Vintage Pac-Man Tabletop by Coleco - 1981

At the height of the Pac-Man craze in 1981 Coleco created mini versions of famous arcade games called Tabletop consoles. They started with Pac-Man, but it wasn't long before Ms. PacMan, Galaxian, Donkey Kong, and others joined the family.

It's rather impressive how much of the flavor of the arcade originals these little versions could capture within the limits of VFD (Vacuum Fluorescent Displays) technology. The games were colorful (unlike battleship gray LCD, or red blip LED games), had a nice assortment of sound effects and music, and added simultaneous two player modes so that both you and your brother could crowd around your 9" high personal arcade cabinet.

These are much-desired collectibles, and aren't always easy to find in really good condition. They each (Frogger, Donkey Kong, Galaxian, PacMan, Ms Pac Man) have a sticker on the top of the game, front, left side and right side, as well as a plastic sticker on the control panel. One or more of these is frequently damaged or missing. There is also an instruction sticker on the bottom of each of them.

They should also have an egg-shaped knob on the end of each joystick (this was only held on with a screw, and was also subject to disappearing.)
An original price in the 1980s: $59.97 at Toys R Us.

Download the Coleco Pac Man Manual here.