Saturday 25 March 2023

~1971 Sky Fighter by オリエンタル興業 (Oriental Kogyo)


Name: Sky Fighter
Year: ~1971 [assumed]
Company: オリエンタル興業 (Oriental Kogyo)

I do not have any date reference for Sky Fighter, but it appears on this flyer that nazox20126 posted.

We know that Wild Cycle, Super Match, Invasion, and Monte Carlo were all at the 1970 amusement industry show.
We know that Oriental Crane was around in 1969, if not earlier.  
Given those dates, I'd wager that Sky Fighter was from 1970 or 1969, but no later than 1971.  For the time being, I am assigning the year ~1971, and I hope to find further evidence that would help us confirm the year.

While not an exact copy in any of the specifics, Sky Fighter seems like it was copied off of the late 1960s game Battle King - バトルキング by 児童遊園設備 (Children's Amusement Park Facilities)

Battle King - バトルキング by 児童遊園設備 (Children's Amusement Park Facilities)
1969 or earlier

Both have a very similar, though not identical, gun with dual white handles.  Sky Fighter has 2 dials on the front, Battle King 3.  Their cabinets have a nearly identical design style in regards to how the front protrusion is designed.   Battle King has 13 circles for score, going from 10 to 130.  Sky Fighter has 11.  Battle King appears to have pinball-style score reels, and Sky Fighter has 3 circles that makes me thing it has nixie tubes for scoring.
The Battle King cabinet flares forward in the marquee area, while Sky Fighter's cabinet rises straight up from the gun mount area.

It seems obvious that Oriental Kogyo copied the Battle King design, but in this example they seemingly reworked everything slightly.

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