FS Game: (Cali) Robotron upright w/extra board set - can deliver to CAX

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(Cali) Robotron upright w/extra board set - can deliver to CAX

With all this talk about Robotron, I'd figure I'd try to sell mine that I'l never get around to restoring.

The game power up and goes into play mode *most* of the time. Sometimes it takes the boards a minute or two to go into play mode. I'm sure the board need a good going through.

The game plays fine once its up.

It *does not* have original 4" stick.

FIXED Player 1 Button does not register but player 2 does. I've been playing 2 player games. FIXED

Orignal G07 that needs a cap kit

Lithium battery installed but it should be swapped out with a new one.

Switching power supply installed.



Complete extra board set (CPU, Widget, Sound) included on mounting frame. It does have a RAM error.

Please PM email for detailed pics.

Asking $1200 obo. CASH only.

Small deposit via paypal to hold machine is ok.
 

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i have only seen that original cab shape once, owned by someone here in Iowa.
The CP is date april 1982 which would be right after the title went on test locations in late march and before the prod release in june.

I'd be curious what date stamp is inside your control panel, to date this very rare early shape, which I guess you could almost call a prototype shape.

my assumption is that the extra cut cost just a bit more so they decided to go straight down with it instead?
 
June 21, 1982 is the date stamp

so that still fits the timeframe of when some of these less-seen cab shapes would have been sitting waiting to go to the line.
cool cab.
Williams Elect outsourced all cabinet and painting. wonder just how many they had the cabinet maker do in this style. my guess would be that a test run with someone would probably be in an easy number like 25 or 50.
 
I'm confused. The cab looks like the same usual one to me. Can someone provide side-by-side photos with differences indicated! thanx

Nah, this one he is selling is much more interesting historically than the run of the mill machine.

Grabbed this google image, notice the front goes straight down.

 
I see. Couldn't his Robotron 2084 just be inside a Joust cab? They look exactly the same!

close, but not the same.
Joust came after Robo. The public release was July 1982. and there was a surplus of Robo machines in storage, so some Robo's became Jousts. but not the other way around (unless a retro-hobbyist did something).

study this picture close and compare.


 
well, dagnabit. Would be cool to have this cab design!

"That was an early prototype and there were about 20 of them. The reason we went to the straight sides was for added stability, given the physicality of the game playing. And I guess it was also somewhat cheaper." - Eugene Jarvis July 2015
 
Actually this is an even weirder version of the normal "early cabinet" with the undercut sides... Notice the cut is like a ramp on this one, mine is two tangent radii like the other few undercut ones i've seen over the years... i wonder, can you tell if its factory cut like that? doesn't line up with the end of the blue lines like "normal"... maybe someone cut it when a corner broke?

attachment.php
 

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there are others out there like both of those 2. I don't think they are home cut. Must have been experimentation in the cabinet factory until they decided on the straight down?
 
"That was an early prototype and there were about 20 of them. The reason we went to the straight sides was for added stability, given the physicality of the game playing. And I guess it was also somewhat cheaper." - Eugene Jarvis July 2015


I would have to argue that there were ALOT more than 20-25 of these made.

In fact, most of the ones I've seen had the cut-out edge.
(... as the photo of my 3 cabs would show ...)

... But I'm in Canada, so maybe we got all the rejects ! ;-)

----

The story "I" heard
(... via the InterWebs, so take it for what it's worth... )
is that the first batch of Robotrons had the cut-out sides
(... how many were made, I don't know, ... I'm guessing hundreds maybe ... ).

Then they made Joust , and then Sinistar, and "then" made another run of Robotrons
using whatever cabs they had on-hand, many of which were the straight edge.

I don't know if that's true or not, but I would venture to guess that
certainly more than half of all the Robo cabs I've seen in Canada
have been the cut-out version.

Steph
 

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Then they made Joust , and then Sinistar, and "then" made another run of Robotrons
using whatever cabs they had on-hand, many of which were the straight edge.

Following that logic,
the cab posted for sale in this thread looks like a Joust cab,
whereas the straight-edge cab was more typical Bubbles.
(..which did not do well, so a lot of Bubbles cabs got re-commissioned as Robotrons )

Steph
 
This has been posted before,
but it's an awesome reference worthy of re-posting...
 

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I think the timeline is off a bit.
Defender was their first video adventure.
then DeMar/Jarvis worked offsite on Robo, due to a money conflict. (but they were still working with Williams and Fedesna as their boss)
At the same time Williams hired Newcomer to come up with another inhouse game which was Joust.
Defender was such a huge hit that they had to come up with a new production facility.
but post-defender- Robo was first to production (prod release June 1982. Then Joust with prod release mid-July 1982)
Ken Fedesna was the head of engineering and was one of the first hires when Mike Stroll was brought on to do a microprocessor pinball as he was already working on it when he worked with Seaburg. So Ken was with them clear through all the years including Joust II.

Bubbles was a Python inspired project.
Sinistar was a mess of a project and someone got in to help.
Yellowdog was around for those post-Robo years and can fill that detail in.

Ken Fedesna seems to have the most complete memories of the production years so lets wait for him to chime in on the builds.

A memory from DeMar-
Larry DeMar Sept 2013- While Robotron was a significant success in the marketplace, the market got ahead of itself and there were more orders in the distribution chain than the market of operators could absorb. As things settled, the distributors cancelled orders for a significant number of games (probably a few thousand) which Williams was in the process of making. Some number of completely painted Robotron cabinets were re-painted to become Joust which followed Robotron.
 
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I think the timeline is off a bit.
Defender was their first video adventure.
then DeMar/Jarvis worked offsite on Robo, due to a money conflict. (but they were still working with Williams and Fedesna as their boss)
At the same time Williams hired Newcomer to come up with another inhouse game which was Joust.
Defender was such a huge hit that they had to come up with a new production facility.
but post-defender- Robo was first to production (prod release June 1982. Then Joust with prod release mid-July 1982)


A memory from DeMar-
Larry DeMar Sept 2013- While Robotron was a significant success in the marketplace, the market got ahead of itself and there were more orders in the distribution chain than the market of operators could absorb. As things settled, the distributors cancelled orders for a significant number of games (probably a few thousand) which Williams was in the process of making. Some number of completely painted Robotron cabinets were re-painted to become Joust which followed Robotron.


That sounds right to me. I have 2 of the Robotron to Joust repaints and have seen at least one or 2 more of that style Joust in this area. Actual Robotrons just don't pop up around here very often.
 
They don't pop up here often ether, but they do...

I just got my hands on this.. Poor mans hopes and dreams soon to become realityImageUploadedByTapatalk1437877224.954723.jpg

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1437877241.987435.jpg
 
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