Maybe there were two versions of a dedicated Mr. Do!
For seven years I’ve been writing about a weird Mr. Do! cabinet, a white cabinet with illustrated artwork. There have been a number of cabinets with the same shape, and the artwork is similar, including a pink themed Ladybug. In Aug. 2009, I had an indication that this style of cabinet was licensed and product by Tehkan.
Today, I have a different theory – with some new photo insights.
The illustrated Mr. Do! – Produced through Universal
Based on credibility of one individual in a forum thread, I posted in 2007 that Universal had sold the rights to a couple of small outfits on the east and west coast to produce Mr. Do! machines. It wasn’t discussed directly, but its a reasonable assumption that the same company may have purchased the rights to other Universal games. This seemed reasonable, but without proof I kept looking. Now, I have some photos that may further confirm this statement.
Here are photos from inside two different Ladybug machines showing Universal seals and serial numbers. Thanks to Melissa and Paul Kermizian (Barcade Brooklyn) for the assist.
Here are those Ladybug serial numbers again:
St. Louis, MO – 823228
Brooklyn, NY – 823237
Mr. Do! theory a sure thing? Now, I think so
This is of course, assuming that the same company produced both this Ladybug and Mr. Do! For me, looking at the machines, there is no question.
As always, if you have any other information on these cabinets – Photos of other serial numbers, photos of arcade games with similar painted artwork, or just written sightings – please drop me a line or leave a comment below.
Hopefully tomorrow, I’m going to include some information about where these machines have popped up over the years, and what insights that may give us into their partnerships.
Here are some similar arcade posts
- Mr. Do! History Topic on KLOV
- Ladybug with Sideart – Artwork style similar to White Mr. Do!
- Mr. Do Illustrated Sideart History
- Factory dedicated original Mr. Do Run Run’s?
- A new theory on who made the sideart Mr. Do!?
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Comments
Fair thought. If there were no methods to produce the Universal cabinets in the states, licensing the game to an outfit who had swift cabinet production capabilities and had distribution would make sense. If the demand was so high in the US, why were there so few Do’s!? Because the lead time to import was too long…hence their dist. model of kits in the US. Just a thought.
Whether this applies nicely to other manufacturers is only thing entirely.
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July 30, 2013
Maybe licensed to a company making them overseas and then they got imported to the US? Why would they license a game that they were selling well on their own? Did Universal actually create Mr. Do! or were they just the first licensee?