Mego "Time-Out" Toss-Up commercial

Collection

Identifier: PROMO-COMMERCIALS-001

Staff Only

Mego "Time-Out" Toss-Up commercial

Scope and Contents

This collection contains two digital copies of the 30-second commercial for the Mego "Time-Out," one with restored colors and one pre-restoration. These videos were digitized from a 16mm film produced by DuRona Productions.

Dates

Issued: June 25, 1980

Creator

Mego Toys (Distributor, Organization)

Conditions Governing Use

The Video Game History Foundation has been given permission by the donor to reproduce material in this collection, but the VGHF does not control the intellectual property rights for these materials. Notwithstanding those rights, the library allows reproduction of our copy of this video for research and educational purposes, including publication, with attribution to Chris Kohler and the Video Game History Foundation.

Historical Note

Based on the revision number of this film, this is believed to be the second earliest known commercial for a Nintendo product in the United States. It may have been preceded by a different cut of the same advertisement.

Extent

8.47 Gigabytes (2 .mov files (8.47 GB), 1 .jpg file (1.67 MB))

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Abstract

In 1980, the Mego toy company licensed the Game & Watch handheld games by Nintendo for North American release under the name "Time-Out." This commercial is believed to be the second revision of the commercial for the "Time-Out" Toss-Up, better known by its original title, Game & Watch: Ball.

Custodial History

The 16mm film was loaned to the Video Game History Foundation by Chris Kohler for digitization. Kohler retained the original film.

Physical Description

The original film had experienced significant color fading but was otherwise in good physical condition. The film was digtiized and digitally restored by Movette Film Transfer in San Francisco.

The physical container for the original film (visible in photo: see "Mego 'Time-Out' Toss-Up commercial, film and container photo") reads "Lion Rock Ltd. / Time Out / TO 30-80 R2".