Can anyone identify this cab?

[Gamecab]

I'm looking to restore another cabinet to it's former glory, and was wondering if anyone knew what this cabinet may have been.

Thanks
Charlie

[AmericanDemon]

Wow.  Not much to work with.  Is there a plate or anything on the back door?

[Gamecab]

Not sure,  The picture is all I have.  I'm trying to decide if the cabinet is worth the restoration and this will depend on the type of game it is (or was).  To me, this is one of those cabinets that is on the tip of the brain but I can't quite place it.

[AmericanDemon]

I would make sure to be able to look it over close up before picking it up.  From here it looks in good enough shape, but I cant ID it.

[RayB]

I think it's a Williams cab... Maybe Taito.

That slight indentation of the sides in the front (about half-way down) is the key here.....

[paigeoliver]

Not a Williams. Not a Taito Classic cabinet either. It doesn't appear to be a Sega cab either, although it does look similar to their design from back then. Its not Atari.

What is left to pick from?

Nintendo? Not even close.

Universal? Hmm, their cabs did have that kick in at the bottom, but nothing else matches.

Cinematronics? or Stern BINGO

The design looks almost identical to the one used with Armor Attack and Star Castle with only a single change as far as I can tell. While it looks exactly the same as Freeze, except for the monitor angle. It is also VERY close to the late 82 - 83 Stern cabinet.

So my final guess is that it is a revision of the later Cinematronics Vector cabinet or a version of the Stern cabinet. It could also simply be a generic or bootleg cabinet.

[Gamecab]

Paigeoliver,

Thank you so much for your help.  I did some digging as well based on your information and I think it is a Stern Astro Invader Cabinet.  I'm going to take a chance on this cab and also strip off the paint to find out what was under it (That's always the fun part).  It should be interesting.  I'll let you know what it turn out being.

Thanks
Charlie
 

[RayB]

If it has that vertical front-sliding drawer (like a Berzerk does), it's a good choice!

[spidermonkey]

Dammit I've been trolling the web for over an hour trying to match that cab to a game/manufacturer and I found squat. Wish I had that hour of my life back. I love the "name that cab" game but I give up. I seriously doubt that its an Astro Invader cab though as they came in the earlier style Stern cabs. (Berzerk style) It looks closer to a Stern/Konami Pooyan cab but its not that either.

[paigeoliver]

Spidermonkey, it is likely an alternate version of either the Stern or Cinematronics cabinet. It could have had ANYTHING in it though.

One thing I have noticed is that there are several different variations of Sega cabinets that all take the same control panels. The Sega Vector game panels will go right on the Sega Frogger cabinets.

There seemed to be a lot of cabinet variation amongst the smaller manufacturers.

[PacManFan]

It's a "Spiders" cabinet, I had one.

http://www.klov.com/game_detail.php?letter=&game_id=9718

-PMF