The Coleco Tabletop Arcade Collection is a series of miniature arcade cabinet replicas that first released in 1982 by Coleco Industries, Inc.  Coleco entered the video game market in 1976 with their Telstar line of dedicated home consoles.   When the market for dedicated home consoles became oversaturated with Pong clones Coleco transitioned into handheld electronic games, a market popularized by Mattel.

Coleco had early success with their electronic handheld game “Electronic Quarterback” and began producing a line of multiplayer sports games with their “head-to-head” series of handhelds.  After several years of success producing electronic handheld devices Coleco began producing a line of miniature tabletop arcade games with license rights from various video game developers such as Sega, Midway and Nintendo.

In 1982 Coleco released their first four mini-arcade systems with the release of Pac-Man, Donkey Kong, Galaxian and Frogger.   The tabletop handhelds became an instant hit selling over 3 million units before the end of the year, with the Pac-Man version alone selling 1.5 million units.  In 1983, Coleco continued to expand the series by releasing three additional systems, Ms. Pac-Man, Donkey Kong Junior and Zaxxon.

Marketed as “The arcade games you can take home with you” the devices featured arcade like controls with a coloured Vacuum Fluorescent Display (VFD) that provided a high-quality visual experience.   Coleco was able to successfully replicate the look and feel of the original arcade machines something that was lacking with other home consoles at the time.   Adaptations of arcade games on the Atari VCS a.k.a. the Atari 2600 were crude representations of the games, but Coleco’s line of tabletop handhelds were able to capture the atmosphere of the arcade experience.

For the first time gamers were able to re-create the arcade experience in their homes and easily bring it with them to play elsewhere as each system was battery operated.  For only $60 consumers were able to get a high quality mini standup arcade cabinet consisting of authentic side art, marquee, and artwork on the glass of the multi-coloured VFD display.