Ladybug with Sideart – Artwork style similar to White Mr. Do!

Brian’s website had a couple of interesting goodies, check out these photos below of a rare dedicated white “extended conversion kit” Ladybug machine with sideart.

(I don’t know how else to term an arcade game like this. More experienced collectors have let me know that this technically wasn’t a “dedicated” machine, but instead a company trying to boost sales on the conversion kits produced for that game, hence “extended conversion kit”. By including a cabinet and adding artwork, they could probably sell the arcade games for more and generate more interest by being an all in one solution.)

The border around classic Ladybug arcade artwork, as well as the character design for this game tipped me off right away that the same manufacturer possibly made this machine as the white Mr. Do!. It would make sense that if someone was going to license one arcade game from Universal, maybe they’d license a couple to reproduce.

A family member spotted this Ladybug arcade game for Brian at a flea market for $5, so they bought it and brought it to him from PA. On his site he steps through what he did to “restore” the artwork a little bit, by using frisket and rejuvenating the color. Like the Mr. Do! conversion machines, the artwork had some wear in strange spots that would indicate the original painted artwork wasn’t durable. The only thing that gives me doubts, is the cutout in the lower front of the cab, where the white Mr. Do! went straight to the floor. It would seem to me that if a game making licensed games, they would use the same cabinet to save money. But who knows, maybe not.

I am in touch with Brian, but he doesn’t have much more information about the classic Ladybug arcade game and why would he considering where it came from. But it gives me one more tool to search the web. There is one post on Google Groups with an individual talking about a white Ladybug with sideart;

Saw a post on Ladybug, and while certainly not a great game, I passed on one the other day, that had what looked to be “dedicated” side art and marquee. I’ve seen many, but not one like this. Was there such a creature, and what’s it rarity? I thought they were mostly conversions.

~Edit It was suggested to me that both the Mr. Do! and Ladybug arcade cabinets were made by Rock-Ola. I looked through Klov, and there is nothing in the design of the artwork on the games listed that would make me believe this was true. But if there was a company that just dressed up conversion kits, and wasn’t a full scale production, finding information about the white side art might be more difficult than I originally thought.

~Update Darin Jacobs of Phoenix Arcade posted in the Google Forums that he had a Ladybug arcade machine like this at one time, but he gave it to his brother. Supposedly his brother still has it, but there aren’t any markings on the inside to give me any more clues to the manufacturer. 🙁

Update August 5th, 2008
I forgot to mention, take a look at the bezel on this Ladybug cabinet. It is the same one used on a couple of the white Mr. Do!s (image below or the Mr. Do! for sale in California), probably some sort of generic bezel that the manufacturing company offered for the machines. Or maybe it was the bezel for a Lady Bug / Mr. Do! and operators interchanged them. Who knows.

Here are some similar arcade posts

• Mr. Do! History Topic on KLOV
• Another character sideart Ladybug in St. Louis, MO
• A new theory on who made the sideart Mr. Do!?
• Strange Jungle King Cabinet Artwork
• Mr. Do Illustrated Sideart History

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