Grandstand Cosmic Invader
 | |
| The Grandstand wordmark. No freely licensed photograph of the Cosmic Invader has been found | |
| Specifications | |
|---|---|
| Manufacturer | VTech (made in Taiwan) for Grandstand (Adam Imports Ltd, Harrogate) |
| Type | Electronic game, long narrow case |
| Released | 1981[1][2] |
| CPU | Hitachi HD38750A45 4-bit microcontroller (HMCS40 family)[1] |
| Memory | — |
| Storage | — |
| Display | Futaba DM-26Z 1G vacuum fluorescent display, cyan and red, with a colour overlay[1] |
| Sound | 1-bit, from the microcontroller[1] |
| Input | Left and right movement, fire button, two-position difficulty switch[1] |
| Power | Four AA cells[2] |
| OS / Firmware | — |
Grandstand Cosmic Invader is a battery-powered Space Invaders-type game with a vacuum fluorescent display (VFD), made in Taiwan by VTech and sold in the UK by Grandstand from 1981. VTech sold the same game in the USA as Invaders and Sonic Invader, and Prinztronic sold it in the UK as Galactic Invaders.[1][2] A Hitachi HD38750A45 4-bit microcontroller runs it.[1] The Handheld Museum describes it as playing like "a cross between Radio Shack/Tandy Fire Away series and Space Invaders".[2]
History
[edit | edit source]Grandstand was the name that Adam Imports of Harrogate put on the electronic games it imported into the UK.[3] MAME lists three releases of VTech's game: VTech's own Invaders and Sonic Invader in the USA, Grandstand's Cosmic Invader in the UK and Prinztronic's Galactic Invaders, also in the UK.[1] The Handheld Museum describes Cosmic Invader as licensed from VTech and identical to the Sonic Invader, and VTech's Invaders and Sonic Invader as the same game in different cases.[2][4] MAME, the Handheld Museum and a dealer's museum page all date Grandstand's version to 1981.[1][2][5] MAME's notes say the game was made in Taiwan;[1] the base of one VTech Sonic Invader says Hong Kong, so the place of manufacture may have varied.[6]
The Handheld Museum's photographs show the Grandstand version in a long, narrow yellow case with "GRANDSTAND COSMIC INVADER" above the display, a movement control and a red fire button below it, and the display labelled Score, UFO Zone, Invader Zone, Ground and Missile Station. The box calls it an "Exciting 'arcade-like' action electronic game".[2]
Hardware
[edit | edit source]| Part | Detail |
|---|---|
| Maker | VTech; made in Taiwan |
| Microcontroller | Hitachi HD38750A45 (HMCS40 family) |
| Display | Futaba DM-26Z 1G VFD, cyan and red |
| Overlay | Yellow and red on some of the alien rows |
| Sound | 1-bit output from the microcontroller |
| Controls | Left and right movement, fire button, two-position difficulty switch |
| Power | Four AA cells |
Microcontroller, display, overlay, sound and controls from MAME's driver notes;[1] power from the Handheld Museum.[2]
Its display is a Futaba tube; the Grandstand Epoch and Tomy games whose displays MAME identifies all use NEC tubes.[1][7] Its microcontroller is from the same Hitachi HMCS40 family as the HD38800 in Grandstand Tron, and in Coleco's Coleco Galaxian Mini-Arcade.[1] A filmed repair of a Grandstand unit shows a single board printed 700255F and 35-0155-00, with the tube mounted on it, the fire button, a rocker joystick on a small sub-board, two slide switches, and a piezo speaker over the battery compartment.[8] A VTech Sonic Invader opened on film has the same board design (700255 G, 35-0155-01), with the Hitachi chip, a small converter coil and a board-mounted DC socket on its other side.[6]
The game program is mask-programmed into the HD38750A45, the chip MAME's dump was read from.[1] A replacement can come from any release of the same game: VTech's Invaders or Sonic Invader, Prinztronic's Galactic Invaders or another Cosmic Invader.[1] The cases differ between the releases,[4] so a whole board from another release may not fit.
The game
[edit | edit source]No leaflet for Cosmic Invader or VTech's versions has been found. The player's missile station moves left and right along the bottom of the display and fires upwards at invaders in the invader zone and UFOs in the UFO zone above them, with the score at the top.[2][1] MAME shows a two-position difficulty switch.[1]
Batteries and power
[edit | edit source]The game takes four AA cells.[2] VTech's Sonic Invader, the same game on the same board, carries a label reading "Operates on 4 'AA' batteries or a 6 volts/200 MA AC adaptor" and has a DC socket in the side of the case.[6] No Grandstand label or leaflet giving an adaptor rating or polarity has been found. Check with a meter how the socket connects to the battery leads before connecting any supply, and see Grandstand Universal Mains Adaptor for the adaptor Grandstand sold.
Cells left in the box leak; see Battery Explosion, Capacitor or Corrosion Damage.
Repair
[edit | edit source]Cosmic Invader has its own repair guides:
- Grandstand Cosmic Invader General Maintenance: opening the case, broken screw posts, the battery contacts, the adaptor socket, the controls and the display tube.
- Grandstand Cosmic Invader Troubleshooting Guide: power-on, measurements, a symptom table, the known faults and the display.
What owners have found:
- No service manual, schematic or leaflet has been found, and no capacitor values have been published.
- A Grandstand unit sold as not working had a battery contact too corroded to pass current, and screw posts broken off inside the case; with the contact ground back and the posts refixed it worked.[8]
- A VTech Sonic Invader was dead because the negative battery lead had come off the board.[6]
- A donor microcontroller can come from VTech's Invaders or Sonic Invader or Prinztronic's Galactic Invaders (see Hardware).
Documentation
[edit | edit source]No leaflet, manual or schematic for Cosmic Invader, VTech's Invaders or Sonic Invader, or Prinztronic's Galactic Invaders has been found.
Related pages
[edit | edit source]- Grandstand Cosmic Invader General Maintenance
- Grandstand Cosmic Invader Troubleshooting Guide
- Grandstand Universal Mains Adaptor
- Grandstand Invader From Space: Epoch's invader game for Grandstand, also on four AA cells
- Grandstand Tron: Tomy game on another Hitachi HMCS40 microcontroller
- Category:Grandstand
References
[edit | edit source]- ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14 1.15 1.16 MAME source, hh_hmcs40.cpp (retrieved 2026-10-18). Driver notes for VTech Invaders: made in Taiwan; Hitachi HD38750A45 microcontroller, 1-bit sound; cyan/red VFD Futaba DM-26Z 1G; colour overlay yellow and red on alien rows; known releases Invaders/Sonic Invader (VTech, USA), Cosmic Invader (Grandstand, UK), Galactic Invaders (Prinztronic, UK); inputs left, right, fire and a two-position difficulty switch. Chip list dates the HD38750A45 to 1981 and also lists Tomy Tron (HD38800A88) and Coleco Galaxian (HD38800A70). ROM taken from the HD38750A45.
- ↑ 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 Handheld Museum, "Grandstand Cosmic Invader" (retrieved 2026-10-18): 1981, VFD, four AA batteries; "Plays like a cross between Radio Shack/Tandy Fire Away series and Space Invaders. Licensed from Vtech, it's identical to Vtech's Sonic Invader"; also released by Prinztronic as Galactic Invaders; photographs of the game (display labels Score, UFO Zone, Invader Zone, Ground, Missile Station) and its box.
- ↑ Play It Again project, "Grandstand" (retrieved 2026-10-18): Leslie Kenyon "had previously used the Grandstand name to sell electronic games in the U.K. through his Adam Imports business".
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Handheld Museum, "Vtech Sonic Invader" and "Vtech Invaders" (retrieved 2026-10-18): both 1981, VFD, four AA batteries; "Identical to Vtech's Invaders, just different name and case design"; also released by Grandstand as Cosmic Invader and by Prinztronic as Galactic Invaders.
- ↑ Retro Games, "Grandstand" museum page (dealer's collection page, retrieved 2026-10-18): "Cosmic Invader - 1981. Identical to Vtech's Sonic Invader. Also released by Prinztronic as Galactic Invaders".
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 Just4Parts, "Can I Fix This Broken Vintage Space Invaders Handheld? Sonic Invaders Repair!", YouTube, 7 August 2026 (transcript read and video examined, retrieved 2026-10-18): a VTech Sonic Invader in the same case as the Cosmic Invader; label "Operates on 4 'AA' batteries or a 6 volts/200 MA AC adaptor"; base marked made in Hong Kong in 1981; DC socket on the side of the case and mounted on the board; board printed "700255 G" and "35-0155-01", with a Hitachi HD38750A45 marked JAPAN and a small converter coil; the fault was the black negative battery lead off the board.
- ↑ MAME source, hh_ucom4.cpp (retrieved 2026-10-18): NEC VFDs in Epoch Invader From Space (FIP9AM18T), Galaxy II / Astro Wars, Tomy Pac-Man (FIP8AM18T) and Tomy Caveman (FIP8AM20T).
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 retro_ restos, "Grandstand Cosmic Invader 1980's Game eBay 'Untested' Repair", YouTube, 20 December 2024 (transcript read and video examined, retrieved 2026-10-18): a Grandstand unit sold as not working; two screw posts broken off inside the case; a battery contact green with corrosion, ground back until the cells gave 6.1 V at the board; the board printed "700255F" and "35-0155-00", with the tube mounted on it, the fire button, the rocker joystick on a small sub-board, two slide switches, and the piezo speaker over the battery compartment.