Wednesday, May 14, 2025

scans: Coin Machine Review 1944

Four issues from 1944.  Still the lean years, but things are picking up.
Coin Machine Review 1944-03
Coin Machine Review 1944-04
Coin Machine Review 1944-06
Coin Machine Review 1944-12


Coin Machine Review 1944-03

Coin Machine Review 1944-04

Coin Machine Review 1944-06

Coin Machine Review 1944-12


Some highlights:






 

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This blog stands in opposition to USA's attempted cultural genocide of trans people.  Everyone needs to check their principles and find their red line where fascism can no longer be tolerated.  If this war against trans people does not cross your line, you are supporting nazism and are not welcome.

This blog stands in protest against the USA's horrific policies to try and eliminate trans people from society.  Trans people have always existed, in every society, but this fascist administration has declared a war against reality and says that trans people can no longer be allowed to exist.  Trump's executive orders say that trans children cannot be safe at school, in their home, in public, or at hospitals.  Trump officially declared transness existing as a primary source of CHILD ABUSE.  Trump's orders are a decree to destroy all traces of trans existence from society, to punish every trans person and those that love them, and declares that all trans people are subhuman threats and liars who should not be allowed to exist publicly.  He is attacking children, he is attacking families, and he is delighting in his sadism.

This blog stands in solidarity with all of the youth who are being terrorized by a fascist president who has declared them to be threats that must be eliminated.

Please read: Trans people have spent a decade being attacked in a moral panic by Séamas O'Reilly  

Please read: Your Threat Model Has Changed by Margaret Killjoy



scans: Coin Machine Review 1943

9 issues of Coin Machine Review from 1943:

Coin Machine Review 1943-02
Coin Machine Review 1943-03
Coin Machine Review 1943-04
Coin Machine Review 1943-06
Coin Machine Review 1943-07
Coin Machine Review 1943-09
Coin Machine Review 1943-10
Coin Machine Review 1943-11
Coin Machine Review 1943-12


Coin Machine Review 1943-02

Coin Machine Review 1943-03

Coin Machine Review 1943-04

Coin Machine Review 1943-06

Coin Machine Review 1943-07

Coin Machine Review 1943-09

Coin Machine Review 1943-10

Coin Machine Review 1943-11

Coin Machine Review 1943-12

 

 

Some highlights:

 








-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

This blog stands in opposition to USA's attempted cultural genocide of trans people.  Everyone needs to check their principles and find their red line where fascism can no longer be tolerated.  If this war against trans people does not cross your line, you are supporting nazism and are not welcome.

This blog stands in protest against the USA's horrific policies to try and eliminate trans people from society.  Trans people have always existed, in every society, but this fascist administration has declared a war against reality and says that trans people can no longer be allowed to exist.  Trump's executive orders say that trans children cannot be safe at school, in their home, in public, or at hospitals.  Trump officially declared transness existing as a primary source of CHILD ABUSE.  Trump's orders are a decree to destroy all traces of trans existence from society, to punish every trans person and those that love them, and declares that all trans people are subhuman threats and liars who should not be allowed to exist publicly.  He is attacking children, he is attacking families, and he is delighting in his sadism.

This blog stands in solidarity with all of the youth who are being terrorized by a fascist president who has declared them to be threats that must be eliminated.

Please read: Trans people have spent a decade being attacked in a moral panic by Séamas O'Reilly  

Please read: Your Threat Model Has Changed by Margaret Killjoy


Thursday, May 8, 2025

HELP WANTED: please donate so we can digitize Coin Journal issues!

Update: we won all of them!

Thank you all for your assistance.  A full update with accounting will be shared once we have received them.

 

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We need your help to secure some early Coin Journal magazines!

We have a very special opportunity before us: a number of FULL YEAR RUNS of Coin Journal [月刊コインジャーナル] are up for auction, ending in 3 days.  (plus some early standalone issues)

These will be very expensive to purchase, and I am asking for help from the broader arcade collector community.  We can make this happen.  These can all get scanned at 600 DPI and shared with everyone.  But we need to win as many of these auctions as possible.

Current tally: $6021.61 USD
omg.  WOW.

(includes the $3000 matching donation)

Every increase allows us to win more of these auctions!  The goal amount is my estimate for winning all of the Coin Journal auctions.
 
Coin Journals from the 1980s will give everyone a deep look into the Japanese arcade industry.  Researchers extract the game ranking charts, industry figures, interviews with developers and executives, and all of the industry news that would otherwise be lost.  Lost Media fans find endless joy in the freshly unearthed game and prize advertisements. Game information and pictures will be utilized for my eremeka database project. Trade publications like these are filled with information that is not included in consumer-oriented magazines.  These magazines will be accessible to the general public and even if you don't read Japanese (I use translation tools) the magazines are filled with delightful photographs and advertisements.
Some past issues we have digitized: Coin Journal 1989-06, 1992-08, 1993-07, 1996-05.
 

Donating: 

You can send me PayPal at thetastates@gmail.com or if you're in Canada you can send me an e-transfer to thetastates@gmail.com.  You can donate through Detchibe's Ko-Fi account, and add a note that the money is for Coin Journals. Any extra funds would be rolled in to future magazine purchases from Japan.

The auctions

1982-12 https://buyee.jp/item/jdirectitems/auction/t1183908537
1983-01 https://buyee.jp/item/jdirectitems/auction/h1183933116
1983-06 https://buyee.jp/item/jdirectitems/auction/u1183942166
1984 5 issues https://buyee.jp/item/jdirectitems/auction/j1183925104
1985 10 issues https://buyee.jp/item/jdirectitems/auction/q1183920398
1986 full run https://buyee.jp/item/jdirectitems/auction/b1183927187
1987 full run https://buyee.jp/item/jdirectitems/auction/x1183912729
1988 full run https://buyee.jp/item/jdirectitems/auction/k1183918202
1989 full run https://buyee.jp/item/jdirectitems/auction/g1183933015
1990 full run https://buyee.jp/item/jdirectitems/auction/t1183907587
1991 full run https://buyee.jp/item/jdirectitems/auction/k1183918453
1994 full run https://buyee.jp/item/jdirectitems/auction/n1183916612


Who is asking you for money?

Yeah, what's the big idea with an internet person asking you for money?  If you are new to this blog, please see the SCANS tag and scroll back through the over 100 entries.  Please see the archives of scans done by Detchibe and Hubz.  Find us all on the Gaming Alexandria Discord.

If you've ever wanted to support a significant acquisition for arcade and videogame preservation, this is your chance.

Cost considerations

Prior auction results, for reference:

 
We go from ¥31,500 for single issues from 1976 to about ¥10,000 per issue for the mid 1980s.  That 1990 full run works out to ¥4250 per issue, but that 1992 run was just over ¥1200 per issue.  You can see an inverse exponential scale at work here, with the 1980s and earlier being incredibly pricey.

I made a chart with some rough estimates for these upcoming auctions.  We won't be able to get it all, but we can get some.

A set of issues from the year 2000 recently cost us about ¥17,000 (~$119 USD).  The earlier the year, the more it will sell for.  The early 1990s full year runs will probably sell for around ¥35,000 (~$245 USD).  I imagine the 1980s runs will sell for far more, but I am hoping that there will be some voter fatigue to dampen the prices. 


Shipping costs

Coin Journal and Amusement Industry magazines from the 1990s are huge.  Averaged out over a large shipment, they cost about ¥1300 EACH just to get them here for scanning.  That is ¥15,600 to ship a single year of issues. (about $110 USD)

The 1980s issues are thinner, but will still probably average about ¥900 each for shipping. That is ¥10,800 to ship a single year of issues.  (about $76 USD)

 

Plan of attack

Unless we get a massive amount of donations in the brief time we have, we will have to use the money strategically.  We won't be able to win if spread out bids out evenly, but if we bid live in the order things close, we can roll the money forward from lots we did not win.

Here are the auctions again, but with an image, and sorted by which auctions close first.

1983-01 https://buyee.jp/item/jdirectitems/auction/h1183933116

1994 full run https://buyee.jp/item/jdirectitems/auction/n1183916612

1985 10 issues https://buyee.jp/item/jdirectitems/auction/q1183920398

1988 full run https://buyee.jp/item/jdirectitems/auction/k1183918202

1982-12 https://buyee.jp/item/jdirectitems/auction/t1183908537

1987 full run https://buyee.jp/item/jdirectitems/auction/x1183912729

1991 full run https://buyee.jp/item/jdirectitems/auction/k1183918453

1984 5 issues https://buyee.jp/item/jdirectitems/auction/j1183925104

1983-06 https://buyee.jp/item/jdirectitems/auction/u1183942166

1986 full run https://buyee.jp/item/jdirectitems/auction/b1183927187

1990 full run https://buyee.jp/item/jdirectitems/auction/t1183907587

1989 full run https://buyee.jp/item/jdirectitems/auction/g1183933015



exploring the arcade in this 1970 photograph from Japan

This slide was posted on Ebay (archive), and I was alerted to it on Pachitalk. It appears to indicate it had been developed September 1970.  Nothing I can see below would be incongruous with a Japanese arcade in 1970, and the most recent machine I can identify is from 1970.  This image is a rare treat!  There are very few images of arcades from this time, and most are black and white.

A lovely arcade in Japan, circa 1970!

Beppu  Fun room of Suginoi
Sep 70N2

 Let's look at what's inside!

 

At the front of the image is a grid of 4 crane games:

 

We can see the marquees on a few of these.  The two on the right are Sega's original Skill Diga.

1965 Skill Diga - スキル・ディガ by セガ (Sega)

At the back on the left is Super Skill Diga.

1968 Super Skill Diga - スーパー・スキル・ディガ by セガ (Sega)

The front-left crane has a larger marquee area and I am unsure which model it is, but it is not a Sega or Taito crane.

The next 2 cranes are also Super Skill Diga.


Very dark, but to the left of those cranes is a pachinko machine.


Continuing down that row it kind of looks like more crane machines, but it's very hard to tell.  There is a bright glowing lightbox and I do not know if that is a game and/or if the table in front of it is part of it.  But we can see a machine to the right of that glowing box.  You might not see much, but we are seeing a light-coloured vertical column, and then a slanted surface with some buttons.


I believe this is a 30 Test, seen from the side.


1970 30 Test [Thirty Test] - サーティテスト by 中村製作所 (Nakamura Seisakusho)


 

Look above the glowing backbox, we can see the broad side-art of a Missile!

1969 Missile - ミサイル by セガ (Sega)

 
Then let's move over to the right in the image, focusing on this block and moving left-to-right:


On the far left we see the side of what kind of looks like a pinball machine with stripes, but as was pointed out to me the legs don't join at the cab.  It is probably a foosball game similar to Soccer Game, but with an extra stripe...

~1969 Soccer Game - サッカーゲーム by 日本自動販売機 (Nihon Jidô Hanbaiki)

 

Then a basketball game with an angular dome.

1966 Basketball - バスケットボール by セガ (Sega)

Then we see the side/back of another pinball machine, but I am unable to identify it.

More to the foreground, the next two area easy to identify.

 

1969 Derby Day - ダ ービーデー by セガ (Sega)


~1966 Combat - コンバットガン (Combat Gun) by 関西精機 (Kansai Seiki)


But the next machine has me stumped.  It appears to have a transparent glass side with a blue-background marquee with dark/red writing on it.

unknown machine

 To the right of this block, facing to the left of the frame, what might look like a videogame cabinet at a glance is actually a roulette game, Colorette.

1968 Colorette - コロレット by 中村製作所 (Nakamura Seisakusho)

Further to the right we have a smart ball lineup.


All-7 Happy Ball - パイロンレース (Python Race) by 玉福産業 (Tamafuku Sangyo)


Finally on the right we have a row of pachinko machines, but also a cool old payphone on the end of the aisle.


These are single-shot pachinko machines, where you insert one ball at a time into a hole on the right.

Not exactly, but something similar to this:

reference only: 1963 Heiwa single-shot pachinko

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

This blog stands in opposition to USA's attempted cultural genocide of trans people.  Everyone needs to check their principles and find their red line where fascism can no longer be tolerated.  If this war against trans people does not cross your line, you are supporting nazism and are not welcome.

This blog stands in protest against the USA's horrific policies to try and eliminate trans people from society.  Trans people have always existed, in every society, but this fascist administration has declared a war against reality and says that trans people can no longer be allowed to exist.  Trump's executive orders say that trans children cannot be safe at school, in their home, in public, or at hospitals.  Trump officially declared transness existing as a primary source of CHILD ABUSE.  Trump's orders are a decree to destroy all traces of trans existence from society, to punish every trans person and those that love them, and declares that all trans people are subhuman threats and liars who should not be allowed to exist publicly.  He is attacking children, he is attacking families, and he is delighting in his sadism.

This blog stands in solidarity with all of the youth who are being terrorized by a fascist president who has declared them to be threats that must be eliminated.