Space Invaders Cabinet Plans?

[daklone]

Hi All,

Does anyone have/know where I could find the plans for the original Space Invaders cabinet, like this one:



Or failing that, does anyone actually have an original cabinet that they'd be willing to photograph and measure-up for me?

Thanks,
dK

[1500points]

there is a site that has dimensions but the name is slipping me at moment.
Is it google sketchup, like this one?
https://3dwarehouse.sketchup.com/model/337c94fd57d0185418b861f59880998d/Space-Invaders-Arcade-Cabinet

I only have the Taito version.

[daklone]

Thank you 1500points.

That model looks OK but there are a few things that are obviously wrong which leads me to question the whole thing.

I've spent a long time Googling and have only a few pictures and the overall dimensions (64" x 26 1/2" x 34") to show for it, so if you can remember where you saw it that would be great.

What I think I need is someone who has one...anyone have any ideas where I might find an owner?

[daklone]

After cobbling together some guessed dimensions, I've started CAD'ing up the cabinet. So far I've got a side elevation as attached.

I'm not convinced that the front and back are parallel to each other or indeed perpendicular to the ground so if anyone can confirm that (or anything else) I'd be grateful.

[1500points]

this was another one, but sure enough it doesn't list a normal SI Midway upright.
https://www.classicarcadecabinets.com/arcade-plans-by-title.html

[daklone]

Yep, I'd had a look at that one already. I've sent the owner a request for the one I want and he says that he doesn't have it but will at it to his "to do" list.

[Jakobud]

Don't forget that the sides of Space Invaders are twice as thick as most cabinets at certain parts of it, because there are two 3/4" plywood layers. Later, Space Invaders Deluxe (II) used the same cabinet shape except got rid of the double thick sides and just used a single piece of plywood.

[paigeoliver]

After cobbling together some guessed dimensions, I've started CAD'ing up the cabinet. So far I've got a side elevation as attached.

I'm not convinced that the front and back are parallel to each other or indeed perpendicular to the ground so if anyone can confirm that (or anything else) I'd be grateful.

They are parallel and perpendicular.

Also, this is one of the easiest stripped out cabinets to get in real life. I forced a few stripped ones into a deal once because I couldn't get rid of them. People THINK the black and white monitors are irreplaceable, so they part them.

[daklone]

Also, this is one of the easiest stripped out cabinets to get in real life. I forced a few stripped ones into a deal once because I couldn't get rid of them. People THINK the black and white monitors are irreplaceable, so they part them.

Thanks for the confirmation paigeoliver...I don't suppose you have one at the moment do you? 

Sadly they might be very common in some regions, but here in the UK even non-working examples go for around $700, working items more like double that. That's even when they come up, which is not often.

[1500points]

With Space Invaders turning 40, there isn't enough talk about how profound this game was on the arcade culture!

Whomever wrote this wiki section did a good job, strikes the imagination:

After the first few months following its release in Japan, the game became very popular. Specialty arcades opened with nothing but Space Invaders cabinets, and by the end of 1978, Taito had installed over 100,000 machines and grossed over $600 million in Japan alone. Within two years by 1980, Taito had sold over 300,000 Space Invaders arcade machines in Japan, in addition to 60,000 machines in the United States, where prices ranged from $2000 to $3000 for each machine, within one year. The arcade cabinets have since become collector's items with the cocktail and cabaret versions being the rarest. By mid-1981, more than four billion quarters, or $1 billion, had been grossed from Space Invaders machines, and it would continue to gross an average of $600 million a year through to 1982, by which time it had grossed $2 billion in quarters (equivalent to $7.5 billion in 2018), with a net profit of $450 million (equivalent to $1.69 billion in 2018). This made it the best-selling video game and highest-grossing entertainment product of its time, with comparisons made to the then highest-grossing film Star Wars, which had grossed $486 million

[paigeoliver]

I do indeed have one.

Also, this is one of the easiest stripped out cabinets to get in real life. I forced a few stripped ones into a deal once because I couldn't get rid of them. People THINK the black and white monitors are irreplaceable, so they part them.

Thanks for the confirmation paigeoliver...I don't suppose you have one at the moment do you? 

Sadly they might be very common in some regions, but here in the UK even non-working examples go for around $700, working items more like double that. That's even when they come up, which is not often.

[MacDLSA]

Hi there.

Sorry if I reprise this old post...

I will soon have a Midway Space Invaders to restore (almost completely ... it was kinda' flooded so much) and I would need to know something in advance to get some components.
In particular, the front glass (I'll do it... I work in a factory where we make tempered glass since thirty years)...
Could someone please tell me the measurements of this glass ?
I'm asking it because on the web there still is no precise indication nor a complete project, UNFORTUNATELY... otherwise I had already built this cab by myself, after doing Dragon's Lair (Cinematronics, Atari and Sidam... full-height and midi/repros), Defender, Robotron, Quantum and other "multigame" cabinets.

Thanks in advance.

Best regards,

Marco