1969 Sammy Star Crane - サミースタークレーン by さとみ (Satomi)

Name: Sammy Star Crane - サミースタークレーン

Year: 1969

Company: さとみ (Satomi)

こうして海外への輸出で自信を得た里見は、京都で失敗したクレーンゲーム機に再度挑戦して海外へ売り出そうと考えた。そして「ソナーアタック」発売2年後の昭和45年、現在でもゲームセンターにある、コインを入れハンドルを操作して好きなものを吊り上げるクレーンゲームの原型である「サミークレーン」を完成させた。輸出となると、世界どこでも通用するブランド名が必要になる。そこで「さとみ」から「と」を抜いて「SAMMY(サミー)」というブランド名を付けて売り出した。
Having gained confidence through exporting overseas, Satomi decided to try again with the crane game machine that had failed in Kyoto and sell it overseas. In 1970, two years after the release of ``Sonar Attack,'' he completed ``Sammy Crane,'' the prototype of the crane game still seen in game centers today, where you insert a coin and operate the handle to hoist whatever you want. When it comes to exporting, you need a brand name that can be recognized anywhere in the world. So he removed the "to" from "Satomi" and gave it the brand name "SAMMY" and began selling it.

The text might be unreliable, since Star Crane was listed in the 1969 machine yearbook:

1969 coin machine directory

Since the Satomi article claims the Star Crane was 1970, but it was obviously there in 1969 for the machine directory, I think it is reasonable to say that Sammy Star Crane is a 1969 machine.

It is odd that Star Crane is described as the template for crane games today when Taito and Sega each had very successful cranes earlier.  In fact in the 1969 machine directory, the Sammy Star Crane is just one of about 8 similar crane machines.

Star Crane looks nearly identical to Sega's Skill Diga from a few years earlier.  The only difference I can see, beyond the name and logo on the arm, is that Star Crane has two coin slots to Skill Diga's single, and thus two coin reject buttons.

1965 Skill Diga - スキル・ディガ by セガ (Sega)

1969 Sammy Star Crane - サミースタークレーン by さとみ (Satomi)

the 2 coin slots on Star Crane