Epoch Galaxy II / Grandstand Astro Wars - VFD VARIANTS!?!?!?

MADrigal

Hello
I have just noticed that MAME emulates 2 versions of Galaxy II/Astro Wars - one called 'revision D' and the other one 'revision B'.

The games are exactly the same but the VFD screen is TOTALLY DIFFERENT on the 2 versions.

Revision B is the one that we all know and love, with the aliens looking a lot like the flies in Galaxian/Galaga.

Revision D (which is supposed to be a later release?) has a completely brand new graphics layout with aliens looking like... aliens!

I have found on the web photos of the actual VFD screen so it is really genuine. Look at the photos at this link:
http://blog.kevtris.org/blogfi.....laxy%20II/

This really is a mystery to me.

The questions are: what unit was this VFD variant distributed on? Was it Epoch USA, Epoch Japan, or Grandstand UK (and if so, was it the white label or the red label version) ?

Or was this a prototype?

Does anyone have any piece of information on this, does anyone own it or can anyone shed any light on this mystery?

Thanks in advance!!!!

Luca
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Linda · Posted: Wed Feb 02, 2022 5:40 pm Post subject:

If I had to guess I would say Rev D looks like Bandai Galaxian. Try comparing it to that one.

Regards,
Linda

MADrigal · Posted: Wed Feb 02, 2022 10:32 pm Post subject:

Thanks Linda
The graphics is not the one from Galaxian Bandai.
The vf display is 100% from a variant of Galaxy 2 by Epoch.
Simply enough I have never seen any unit that mounts such a variant display
The person that owns the display doesn't have the unit anymore, just the VFD.
He recollects it was a normal Galaxy 2 unit but he can't be too sure as he got it more than 12 years ago
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kisember · Posted: Sun Feb 13, 2022 4:16 am Post subject:

At least Grandstand released two different version of this game, see: https://www.handheldmuseum.com/Grandstand/Astro.htm
At the bottom of the page Rik stated that he has both. Wink

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MADrigal · Posted: Mon Feb 14, 2022 12:58 am Post subject:

Yes there are various versions from Grandstand and Epoch.
But this is a different story: we are talking about a HARDWARE variation, quite significant as it is a completely different VFD display.
I was wondering if anyone owns it, or knows anything about it, was it a prototype? Was it released by Grandstand? Or Epoch? Was it a later release?
I am not talking about 'was the standard Grandstand release like THIS', I am talking about 'was this an obscure variant by Grandstand, or Epoch, was it Japanese, or was it released in specific countries due to issues with Namco copyright?
All these questions are still unanswered.
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MADrigal · Posted: Mon Jul 10, 2023 3:51 pm Post subject:

Bumping up this old topic - does anyone have any updates or has done any discovery on this matter?
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