Rarest 1 of 1 Space Invaders? Low serial #

flyarlee

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I'm just floored.
I went to go pick up a Space Invaders near Hershey Pennsylvania, today. I did, but as I pulled it out of their house I was shocked to see the back. It had factory doors and locks but was FULLY painted in factory Space Invaders liverely. Out of the 150 + I've seen, I've never saw that before and I do say it looks cool!

I got home and was second shocked, it is a factory direct facing monitor mount and non-mirrored! WTH?!? I looked and sure enough, it has matching serial numbers. It is #2926 out of 400,000+ ?!?!?

The little old couple said they bought it in the VERY early 1980's directly from Hershey Park and it was in their house ever since.

My best guess is that Hershey Park custom ordered this beauty as a stand alone centerpiece that was not meant to go in a corner.

It's in really good shape but dirty. I have not begun to clean or restore. I am only getting neck glow but not playing. It is really clean inside and should be an easy fix.

What do you think? I almost think it should go to a collector and not in my arcade????
 

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A few more pics
 

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Some more.
 

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it is very cool, never seen anything like it does it add value i guess so, but how much? who knows, tough to see the back from the front

i like it
 
Speaking of Hershey's, this could just be a cool Hershey Park conversion. But a cool story none-the less:D
 
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Not too rare.. I think I know whats going on here. According VAPS I have the lowest recorded serial number of Midway's Space Invaders at 0775. I have no accoutrements of this nature. There is plenty of other members with SI but so far no serials lower.

The situation with the forward facing monitor probably went something like this... The mirror in question was probably broken or shattered at some point in time when the game was being used the make money at the park. You may find shards of broken glass still sitting on the bottom of the cabinet. You'll also probably find the wood mounting frame/structure for the mirror still in place as well. Since you cant play a mirrored game without the mirror unless you stick your head on the inside of the game and look down.. and even then its going to look backwards... Its a pain in the ass. So instead of having the game down to reorder parts or replace the mirror they just decided to mount the monitor facing forward and reorientated monitor gameplay by switching the neck yoke wires so its correct while playing. Bing, bang, boom, game is back up making money again. At least that's the theory. The monitor mounting wood looks overdone and I don't think Midway would ever put unpainted stock wood inside the cabinet like that. As far as the art is concern they probably spent more time painting that art while they were mounting the monitor during that down time.
 
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I have a space walk, same cab, same PCB, same cardboard, older than Space invaders from Midway too.
Already the mirror on this cab, the only change is the size of the monitor 23" instead of 19.
So maybe DIY on this one.
 

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The paint on the back used a different stencil than the design on the sides, you can see gaps in the white where the stencil was held together, gaps which the side art does not have. Also the white paint on the back generally seems to look a bit sloppier around some of the edges than the white on the sides. So I would guess that the design on the back was added after it left the factory.

Doesn't make it any less cool, but combined with the homemade monitor mount, I doubt it's a collectible rarity.
 
Did some more digging on this machine today. The front facing monitor is definitely a conversion, but it's not a hack job at all. It's painted and well done. The stencil does look a little less fine than the sides but, fade and ware looks about the same for the sides and back.

My best guess so far is that he front facing monitor was done for placement in the park for better view in ambiant lighting probably a 360' view from all around. Boards have technition tags from 1978 written on them.

Maybe it was a early video showpiece converted to draw people into the newly coined Starlight Arcade in Hershey Park? It opened in 1978/79 I think.

This is really a fun detective story! Got he screen working today..volts good..
 

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Well... I WANT to be a collector. I am opening up Coffeecade (Check it out on Facebook or www.coffeecade.net). I don't have room right now for my personal collection. My games are being custom tailored for my location/store.

This may all change in a few years when I can afford a personal collection.

:)
 
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