As announced earlier – here we go with the first instalment of scans from the private archive of Skylab & General Zoff (of New Balance Bochum/The Movers/Elite fame). A truly fascinating glimpse into the 1980s’ C64 and Amiga cracking scene, with too many highlights to mention them all. For those with basic knowledge about the history of the cracking- and demoscene, or those who experienced these times themselves, the list of authors below will already be enough to realise the significance of the archive – and this is only a small portion of what we can expect from it. As for highlights regarding the letters’ content, I’ll just throw in some random aspects: Scottish crackers in 1986; a note from Strider announcing the foundation of Fairlight; Irata’s original letterhead; cracking tips from Mr. Zeropage; German public phone cheating techniques; anxieties over first place in intro greetings; transatlantic flows of material goods; and many more. Enjoy this first instalment – there is more to come!
• Agent Organge/ACA (USA) to The Movers, ~1987 [metadata]
• Axa/X-Men (Finland) to Skylab, late 1980s [metadata]
• Birdy/Scottish Cracking Crew (UK) to Skylab, 30 July 1986 [metadata]
• CPU/Plutonium Crackers (Germany) to New Balance, 16 December 1986 [metadata]
• Honey/1001 Crew (Netherlands) to The Movers, June 1987 [metadata]
• Irata/RSI (Germany) to Skylab, ~1986 [metadata]
• Laffen/TDF (Norway) to The Movers, 1987 [metadata]• Mr Sulu/Doughnut Cracking Service (UK) to New Balance, 1986 [metadata]
• Mr Zeropage/RSI (Germany) to General Zoff, 2 January 1988 [metadata]
• New Balance to Mr Sulu/DCS (UK) [draft], 1986 [metadata]
• New Balance to Paperboy Inc. (Germany) [draft], 7 August 1986 [metadata]
• No. 1 (=Strider)/Fairlight (Sweden) to Skylab, April 1987 [metadata]
• RGB/The Movers (Canada) to Skylab, 1 March 1988 [metadata]
• Skylab to Irata, 1986 [metadata]
• Stingray (USA) to Skylab, 6 April 1989 [metadata]
NB: If the images in the gallery below appear too small to figure out the details, you can always download high-quality scans at the “metadata” links above! There, you can also find some background info for each letter.
