Retsy Series 1 · Card 0144 · 80-TVV
Please stand by. The owl is watching.
The color-bar test pattern, with a cartoon owl in the middle, that appeared when the station went off air.
The story · 1981
If you stayed up too late, the TV eventually gave up on you and showed Hoot, the test pattern owl, sitting in a circle of colored bars while a single long tone hummed. Kids who saw him felt like they had discovered a secret. Some swore Hoot blinked once, but only if your parents were asleep.
The test pattern tone was perfect for tuning a ukulele, and one music teacher used it every night.
Six finishes
The 2 AM Test Pattern comes in six finishes: 100 Base, 50 Holo, 25 Laser and 10 Gold copies, plus one Super Laser and one Misprint that exist exactly once. Every copy is minted to the wallet that rips it, with its own serial number.
80-TVV
The 2 AM Test Pattern is one of 32 cards in the 80s TV & Video set. Here are the other 31.
