RARE Mini Arcade Games -Smaller than an Arcade1up?!

RetroRalph·video·4m 31s·analyzed·Oct 8, 2022

Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.017

TL;DR

Rare Moppet Video mini-arcade with original Dig Dug board discovered and documented.

Summary

RetroRalph explores a rare Moppet Video mini arcade machine at Castles and Coasters—a half-scale cabinet designed for 4-8 year olds, smaller than Arcade1Up units. The machine contains an original 1982 Dig Dug board with JAMMA adapter, Suzo Happ power supply, and LCD replacement. Moppet Video, a Tempe, Arizona company, produced five games (Desert Race, Leprechaun, Pirate Treasure, Noah's Ark, Tugboat) intended as entertainment for children in arcades rather than revenue generators, and eventually acquired Popeye licensing before folding.

Key Claims

Moppet Video machines are smaller than Arcade1Up cabinets
high confidence · Direct comparison made by host during inspection; visual observation of scale
The machine contains an original Dig Dug arcade board from 1982
high confidence · Host visually confirms original board present inside, states 'it actually does have an original Dig Dug board'
Moppet Video machines were designed for 4-8 year olds
high confidence · Host cites company literature and states five games were 'geared toward 4- to 8-year-olds'
Moppet Video was located in Tempe, Arizona
high confidence · Host states 'this company was actually located in my backyard over at Tempe, Arizona'
Moppet Video acquired Popeye licensing before folding
medium confidence · Host references TNT Amusements video by Todd Tuckey documenting Popeye license acquisition; secondhand sourcing
The mini arcade uses a Mike's Arcade JAMMA adapter for the Dig Dug board
high confidence · Host visually identifies 'Mike's Arcade JAMMA adapter for the Dig Dug board' during inspection
Original CRT was replaced with Suzo Happ LCD
high confidence · Host states 'they took the original CRT out of it' and replaced with 'Suzo Happ LCD'
Moppet Video produced five games total: Desert Race, Leprechaun, Pirate Treasure, Noah's Ark, and Tugboat
high confidence · Host lists all five titles and confirms via research: 'this company had five games'

Notable Quotes

“You thought Arcade1Up are small? This thing is smaller than an Arcade1Up, probably smaller than an Arcade1Up off a riser.”
Jon (RetroRalph)@ 0:34 — Establishes scale comparison and novelty of Moppet Video machines relative to modern mini-cabinets
“It's an original Dig Dug board. So I mean, think about it. It's pretty old. I mean, 1982 or whenever Dig Dug came out, but I mean, it's still running fine.”
Jon (RetroRalph)@ 1:36 — Confirms original arcade hardware preservation and functionality despite age
“The whole point, it was really geared toward—according to the literature at least—it was geared toward four to eight year olds that could come into an arcade with their parents. But it wasn't really meant to be a revenue generating machine. It was really just meant to kind of be a babysitter.”
Jon (RetroRalph)@ 3:01 — Clarifies Moppet Video's business model and intended purpose distinct from traditional arcade revenue
“I came across a video that my buddy Todd Tuckey over at TNT Amusements put together before the company folded. They actually had acquired the licenses to do Popeye.”
Jon (RetroRalph)@ 3:13 — References TNT Amusements documentation and reveals Popeye licensing acquisition before Moppet Video ceased operations

Entities

Jon (RetroRalph)personTodd TuckeypersonMoppet VideocompanyTNT AmusementscompanyCastles and CoastersorganizationDig DuggameArcade1UpcompanySuzo HappcompanyMike's Arcadecompany

Signals

$
market_signal: Niche history of purpose-built child-scale arcade cabinets preceding modern mini-arcade trend by decades; Moppet Video represents forgotten arcade market segment
high · Host frames discovery as 'interesting little piece of arcade history' filling gap between original arcades and Arcade1Up consumer market
?
technology_signal: Moppet Video mini-cabinets represent early child-scaled arcade hardware innovation with hybrid original/modern components (original 1982 Dig Dug PCB paired with modern Suzo Happ LCD/PSU)
high · Original board + JAMMA adapter + modern LCD replacement documented during teardown

Topics

Obscure arcade hardware historyprimaryMini-arcade cabinet design and manufacturingprimaryChildren-focused arcade machinesprimaryOriginal arcade board preservation and modificationprimaryArcade1Up as market comparisonsecondaryArizona arcade historysecondary

Sentiment

positive(0.75)— Host expresses genuine curiosity and appreciation for historical preservation and engineering quality; notes games aren't great but values the mechanical craftsmanship and arcade history. Respectful tone toward niche manufacturer; collaborative spirit with TNT Amusements community member.

Transcript

youtube_groq_whisper · $0.014

Hey guys, welcome back to the channel. We're on location here at Castles and Coasters. You may remember this location from Chasing Nostalgia episode 4. When I was here, I saw this little mini Dig Dug and I kind of ignored it for the most part. But then, I don't know, the other day I was kind of thinking about it and I said, let me do some research and see what this thing is because there's a little marquee on the side, little graphic on the side that says Moppet Video. So I looked up Moppet Video. So basically this company had five games. Desert Race, Leprechaun, Pirate Treasure, Noah's Ark, and Tugboat. And the games were geared toward 4- to 8-year-olds, and you can tell by the height. Like, you thought arcade 1-ups are small. This thing is smaller than an arcade 1-up, probably smaller than an arcade 1-up off a riser. So it's a very, very tiny arcade, but it had an original CRT in it and all that. Obviously, it wasn't an original Dig Dug, but it'd be fun to open it up, see if maybe any of the original hardware is still in it, And then I'll tell you a little bit more about the company behind it and the purpose for these machines. Okay, so around back, I'm going to unscrew this. That's not the right screwdriver. Okay, we're around back. I going to take this back panel off so we can see what inside Now I would expect it to be probably I don know it be pretty cool if they actually put an original Dig Dug board in it but I don know that for certain Okay we got the back panel off It actually does have an original Dig Dug, and I'm guessing the original game was a JAMA-connected game. I don't know that because I've never seen these before. There's no markings, so I don't know which of the five games this actually was, but there's a Mike's Arcade JAMA adapter for the Dig Dug board, so it's cool. So whoever did this conversion obviously knew what they were doing. But yeah, it's got an original Dig Dug board. So I mean, think about it. It's pretty old. I mean, 19. I don't know when Dig Dug came out, but I mean, it's still running fine. It's got a Suzo Hap power supply. So and it looks like they took the original CRT out of it. So this did have a CRT. They took that out for a Suzo Hap LCD. So they put a good LCD in it. Some of the original components, but overall, it's been modified to be a Dig Dug at this point. So going along the front side of this thing, there's actually this cube bench. This wasn't something that was original with this. Someone made it here and it's actually kind of clever because they cut out a hole on the bottom of this thing so that this could slide in and out So kind of cool to like accommodate you know little kids so they could sit down and be at the right level for the controller so just like a real arcade machine the control panel has latches to pop it off so if i just reach under here and pop both of them the control panel actually comes off so a technician can service it so this is pretty much a full you know when it had a crt in it it was a fully working arcade machine it had a coin mador it was at this moment that he knew he fucked up It had a coin door. It had a normal control panel that comes on and off so the technician could service it. So it was kind of an elaborate little machine, actually. And for someone that's almost six, well, what am I, 5'11 and a half, I say, you need the bench, right? Because it would kind of be awkward to play it like this. Well, guys, that about wraps it up. This company, Moppet Video, they created this little half-scale arcade machine. And the whole point, it was really geared toward, in the literature at least, It was geared toward four to eight year olds that could come into an arcade with their parents But it wasn't really meant to be a revenue generating machine. It was really just meant to kind of be a babysitter I decided to do a bit more research on these and I came across a video that my buddy Todd Tucky over at TNT put together before the company folded they actually had acquired the licenses to do Popeye So that kind of interesting And the other interesting fact is this company was actually located in my backyard over at Tempe, Arizona. So I don't know how well these were adopted. I know Todd Tuckey over at TNT Amusements has done several videos on these. So I'll have a link up there so you can watch Todd talk a little bit about them. I think he even collected all five of them at one time. The games aren't great, so I don't know, I can't imagine really anyone's all looking out for these, but maybe they're worth something if they're original and they're running the original board, despite the games not really being that good. So anyways, just kind of an interesting little piece of arcade history. If you like this video, give me a thumbs up, consider subscribing to the channel, put your comments below. I want to hear what do you think about this little half scale thing, and that's it for now. We will see you on the next one. Thank you.