I've seen credit buttons all over machines throughout the last 20 years. On coin doors, control panels, under the control panels, in the monitor bezel....but my favorite has always been on TOP of the machine. It's hidden out of sight and difficult to get to. Interestingly enough, the two times I saw this was at a local laundromat. They had a Ms. Pac and Galaga sitting right next to each other.
This was in 1983-ish....One day while going out of my mind while my mom washed clothes, I saw a kid drop a quarter into the Galaga, fiddle with the machine, pause for a few moments, proceed to hit and kick the machine. Eventually, the attendant came out and grabbed the kid by the arm and demanded that he stop. To make a long story short, the kid explained, the attendant reached on top of the machine, coined it up and the kid began to play.
Uh, yeah, I definitely noticed the coining up from up-top. From that day forward, I never paid for a gameplay while I was stuck there. LOL
I own a nice Assault in excellent condition, the only drawback being that the control panel was punctured to: 1. place a power switch on the right right. 2. place a credit button on the left side. Argh!!!! Yeah, so the panel is ruined. I need a new CPO....I'll be making the repro panels myself. So, who sells Assault CPO's?
Dave