Wednesday 28 June 2023

1966 Sportsman - スポーツマン by 太東 (Taito — Crown)


Name: Sportsman - スポーツマン
Year: 1966
Company: 太東 (Taito — Crown)


from Taito 40th book

from the Taito 40th book, this picture is labeled as 1967 and you can see the Sportsman at the back.

Sportsman was  a machine that appeared at Expo 7

entry from the 1969 machine directory


English flyer


Sportsman appears to be a direct copy the Deluxe Athletic Scale floor model machine made between 1947-1948 by Mercury Steel Corporation.  At a glance, the Taito version has the Taito logo in the center of the marquee, and has less silver highlights.

1947 Deluxe Athletic Scale floor model machine by Mercury Steel Corporation




via pinrepair (archive,) the Mercury Athletic Scale had a few variants:

the Taito machine copies the Deluxe Model


Monday 5 June 2023

1974 Mini Swing - ミニスウィング [import] by M.S.I. & リバーストン (Riverstone)


Name: Mini Swing - ミニスウィング [import]
Year: imported 1974 [original year unknown]
Company: M.S.I. & リバーストン (Riverstone)


Mini Swing is a countertop rotary merchandiser.  You control an arm that swings, and you can press a button to pause the motion.  Time it right and it will drag a prize towards you.

The earliest I have seen a Mini-Swing in Japanese documents was 1974.

Game Machine 1974-11-30

When we last heard of リバーストン (Riverstone) they were exhibiting a number of domestic and imported machines at a private industry event.  Please see the article on Super-Scope for that.


It might be hard to discern from the B&W photo, but this lines up exactly with the M.S.I. Mini Swing.




English Instructions:



Some internal:






Sunday 4 June 2023

1980 Magic Toppers - マジック・トパース by シグマ (Sigma)


Name: Magic Toppers - マジック・トパース
Year: 1980
Company: シグマ (Sigma)


In 1980, Sigma released their own version of Magic Toppers, a 10-player mass medal machine.

There is a version that I believe came out in the late 1960s, made by Crompton, that was imported into Japan around 1973 by ジャパンオーバーシーズビジネス (Japan Overseas Business).
Then a redone version by Crompton was imported around 1975 by エスコ貿易 (Esco Trading).

This version of Magic Toppers first appears in Game Machine magazine in 1981:

1981-03-01

1981-03-15


A Sigma company publication puts the year for Magic Toppers as 1980, so perhaps it was first made then, and more widely released in 1981?  Since it's a company publication, there's also a chance they just noted what their internal date was, i.e. when the project began.

私と・シグマと・25年


Sigma exported the machine to the USA.  I have not yet seen any photos of Magic Toppers in a North American arcade.

Cash Box 1981-05-16

Cash Box 1981-05-16
(continued)



Cash Box 1981-07-04


Friday 2 June 2023

1972 Flying Ducks - フライングダツクス by 関西精機 (Kansai Seiki — Kasco)


Name: Flying Ducks - フライングダツクス by 関西精機 (Kansai Seiki)
Year: 1972
Company: 関西精機 (Kansai Seiki — Kasco)


Flying Ducks first appeared in 1972.

Amusement Sangyo 1972-11

Some Flying Ducks pics courtesy Museo del Recreativo:











In late 1973, Chicago Coin announced and released a copy of Flying Ducks.  They used the same name, kept the marquee artwork, but the cabinet is a different shape.

Cash Box 1973-07-14
first mention of ChiCoin's Flying Ducks

Cash Box 1973-08-25

CCM Flying Ducks flyers via ipdb




Marquee comparison:

Kasco marquee

CCM marquee via pinrepair





a foreigners' guide to eremeka arcades - 外国人のためのエレメカアーケードゲームガイド: introduction & main page - 紹介&メインページ

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