Museum of the Game® & International Arcade Museum® Forums

Hey everyone,
I recently picked up a cabinet that immediately made me think, "Hey, that looks like a Joust cabinet!" — and it definitely fits the description in many ways. However, the gentleman I purchased it from told me it was one of two custom cabinets made like this, originally shipped out of California.

I'm trying to determine whether the shell itself is still an original Williams cabinet, even if some of the internals have been replaced or reproduced. My goal is to restore it to a proper Joust, regardless — but if the shell is authentic, I'd love to go the extra mile and stencil the original sideart to preserve its integrity.

A few observations that lead me to believe it might be legit:

The shape closely matches known Joust/Multi-Williams cabinets.

There are some old stickers still inside the coin door area. One says Midway so I wasn't sure if it was original.

A serial number is carved into the top left of the cabinet's back panel.

There's a factory-style hole at the top where the original power switch would have been.


My theory is that this started life as an original Williams cabinet and was later converted into a custom multicade. It seems unlikely someone would go through the trouble of adding a period-accurate Williams serial number in the correct spot for only two "custom" units. And if someone had faked it, you'd expect them to emphasize its authenticity during the sale — but the seller made no effort to do that at all.

I'd really appreciate any insight or feedback from folks more familiar with Williams builds. Does this sound like it could be authentic to you?
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