Who has painted the original Atari 7800 Centipede cover illustration
and where is this work of art located nowadays?

A small version of the picture I'm referring to can be found at:
http://www.futurecrew.org/skaven/gi/Centipede_Atari7800.jpg

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Request for Question Clarification by sublime1-ga on 07 Jan 2003 22:31 PST

skaven...

Was one of the non-functioning email addresses you found
that of the Artist Representative who lists Hiro as a 
client, on this page?:
http://www.imagesite.com/reps/repsylpgs.html

BETSY HILLMAN Pier 33 North, San Francisco, CA 94111
(415) 391-1181

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Clarification of Question by skaven252-ga on 07 Jan 2003 22:38 PST

I found the address <hirok@earthlink.net> at this URL:
http://www.si-la.org/38/institutional/cert25_info_institutional.htm
... with reference to him being an illustrator (so I assume it's him),
but the account is no longer active.

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Request for Question Clarification by sublime1-ga on 07 Jan 2003 23:57 PST

skaven252...

Well, Hiro is listed as one of the 'iilustrator' clients
of Betsy Hillman. Perhaps he has stopped representing
himself and is now represented by her. If you contact her
and succeed in locating him and/or the illustration, let
me know...or would you prefer that I try to contact her
for you?

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Clarification of Question by skaven252-ga on 08 Jan 2003 05:21 PST

I'm located in Finland, so the time difference and overseas phone call
could prove problematic. In this sense, it would be preferable for me
if you did the calling.

Thank you.

(But how could I compensate for the phone bill you get? If the call
provides the answer, this won't be a problem. :) )

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Request for Question Clarification by austin_trill-ga on 08 Jan 2003 14:56 PST

Skaven -

I have spoken to Mr. Kimura (who has also actually done a couple of
U.S. postage stamps as well!) and he has kindly supplied his email
address, as well as offered to send you a higher quality scan of the
box cover.  He's unsure right now where the original artwork is
located but is going to look into it.  Will this suffice as an answer?

Thanks!

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Clarification of Question by skaven252-ga on 08 Jan 2003 19:43 PST

Congratulations, austin trill, you won the race! :) 

Now.. how can we send each other messages privately (so that I can
provide you with my email address where you can email Mr. Kimura's?

Dear skaven252 -

This has been a really fun challenge.  Hiro Kimura was indeed the
artist of the Centipede box cover, and he is also known for his design
of two U.S. postage stamps - the City Flag stamp, an image of which is
located at http://lonestar.texas.net/~efdietz/stamps/cityflag.htm ,
and the Farm over Flag stamp, located at
http://www.pnc3.org/booklet/data/2000/FlagFarmATM.htm .

Mr. Kimura was very gracious on the telephone and gave permission for
me to print his email address here: monkai@earthlink.net.  He says
that he has a much higher quality image of the Centipede cover that he
would be happy to send to you when you email him.

Search Strategy:
thanks to Bowler-ga's comment that Hiro Kimura was listed as the Atari
Force magazine artist, I searched on "hiro kimura" and looked through
200 or so links that popped up on Google.  I found two telephone
numbers that had possibilities, and since I had read that Mr. Kimura
was in the Brooklyn area, I tried the phone number that was local to
there first and hit the jackpot - it was his home telephone number.

Thanks very much for your question - it was a trip down memory lane
and I have had the sound effects for Centipede going through my head
for two days straight!

Take care, and enjoy your artwork.

I found out everything I needed to know and what was possible to find
out given the circumstances. Excellent work.

A larger image shows the artist's name: Hiro
http://perso.wanadoo.fr/atariforce/vcs/images/scans/centiped.jpg

This is a great challenge!  I have a couple of emails out to people
who might be 'in the know' and I will post any information I can get
my hands on.

There is a mention of a Hiro Kimura who drew for the "Atari Force"
magazine on this webpage about half way down:

http://home.hiwaay.net/~lkseitz/comics/AtariForce/a_ah_review.shtml

Thank you for your comments so far, everyone. They have been very
helpful. It's highly likely the illustration was made by Hiro Kimura -
how many airbrush artists named Hiro Kimura could there be? (Google
for his name and you'll find several references to him; alas, no email
address that would work.)

I consider this part of the question answered already.

I found a couple of possible contact numbers for Mr. Kimura, and I
plan to try to call him tomorrow to see if he is indeed the artist and
if he knows where the Centipede original artwork is located.

skaven252...
My schedule today did not permit me to follow up 
with a call to Betsy Hillman. I sounds like 
austin_trill-ga has your needs covered, so I will
bow out.

Thanks to everyone for your efforts, you have been most helpful! 

Alas, Google Answers allows me to 'reward' only one person.  (maybe
this could be considered a suggestion for improvement?)

Just seeing an answered question and a satisfied customer is payment
enough.  The field of librarianship is full of people who would feel
the same way.