Hi Yoyo,yoyo_chessboard wrote:a question not directly linked to that topic:
collecting about 250 serial numbers via ebay and google image and from my proper fidelity boards, i have determined (or supposed to) that the fidelity numbering with 8 digits has the following structure :
YDDDSSSS
Y: last digit of year from 1980
DDD : day in the year from 1 till 365/366
SSSS: from 1 till 9999.
from 1981 till 1989 not any problem
i have problems for :
years 1980 the first year with 8 digit serial.
i can't directly sort what is from 1980 and what is from 1990 with the serial number.
of course as ten years is a big gap, the reference determine which is from 1980 and which is from 1990. the boards from 1980 didn't exist in 1990.
and years 1990/1991, beginning with 0. i can't really see which board is from 1990 and which is from 1991.
on your photos i see
92570022
year 1989, day : 257, somewhere in mid-september
and 00000034:
do you have any idea how the precise date of birth of that upgrade ?
i know there were boards previously with another numbering structure, from start of Fidelity till 1980.
they had less that 8 digits.
maybe i could create another topic for that question.
i don't know if i am the only one interested by the precise datation of boards.
regards.
Below is a list Fidelity Models with serial numbers. In parenthesis are the year when the model was thought to have come out.
Fidelity Chess Challenger Champion Sensory Voice (1981) = 13173267
Fidelity The Classic (1985) - 53263096
Fidelity Designer 1500 Chess Coach (1990) - 82396977
Fidelity Designer 2000 (1988) - 91021292
Fidelity Designer 2000 Display (1988) - 91954939
Fidelity Designer 2100 Display (1988) - 90250715
Fidelity Elite Avant Garde Mobile Master (1986) - 60388008
Fidelity Excel 68000 (Mach I) (1987) - 72542491
Fidelity Excel Display (1987) - 72754218
Fidelity The Excellence Model EP12 (1985) - 52637337
Fidelity Gambit Version 1 (1987) - 63608410
Fidelity Gambit Version 2 (1987) - 81412818
Fidelity Gambit Version 3 (1987) - 92558977
Fidelity Gambit Voice (1987) - 71212265
Fidelity Kishon Chesster Challenger (1990) - 00051999
Fidelity Little Chesster Challenger B (1992) - L104946
Fidelity Mach II “B” Version (1987) - 73036552
Fidelity Mach II “C+” L.A. Version (1988) - 80646187
Fidelity Mach III Master (1988) - 83541713
Fidelity Micro Chess Challenger 12 buttons (1991) - 216229
Fidelity Micro Chess Challenger (1991) 16 buttons - A164826
Fidelity Mini Chess Challenger (1989) - 171491 (not made by fidelity?)
Fidelity Par Excellence (1986) - 92558977
Fidelity Sensory Chess Challenger 6 (1982) - 22324005
Fidelity Sensory Chess Challenger 8 (1980) - 02981881
Fidelity Sensory Chess Challenger 9 (1982) - 21551611
Fidelity Sensory Chess Challenger 12 (1983) - 42654031
Fidelity Sensory Chess Challenger 12B (1984) - 61018361
Fidelity Septennial (1984) - 21935401
Fidelity Super “9” Sensory Chess Challenger (1982) - 32240896
Fidelity Super “9” Deluxe Sensory Chess Challenger (1984) - 40690429
Fidelity The Silver Bullet (1986) - 61575922
Fidelity Tiny Chess (1991) - T174480
Fidelity Travel Master Chess Challenger with Sensory Board (1991) - 156601
Fidelity U.S. Chess Federation Special Edition (1984) - 40691810
Fidelity Voice Excellence (1985) - 92544966
Fidelity Voice Sensory Chess Challenger (1981) - 02590283
Generally speaking your theory is spot on. And, it starts from around 1980 onwards as you can see from the Fidelity Sensory Chess Challenger 8 (1980) - 02981881.
There are some anomalies. ie Par Excellence thought to have come out in 1986. My model per your theory is from 1989. But it is possible that Fidelity on some models had second production runs. Septennial is another one. It was supposed to have come out in 1984. But the housing is pretty much the same as Chess Champion (1981). So the serial number indication for 1982 is possible as well.
ps.. it would require more people to share their serial numbers to get a better confirmation.
Interesting regards,
Nick