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

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

1970 Sky Fighter - スカイファイター by 太東 (Taito)

Name: Sky Fighter - スカイファイター
Year: 1970
Company: 太東 (Taito)

Sky Fighter seems to only have been around for a short time before being replaced by Sky Fighter-II in the Taito catalogues. 

entry from the Taito 40th Anniversary book, showing Sky Fighter as 1970 and Sky Fighter-II as 1971

entry in the 1972 machine directory

In late 1971, USA company Chicago Coin unveiled a new machine called Sky Battle that is shockingly similar to Sky Fighter:

Cash Box 1971-10-16

Cash Box 1971-10-16

Clay has some good photos of Sky Battle on his pinrepair site.  (archive)

Chicago Coin's Sky Battle

Taito Trading's Sky Fighter

1970 Space Docking - スペースドッキング by 太東 (Taito)

Name: Space Docking - スペースドッキング
Year: 1970
Company: 太東 (Taito)

Space Docking appeared at the 9th Amusement Machine show in 1970.

1970-11

1970-11

A diagram of the movement mechanism inside the machine:

And how that sits within the cabinet:

Data sheet:

Then in 1971, Chicago Coin announced a game called Apollo-14 that seems to be a copy (localizaiton?) of Space Docking:

Cash Box 1971-04-03

Cash Box 1971-04-03

Clay has some good photos of Apollo 14 on his pinrepair site: (archive)

Apollo-14 by Chicago Coin

1970 Ronin - 浪人 by こまや (Komaya) [presumed]

Name: Ronin - 浪人

Year: 1970

Company: こまや (Komaya) [presumed]

We have a flyer from 中村製作所 (Nakamura Seisakusho) that includes Ronin, but I do not believe Ronin is by 中村製作所 (Nakamura Seisakusho).

中村製作所 (Nakamura Seisakusho) flyer

Base Ball (ベースボール) is a famous game from こまや (Komaya).  Play Land (プレイランド) is also by Komaya.  This suggests to me that Namakura was distributing Komaya games, and implies that Ronin was also by Komaya.

We also have seen a Nakamura price list (presumed 1970) that lists the three games in this same order, heavily implying this is the Komaya section of their offerings.

We can see this exact trio in a lineup (at the 中村製作所 (Nakamura Seisakusho) booth) at the 1970 Amusement show:

1970 amusement show

another shot from the same show, showing Nakamura's 30 Test (サーティテスト)

A Komaya advertisement showing Base Ball and Play Land together:

1970-11

I have not seen any other advertisements for Ronin or any further mention.  It does not appear in the 1969 machine directory nor the 1972 machine directory.  (If you have access to the 1970 or 1971 machine directories, please let me know!)

Ronin has similar markings to Play Land.

For example, the start button is the same design:

Ronin start button

Play Land start button (similar shape accent paint)

Base Ball start button (similar shape accent paint)

I think ot is safe to assume that Komaya made Ronin.

1970 Indy 500 [F-type] - インディ500 F型 by 関西精機 (Kansai Seiki)

Name: Indy 500 [F-type] - インディ500 F型
Year: 1970
Company: 関西精機 (Kansai Seiki)

Indisputably one of the coolest cabinet ever made at the time, the F-Type Indy 500 made a huge splash at Expo '70 and began the era of deluxe immersive driving cabinets.  (note: I could be wrong, but I think this is fair.  If you know of an early cabinet in this style please let me know)

Indy 500 was first released in 1969 with the M-Type cabinet.  The W-type and F-type cabinets came out in 1970 and continued to be sold for a number of years.

specifications given in a Kasco flyer

Expo '70

at Expo '70
AJAP 1970-05

at the 9th annual Amusement show
published 1970-11

The Kasco brand was alive an well back then, but for some reason I do not see any "Kasco" markings on this or any other Indy 500 cabinets.

1969 Indy 500 [W-type] - インディ500 [W型] by 関西精機製作所 (Kansai Seiki)

Name: Indy 500 [W-type] - インディ500 [W型]
Year: 1969
Company: 関西精機製作所 (Kansai Seiki)

The M-Type cabinet came first in 1968, then Kansai Seiki made the W-type (wood)  with a fornica cabinet for exports.

This new cabinet was still sold domestically, I assume to keep competition vs the hot new machine Racer.  The pedal is now recessed into the cabinet, the front dashboard has a large bulbous appearance, and the marquee is built into cabinet.

This design would be copied (converted from?) by Oriental Kogyo a year later for their machine: 1970 Monte Carlo - モンテ カルロラリー (Monte Carlo Rally) by オリエンタル興業 (Oriental Kogyo)

One aspect North American collectors often overlook is the proximity of Australia to Japan.  They were an obvious export market.  Here is an excerpt from an Australian flyer extoling some of the technical innovation.

excerpt from Australian flyer.

Indy 500 W-Type in an arcade in Japan
this photo is from /19741973 at minimum because the arcade has air hockey tables.

Indy 500 W-Type in a 1972 photograph (center game)
published in the Taito 40th anniversary book