Asteroids Serial Number...

obs

Member
Joined
Mar 16, 2011
Messages
247
Reaction score
0
Location
Calgary, ab, Canada
Is there a place on the game itself that will tell me the serial number of the game?

I know its going to be a low number because of the flat from coin mechs, the cardboard bezel and g05-801 monitor..under the 18,000 production line for sure.

In the back inside the machine someone has written on the inside wall and on the inside front panel "3742". Could this be the serial???

Dave
 
Is there a place on the game itself that will tell me the serial number of the game?

I know its going to be a low number because of the flat from coin mechs, the cardboard bezel and g05-801 monitor..under the 18,000 production line for sure.

In the back inside the machine someone has written on the inside wall and on the inside front panel "3742". Could this be the serial???

Dave

I don't know where it is on this specific cabinet, but there is usually a sticker on the outside of the cabinet with the serial number on it. Often on the back above the back door, sometimes on the front under the control panel. Absent that, you can look on the power block in the bottom of the cabinet, as well as the AR2 board mounted on the side.

Lots of these games have had components swapped around over the years, and it's likely that the numbers won't match.
 
Yup....found the serial number tag on the back....the print is gone...cannot make anything out.

Ons day I'll remove the PS and see underneath.

As for the CP...was it standard to have a piece of wood right under the CP to help hold the buttons, etc????

Dave
 
I'm working on an "Owl Eye" version right now. The CP is a steel plate - no wood.
 
Yup....found the serial number tag on the back....the print is gone...cannot make anything out.

Ons day I'll remove the PS and see underneath.

As for the CP...was it standard to have a piece of wood right under the CP to help hold the buttons, etc????

The SN, in addition to being on the silver label on the back of the cab, was usually also on the AR board and the game PCB, either handwritten or printed on a little sticker. Of course, these were often swapped out over the years.

The piece of wood under the CP is shown on Illustrated Parts List in the Manual (TM-143) in printings 1-4. It is not shown in printings 5-7.
 
On Asteroids games, the only place where the game serial number appeared was on the foil sticker located on the rear of the cabinet, bottom edge of the upper slanted panel. Actually, there were two stickers side by side. The paper sticker gave the electrical info on the game. The foil sticker had the model and serial numbers. Sometimes the black printing on the foil sticker disappears with age, but the model and serial numbers were actually stamped into the foil and remain readable. I've attached a pic.

There will be hand written numbers on the A/R board, game board, and on the inside of the cabinet. These are serial numbers of individual components, not the overall serial number of the game. It wasn't until later (Battlezone production) that Atari started slapping the little game serial number stickers on all the components inside the cabinet.

Early production Asteroids games had:
"owl eye" coin door.
G05-801 monitor.
plexi bezel with the text printed in yellow (later switched to white).
sides of cabinet are plywood (later switched to particle board).
early revs of the game pcb (-02, for example).
burn at the bottom of the screen is "Asteroids by Atari" which is code rev 1. (code rev 2 had "© 1979 Atari" at the bottom).
small copyright sticker on the bottom of the screen.
plywood on underside of control panel for mounting of buttons and leaf switches.

I happen to own Asteroids S/N 434 - which qualifies as very early production. I have a few photos of it at
https://picasaweb.google.com/108339843851140624101/AsteroidsSN434#
 

Attachments

  • IMG_3949.JPG
    IMG_3949.JPG
    87.7 KB · Views: 65
Mine looks exactly the same...I just wish I could verify the serial number. On the pcb connector, there is a beaded zip tie....i think this is original and has never been removed which could suggest the board in the machine is also stock...i'll check for a serial number on it.

As for the foil stamp...there is nothing on it...its gone.

For my CP..the wood has a dark natural grain laminate on it...i wonder if that could suggest something about the production model.

Dave
 
All this Asteroids talk got me inpired to go install the silkscreen repro control panel I recently received... So I made note of a few things while I was futzing with it:

-no S/N on cabinet itself; over back door it has a patent number sticker and a sticker that says it's rated for 3A, but that's it.

-"owl eye" coin door

-bezel with yellow text

-"-02" PCB

-PCB and AR board are stamped (with an ink stamp, near the back of the cab as installed) with "1847". I am presuming this to be the S/N of the game. Couldn't find a S/N on the transformer block.

-the monitor has clearly been replaced during its life, as the connector was spliced in (to a V2000) as I think the -802 and V2000 are plug-compatible, I infer this to mean that it originally had a -801.

-cab sides seem to be particle board with a black wood-grain veneer.

-under CP there's a (particle board) reinforcing panel.

-not sure which code rev was originally in it; I have a Braze high-score save kit in it, so the original ROMs are out.
 
Looked inside my asteroids again. I noticed an inspection stamp with a few initials on it. Its dated Jan 4, 1980.

Wonder if that helps trying to locate the production run....

Also...I saw writing on the pcb and audio board....they do not match.

Dave
 
Earlier production units have a scrap of wood under the CPO. I have just such a unit. They removed it later, probably as a cost saving measure.
 
Mine is AST1600. Owl eye coin door, wood under the CP, sticker on the monitor, yellow text...
 
Back
Top Bottom