coleco arcades as "toys, games". I refer to them as "masterpiece works of art".

[@GenXGrownUp]

I like how you think. I think there's room for both descriptions in the annals of time! 😀

[@danruff3007]

Nice find. Did you get the Robotech and Rainbow Bright ones that came out in 2019?

[@GenXGrownUp]

You know, I had my eye on those and then they slipped by me. Did they finally release?

[@TwesomE]

Even if i had it like you i would also do the same i believe! I found this nes in the box clean and everything,and i was in the thinking to buy it even if i allready own one without the box.Its a collector's thing to want to have one in the box when it comes mostly to retro systems or in general something you can't find in the market with its box even in this condition! Nice video man you must be prpud of your daughter working there and also for her beautiful gift! 😉

[@RetroJack]

You say LCD a couple of times, however I think you meant to say VFD (vacuum fluorescent display). 🙂

[@GenXGrownUp]

Right you are, Jack. They're certainly all unique technologies, but I tend to lump them together in my mind. Thanks for the clarification.

[@QunMang]

I always wanted these Coleco games as a kid because they looked so cool. I never did get one though.

[@GenXGrownUp]

I missed 'em as a kid, too, Qun Mang. Not until I was grown was I able to acquire any.

[@voss451]

I still remember the 'cardboard batteries' that were included so that you could hook the power adapter to it.

[@meneerjansen00]

Originally there was also a nice color leaflet in the box with all the other table-tops available. I used to drool over that, ha ha.

[@GenXGrownUp]

Ahhhh, so I'm probably missing that, too. 🥲

[@spaztekwarrior]

Wonder if that’s my old one I sold last year on eBay :)

[@The_Badseed]

Cool video. I had the Pac Man tabletop back in the day, but I really wanted the Donkey Kong. If I'm not mistaken there is a Popeye one floating around out there. That would be really cool

[@ChrisRoth1972]

I have this game in my closet.Had since 1983.Don’t have the box.Its still in great condition.

[@bryancook6345]

If these had the original rom it would be worth talking about your only hope is numskull quarter arcades they just released the teenage mutant ninja turtles and turtles in time

[@GenXGrownUp]

In a modern device you might have a point. In the '80s, this was as close as we could get to bringing the arcade home.

[@thebudgetgamer]

You clearly raised a great kid

[@GenXGrownUp]

Thanks! I did my best, and it mostly worked out.

[@DMETS519]

I still have the Frogger version of this. I think its the best version of these games. Still got it in great condition, in box with the foam and instructions.

[@GenXGrownUp]

Amazing! I'm equal parts super happy for, and super jealous of you!

[@john-sp8jk]

The mistake they made with the frogger table top game was that they put the Joy stick on the wrong side instead of the left side! For the donkey Kong one & the ms. Pacman one were the best tablet top one! 🕹️🎮🕹️

[@john-sp8jk]

​@@GenXGrownUp I'm Gen x too! Love your videos I grew up on these too! A lot of my friends in school had these and I had pacman and at lunch time we would play these so much! You should talk about the Game & Watch Nintendo table top games. I still have my Red Mario's cement factory one from 83! Can you really get these things restored if so how I would love to restore mine! 🕹️🎮🕹️

[@DMETS519]

@@john-sp8jk I never thought it was an issue. I always played the game right handed anyway because there wasn't any other buttons needed to play the game. Maybe it was intentionally designed differently. Of course the pacman games didn't have jump buttons either so what do I know?

[@scottblackadder2910]

My first handeld was the invader 1000 i no longer have it but i got one for £12 carboot sale then spent £30 on a box from ebay for it so im very happy now as its all complete with instructions i also have a boxed grandstand scramble but box is in poor condition

[@GenXGrownUp]

Nice. That's the yellow one, right? I'm on the (casual) hunt for a Galaxian 2 handheld. I borrowed that from a friend for nearly a whole year before he finally demanded it back!

[@pollyisagoodbird]

These things are great novelties! Too bad DK Junior didn't get the VFD treatment and instead was just a rebadged Nintendo Game &Watch tabletop. It would have been interesting to see what it would have been like. The closest thing we have to what might have been was the prop they used in the commercial!

[@javier77th]

I had that when I was a kid. Also had this other one called Alien Attack. I still own my original Speak n Spell and Speak n Math in mint condition.

[@Rik-fl7wy]

Hey Genx cool name from Australia we seem to b forgotten about iin 2023 its either boomer millennial or Generation z I had a cool pac man I got in 1983 at Xmas I ripped the box open to play God I wish I could have kept my stuff from 80s and early 90s do u have anything u miss g8 video

[@zephyrsonzephyrson8618]

Jon, have you heard anything about a so-called "Coleco Revival Series?" A new family of mini machines, like these ones?

[@GenXGrownUp]

I keep seeing rumblings about them, and then they fade into the background. Wasn't there like a Rainbow Brite or similar planned (or maybe even limited release)?

[@Rik-fl7wy]

They r rare I Australia 🇦🇺 once again cool video especially as it was a gift back in the day only kids played video games gen x do u still want to collect this stuff?

[@MrRustyHelmet]

looking at that white Donkey Kong graphic I wonder if thats an easter egg in the Mario Bros movie? Jump Man cabinet?

[@marccaselle8108]

I saw these at a retro game store in Colorado. I was going to get it but I didn't have any money lol

[@spyghetti]

I had this one and it was the best.. I don't know what happened or what I was thinking but I traded it for the Pac-Man one, I don't think it was intended that it was a forever trade but as cool as the Pac-Man one was, the Donkey Kong was superior.

[@Heylatesha]

I had the frogger one! I wanted the ms Pac man one really bad but it sold out fast. I wish I would have held onto mine. 😢

[@lifeasafanpodcast9529]

I had frogger my mom's friend had dk I always would play it when they were visiting eachother 😂😂

[@WhatsOnMyShelf]

I like VFDs. My only complaint is that they don't have a volume level adjustment knob or button. It's either on or off. I live in an apartment with walls made of paper mache. Hey everybody, I'm playing Pac-Man!

[@GenXGrownUp]

Yelling through wall from neighbor: "Sounds like you really suck at Fogger!"

[@WhatsOnMyShelf]

@@GenXGrownUp I wish I had Frogger. My most recent find is Q-Bert, which is a very odd looking tabletop compared to the others. What do you think about restoration of these? I like keeping the condition as-is even though there are knockoff decals people sell today. It's vintage!

[@GenXGrownUp]

@@WhatsOnMyShelf I never did any restoration on my previous copy of DK for that very reason. I'll find a new owner who will hopefully love it as-is.

[@WhatsOnMyShelf]

Besides inserts, you are also missing the foam spacers which held the device in place inside the box.

[@GenXGrownUp]

I mention that during the opening - even insert a shot of them. Maybe you missed that part.

[@WhatsOnMyShelf]

@@GenXGrownUp I missed it. I mostly listen to videos while I work, glancing over to the screen occasionally. Your videos (and others) are like visual podcasts for me in that way.

[@brianloftus4919]

That's me on the box.

[@GenXGrownUp]

Is it really? That's cool.

[@brianloftus4919]

@@GenXGrownUp yeah....Zaxxon, Frogger and Pac-Man too..... They had me staring at a light bulb for those pics..... But with the bread they paid me , I was able to score my own record player and was absolutely stoked! Thanks for posting.......

[@SSmbahi]

it actually uses a vfd ( vacuum fluorescent display ) not an lcd

[@PC_TV_73]

I had the donkey Kong and pac man ones I wished my mom held on to them but who knew lol

[@daveidmarx8296]

My brother and I had bought the Pac-Man back in the day, but returned it as we were both so disappointed in the gameplay. It was expensive for us at the time (we were about 12 and 13 then). Wish we kept it! Nice find! Interesting that the box referred to the protagonist as "Mario" and not the generic "Jumpman" of the arcade game. Was this unit the first time Mario was given a name? Or was that the Saturday morning cartoon?

[@GenXGrownUp]

You're the second to mention the "Mario" labeling. Yeah, the timing was tight, but it works. Mario lost the "Jumpman" moniker in Donkey Kong Jr. released in '82, which is also when this tabletop was released.

[@rydog7920]

I had Xaxxon one back in the day

[@GenXGrownUp]

I'm jealous. 😀

[@marccaselle8108]

It seems like any 80s or 90s retro toy or system, you need 100 bucks and your set.

[@Nancy-hy5so]

By now Mario would be a senior citizen and probably on hospice care by now. Maybe someone if they haven't yet, make a senior citizen Mario game where donkey Kong steals his girlfriend from the nursing home and with his trust walker and bedpan he slowly makes his way up there before his heart gives out and kills over or breaks a hip.

[@pacstermh]

Damn dude, hope the warranty still works! that box is in a bad shape if you ask me!

[@GenXGrownUp]

One of the best-looking 40-year-old boxes I've seen in a while.

[@pacstermh]

@@GenXGrownUp It sure is. Mine was just a joke about the warranty hahaha

[@jcross9995]

I have DK jr, brand new, sealed box.

[@krustykrab9016]

Oh so this is the one that stripe and the other Mogwais where playing in gremlins

[@GenXGrownUp]

This is the one!

[@finkfamily7116]

I still have my pac man in the box, I never opened it. Any idea what it’s worth?

[@GenXGrownUp]

Still in the shrink-wrap? Could go for as much as $10k.

[@finkfamily7116]

@@GenXGrownUp that would be crazy

[@francenefallin]

I have a donkey king new in box with the styrofoam, advertising and the stickers not added to machine yet..

[@bugbran]

Playing this in 2023 and cannot for the life of me figure out how to beat the second level. Any ideas?

[@Rik-fl7wy]

I loved the mini colour arcades the remakes r not the same I think coloeco w sell the brand to anyone w $

[@fennkell]

iPad?! FOR WHAT??? ❤

[@GenXGrownUp]

Sorry, I don't understand the question. Did I mention an iPad in the video?

[@bigjohn1717]

The bootleg crazy kong had better sounds on the full size.....

[@GenXGrownUp]

Well, it had Scramble arcade harware, so it's hardly a fair fight. 😁

[@peterparker346]

Those are the trash ones I got them too but I’ll never play on them ever again your better off talking about real arcade machines you should know by now numskull is selling 1/4 scale arcade machines that play look the same as the arcade machines if your series in wanting to own the real mini arcades these coleco were garbage you need 4 C batteries expensive not worth it everything now wants AA batteries a lot cheaper easier

[@GenXGrownUp]

Whoa, Peter. Let's not call my childhood dream toys garbage, shall we? 😁 It's not about what's the best translation here - this is about nostalgia for the product. If you coveted and played these in your youth when they first hit the market, you'd get the appeal.

[@peterparker346]

@@GenXGrownUp I don’t call those toys they are video games they are worser then the Atari 2600 then the NES console the NES plays a lot better then these numskull brought these back to life made them the way they were supposed to play like

[@bryancook6345]

@@GenXGrownUp you must be a lucky guy to like still these games cause I can’t take myself back to these I’m now playing on Xbox series X PS5 I can go coward but I can’t go backwards especially to the weak systems and games from the 80’s the arcade ruled the world of video games cause of these weak games

[@samamir8765]

Unless your going to put the arcade version in there this Coleco game is pure trash sure as kids we all loved them we even loved toys back in the days but now we are adults and don’t like these anymore your only hope in getting one that’s great is if numskull releases a Donkey Kong 1/4 scale then it’s worth playing on this fake version needs 4 C batteries not 4 AA batteries you can’t even recharge it not spending money on a bad game that’s no where close to the arcade it’s just stickers on it giving you pictures of the arcade

[@GenXGrownUp]

I understand your position.