A LEGO version of the venerable Atari 2600 was announced yesterday and now we have South African availability which comes with a surprise in the price.
Here is the pricing of the set in various regions around the world. When looking at these prices keep in mind the fact that local pricing is usually based on the Euro, especially because this price includes tax unlike the American RRP.
- €239.99 ~ R4 181;
- £209.99 ~ R4 298;
- $239.99 ~ R4 097.
The Atari 2600 in South Africa is priced at R3 499 from the LEGO certified store. This is several hundred Rand below even the cheapest US price.
This is a huge win for local fans of both LEGO and Atari as these favourable prices on LEGO almost never happen, especially not to a degree like this.
That being said the recent announcement of the LEGO Chevrolet Camaro Z28 also came with a lower than expected price, so maybe the cost of the plastic bricks is being reigned in a bit for this market.
At the end of the day this is still an expensive luxury product that will remain a hard sell in a downturned economy even with the lower price. Even with this in mind we’re still so happy to see that pricing.
Lastly for availability is the release date with the listing of mid-August in this country. Overseas the set will instead launch on 1st August so we will need to wait a while.
It is, however, worth keeping in mind that many of LEGO’s products will receive price increases on 1st August with some increasing by as much as 25 percent. It’s unclear if this R3 499 price is what we will end up paying once it is released or it will receive an increase before then.
For those who missed the announcement, LEGO set 10306: Atari 2600 comes with 2 532 pieces and builds a replica of the device complete with a joystick, three game cartridges, a caddy for the cartridges, small builds to represent the games and a vignette of a minifigure playing an even smaller Atari 2600 hidden inside.
As for size the finished main build is 33 X 22 X 8 centimetres (width X depth X height). According to Dimensions.com the real console is 34.61 X 23.18 X 8.89 centimetres (width X depth X height) which means that the LEGO version is just slightly off from being a perfect 1:1 scale.
This is the second time that LEGO has made a built version of a famous console with the NES receiving this treatment in 2020, but that set is still available in stores and online. The NES had a killer feature in the form of a buildable TV that mimicked gameplay of Super Mario Bros. using an ingenious conveyor system – watch more of that in the video below.
It will be interesting to see if the Atari 2600 can compete with the NES as the Nintendo console is so much more beloved and comes with the added TV functionality. The NES is more expensive, priced at R3 999 in South Africa.
