Cosmo Ambo 18

Cosmo AMBO 18
Katakana	アンボ18
Rōmaji	ANBO18
AKA	AMBO 18, Three AMBO Theater
Released	1992
Dimensions	460 x 460 x 1460 mm
Wiring	JAMMA (with SL-01 3-Game Selector Daughter Board)
Monitor	18 in 15/24 kHz (Nanao Dual 8)
Weight	55 kg
Power	105 W

Cosmo Electronics Corporation released the AMBO 18 in 1992.

It resembles a lot in form and function the SNK SC19-4 cabinet, but the latter's angular hood did not inspire Cosmo in regard to AMBO's rounded hood, instead one would see a year later in 1993 the release by SNK of the Neo 19 with this time a very similar rounded shader hood, which made some people draw the erroneous conclusion the AMBO 18 is a clone of the Neo 19.

AMBO 18 features stock a SL-01 "3-game selector sub-PCB" daughter board (スリーゲームセレクトサブ) -see below in Gallery- that connects to 3 JAMMA harnesses with the possibility to switch between maximum 3 games (via the red button right above the control panel, between the 1P & 2P start buttons). Said selector daughter board was available with 3 harnesses as a kit in JAMMA spec or Mahjong spec. The cabinet could also have its stock internals "simplified" by downgrading easily to a single game type (often on the used market the giveaway is a plug replacing the game select button).

The cab main structure is made of fiberglass composite and the assembly said to be supposedly waterproof in the promo material. Control panel box is said to be "easy one-touch opening". Branding on right side is usually "THREE AMBO THEATER" but can be identical in some variants to the left side which features "COSMO AMBO SERIES" (mirrored to the right side it become "AMBO SERIES COSMO" see below in Gallery).

Both AMBO 18 & later 25 model could both be sold hood-less, as optional shader hood kits were sold. The AMBO 25's hood was in fact a combination of the AMBO 18 hood + adaptor bezel + instructions board, so there is truly one hood in common.

AMBO 18 has one big frontal service door while AMBO 25 has 2 frontal service doors.

A prize game AMBO cab was shortly after released in 1993 with choice of PK Scramble (soccer game) or Putter Scramble (golf game). Mostly based on the AMBO 18's specs, the prize cab having the same dimensions except for the increased depth: 550mm (prize AMBO) VS 460mm (AMBO 18). Promo material announced future plans of a total of 4 prize games including 2 new games of Rally and Shooting.

• following information to be eventually updated / corrected : Intriguingly, some AMBO 18 cabs appeared on the used market branded as "AMBO UNIVERSE CO., LTD." on both sides of the cabinet, replacing the original Cosmo branding (some of the Universe cabs, if not all, were acquired then resold by Rklok (rklok.nl) in Netherlands). The Universe branding has the exact same Western type font as the one used by the company Universal, yet the latter always used "UNIVERSAL" as a logo, never "UNIVERSE CO., LTD". Another intriguing detail is all arcade & amusement machine related journals, catalogs & magazines listed AMBO series cabinets as being produced by Cosmo, with Cosmo branding visible on the cabs as well. The Universe version has a control panel box with white sides instead of red on Cosmo version, the control panel graphics 3 stripe colors seem to be different as well. No AMBO 25 nor prize cabs have been identified yet branded as "Universe" units. If the AMBO 18 with the alt branding are not modded/fake, it is possible the reason could be the later demise of Cosmo Electronics Corporation's Amusement/Arcade department, a name change not unlike when Casio Game became Marine Game.

Gallery

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  1992 advert
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  Flyer 1
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  Flyer 2
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  1993 advert for Cosmo's Ambo 25 and Ambo 18 cabs (bottom left corner) & Ambo sports games prize cab (right)
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  August 1992 advert
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  SL-01 3 Game Selector daughter PCB kit ads
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  SL-01 3 game selector PCB & box (incomplete 2nd hand kit, missing harnesse(s))
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  SL-01 PCB closeup
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  1993 advert. Optional parts & kits. Adaptor-Bezel is only for 25" version and is mandatory for hood mounting; hood & Selector PCB common to 18" & 25". Naked cab shown is AMBO 25)
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  label
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  Cosmo AMBO 18 version with right side graphics/branding mirroring left side (instead of THREE AMBO THEATER)
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  "UNIVERSE" branded AMBO 18
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  prize AMBO cab has increased depth vs AMBO 18