Tag Archives: stickers

Swapper’s Tools

Every scene trade – coders, graphics artists, musicians – has its tools. Usually, we think about digital tools in this context. Today, however, we present you some physical tools – the tools of a 1980s C64 swapper. Skylab & General Zoff of The Movers provided us with a bunch of original objects that were crucial to maintain software circulation via floppy disk and “snailmail” – envelopes, express mail stickers, a disk hole puncher, customs forms, and many more. Click on the photo below for detailed descriptions, or go to our archive to download a high resolution image. Thanks go to Esther Laurenciková for the photo, and to Spot/Up Rough for fixing the captions.

Ancient Atari Group Stickers

Thanks to the efforts of Lotek Style, we were able to receive materials that are among the oldest we have. Old German Atari cracker Arthur Dent from the group Copy Service Stuttgart (founded in 1983-84!) has kept these five stickers for over 30 years. They show that as early as in the mid-1980s, cracking groups were into clever “culture jamming” and appropriated well-known trademarks with a pinch of humour.

• Copy Service Stuttgart sticker, between 1983 and 1989 [scan&metadata]
• different Copy Service Stuttgart sticker, between 1983 and 1989 [scan&metadata]
• German Cracking Artists sticker (blue version), mid-1980s [scan&metadata]
• German Cracking Artists sticker (yellow version), mid-1980s [scan&metadata]
• Section 8 sticker, between 1983 and 1986 [scan&metadata]

The Movers Collection Pt. 4

After a break, we can present you another instalment of the vast New Balance Bochum / The Movers collection. This time it’s not just letters, but also party invitations, stickers, and other artefacts from the European 1980s C64 / Amiga cracking scene. There are highly interesting materials among these papers, such as shopping lists for originals in London; a contemporary memberlist of Elite (which was kept secret at the time); an early circular letter from Fairlight; Venlo party tickets; and much more… You can find detailed information on many of the documents, including details provided by Skylab, in the metadata sheets.

• Letter from Digital Marketing to betatesters of COP SHOCKER, 30 Jan 1989 [scan/metadata]
• Address sticker by Executor/Damage Inc., ~1987 [scan/metadata]
• Circular letter from Fairlight to all Amiga contacts, 1988 [scan/metadata]
• Letter (draft) from General Zoff/Elite (Germany) to Thor & Zeus/Teesside Cracking Service (UK), 1989 [scan/metadata]
• Holly/FAME disk cover, 1980s [scan/metadata]
• Letter from Laffen/Raw Deal Inc. (Norway) to Skylab/The Movers (Germany), 1987 [scan/metadata]
• List of London software shops, compiled by Skylab, ~1986 [scan/metadata]
• The Movers and the Stormtrooper Atari sticker sheet, 1987 [scan/metadata]
• Newsroom disk, 1980s [scan/metadata]
• Scouse Cracking Group disk protection cardboard, 1980s [scan/metadata]
• The Organized Crime Copyparty 1987 invitation [scan/metadata]
• The Orgasmatron Crew sticker sheet, 1987 [scan/metadata]
• Triad & Fairlight Copyparty 1987 invitation [scan/metadata]
• Venlo Party April 1989 ticket [scan/metadata]
• Venlo Party December 1991 ticket [scan/metadata]
• Letter from Zeke Wolf/Triad (Sweden) to Skylab/The Movers (Germany), 1987 [scan/metadata]

Stickers from XXX

Many active demosceners know XXX as a tireless organiser, being a driving force behind the Haujobb demogroup and the Evoke demoparty, and a well-known party animal. Far less known, however, are his roots in the late 1980s and early 1990s Amiga scene as a member of the group Agnostic Front. A while ago, XXX provided us with some scene stickers from the time period, which we are finally able to put online. Of particular interest is the “Business Rules… and Friendship sucks” sticker from 1993. This sticker, a poignant commentary on the elitist thinking and commercialization of the early 1990s Amiga scene, was produced by the “Friendship Movement”, an alliance of Amiga groups initiated by the group Spreadpoint. The background of this initiative can be read in an article in the Amiga diskmag Stolen Data from 1990.

• three Agnostic Front stickers, early 1990s [scan&metadata 1] [scan&metadata 2] [scan&metadata 3]
• Animators sticker, early 1990s [scan&metadata]
• “Commodore Amiga 500 – Computer des Jahres 1990” sticker, 1990 [scan&metadata]
• Friendship Movement sticker, 1993 [scan&metadata]