Early Donkey Kong Illustration
Purchased this a few months ago and thought it would be a fun one to share with everyone. Its an early Donkey Kong painting from 1981 or possibly 1982 (note the anatomically correct sideways toes still which I believe they only had on the early DK illustrations) so it has a lot of nostalgia for me as the first video game system we had at home was my brother's colecovision which was a princely $250 back in the early 80s and for which my brother saved for quite some time. Donkey Kong was a pack in if I recall so I'm pretty sure it was the very very first video game we owned at home. I played it for the first time in probably 15 years at a friend's house the other day and surprisingly it came back like it was yesterday. Just one of those games you play a million times as a kid and never really forget how to play I guess. The actual coleco DK game we owned just had a picture of the arcade cabinet on the box, so this was cool for me as the next best thing as just looking at it takes me back to being 7 years old.
Artist unknown. Bonus points if anyone knows where the illustration is from? Took me a little google to figure it out at first. I'm not aware of any other DK paintings out there and vg related paintings that early of any description are incredibly rare, so that was a significant bonus as well.
Artist unknown. Bonus points if anyone knows where the illustration is from? Took me a little google to figure it out at first. I'm not aware of any other DK paintings out there and vg related paintings that early of any description are incredibly rare, so that was a significant bonus as well.
Comments
This is the pictorial representation of the only figurine i have on display with my collection. Now hand it over! Beautiful piece.... and duh! It's from the artist that painted it
Jeez that was fast! lol I thought it would be harder for people. That's pretty much right, well done! as you know Coleco issued three DK related figures in 1981/1982 (Mario, DK, Pauline). The cardbacks had illustrations of the figures (not photos... made the toy look a little better than it was). This is one of those illustrations.
OTPHJ??????????????
You win the admiration of tens of people LOL
What does this stand for?
To think back when I had my storefront I was trying and failing to sell him for a cool $11
Originally posted by: Bronty
Note there are two copyright dates on the cardback, 1981 lower left, and 1982 lower right. Anybody know when they came out?
Naturally I'd think after Donkey Kong Jr had been released in Summer of 1982 considering Jumpman had been redefined as Mario by this point, and since "Donkey Kong Jr" is a known character based on the card, the game must have already been created and released by that point. 1981 is when the trademarks were created. I have action figures that were released in 1991 and have 1985 copyright dates stamped on them, because that is when the trademark is from.
OTPHJ??????????????
You win the admiration of tens of people LOL
What does this stand for?
If you haven't looked it up by now.... OverThePants is the only way I can explain it.
Pretty great point that they could be the first licensed product. That had never occured to me. The actual figurine has a great feel to it. Quality $0.50 cent work for its time!
Note there are two copyright dates on the cardback, 1981 lower left, and 1982 lower right. Anybody know when they came out?
Naturally I'd think after Donkey Kong Jr had been released in Summer of 1982 considering Jumpman had been redefined as Mario by this point, and since "Donkey Kong Jr" is a known character based on the card, the game must have already been created and released by that point. 1981 is when the trademarks were created. I have action figures that were released in 1991 and have 1985 copyright dates stamped on them, because that is when the trademark is from.
You guys thatbare referring to the DK jr figure... I don’t see how that’s relevant? The Mario, DK, Pauline figures clearly seem to be the first three in the line as the cardbacks for those three match. I would tend to think 82 as well just because if it was 81 you wouldn’t see 82 on the package however that doesn’t address the possibility of the first three coming out in late 81 and DK jr coming out later? Ie I think 82 is most likely but perhaps there is an 81 variant to these cardbacks... need to research it more. I don’t think the DK jr figure necessarily came out at the same time (maybe , maybe not)
OTPHJ??????????????
You win the admiration of tens of people LOL
What does this stand for?
If you haven't looked it up by now.... OverThePants is the only way I can explain it.
Lol now I get it! How about a OTPHJ reacharound?
Note there are two copyright dates on the cardback, 1981 lower left, and 1982 lower right. Anybody know when they came out?
Naturally I'd think after Donkey Kong Jr had been released in Summer of 1982 considering Jumpman had been redefined as Mario by this point, and since "Donkey Kong Jr" is a known character based on the card, the game must have already been created and released by that point. 1981 is when the trademarks were created. I have action figures that were released in 1991 and have 1985 copyright dates stamped on them, because that is when the trademark is from.
Ah the redefinition of jumpman to Mario was a point I hadn’t considered. Where /when did that happen first?
I don’t think the DK jr figure necessarily came out at the same time (maybe , maybe not)
The language is pretty clear that it didn't (coming soon, new figure will be added to the assortment)
What's weird to me is Mario and Donkey Kong are as they appeared in the supplemental art, but why is the Pauline figure standing by an arcade machine? That seems like an unusual 4th wall break for the time.
As I understand it, Mario was publically referred to as "Jumpman" only on the first DK arcade machine.
Originally posted by: Bronty
Originally posted by: Trj22487
Originally posted by: Bronty
Note there are two copyright dates on the cardback, 1981 lower left, and 1982 lower right. Anybody know when they came out?
Naturally I'd think after Donkey Kong Jr had been released in Summer of 1982 considering Jumpman had been redefined as Mario by this point, and since "Donkey Kong Jr" is a known character based on the card, the game must have already been created and released by that point. 1981 is when the trademarks were created. I have action figures that were released in 1991 and have 1985 copyright dates stamped on them, because that is when the trademark is from.
You guys thatbare referring to the DK jr figure... I don’t see how that’s relevant? The Mario, DK, Pauline figures clearly seem to be the first three in the line as the cardbacks for those three match. I would tend to think 82 as well just because if it was 81 you wouldn’t see 82 on the package however that doesn’t address the possibility of the first three coming out in late 81 and DK jr coming out later? Ie I think 82 is most likely but perhaps there is an 81 variant to these cardbacks... need to research it more. I don’t think the DK jr figure necessarily came out at the same time (maybe , maybe not)
How ISNT it relevant? The DK, Pauline, and Mario cards all say "Coming Soon! Donkey Kong Jr"
This means that the character Donkey Kong Jr already existed when the DK, Pauline, and Mario figures were released. Donkey Kong Jr was not released until Summer of 1982. Jumpman was not renamed Mario to the public until Donkey Kong Jr was released. He did not become Mario in the public eye until '82. These figures must be from 1982.
Purchased this a few months ago and thought it would be a fun one to share with everyone. Its an early Donkey Kong painting from 1981 or possibly 1982 (note the anatomically correct sideways toes still which I believe they only had on the early DK illustrations) so it has a lot of nostalgia for me as the first video game system we had at home was my brother's colecovision which was a princely $250 back in the early 80s and for which my brother saved for quite some time. Donkey Kong was a pack in if I recall so I'm pretty sure it was the very very first video game we owned at home. I played it for the first time in probably 15 years at a friend's house the other day and surprisingly it came back like it was yesterday. Just one of those games you play a million times as a kid and never really forget how to play I guess. The actual coleco DK game we owned just had a picture of the arcade cabinet on the box, so this was cool for me as the next best thing as just looking at it takes me back to being 7 years old.
Artist unknown. Bonus points if anyone knows where the illustration is from? Took me a little google to figure it out at first. I'm not aware of any other DK paintings out there and vg related paintings that early of any description are incredibly rare, so that was a significant bonus as well.
I don't collect for figurines or art, but I certainly admire those old paintings purely for the nostalgia factor. I looked at the characteristics of the Donkey Kong and he looked angry/menacing with a hint of loopiness. The only Donkey Kong that would have been drawn as such would have been for the orginal Donkey Kong or Donkey Kong Jr Arcade games. The art, if it was original, has to be from the early 1980s. Since you showed the box art of the figurines from 1982, then it's safe to say the art itself was painted anywhere from 1981-1982.
Note there are two copyright dates on the cardback, 1981 lower left, and 1982 lower right. Anybody know when they came out?
Naturally I'd think after Donkey Kong Jr had been released in Summer of 1982 considering Jumpman had been redefined as Mario by this point, and since "Donkey Kong Jr" is a known character based on the card, the game must have already been created and released by that point. 1981 is when the trademarks were created. I have action figures that were released in 1991 and have 1985 copyright dates stamped on them, because that is when the trademark is from.
You guys thatbare referring to the DK jr figure... I don’t see how that’s relevant? The Mario, DK, Pauline figures clearly seem to be the first three in the line as the cardbacks for those three match. I would tend to think 82 as well just because if it was 81 you wouldn’t see 82 on the package however that doesn’t address the possibility of the first three coming out in late 81 and DK jr coming out later? Ie I think 82 is most likely but perhaps there is an 81 variant to these cardbacks... need to research it more. I don’t think the DK jr figure necessarily came out at the same time (maybe , maybe not)
How ISNT it relevant? The DK, Pauline, and Mario cards all say "Coming Soon! Donkey Kong Jr"
This means that the character Donkey Kong Jr already existed when the DK, Pauline, and Mario figures were released. Donkey Kong Jr was not released until Summer of 1982. Jumpman was not renamed Mario to the public until Donkey Kong Jr was released. He did not become Mario in the public eye until '82. These figures must be from 1982.
Ah I didn’t need notice the coming soon! Now I get it. Thanks!
Purchased this a few months ago and thought it would be a fun one to share with everyone. Its an early Donkey Kong painting from 1981 or possibly 1982 (note the anatomically correct sideways toes still which I believe they only had on the early DK illustrations) so it has a lot of nostalgia for me as the first video game system we had at home was my brother's colecovision which was a princely $250 back in the early 80s and for which my brother saved for quite some time. Donkey Kong was a pack in if I recall so I'm pretty sure it was the very very first video game we owned at home. I played it for the first time in probably 15 years at a friend's house the other day and surprisingly it came back like it was yesterday. Just one of those games you play a million times as a kid and never really forget how to play I guess. The actual coleco DK game we owned just had a picture of the arcade cabinet on the box, so this was cool for me as the next best thing as just looking at it takes me back to being 7 years old.
Artist unknown. Bonus points if anyone knows where the illustration is from? Took me a little google to figure it out at first. I'm not aware of any other DK paintings out there and vg related paintings that early of any description are incredibly rare, so that was a significant bonus as well.
I don't collect for figurines or art, but I certainly admire those old paintings purely for the nostalgia factor. I looked at the characteristics of the Donkey Kong and he looked angry/menacing with a hint of loopiness. The only Donkey Kong that would have been drawn as such would have been for the orginal Donkey Kong or Donkey Kong Jr Arcade games. The art, if it was original, has to be from the early 1980s. Since you showed the box art of the figurines from 1982, then it's safe to say the art itself was painted anywhere from 1981-1982.
Sure. The art being original predates the product so the art is 82 at the latest.
Harder for people, yes. Few can match acidjaguar's knowledge pool. I just stared at it for a while, trying to figure out who / how/why this would be from that period. Still wondering, actually. Way textured and detailed. I'm very surprised it's not CG from a later time, or a photograph of the figure.
I don’t think the DK jr figure necessarily came out at the same time (maybe , maybe not)
The language is pretty clear that it didn't (coming soon, new figure will be added to the assortment)
What's weird to me is Mario and Donkey Kong are as they appeared in the supplemental art, but why is the Pauline figure standing by an arcade machine? That seems like an unusual 4th wall break for the time.
As I understand it, Mario was publically referred to as "Jumpman" only on the first DK arcade machine.
acidjaguar definitely crushed it. As for the art I hear you but if you look closely at the figure and the cardback illustration you can see they don’t match at all. The colours are the easiest tell as the two tone on the figure is more subtle and the contrast much more pronounced on the cardback. There are other differences also
There are some small pull toys from Bandai Japan from the mid 80s which are the first to depict bowser in his current green turtle design rather than the grey how he appears on the Japanese smb box art. It's cool to trace the changes and timeline of Nintendo through their merch.
Thanks for sharing.
Love seeing this early material.
As for the art I hear you but if you look closely at the figure and the cardback illustration you can see they don’t match at all. The colours are the easiest tell as the two tone on the figure is more subtle and the contrast much more pronounced on the cardback. There are other differences also
Oh, I believe it for sure. Just commenting that it's a different style from most Nintendo promo art of the time. The texture looks physical, not flat color and cartoon-ish. Most contemporaries to this painting look more like the illustration on the front of the card.