Picked up another one. A 1976 BiPlane

blinddog

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I was doing some work on a Stunt Cycle PCB for this guy and in exchange for that I ended up picking up his non working BiPlane, He said it just stopped working one day and he never tried to figure out why. So I finally got around to looking at it last night and it turned out that it was just a fuse, well for the most part. The white planes score wasn't working either but that was a bad counter at F7 which didn't take to long to figure out. So here is the new black and white game that I just added to my collection. Now that I have Tank, BiPlane and Jet Fighter it's like having the stand-up equivalent of a Atari Combat cartridge

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do these games really get any play? I love the look of the cabinet and how original it looks, but is it worth having these machines take up valuable space? I guess if room is not an issue then why not......
 
Cool. That's an awesome game. The old black and white games definitely don't get enough attention on KLOV.
 
Awesome pick-up. +1 for B/W games!

do these games really get any play? I love the look of the cabinet and how original it looks, but is it worth having these machines take up valuable space?

To each his own maybe? If you grew up during the black & white era of games, these hold alot of nostalgic value. They're also beautiful in their simplicity. I can certainly think of alot worse games to have in your collection.
 
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Congrats on the Bi-Plane pickup. They're not easy to find with a nice cabinet and working.

I sold my Bi-Plane last May after about 15 years of ownership. I loved it since I played it when I was a teenager but after that much time it had gotten old. But, it's still a cool game and if I want to play it again I can go to my friend's house and play his! Win!

Tom
 
Awesome.

That game must've shown up in a movie at some point. I think I remember seeing it in one...
 
Nice pick up, Matt. I look forward to playing it the next time I can get out to your place. Any plans for hosting a party?




do these games really get any play? I love the look of the cabinet and how original it looks, but is it worth having these machines take up valuable space? I guess if room is not an issue then why not......


I have games that date from the 1950's to the 2000's. The games from the 70's get the most play from me. In fact, no other decade even comes close. When I enter my gameroom I automaticly turn on Head On, Clowns, and my two 70's era pins. Other era games get played, but not every time I am there.
 
do these games really get any play? I love the look of the cabinet and how original it looks, but is it worth having these machines take up valuable space? I guess if room is not an issue then why not......

At my place they do but seeing that my black and whites outnumber my color games 4 to 1 they don't really have a choice do they. I've brought them to our Seattle show and I guess they do seem to get played less then the others but they still do all right and games like Sprint2 and Sea Wolf do really well. Blue Shark stayed pretty busy too but that's a great looking game that's really simply to play.

To answer your question is it worth the floor space, well that's something you have to decide yourself. For me it's yes but space is a premium in this hobby so be sure to go with what you like.

An Atari Football got me started in the b/w games and from there I found myself drawn to them. There are some really fun games that tend to get over looked and I missed out on them the first time around (I'm 38 and didn't really start going to the arcades until around 81). So seeing as these type of games really aren't playable in MAME and you don't see them in too many collection I want to make sure others get a chance to play them for the first time or remind them how fun they were.
 
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Thats awesome, there was one for sale around here and i wasnt sure if itd be any good or not...I was really thinking of it, just to get into the hands of someone that wanted it. I hate seeing games up for a while then ya never know if they tossed it out or not...Cool game
 
Stunt Cycle is my only B/W game, and I play it pretty regularly. I don't have the space for more of them, but I think most home arcades could use one favorite B/W.
 
You have a great collection going. I personally love the old B/W games and EMs. Spent lots of time in arcades back in the 70's and was always amazed at the games. They also have some of the best cabs and art you will see plus some of the stuff they came up with for effects just can't be replicated.
 
Well it may not matter as far as whether to keep the game on location or not but the game does have a bit of history behind it.

It was actaully Fun Games' best seller by far with several thousand units produced. The real significance, however, is probably Fun Games itself.
It was founded by a group of disgruntled former Atari engineers (including Pat Kearns and Obie Alvarez). When they left Atari, they took plans (and I think parts) for a number of games that Atari had in production. Take Seven actually included a ripped-off version of Breakout called Bust Out. Take Seven came out in 1975 (before Breakout).
Tankers was their version of Tank and BiPlane was a takeoff on Jet Fighter.

Atari was not amused and successfully sued them and put them out of business. They consolidated with Meadows Games in April of 1977, with Meadows acquiring rights to Take Seven and a number of unreleased games.

Keith Smith
http://allincolorforaquarter.blogspot.com/
 
I don't recall ever playing it, but if it's like the bi-plane game on the Intellivision Triple-Action cartridge I can see it being a lot of fun, especially with two players.

BTW someone recently had a boardset on Ebay for $400, I don't know if it got sold for that or not.
 
"Now that I have Tank, BiPlane and Jet Fighter it's like having the stand-up equivalent of a Atari Combat cartridge"

Now that was funny! I love the old black and white games, congrats on the pick up.
 
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