Coleco Telstar Deluxe
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| The standard Telstar (model 6040). Pong-Story describes the Deluxe as the same console in a brown case on a pedestal; no freely licensed photograph of a Telstar Deluxe has been found. | |
| Specifications | |
|---|---|
| Manufacturer | Coleco |
| Type | Dedicated home video game console (Pong-type TV game) |
| Released | 1977[1] |
| CPU | None; General Instrument AY-3-8500 game chip (as the Telstar)[2][3] |
| Memory | None |
| Storage | None |
| Display | Black and white, through the television's aerial input[2][1] |
| Sound | — |
| OS / Firmware | — |
The Coleco Telstar Deluxe, also sold as the Telstar Video World of Sports, is a version of the first Coleco Telstar made for the Canadian market. Pong-Story describes it as a Telstar in brown with a pedestal, sold in a box printed in English and French. It plays the Telstar's three games: tennis, hockey and handball.[2][1] Arcade-History dates it to 1977.[1]
History
[edit | edit source]Pong-Story records that Canadian law required French text alongside English on commercial goods, so the Deluxe's box carried both languages on every side. The same console was also sold in the United States under the Montgomery Ward label as the Coleco Telstar Video World of Sports.[2][3] Arcade-History, by contrast, lists the Video World of Sports as a Montgomery Ward product released only in Canada.[1] A 2020 popular history adds that the console itself carries the words "World Of Sports".[4] No Coleco model number for the Deluxe has been found.
Hardware
[edit | edit source]| Part | Detail |
|---|---|
| Electronics | Those of the Telstar, according to Pong-Story[2] |
| Game chip | General Instrument AY-3-8500, as in the Telstar[3] |
| Games | Tennis, hockey, handball[1] |
| Case | Brown, with a pedestal, which the Telstar and Telstar Ranger do not have[2] |
| Packaging | Box printed in English and French[2] |
| Power | Not documented for the Deluxe; the Telstar runs on six C cells or a 9 V adapter[5] |
No owner's guide, schematic or internal photograph of the Deluxe has been found. If its electronics are those of the Telstar, as Pong-Story says, the AY-3-8500 runs from +6 to +7 V with a 2 MHz clock.[6]
Repair
[edit | edit source]The Deluxe has its own repair guides, which point to the Telstar's pages where the work is the same:
- Coleco Telstar Deluxe General Maintenance
- Coleco Telstar Deluxe Troubleshooting Guide
- Coleco Telstar Deluxe Capacitor Replacement Guide
Related pages
[edit | edit source]- Coleco Telstar, the console the Deluxe is based on
- Coleco Telstar Classic, the wooden-cased version
- Category:Coleco
References
[edit | edit source]- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 Arcade-History, "Telstar Video World of Sports" (retrieved 2026-10-19): © 1977 Montgomery Ward; three Pong games (tennis, hockey, handball); the same as the Telstar model 6040 in a slightly different case, released only on the Canadian market; also known as the Telstar Deluxe.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 David Winter, Pong-Story, "Coleco Telstar Deluxe" (retrieved 2026-10-18): the Telstar sold in Canada as the Telstar Deluxe "Video World Of Sports"; basically a Telstar unit in brown with a pedestal; because the Canadian government required French text as well as English, the box carried both languages on each side; also sold in the USA under the Montgomery Ward label as Coleco Telstar Video World Of Sports; unlike the Telstar and Telstar Ranger it has a pedestal.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 David Winter, Pong-Story, "Coleco Telstar systems" (retrieved 2026-10-18): Telstar, released in 1976, played three games with three difficulty levels and was the first system to use GI's AY-3-8500; over a million units sold; variants sold as the Telstar Deluxe in Canada and by Montgomery Ward as "Telstar Video World of Sports"; Coleco's systems were sold partially assembled, with the knobs and decorative stickers fitted by the user.
- ↑ Juan Nunez, "Pixel Logic Video Game History: Telstar and the forgotten crash", When It Was Cool (retrieved 2026-10-19): the Deluxe "says 'World Of Sports' on the unit" and was released in the Canadian market with English and French text. Popular history article.
- ↑ Lon.TV, "This Was the Best Selling Game Console of 1976", blog post, 4 February 2026 (retrieved 2026-10-19): a Telstar model 6040 bought for a historical-society display; launched at $50; AY-3-8500 with the game logic in the chip; sound from a built-in speaker; RF output for VHF channel 3 through a switch box; designed to run on six C cells, with a power connector for an optional supply; on his unit the game selector switch was stuck and the difficulty slider did not resize the paddles at the "pro" setting.
- ↑ General Instrument, GIMINI TV Game Circuits, January 1978, pp. 4-6, File:General Instrument GIMINI TV Game Circuits (January 1978).pdf: AY-3-8500 pin functions (VSS pin 2, sound pin 3, VCC pin 4, ball speed pin 7 open for low speed and grounded for high, bat size pin 13 open for large bats and grounded for small, sync pin 16, clock pin 17 at 2.012160 MHz ±1%, game inputs pins 18 to 23 grounded to select; reset input pin 25 momentarily grounded to reset the score counters and start a new game); standard conditions VCC +6 to +7 V, +12 V maximum; supply current 40 mA typical, 60 mA maximum at +7 V; control inputs need 1 kΩ or less to VSS; vertical bat movement; scores 0 to 15.