My latest aquisition: Nintendo Space Firebird

Superully

Active member
Joined
Apr 22, 2008
Messages
1,749
Reaction score
11
Location
Lauda, Baden-Wuerttemberg, Germany
yesterday, i picked up this nintendo space firebird cab! while there are quite a few cocktail tables out there, the upright version seems to be quite rare.

unfortunately, there are some parts missing (or have been replaced) as you can see on the following pictures:

6927233256_032d6a6fc3_b_d.jpg


6927233566_e0d01d0b35_b_d.jpg


the coin door is different from the later nintendo models

7073313611_a895261a8a_b_d.jpg


the control panel: buttons are not (all) original, an 8-way joystick has been hacked in, plexi has cigarette burns, instruction stickers are worn

7073312491_5023e0433d_b_d.jpg
 
inside, it has the famous "sanyo monitor in a box" ...

6927232990_1ff36cf00f_b_d.jpg


... along with the monitor adjustment sheet tacked to the back door

6927233164_3e20bbe6b4_b_d.jpg


at the bottom: the original power supply

6927233416_a5e5e9bc57_b_d.jpg


unfortunately, the original space firebird pcb is no longer present, someone has hacked in a roc'n rope pcb :(

6927232352_3b6ee86d38_b_d.jpg


metal identification plaque - i would really like to know more about the story of that cab!

6927232816_cf961b4ebc_b_d.jpg


final shot: my new space firebird next to my old german donkey kong machine. it will be leaving The Storage™ shortly, because i also picked up a dedicated donkey kong cabinet!

7073312641_2b16e48f08_b_d.jpg


here's what i need now:
- space firebird marquee (from nintendo, not the sega / gremlin version)
- sideart (although i've been told that this might not exist at all. although it is pictured on the flyer, noone seems to have seen it yet)
- 2-way joystick (is it the mario bros type?)
- new instruction stickers
- space firebird pcb (is there a difference between the rare upright and the common cocktail table?)
- nintendo space firebird manual (looking for the upright version)

any input / part is appreciated - help me get this baby back up and running please! :)
 
That German DK is really cool too! Does that have the side art too?
 
Freakin sick. That's awesome. Never seen an upright Space Firebird (though I regret passing on a basically free water damaged cocktail a couple years back). What's up with the marquee?
 
Nice pickup - good to see the guts of the cab mostly intact.

If you're going to be undertaking a restore project, let me know. I will have a fully shopped out working Space Firebird boardset available for you soon. PM me for details.
 
Very cool! I even like the replacement marquee.

Sounds like you've got a lead on a Space Firebird PCB, but don't throw Roc N' Rope in the trash - it's really a very good game.
 
Wow. Those are both incredible cabinets. I don't know which one I like better! I've never seen or heard of that Sanyo' monitor-in-a-box' before. Also amazing to see that different dedicated DK sideart. Thanks for sharing these pics!!
 
Wow. Those are both incredible cabinets. I don't know which one I like better! I've never seen or heard of that Sanyo' monitor-in-a-box' before. Also amazing to see that different dedicated DK sideart. Thanks for sharing these pics!!

thx a lot, i loke the german sideart as well, unfortunately they never made a junior version of that cab. as for the monitor-in-a-box, it was used on older style nintendo cabs - at least that's what i've read and seen on various pictures!
 
Wow. I'm Jealous. Looks like's it's in pretty good shape. Too bad it is missing the marquee and original boards. I think the original boards shouldn't be too hard to find. The marquee on the other hand I will say good luck (and if you find 2 let me know).

Can you take picture of the underside of the control panel. Like to see what remenants of the joystick are. Is it completely swaped out or just hacked original. The joystick is the two way version of the Heli Fire joystick. Pictures can be seen in my restoration thread.

The ISO looks to be original but the power supply looks to be a replacement. I think this uses the same power supply as Heli Fire as well.

Looks great. What are your plans for it? Complete restoration, fix it up as a nice original? Looking forward to tracking your progress.

Hope I can find one just like it.

Murph
 
Forgot to mention that the 1 and 2 player start buttons are original and the warp and fire are not as you suspected. The correct buttons are available here in the US in blue and green. I tried looking at the flyer and it looks like fire should be red (typical early nintendo) and the warp should be blue. If you can't find a red button and are interested let me know.

One player blue and 2 player green are correct colors.

Murph
 
Hey Murph, thx for your input, let me go through it one by one!

Too bad it is missing the marquee and original boards. I think the original boards shouldn't be too hard to find. The marquee on the other hand I will say good luck (and if you find 2 let me know).

i have some leads on original boards, but the marquee is really going to be difficult to source. however, a friend of mine is working on a vector version from the straight-on picture available on the internet. it's not going to be 100% accurate, but much better than nothing at all.

you could do me a favor though and measure your heli fire marquee (if possible in centimeters) because the marquee installed on my space firebird is too narrow (there are spaces on the left and on the right). with those measures, we're one step closer to reproducing the marquee. would be totally cool if you could do that!

Can you take picture of the underside of the control panel. Like to see what remenants of the joystick are. Is it completely swaped out or just hacked original. The joystick is the two way version of the Heli Fire joystick. Pictures can be seen in my restoration thread.

i can do so tomorrow, but i think it has been swaped out completely. as for the original joystick: is it the same as the one used on mario bros because i have a spare one like that!

The ISO looks to be original but the power supply looks to be a replacement. I think this uses the same power supply as Heli Fire as well.

haven't had the chance to look at it in detail, but it looks pretty close to what you have in your cab!

Forgot to mention that the 1 and 2 player start buttons are original and the warp and fire are not as you suspected. The correct buttons are available here in the US in blue and green. I tried looking at the flyer and it looks like fire should be red (typical early nintendo) and the warp should be blue. If you can't find a red button and are interested let me know.
One player blue and 2 player green are correct colors.

cool!!! although i think the player 1 and 2 buttons should be identical in color (i'd say green), fire in red and warp in blue. apart from a red button, would you also be able to get me another green one?

Looks great. What are your plans for it? Complete restoration, fix it up as a nice original?

as you can see from my answers, definitely restore it to its full former glory! this fabulous cab deserves to be back in space firebird action, don't you think?
 
Marquee is 56.8cm X 14.8cm

1-Player and 2-Player start buttons were originally blue and green. If you like green and green or blue and blue better then that's certainly up to you. I don't think anyone would knock you for it. Here's a link to a place to buy the blue and green button/switches.

http://www.videogameparts.com/category.sc?categoryId=150

If you need the red one pm me offline. I had to order these from Japan and I have a very limited supply.

The original joystick is not the same as mario bros but functionally it would probably work fine.
 
Back
Top Bottom