My auction score - Asteroids S/N 434

mnrocketry

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Donor 14 years: 2011-2024
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While not as cool a "score" as Chris' Lunar Lander, I couldn't pass this one up.
(and I needed another Asteroids like I needed the proverbial extra hole in the head)

My $125 auction purchase today was a very early production Asteroids upright, serial number 434. It's complete, all original (and of course non-working).

Supporting the serial number evidence, it has all the markings of a very early Asteroids:
- "owl eye" coin door
- G05-801 monitor
- monitor bezel with the yellow text
- sides of the cabinet are plywood (later Asteroids switched to particle board)
- rev -02 game pcb
- 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)

I plan to restore this one and swap it into my collection to replace my current Asteroids.

Somehow, I also bought another Asteroids today too (for $75). This one is mid-production, serial number in the 30,000s.

Plus, a friend convinced me to pick up a $25 Sea Wolf for him.

Yes, the attached pic shows three Asteroids cabs in my garage. (today's two purchases plus one that I already had under restoration) That's at least two more than any sane person needs...
 

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A few more observations...

It made some money back in the day. Coin counter is at 69,076.

The factory ties are still in place securing the edge connector to the game pcb. It's almost certain, then, that the connector has never been removed since this game left the factory in 1979. (and the pcb has never been out of the cabinet)

Similarly, the cardboard bezel has never been removed since the factory installation. So, the monitor has never been out of the cabinet either.
 
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