Coleco’s Galaxian shrinks the 1979 arcade hit into a tabletop cabinet, its glowing alien fleet lit up on a multi-colour vacuum fluorescent display.
The cabinet copies the arcade artwork, with Midway’s rainbow logo on the marquee and the green Galaxian flagship on the roof. Three games are built in: Galaxian, Midway’s Attackers and a two-player Head to Head Galaxian.
Interesting facts
Namco’s star, Midway’s badge. Galaxian was created by Namco in Japan and hit arcades in 1979. Midway took the North American rights and launched it in 1980, hence the “© Midway 1979” on this cabinet’s screen bezel.
Three million in a year. Galaxian joined Pac-Man, Donkey Kong and Frogger in Coleco’s first four tabletop arcades. Together they sold about three million units within a year, as video games helped Coleco’s sales nearly triple to $500 million in 1982.
From leather to lasers. Coleco began in 1932 as the Connecticut Leather Company, supplying leather to shoe repairers; its name is short for the original. Today collectors’ site Mini-Arcade rates Galaxian the hardest to find of Coleco’s tabletop series.