What cabinet is this?

[grueinthebox]

Yet another "what cabinet is this?" thread...  Doesn't seem to be anything that originally came with a trackball, although it has Birdie King II in it right now.  Before I gut it to MAME for a co-worker, would like to know what it started life as...  The inside revealed no clues, other than the fact that the monitor doesn't seem to be in it's original position - was likely horizontal to start with.

One picture's pretty bad, but gives an idea of the strange marquee...  The other shows the profile, which is...  different.

[Kevin Mullins]

Hmmm... odd looking thing.
The side of the cabinet area around the control panel looks similar to an Atari cabinet design. (Centipede, Dig Dug, etc....athough I know it's none of those obviously)
And are those Atari cone buttons for the P1 and P2 start?
Does the entire control panel hinge down to open? (kinda like a Millipede)

Damn, I keep heading towards the Atari thing....... but still no idea yet.

[RayB]

I keep thinking the same thing when looking at the control panel profile. Very Centipede era looking. Gosh, I hope this wasnt an Aztarak or Akka Arrh or whatever that rare prototype was... hehehe

I don't recognize it. Very oddball shape.

[Kevin Mullins]

Ok... turning my head sideways was bugging me.
Hmmm, starting to look like an alligator head, crocodile, something.
Does the GREEN look original, or is it painted?

[grueinthebox]

Answers thus far...  Those are cone buttons for the P1/2 start.  I didn't notice the control panel being hinged at the bottom, but I can check for sure when I get home.  The green looks like it might be original - if it's a repaint they did an unusually good job for a conversion.  Of course, the electronics on the inside are installed fairly cleanly as well, with the exception of the monitor which, in it's current orientation, won't allow the back door to close completely (back of the monitor casing hits against the back door).

Following up on the cone buttons I'll look through the Atari games listed on the KLOV if I can find some free time at work, and if no one's got an answer by the time I get home I'll try to take some more, better pictures.  All I had handy yesterday was my phone.

[RayB]

I've looked through KLOV and there's nothing like that under Atari.

Is it really green paint and not green laminate? You could always check underneath for artwork!

[Q*Bert_OP]

does it have a bally/midway coin door? I want to say that it's sarge...

http://klov.com/game_detail.php?letter=&game_id=9433

[grueinthebox]

Couldn't find the camera last night, so no new pics, but a little more information...  The sides are, in fact, green laminate.  The control panel is hinged at the bottom.  Removed part of the Birdie King II CPO to reveal...  Another Birdie King II CPO.  Coin door is a generic type over/under door, not Bally/Midway.

Marquee seems to be made to fit the cabinet, which is strange because it's an abnormal size - smallish.

Control panel seems to be bolted on with carriage bolts, rather than clamped on.  Will see about taking it off after work today to see if the holes for the start buttons/trackball are the originals.  Hopefully this will reveal something interesting, but I'm not holding my breath.  May be a lost cause trying to figure this one out.

Control panel shape, coin door, profile and marquee are all wrong for Sarge.  Given the control panel (shape and cone buttons), I'd say this is almost assuredly some kind of Atari cabinet.  I also went through the list at KLOV, but there are a lot of cabinets with no pictures there.  No telling...

[RayB]

Cone buttons could have been added by the operator when converting this...

Sarge. Wow. never saw nor even heard of that game! Gonna have to try that one out in MAME.

[Texasmame]

does it have a bally/midway coin door? I want to say that it's sarge...

http://klov.com/game_detail.php?letter=&game_id=9433

Good call but the angles are different.  Close, tho. . .

[Kevin Mullins]

I posted this question on RGVAC..... and one fella came up with a very good and viable possibilty.... so I'll throw this at you guys and see what you think.

He was thinking it may have been modified. He owns an Atari Liberator and took a decent pic of it. The marquee area is defineately an oddball setup so there should be very few like that. And the one he pointed out is indeed an Atari cabinet with cones buttons in the same layout as yours, also take a look at that wierd little hump on the top of the cabinet, and it was a trackball game to boot.

When you open the control panel up, look to see if there are two more button holes in that blank green area near the start buttons.

[SirPeale]

I don't think so.  The slant of the monitor is different.  Of course, that could have been modified.

[grueinthebox]

Actually, I'd bet that's it.  I got the control panel off last night, and there is an area that's been patched between the trackball and cone buttons.  Given the cludgey-ness of the monitor installation it doesn't exactly surprise me that the whole thing is butchered.

I'm going to consider that "case closed"...  Thanks for clearing up the mystery.  I will now proceed to MAME the heck out of the thing with a clean conscience.