How To Find Serial Numbers
This is an exhaustive (to the best of our knowledge) list of how to get
serial numbers off of various games from various manufacturers and various
eras.
Bally
I found the serial number off of the old Bally Centaur game at PAPA
5. This, presumably, holds true for all Bally-specific games (ie: the ones
that are pre-Williams/Bally). The serial number is located on the left-
hand side of the headpiece (while facing the game), up near the top. The
serial number I got off of Centaur was: ECE4682. Actually, the 'C' may
have been an 'O', as Dusty/Sergio already list one Bally Centaur as
EOE1498.
Chicago Coin
I picked up at least one serial number from a Chicaco Coin "Sky Rider"
pin. The serial number was located on a small square piece of white
cardboard with miscellaneous game or copyright/patent information, located
in one of the corners of the playfield, under the topglass. The serial
number of this pin was: 3172.
Data East/Sega
Their serial numbers appear on the back of the cabinet; not very
accessible. The upshot is, there is also a manufacturing date on a
separate sticker back there. The only other place I know it is listed is
inside the coin door on the inner wall; also not very accessible. Except,
of course, at auctions.
Gottlieb
Older Gottlieb games have their serial numbers stamped/etched into the
wood on the front of the machine. These can often be hard to read as some
have been either damaged or painted over.
Gottlieb/Premier
The newer Gottlieb/Premier games have a sticker, located near the left
flipper, on the wall of the bottom arch, facing the upper-end of the
playfield. The serial numbers here have always been in-tact. I guess
operators munge the ones they find on the fronts of the cabinets, but
perhaps most of them don't know where Gottlieb/Premier hides
them. Unfortunately, G/P, to the best of our knowledge, do not post
anywhere on the game, the original manufacturing date.
Williams
Older Williams games are very much like older Gottlieb games. The serial
numbers are stamped/etched into the wood on the front of the cabinet. This
holds true for anything prior to say, oh, 1984/1985, or around System
9. Occasionally you have to look hard for it, like the Joust game at PAPA
5. I did find it eventually, serial number for that game was: 624985.
Williams/Bally
Newer Williams and Williams/Bally games have cute little stickers
*everywhere*. This began with System 9 games (as far as I know) and
include game ID number information, as well as the serial number. There
are two styles:
- The blue/grey and white stickers ran through the Hurricane era. These
include the official game ID number (ie: 541 or 50018), separated from
the actual serial number by a few spaces. Early games, till about the
end of 1986, had five-digit serial numbers. Since then, serial number
have always been six digits.
- The white stickers include encoded game ID numbers. Well, the ID numbers
aren't identical to the one you'll find in the ROM, but it DOES match
the game ID number listed on the back of the machine. The number may
change based on country. This is an item still being debated somewhat.
Overall, you'll find these stickers on the fronts of the cabinets, on top
of the head, on the back of the cabinet (along with an encoded
manufacturing date), inside the coin box, and on EVERY major (and
sometimes minor) board inside the game.
If you're on site, immediately check the front of the game. This is the
easiest to find, and the easiest to destroy ... many are obliterated by
various operators. If you can, get behind the game and copy the number
down from there. If you can't do that, see if you can get a view of the
top of the game, stand on a chair or something.
If you can get inside the backbox, write down *all* the sticker numbers
you can find that are different. My High Speed game comes from the parts
of many other High Speed games. *All* of these stickers/numbers are valid
serial numbers. In the case of High Speed, all of those were High Speed
game ID numbers. In the case of my Earthshaker, the Aux. Power Supply
board came from a Police Force. With the game number intact, we now have
valid serial numbers for both Earthshaker, and the presumably dead Police
Force organ donor.
As I said, Williams/Bally likes to slap these stickers just about
anywhere. I've seen 'em on display tubes (High Speed has five of these)
and also on a 2" x 2" relay-board in my Earthshaker. If you own a game,
it's well worth the extra investigation. It will also tell you a bit about
your game's repair history.
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Those are the majors ... I haven't really run into much nmore than the
above. When you encounter an older game, I suggest you immediately scan
the front of the game for a stamped/etched number. You might also scan the
corners of the game, under the topglass for a cardboard card with the
serial number on it. This appears to have been very common at one point in
time.
As I run into different pins/manufacturers, I'll probably update this
instruction list. If you find out stuff that's not listed in here, be sure
to Email me and I'll add it in, along with your credits.
Where to look? Well, arcades are obviously the best place, little
mini-arcades can be found at Miniature Golf courses, or general Family Fun
Centers. Around here, Pizza Parlours and Bowling Alleys tend to have a
decent set of games. Amusement parks (Disneyland) are also good places to
go hunting. Auctions or pinball shows are also very good places to go
looking. If you have a distributor who doesn't mind, swing by every month
or so. The one down here keeps the games flowing so fast that every time
I'm in, there are a whole new set of games to pull numbers off of. Liquor
stores tend to have one game apiece (at least around here). Not heavily
worth the effort, but if you're in the area, might as well, especially if
the have a game we have little data on (ie: like a prototype Earthshaker
or a Taxi where we're still collecting Marylin/Lola data).
All serial number finds should be mailed to the keeper of the lists,
Sergio Johnson <dusty@charm.net>. You can 'CC' me if you like. You can use
the WWW interface to submit numbers.
Happy Hunting!
Bill Ung <ung@filenet.com>