5200 Cartridge End Labels - A Manifesto!

  Hi friends!  As we all know, carts for our beloved Atari 5200 console surprisingly did not come with labels on the top, making it very frustrating to find a particular title.  OK, not as bad as loose N64 carts, but still bothersome.  I have been scouring the forums, have asked around, and it seems that no one has made end labels (top labels) for the 5200 and made them publicly available.  Many people say to just use a Dymo label maker (and I say boo to that!)  I asked a few people who have made end labels for other consoles, and no one had any interest in making labels for the 5200.  I finally realized, with some encouragement from bah, to attempt to just make my own.  I decided to do that and I'd like to put them out here for the community to use, if anyone so desires.  My intention was to make a label for every cart that was unidentifiable in a loose collection.
 
  Just to be clear, I'm not selling labels.  I'm simply supplying the label templates I used and info on how I made mine, in the hopes of making it easy for others.  I used a site - www.onlinelabels.com - to make them, but also want to make clear that I'm not associated with them.  I did have a nice transaction and recommend them; if you do want to print your own labels, my instructions will be using the templates they use.  Basically, you would have to buy the label paper from them and print the .pdf below to it.  What kind of paper and how much you get is all up to you.  Of course, you should plan on getting extra because you will most likely have some issues with alignment.
 
  Each label is 3.125" x .5"  These are the longest labels I could find that were suitable.  Sadly, they look a little short and really should be 3.5" x .5"  I designed these labels using box art from thecoverproject.net and my pathetic Photoshop skills.  I barely know how to use PS, so these labels are nothing fancy.  The grey color also seems a little off to me.  If anyone has printing equipment and experience, I hope you can swoop in and make some professional, high quality labels that the 5200 sorely needs! (because mine kind of suck)

 
  The 5200 labels require Template OL1543 at onlinelabels.com:
http://www.onlinelabels.com/OL1543.htm
 
  To experiment, I bought 3 different kinds of their paper for my laser printer: Standard White Matte, White Gloss Laser and Weatherproof Laser.  I had best results with Standard White Matte.  I think a glossy, silvery label that matches the face label would be ideal, but that is beyond my capability.  As it stands, I think the White Matte looks best because their Glossy has kind of a cheap look to it.  The Weatherproof did not print correctly for me at all.
 
  When printing from my Mac -> Samsung laser printer, I used Preview with the default "US Letter" page setting and "Labels" paper type.  For PC users, I don't imagine it could be much different.  The template of the label paper doesn't leave any room for "bleed" so it will need to be pretty exact.  Print a blank template from the website and use it to help align before wasting label paper.
 
  Here are some pics of my collection:

 
  I hope this will spur on someone much more artistic/talented than myself to create some nice labels that look a bit more authentic.  Until then, my own will have to suffice.  Also, someone should make replacement labels for CBS games, totally identical to the original and applied over the old sticker, upside-down, so the game name reads on the end.  I'm not ever eager to deface a label, but I could make an exception for CBS carts.  I recently came across an extra Blueprint who's corner was peeling, so I slowly removed the label and applied it the "correct" way, to see how it would look.  Forgiving the damage the left cart's label took from being peeled off, which looks better to you?

 
  I also made a set of Vectrex labels for my loose collection.  I used box art for them as well, and they turned out a little more authentic-looking.  If someone with good printing equipment can make fancier ones, please do and sell them on the forums for cost + postage!
  The Vectrex labels require Template OL6950 and Standard White Matte looked best to me.
http://www.onlinelabels.com/OL6950.htm
 

 
  I hope this helps, and if anyone tries making their own, I'm interested to know your results.  I apologize for the less than stellar pics, and will soon update this post with brighter ones.  Cheers!